Hello NyGal, Thank you for welcoming me to the message board, it certainly feels good to finally be talking to other people who enjoys the fine art of quilting just as I do. I've only been in AK for I think 11 or 12 yrs and although I love it here I plan on moving back to the lower 48 as soon as we are able to but the house on the market and get it sold. To me it's kind of funny that you said you still miss the moose because the main reason that I'm leaving AK is because the ungodly sub-zero temps wit having lupus just doesn't work very well. Me personally I absolutely love those huge lumpy animals. They are kind of ugly but as strange as this sounds every time I see a Mama Moose with it's baby I always say how pretty they look. As a matter of fact I enjoy the moose so much that my husband and I fly to Montana about every other month to look for a house to buy so I can continue to enjoy the moose and also see the same bears that keep my lungs healthy because I damned near scream bloody murder every time I see one and Lord only knows my blood pressure goes through the roof and like to give me a heart attack when they creep out of my 10 acres of all trees looking to make my horse part of their meal. I don't know what it is about especially the moose but I love to get up in the morning, look out the window and 99% of the times there's at least 2 or more of them out there chewing away at the tree branches. I couldn't imagine not seeing them anymore.