Anchorage Alaska Fur Rendezvous' Melodrama

A group of Anchorage Alaska Bed and Breakfast Association members went to the 20th annual Anchorage Fur Rondy Melodrama this afternoon. What hilarity! “Pirates of the Aleutians: Saloon Girls Gone Wild” lived up to its promise of out-right fun. We laughed, booed/hissed, cheered, and threw popcorn all over the place. The pirate captain, Meg Raven, sails out to find buried treasure with her crew. Along the way romances blossom as a villainous Captain Black Barry’s taking over the ship is thwarted. The parrot/accompanist added many truly corny knock-knock jokes. We all yelled many an “arrrrggh” as we enjoyed the fun and adventure of this year’s melodrama.

Pictured are Rita from Alaskan Frontier Gardens B&B and Lori & Del Ann from Susitna Sunsets B&B. Caroline from Camai B&B took the picture.

There is still time to go to the show. It plays through March 12. Tickets can be purchased on line and are extremely reasonably priced.

Anchorage Alaska Moose and Bears Study

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game commissioned a study of Anchorage, Alaska, residents to find out our opinions on bear and moose population levels within Anchorage. We at Camai Bed and Breakfast were vacationing in Hawaii during the time approximately 2500 Anchorage phone numbers were called. About half of the called numbers resulted in a response.

As reported in today’s Anchorage Daily News, Anchorage residents “like having moose and bears as neighbors” however, we don’t want an increase in the number of moose or bears living here. Respondents indicated we find Anchorage “more interesting and special” because of the wildlife living here with us. The study is posted on the Anchorage Daily News website.

While my response was not taken, I certainly agree that I like having the wildlife living within Anchorage. Many of Camai Bed and Breakfast guests enjoy the moose that frequent our backyard’s garden. I also agree with the respondents who have almost no bears in their neighborhood and am thankful that in the almost 30 years of living in our frequently remodeled B&B, we have only heard about one bear several blocks away from our place.

Anchorage Moose at Camai Bed and Breakfast

The moose sightings continue to be abundant at Camai Bed and Breakfast in Anchorage, Alaska. This moose was seen and photographed by Pele Harrison, one of the bed and breakfast guests last month. The moose enjoy eating their way along Chester Creek which bounds Camai B&B in the backyard.

Moose are so common and loved, except when they eat expensive ornamental plants, that the Anchorage Daily News puts out an annual moose calendar. So far this year the moose have not eaten any valuable plants in our yard. At times I would like them to do a little more pruning of our rose bushes. When spring comes we keep our tea roses up on our back deck since they are so appealing to the moose.

Alaska Stuffed Biscuits recipe

The Anchorage Alaska Bed and Breakfast Club met today at Camai Bed and Breakfast. The picture was taken after we enjoyed eating breakfast. I served several new-to-Camai B&B recipes. The Alaska Stuffed Biscuits recipe was sent to me by a Heather, a friend in Juneau, Alaska. Heather used to live in Anchorage. She got married, had a child and the family moved to Juneau.

The recipe is posted on the new blog for the Anchorage BB Club.

Anchorage Summer Sun & Hawaiian Sunsets

We just figured it out! Hawaii has such a winter attraction for Alaskans because we crave the sunshine! I suppose it can all be corrected by taking Vitamin D supplements. I bought the Vitamin D supplement at Costco today and am ready to start tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile I hope you enjoy all the Hawaiian sunset pictures I took while we were there the end of December 2009 through beginning of January 2010. All of these pictures were taken either from the roof top parking garage at Lawai Beach Resort or from the lanai of our unit at Lawai Beach Resort. What great memories we have of our trip!

I now look forward to my training walks in the great Alaskan outdoors once spring comes. I recently found more information on Vitamin D from an online newsletter from active.com.

Alaskan enjoys Hawaii winter sunrises

This past December and January we at Camai Bed and Breakfast vacationed in Hawaii, Kauai to be specific. The Alaska winters are beautiful as shown in this time lapse of Cook Inlet. While beauty surrounds us in winte, daylight is short. I crave the light.

Almost every morning of the vacation I got up well before sunrise and set out on a walk. Some mornings I walked toward a place with a good vista for sunrises. The south shore where we stayed had no view of the sunrises.

Every sunrise I saw was beautiful and unique. Afterwards I walked back to our accommodation and enjoyed just being able to walk without extra outer wear. While Kauai is the garden isle and a great place to get away from Alaska’s long winters, I am glad to be back home in Alaska with all the activities an Alaskan winter affords.

Fair Trade Coffee at Anchorage Alaska’s Camai Bed and Breakfast

Fair Trade Logo

We at Anchorage Camai Bed and Breakfast became aware of the Fair Trade movement for social change several years ago. At that time I began buying Fairly Traded Coffee to serve at Camai B&B. Recently I’ve become aware that gourmet coffee giants such as Starbucks are selling coffee that is Fair Trade. On the surface buying Fairly Traded coffee sounds like a good thing to do, but what is it and does it matter that Camai Bed and Breakfast buys Fair Trade coffee?

Fair Trade Coffee is a to way for ethically minded people to link to democratically organized groups of poor Southern producers. The goal is to help alleviate the poverty of many of the world’s coffee growers.

“One Cup at a Time: Poverty Alleviation and Fair Trade Coffee in Latin America.” This report dated March 2003 was based on a research study conducted by the Fair Trade Research Group at Colorado State University.

Some highlights of the report:
• Fair Trade certified coffee producers agree to produce their coffee under an externally monitored set of social and environmental standards. In return they receive a guaranteed price for their coffee.
• When this research was done the vast majority of Fair Trade coffee was produced in indigenous communities in Latin America.
• It concluded that the Fair Trade movement has “greatly improved the well-being of small-scale coffee farmers and their families.”
For the full report click here
Scroll all the way to the bottom and click on reference note #20.

The World Trade Organizations’ website lists ten standards (mostly for the growers) of fair trade.

1. Creating Opportunities for Economically Disadvantaged Producers
2. Transparency and Accountability
3. Trading Practices
4. Payment of a Fair Price
5. Child Labor and Forced Labor
6. Non Discrimination, Gender Equity and Freedom of Association
7. Working Conditions
8. Capacity Building
9. Promotion of Fair Trade
10. Environment
Details are on their website linked above.

Bottom line: Join us each morning for freshly brewed Fair Trade coffee or a Fair Trade espresso at Camai B&B. Each cup makes a difference.

Anchorage Winter Activities & Camai B&B's flowers

It is a beautiful winter in Anchorage; however I long for summer flowers. My garden of last summer is merely a memory as the Anchorage days grow longer. I'm certain one of my Master Gardner friends is busy planning her annual trek to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle this week.

The end of this month we in Anchorage will celebrate Fur Rondy and then have all the Iditarod Race mushers leave for the long trip to Nome by dog sled. All great winter activities that will get us outside to enjoy winter.

I will begin forcing some twelve tulip bulbs which I’ve had getting ready in my freezer for this moment. Can spring and summer with all the colorful flowers be far behind?

Yet More Moose at Camai B&B in Anchorage

So far this winter the sightings of moose in Anchorage, Alaska, around Camai Bed and Breakfast have been numerous. Sean and Pele, Darwin’s parents, sent many of these pictures from their stay at Camai Bed and Breakfast this past January. Some of the pictures posted were taken by Craig from inside Camai B&B. One picture shows the van where Darwin and his parents were taking pictures of the same moose.

From a previous post I expressed my wish that Darwin could see moose during his Anchorage visit to see his great-grandmother. Darwin saw approximately ten different moose while he was in Anchorage. In the beginning it was exciting to see the moose. Toward the end of his visit it had become rather “ho-hum.” Darwin’s grandmother was “the high number of moose sightings” winner with 12 different moose…pretty remarkable within a span of just one week!

What a well-mannered child Darwin is and a pleasure to have had him, his parents, his grandparents, and aunt stay with us. It is such a joy to interact with curious ever-eager-for-knowledge children. His parents emailed that Darwin asked a lot of questions about us and the B&B, “If they have a bed and breakfast, do they eat dinner there too?” This is a perfectly logical question! (Yes, Craig and I do get to have dinner most evenings.)