...oh yes I did. And its breath stank of fish.



No post yesterday. I had a horrendous migraine, so didn't get a chance to do anything.



So I managed to cram two days events into one. I went shopping to Nordstroms. Ah...home.…



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Well, I am just waiting for my flight to Anchorage. It was snowing heavily yesterday and when I rang Penair to find out what time I needed to check in and how bad the snow needed to be before they stopped the planes flying the guy at the… Continue

But first...Donna Messes Up.



So, last night I finally got back to Aniak after being fog-bound in Kalskag. Before we left, all the teachers left me in the school in Kalskag to answer the phone (so, Ewan, you were right - first I was a pilot, yesterday afternoon I was a teacher's assistant (one of the teaching assistants didn't turn up so I got to spend all afternoon with one class). I read to them, helped them with maths (oh-oh - the poor kids are going to fail their next test, and… Continue

Some of my favourite sisters from Aniak - Juliana (age 12), Miranda (age 7), Kendel (age 10) - photo taken by Miranda's twin sister Emily. Miranda and Emily have both written me stories, Juliana is a wonderful poet, Kendel loves books. Lovely, bright and funny girls.



By the way, did I mention that I flew a plane? :o)…



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Yesterday I flew a plane. No...wait...let me say that again because I'm not sure you heard it correctly. YESTERDAY I FLEW A PLANE!!!!! Just call me Biggles.





I was supposed to be flying out of Sleetmute on Sunday, back to Aniak so that I could… Continue

This is Mary Effemka, who is one of the loveliest people it has ever been my pleasure to meet. She is a cook at the school here and when I left last year she gave me a lovely note and gift. I saw her briefly on Thursday as I arrived and she left for an in-service day and I was sad that I wasn't going to get to see her for longer. But she stopped by the B&B on her way home… Continue

...when you fall flat on your face in it.



This will be a post with a lot of random stuff that I have forgotten to mention before. Yesterday, being a Saturday, there was no school. So Alfreda and Samuel had said that they would take me for a walk around the village. So I walked uptown to pick them up, then we went downtown, then we went back uptown again. It's a very… Continue

After a peaceful sleep in what has to be the quietest place on earth, and a yummy breakfast of eggs over easy it was time for the long commute to school. It was all of a minute's walk!



Only two of the Sleetmute students were in this morning. A… Continue

This is the beautiful Kuskokwim River from the air. It's wide and winding and has loads of narrow tributaries running off it. But I am running ahead of myself. I got up this morning and packed for my afternoon trip to Sleetmute. Ronnie's little boy came over for a few minutes in the morning before he went to his grandma's (Oma). He's 2 and a half and very bright. He has a… Continue

A brief interlude as I am not sure how much (or even whether) I will be able to post over the next few days. Straight after school today (High School this morning, Junior High this afternoon) I am getting on a tiny plane for Sleetmute and I am not sure if I will have internet access. So I thought I would post a wee update on yesterday evening before I head off, just in… Continue

Today was a glorious day for all sorts of reasons. This morning it was off to Aniak Elementary School and I knew I was in for a treat. I had such a lovely time with them last year. I packed up my rucksack with books, candy, pens and pencils, as well as copies of the anthology of childrens' stories, as I was going to be seeing some of the students who have stories in it. I was… Continue

So, as predicted I arrived at the airport to be greeted by the dreaded words "So, how much do you weigh Donna?" I showed the nice lady my boots and we agreed that they were, indeed, very heavy looking. I then toddled off to the gate. When flying inside Alaska, you don't go through the usual security procedures. You just go and sit in the gate. This, presumably, is how the man sitting next to me managed to have an item of carry on luggage that I have never seen before. An axe. A big, shiny… Continue

This is for Ewan, who thinks I am mentioning food far too much - my pizza last night was reindeer and feta cheese and it was delicious, although I feel vaguely guilty about tucking into Rudolf. Lunch today was Alaskan King Crab, halibut, oysters, scallops and salmon at this place, which is a really quaint Alaskan restaurant.…



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Well, I am now in Alaska and it is snowing! Woohoo! The Dr Frankenstein snowboots (why do they not come in a kittenheel?), ugly hat and all that strange stuff I got from that weird outdoor shop are going to come in useful after all. This was the scene from my hotel room on arrival - it has since got even deeper!…



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Well, it was the first full day of Bouchercon yesterday. I didn't make any panels in the morning, instead learning the ins and outs of the US postal system to send some books to Alaska in time for my arrival. The theory was that it would make my over-the-weight-limit luggage back into normal territory again. Sadly, I have replaced the books I sent with more books, so my cunning plan was foiled. I also went to Walgreens. For some reason I LOVE American drug stores. So I spent $100 on crap I… Continue

Well, I am here safe and sound in Baltimore. And I know that this will come as a shock to anyone who knows me, but SO IS MY LUGGAGE! Yes, this time it didn't take a wee side trip to somewhere else on the way. And the whole trip went very smoothly, despite arriving in Amsterdam 5 minutes after my plane to Washington started boarding. I have to say that I love Washington Dulles Airport. They have these little sheds on wheels with pneumatic lifts that look like trailer trash tanks and which take… Continue

Well, it's time to dust off the old blog in preparation for my upcoming trip to Bouchercon in Baltimore and then on to Alaska (well, it was a good excuse since Baltimore is on the way to Alaska, right?)



When I told my mum I was going to be going back she said "Will you be doing that BLUG thingy again?" So… Continue