Although not always a smooth transition,  we made it to summer!

The time in between white and green is the season of mud and yuck known as break-up. If you hear someone refer to the season between winter and summer as anything other then break-up you can tell they are from Outside*.  I was going to write a rambling diatribe on the topic of break up but as luck would have it many Alaskans have beat me to it. (I googled it, really way more then I would have guessed.) So I will suggest this one (opens in a new link) The Love/ Hate Relationship of Alaskan Break-Up.  *as well as this guide to Alaska Speak – where you will learn that Outside refers to the lower 48 and/or anywhere that isn’t Alaska.

Join me in moving right past the whole break up time and jump right into the beautiful sunny summer greenery and vast blue skies that offer a stark contrast to the mysterious beauty of endless winter nights.

Most of my gardens are perennial, as I have become in my later years a bit more economical (read lazy & cheap) when it comes to gardening. And for me perennials offer the most bang for the buck, one planting for years of colorful enjoyment.  As the short, but endlessly light summer season blazes by raised beds around the property flanked with rocks or railroad ties will erupt in different colors. In some places blurring where different varieties are creeping into each others territory over time. Edible treats like rhubarb and raspberries seem to explode they grow so well.  I truly love this property where we live with our dogs, the sloping hill and view down the valley, the excellent trail access, the wide open yard. It always amazes me as I look out around the kennel in summer that this is the same place as the snow covered winter wonderland we were just living in.

SO for our friends who had the opportunity to visit the Dew Claw Dogs this winter; here a view of summer.