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Welcome to my weekly update for August 8, 2021!
We took it a little easy last weekend but we did visit The Musk Ox Farm and a Reindeer Farm. At The Musk Ox Farm, the oxen are kept in their pastures and we were only allowed to view them from the opposite side of a fence. Their hair is combed and/or shed in the spring and sold as qiviut, “the finest wool in the world.” We felt some samples and it is unbelievably soft! And expensive.
The Reindeer Farm is more of a petting zoo and they had all kinds of animals. We were allowed to feed and pet the reindeer! They’re so soft! And actually smaller than I expected. Their backs weren’t even as high as my waist and I’m an average 5’6″ (168 cm) tall. They had several spring babies that were absolutely adorable! They also have a couple of moose (rescued as orphans), a bison (who was sulking because she was on a diet), a couple of yaks, a family of elk, and several alpacas, including a baby! Oh my goodness; so much cuteness! Both farms have fun social media pages if that’s something you’re interested in.
Alaskan Animal Slideshow:
All images © Jennifer G. at Introverted Reader, 2021
I’ve included wildlife pictures from my cruise around Kenai Fjords National Park this week as well.
- Musk Ox
- Reindeer
- Yak
- Sea Otters
- Dall Sheep
- Mountain Goat (These are shaggier, have a goatee, and have black horns in comparison to Dall Sheep)
- Steller Sea Lions
- Tufted Puffin
- Black Bear (Taken with a zoom lens from a safe distance. Please don’t EVER get close to a bear)
- Bald Eagle
Posted:
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy–3 star review
Ten Covers That Made Me Read the Book
Read:
Stormsong (The Kingston Cycle #2) by C. L. Polk
A Cold Day for Murder (Kate Shugak #1) by Dana Stabenow
Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic by Jennifer Niven
Currently Reading:
Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
Whiskey When We’re Dry by John Larison, read by Sophie Amoss
Up Next:
I’ll be reading Arabian Nights (and Days) (Fables #7) by Bill Willingham, from my last trip to the library, soon.
What did your week look like?
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon and Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer hosts Sunday Post. Kathryn at Book Date hosts It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site.
28 Comments
I am so jealous that you are in Alaska at the moment! It is the one place in this whole world my mom wants to go. I am hoping that can happen in the next year so so.
I hope you both get to visit soon!
Great pics! It sounds like you’ve been really making use of your time in Alaska.
I’ve bought qiviut before (though I haven’t met the musk oxen) and it was some of the most luxurious yarn I’ve ever worked with. I made a cowl and fingerless gloves from it, and they are both SO. WARM.
I thought of you when we were looking at all the things made from qiviut and wondered if you’d worked with it before. It really is ridiculously soft and seems like it would be warm!
It is so soft and warm! I want to knit more with it, but I don’t live in an area where it’s cold enough to really need it except on really rare days.
Great pictures…I really, really want to go to Alaska!
It’s a beautiful state! I hope you get to visit at some point!
Great pictures! I read The Scarlet Pimpernel years ago and enjoyed it. You are not tempting me into a reread though. Enjoy your time in Alaska. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
Great photos! I love the look of the books, and I’m curious about Whiskey When We’re Dry.
Enjoy your week, and here are my WEEKLY UPDATES
I love a Petting Zoo 🙂
Wishing you a great reading week
Love your animal pics!
Have a great week.
That oxen wool sounds amazing. Loved the photos. Happy week of reading.
You are getting such great out in nature time, which is so relaxing and stress-reducing. Good for you!
I love that the bison was sulking. 🙂 Amazing pics! Love otters…
There’s a place to the north of us that has bison- they’re so wild.
The otters are probably my favorite too.
I was surprised to see bison in Alaska but apparently a subspecies called wood bison lived here. They disappeared after being overhunted but they’ve been reintroduced from Canada. Yay!
Just love hearing about and seeing photos of your adventures. Keep them coming! Men We Reaped is on my tbr, but I’m not sure when I’ll get to it.
I’m glad you enjoy them!
Men We Reaped is a devastating. I’ve been thinking about taking a break but I’m almost done so I think I’ll just continue on.
I’m crazy about all of your animal slides. Most of these are animals I have never seen, including puffin, yak, and musk ox. I’d love to see a reindeer especially.
The Men We Reaped looks great. I’m eager to hear your thoughts.
I think I will pass on Scarlet Pimpernel.
We took a puffin cruise while we were in Maine so we’d seen Atlantic puffins. The horned puffins look pretty similar but the tufted puffins were completely new to us. I was so excited! I love puffins. I was honestly excited to see everything. I think I squeal like a teenager every time we see a new animal!
The Men We Reaped is fantastic so far but it is absolutely devastating at the same time. It’s definitely a book you have to be mentally prepared for.
I keep hearing that the movie of The Scarlet Pimpernel is good so I’m excited to check it out. There’s a good story in here, hidden under all the purple prose and deliberate obtuseness.
A sulking bison!!!! lol Awww no one likes to be on a diet.
Love the wildlife pictures, especially the sea otters.
My dad went to Alaska a couple times on business. He always brought something back (or had it shipped) from wherever he went. From Alaska we got sourdough starter and a whole salmon.
The bison wouldn’t even come near people when they first put her on the diet because she was so upset! Now she was at the fence where we toured by her but she very deliberately kept her back to us and refused to turn around. I know how she feels!
Sourdough and salmon seems to sum up the basis of Alaskan cuisine! We’ve been pleasantly surprised by how great the restaurants are though. They may start with those basics but they go some interesting directions from there.
Oh that poor sweet hungry bison. lol
My brother went on a trip to Alaska some years ago and he brought back a ball of musk ox yarn for me. I love seeing the photos. It’s the next big trip we want to do when we decide we can travel again.
Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
I hope you get to Alaska soon!
Great pictures!! What a cool place to get to experience!
We feel fortunate to spend the summer exploring such a beautiful place!
Love seeing your pictures! Those oxen look enormous, but I now very much want to pet them. The book about Ada Blackjack caught my eye, I’m absolutely in awe of her, so I’ll be looking that one up! I hope you have a lovely week 🙂
Juli @ A Universe in Words
They’re actually smaller than they look. Not that I would want to make one angry. But their shoulders are lower than mine. They have short legs. I thought they would be closer to buffalo size.