Entries by TATIANA

It is freezing today, all grey and muggy out. I did not want to get up, I curled up behind Chhaya and inhaled her yummy scent, she smells SO good. But we finally had to get out of bed. Now I'm at Coffee Roasters, then I have to get some stuff to eat, then I am going to head home and clean a bit. I went on a serious cleaning mission yesterday. I want to go running later, unless it starts raining, it's been raining a lot lately. I've been so lazy......no running, not working much. Just lazy I guess. At least Chhaya did some running yesterday, chasing her ball around.



Also I think I just reconnected with a friend today and it feels really GOOD! ❤ I have been thinking about her a lot lately, every time I eat something lemony (like lemon cup cakes or Limoncello Häagen-Dazs ice cream). Maybe my thoughts connected with hers somehow on a subconscious level. We had a falling out, it doesn't matter about what anymore, nothing that we can't put behind us I hope, what matters is that we are talking again. I take friendship seriously. So it's a good day here so far! I read a very exciting article about the scariest haunted houses in the US last night and I am fantasizing about going to some in the fall.
Well, it's time to head out in the cold (60°) and get busy.

Yesterday me and Chhaya went for a walk on a meadow that is full of beautiful fireweed flowers. I might have to come back here and take some more pics soon because it really is a gorgeous place. I have been here before, it's outside of Sterling and a place I take Chhaya to for a nice walk once in a while. The sun was out and it was hot.









I also met a froggie! With the cuuuuuutest little face!

I might have a visitor around here.....a bear. I'm not 100% sure, so far I have gathered some evidence. I have an area in the yard that I use to feed the birds, squirrels, rabbits and whatever other animal that wants to munch on the food scraps that I've been putting out since I moved here. I throw all my veggie scraps there, potato peel, apple cores etc.....I have a tree stump that I put out bread pieces on (Odie's Deli sometimes have bagfuls of bread for free), nuts and I have three bird feeders hung up in the trees which I put suets in. Talk about crazy animal lady! The other week I put in two suets in the bird feeders, the next day when I looked both feeders were ripped off from the branches (one slightly dented) with both suets gone. Now I know that birds and squirrels come and nibble on the suets but they never finish them overnight, it takes about a week or two for them to finish the suets and I never had to pick up the bird feeders from the ground.
This morning I found these strange holes in one of my trash bins outside, I have four total. Three for stuff that I recycle and one for regular trash.



I don't know what could had ripped two holes in some sturdy plastic. A bird? Probably not, unless I have an upset woodpecker around here. I'm thinking a bear would had toppled over at least that trash bin, probably all of them while searching for food but all four were standing upright. I don't throw away food but I'm sure Chhaya's empty cans of dog food omit an enticing smell for a bear. And yes, I know that there are bear proof trash bin for purchase but I have regular large semi sturdy plastic ones. Although not bear proof.
So today I put in three new suets in the bird feeders. I also left a handful of cherries on the stump and some leftover cauliflower.



About four hours later I went outside to put an empty yoghurt container in a trash bin and decided to check on the bird feeders. One was already open and empty. I looked for the suet on the ground but couldn't find it. Maybe I have been feeding the the squirrels so well that they got strong and one, or two of them (joint effort) carried the suet up a tree and had a food party. I don't know. The cherries were gone too but that's nothing unusual.



I do have a can of bear spray, I got it mainly for camping and hiking and I never used it. I don't mind sharing my left overs with a bear or bears. But in case I do have a bear visitor, I hope that we can respectfully stay out of each others way. I don't want the bear to get upset with me or Chhaya or prey on any of the moose that come to my yard to sleep and eat the grass.
I know that this is bear and moose land and I think that the animals have the right to be here, more so than I do. I'm the one imposing on them. I hope they will allow me to co exist with them. So far so good.
Sounds crazy? Perhaps. I'm that "crazy" person that talks to animals, trees, doesn't kill spiders etc. Although I do swat at mosquitoes and horse flies when they try to suck my blood or bother Chhaya.
And that was the exciting news this Tuesday from Kenai.......!

My intention was to write this entry yesterday evening but I was submerged in a thriller and then I fell asleep. One of the questions I get on a regular basis at work is what do I do when I don't work. I have brought this up before but it's been a while so let me tell you about my day yesterday. It was Sunday, the rain was pouring down all afternoon. I drove to town, meaning Soldotna and started off my day with a latte from Kaladi. Then I did some errands, like checked my mail and went to the store.



July is the month when a lot of people come down to the Kenai Peninsula. Mainly tourism and fishing, it's summer and people from all over come to Alaska in the summer time. The parking lot at Fred Meyer is currently full of RV's. I want an RV too! Traveling around and exploring the country is so much fun. It's my dream.



I don't fish and I don't hunt. I think that fishing is BORING and I have ZERO interest in hurting an animal and yes, I consider fish an animal. I don't meet up with random guys I meet at work to "hang out" simply cause I am not interested. My job does not function as a dating service for me. I can think of a plethora of things to occupy myself with during the day than getting to know some guy I talked to the night before at work "better". It's nothing personal and it's also funny (or slightly disturbing depending on how you look at it) because some people (guys) have a very difficult time comprehending this, therefore the constant questions of what else do I do....like I don't have a life or something, or like I don't have a life cause I don't want to meet up and do something. Yeah.....OK. Now Kenai is not en exciting place, this is not Vegas after all. It is what it is......After my errands in town I drove home and made myself something to eat. I love vegetables and I love bread.



Get some quality bread (not Wonder Bread) and some good butter. Set the oven to about 300 degrees. Slice up cheese and some thin tomato slices. Butter the bread and layer with cheese and tomato. Sprinkle oregano on top. Throw this in the oven until the cheese in melted and the bread turns a nice golden color. Then slice up other veggies like onion, cucumber and avocado and put on the sandwiches. I also sprinkle some turmeric on top. So yummy!



No meal is complete without something sweet. I had lemon cupcakes yesterday.



I got some new books and started reading as soon as I got home. I have been into thrillers for a while now. But I also got a children's book mainly for the gorgeous illustrations, My Wilderness: An Alaskan Adventure by Claudia McGehee. Based on a true story, about the American painter Rockwell Kent and his son Rocky Kent that traveled from New York to Alaska and lived on Fox Island for a while, fascinating!





At 10 PM me and Chhaya went for a walk. Earlier I ran into Cricket at the store (Cricket works at the club) she asked me if I would come to work later and I told her I had promised Chhaya to spend the evening at home with her. We went for a long walk......it had stopped raining and the air smelled fresh.



The fog rolled in later on when we were close to home. I love the fog, it makes everything feel mysterious.



I went to bed and continued reading. I read The String Diaries by Stephen Lloyd Jones, I couldn't put it down.....here is just some of the praise it got from another author, " This novel is a breakneck chase down a long winding road with the devil sitting beside you in a car."
The bedside lamp flickered and went out twice while I was reading, a bit spooky I have to say, to read scary stories in a large house surrounded by forest. But I have Chhaya so I feel safe. Then I fell asleep and there you go......a typical day for me here in Kenai.

I haven't written anything here for a few days but I am not neglecting anybody, I just feel like I don't have anything interesting to write about. Slight writers block I guess......Sure I could talk about crazy religious fanatics, people that suck at parenting, animal abuse and all of that stuff because the world never takes a break from it but I need a break from all that crap for a while. I have covered those issues so many times already and every day there are plenty of new cases of people behaving in ways that are disgusting......When I read those stories I get upset. But I'm sure I will bring it up here again sooner or later.
I have been "busy" with my usual routine. Latte every day, work a few times a week. If it's nice weather and sunny I lay out and tan. I try to engage in some fun activities with Chhaya a few times a week besides the usual daily walk where I live. Besides that I haven't done anything special, no travels, no new books. Everything is NORMAL which is good. I think I need to find a couple of new books to read and go camping and/or hiking again.
The weekend is here, the weather is beautiful. I am going to swing by the store and get some groceries for later, go home and put a blanket down on the lawn and take a nap in the sun. Life is good.

Today I decided it was about time to check out what the beach here in Kenai looks like nowadays, I haven't been there for a while. I don't live too far from the beach at all. So me and Chhaya went for a little beach in July walk. It was absolutely gorgeous out this evening. The ocean is so amazing. After a couple of hours outside we went home but first I had to stop and get some ice cream, had to calm my craving. Chhaya is wrapped up in a blanket and sleeping next to me. I will probably be up for a while longer, I usually stay up until about 3 am, sometimes longer.