Life

This 2014 photo provided by Susan Vanderwiel shows shows the fire pit she and her family enjoy year-round at their lake house in Apple River, Ill. Vanderwiel is one of a growing number of homeowners who are using outdoor living spaces year-round thanks to features from fire pits and pizza ovens to heated floors and three-wall rooms. (AP Photo/Sue Vanderwiel)

Additions can make the yard a winter hangout too

As fun as summer at the lake is, Sue Vanderwiel and family also make the most of their Apple River, Illinois, vacation home in the… Continue reading

This 2014 photo provided by Susan Vanderwiel shows shows the fire pit she and her family enjoy year-round at their lake house in Apple River, Ill. Vanderwiel is one of a growing number of homeowners who are using outdoor living spaces year-round thanks to features from fire pits and pizza ovens to heated floors and three-wall rooms. (AP Photo/Sue Vanderwiel)

Poem: Fireweed

FireweedDee Rusin, KenaiThe air is full White fluff Spinning swirling Seeds scattering Different directions Carried by currents Seeking a site Settling in the soil Soon… Continue reading

In this image released by 20th Century Fox, Dylan O'Brien appears in a scene from the film, "The Maze Runner." (AP Photo/20th Century Fox, Ben Rothstein)

Movie review: Mazerunner

“The Maze Runner” 20th Century Fox1 hour 53 minutes So much in the way of fantasy fiction owes a huge debt to Rod Serling and… Continue reading

In this image released by 20th Century Fox, Dylan O'Brien appears in a scene from the film, "The Maze Runner." (AP Photo/20th Century Fox, Ben Rothstein)
"Five Days Left" by Julie Lawson Timmer

“Five Days Left” by Julie Lawson Timmer

Grandma was right. Darn it.Every year, when November rolled around and you longed for the holidays, she told you not to wish your life away.… Continue reading

"Five Days Left" by Julie Lawson Timmer

Pioneer Potluck: About getting ready for winter

Canning, freezing and drying The summer bounty I do not know if it is because I watched and participated in the preserving of fruits and… Continue reading

  • Oct 1, 2014
  • By Grannie Annie
  • Food

Pumpkin and sweet potatoes make good eating in fall

Each year, families visit the local pumpkin patch to choose the ideal candidate for carving into a jack-o’-lantern. For the purposes of cooking and baking,… Continue reading

  • Oct 1, 2014
  • By Sue Ade
  • Food
This Sept. 8, 2014 photo shows grilled zucchini ribbons with Parmesan and toasted almonds in Concord, N.H. The grilled zucchini ribbons add both flavor and visual appeal to many dishes. (AP Photo/Matthew Mead)

Thin is in for this grilled zucchini with Parmesan cheese

Summer may be done, but the proliferation of zucchini continues. And we might as well make the most of it. Because even though zucchini is… Continue reading

  • Sep 30, 2014
  • By ELIZABETH KARMEL
  • Food
This Sept. 8, 2014 photo shows grilled zucchini ribbons with Parmesan and toasted almonds in Concord, N.H. The grilled zucchini ribbons add both flavor and visual appeal to many dishes. (AP Photo/Matthew Mead)
Mary Puppins admires pretty blue flowers along the shore of Cooper Lake. She is a schipperke who owns Charlotte and Arthur Sponsel of Sterling. (Submitted photo)

Pet photo: Stop to smell the flowers

… Continue reading

Mary Puppins admires pretty blue flowers along the shore of Cooper Lake. She is a schipperke who owns Charlotte and Arthur Sponsel of Sterling. (Submitted photo)

Learning for Life: What to do with those beautiful flower baskets

Your summertime flower baskets were just gorgeous this year, but now that it is autumn what are you going to do with them? Fortunately, Cooperative… Continue reading

Unhinged Alaska: The trip

I hold a trip to Anchorage in the same esteem as a “pick up poop patrol” in a heavily populated elephant compound. So, when my… Continue reading

Community news and notes

Tesoro Corp. awarded a $4,000 scholarship to Rylee DeVito, a graduate of Kenai Central High School in Kenai.DeVito is one of 50 children of Tesoro… Continue reading

In this photo provided by Wayfair.com, folding steps like these help ease the transport of elderly pets and can be conveniently stored at home or in your vehicle. (AP Photo/Wayfair.com)

Critter comforts for older pets

Just as there are lots of products on the market to help ease the aches, pains and mobility issues of human old age, so there… Continue reading

In this photo provided by Wayfair.com, folding steps like these help ease the transport of elderly pets and can be conveniently stored at home or in your vehicle. (AP Photo/Wayfair.com)

Church news

Our Lady of the Angels hosts Marriage Encounter retreat On October 5, all married couples are invited to spend an afternoon together in a Marriage… Continue reading

The Funny River Fire burns high in the Andrew Simons Wilderness Unit on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge this past summer. This unit is the largest of three that make up the 1.3 million-acre Kenai Wilderness. (Kenai National Wildlife Refuge photo)

Refuge Notebook: Celebrating 50 years of Wilderness

Just a few weeks ago, the Wilderness Act celebrated its 50th anniversary. Signed into law by President Lyndon Baines Johnson on September 3, 1964, the… Continue reading

The Funny River Fire burns high in the Andrew Simons Wilderness Unit on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge this past summer. This unit is the largest of three that make up the 1.3 million-acre Kenai Wilderness. (Kenai National Wildlife Refuge photo)

An Outdoor View: Distractions

While waiting for a bite the other day, it dawned upon me that the main reason I don’t catch many fish is because of distractions.For… Continue reading

This May 9, 2010 photo provided by Marijn van den Brink shows Tulipa polychroma, a wild tulip, in a remote unforgiving native habitat in the Sahand Mountains of northwestern Iran. The fragrant blooms begin to emerge as soon as the snow melts. Bumblebees rely on the nectar from these low-lying flowers to survive in early spring. (AP Photo/Marijn van den Brink)

Go wild: Plant species tulips for early color

Maybe it’s time to rethink the way we landscape using tulips.True, the familiar, large, goblet-shaped blooms make a colorful springtime splash grouped in beds and… Continue reading

This May 9, 2010 photo provided by Marijn van den Brink shows Tulipa polychroma, a wild tulip, in a remote unforgiving native habitat in the Sahand Mountains of northwestern Iran. The fragrant blooms begin to emerge as soon as the snow melts. Bumblebees rely on the nectar from these low-lying flowers to survive in early spring. (AP Photo/Marijn van den Brink)
In an Aug. 28, 2014 photo, a GPS device is shown along the Missouri River near Fort Benton, Mont. The Upper Missouri Breaks Interpretive Center recently established an EarthCache trail along the Wild and Scenic Upper Missouri River.(AP Photo/Great Falls Tribune, Erin Madison)

EarthCache trail teaches geology of Missouri River

FORT BENTON, Mont. (AP) — Just down river from Fort Benton stands Signal Point.The knob along the Missouri River is made up of glacier till,… Continue reading

In an Aug. 28, 2014 photo, a GPS device is shown along the Missouri River near Fort Benton, Mont. The Upper Missouri Breaks Interpretive Center recently established an EarthCache trail along the Wild and Scenic Upper Missouri River.(AP Photo/Great Falls Tribune, Erin Madison)

Seize the day!

“Carpe diem! Rejoice while you are alive; enjoy the day; live life to the fullest; make the most of what you have. It is later… Continue reading

What’s Happening

Best Bet ■ Frontier Community Services and the Kenai Senior Connection Inc. are hosting their annual fundraising Murder Mystery Dinner Theater. There will be two… Continue reading

You know all about Santa

You know all about Santa

Sorry to say, but know all about Santa.Yeah, you learned the truth about the Jolly Old Elf years ago, but you let your younger sibs… Continue reading

You know all about Santa