It's 6am. It is already light outside. The wood stove is going nicely; slowly heating up our cabin. We've lived here for ten days already. Days filled with hauling and stacking wood, filling the kitchen to the brim with bags of flour, sugar and rice, cans of fruit and vegetables. We're getting ready for winter to set in.

Outside the forest is turning more and more yellow every day. It is going fast. Yesterday we saw the first leaves drop. It doesn't only mean that fall is here. It means that winter is knocking on the door. This morning it was 39 degrees. It's a dry cold. So it doesn't really bite. Still, a jacket is nice on the way to the outhouse.

The cabin is lovely situated in the hills north of Fairbanks. We don't have electric or running water. To charge the laptop and phone we've come up with quite a contraption. A solar panel is going to charge two 6V car batteries. To them we hook a couple of converters into which we can plug in. Besides this we have a generator on the porch to cover for the months without sun.

Eventhough we're very high north, we're not that far. We're still south of the Arctic Circle, which means we will still have a couple of daylight hours in December and January. As of now it's light from about 5.30 am till 10pm. But it is dwindling fast. Every evening we turn the propane lights on a little sooner.

Inside the cabin it's laid out very simply: coming in you'll find the wood stove to your left, the kitchen to your right. Go a little further and you're in the dining/play area. A little bit more and you're back outside. It's an open floorplan; creating a lot of space. Upstairs, about half of the downstairs 20x24 feet, is a loft. Space for us all to sleep. It's cozy. We'll find out soon it it is still cozy when it's to cold to go outside this winter.

The girls are enjoying life in the cabin. They each have workbooks for math and reading. Even Robin: "Where is my math book mommy?" They're all over them. You've got to love it. We have some art and craft supplies. We even have a threadle sewing machine. Cheyenne and Jasmine are already masters at pedaling. Yesterday we made each of them a purse. Pockets included.

Robin works on her triangles.

We can always use more craft supplies and (old) workbooks. If you have them laying around and haven't quite figured out what to do with them... Send them to us. We'll need all we can to stay busy this winter!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

A Pedouin Life on the frontier. What does it entail. The days are still beautiful; warm and sunny with an afternoon shower. We're like squirrels getting ready for winter. Busy running from here to there and back again. Our minds spin of things to be done.

Our main concern is keeping the cabin warm. We have a lot of firewood. Birch and spruce. Some cured, some not. The fire starter is of importance too. Fire starter is provided all around us. The lower branches of the tall spruce trees are great for that. With a sled we walk into the woods, over the inches thick moss paths. We chop and pick and take several loads to the pile. It's visibly getting taller. Almost as tall as Amarins. How much is enough? Only this winter can tell us.

The girls notice the changing colors of the leaves. The wind makes the leaves quiver on their branches. Now and again a flurry of leaves descends from the sky. The girls busily help picking branches and pulling the sled. We're hoping to experience some real sled dogs this winter.

Jasmine helps pull the sled.

Inside the wood stove is going; just to take the chill off the day. Especially nice early in the morning and as soon as the sun sets in the evening. A big rug lies in front of it. The girls are riding a tractor or tricycle over it with great joy. The crayons, markers, workbooks, sticky tape and stapler are in high demand. Cheyenne has a small desk to work on. Jasmine's desk is the sewing machine. Robin has found herself a little cubicle to work on. They're soaking up the new material and are engrossed in the books on the shelves.

Working on knotty blankets.

In the kitchen there is always something cooking. Or baking actually. Amarins is baking up a storm. Breads, chocolate wreaths, banana breads, cakes and braided raisin breads roll out of the oven on a regular basis. What a joy (and delight) to bake from scratch. It's certainly more involved, having to do everything by hand, without electricity. But it's a good way to keep some muscles going.

 
Lots of activity in the kitchen.

Bill is in Anchorage for the week. He's painting Erin's house. That should make a dent in the bills we've occured since we've arrived here; it's a whole different way to live by the season of winter instead of day by day.

We're enjoying the pioneering part of the cabin. No electricity, no running water, no problem. We dug a deep hole in the ground for an outdoor refridgerator. It's a constant 44 degrees in it. Not bad at all. On the porch we have a coolbox. At night we open it up to let the cold air in. During the day we close it. This too works very well. We heat our water on the woodstove. An old steel wash tub goes for a bath. The sink in the kitchen has a straight pipe to the outdoors. Out goes the water. Very simple. Very funtional.

Our cabin in the woods.