[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-seldovia-houses":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"For the past week and a half I've been visiting family in \u003Ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seldovia,_Alaska\">Seldovia\u003C/a>, on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. (The closest town you might have heard of is Homer.) One of my favourite things about Seldovia are its houses, in all their strange and wonderful shapes, and very often on stilts, to keep them raised up from water and ice. I could have happily spent all summer drawing them, but here's one, the Dancing Eagles lodge by the harbour:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_dancing_eagles_painting_zps5ahb2lrz-2efa7f72d1.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI did a rough pencil sketch sitting in front of the house, but when the drizzle started, I took it back to my aunt and uncle's house to paint in ink and watercolour. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_dancing_eagles_painting2_zpsj1kygewa-5d7191012b.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's the house itself, lit up about midnight, just before sunset. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_dancingeagles_sunset_zpshx9smrjt-dcda4f2ba1.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's where my aunt and uncle live, on a place called the Slough (pronounced 'slew' in Seldovia). This is fairly low tide. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_slough3_zpskgc4wbuo-06245fe4ff.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThe Slough was a big inspiration for the houses in my northern-themed book with \u003Ca href=\"http://philip-reeve.com/\">Philip Reeve\u003C/a>, \u003Ci>\u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/pugs-of-the-frozen-north/\">Pugs of the Frozen North\u003C/a>\u003C/i>. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_pugs_book_insitu_zpsm2y2iyjb-7101574d5c.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThe 'Snowdovia' in our book is covered in snow, and I've only ever visited Seldovia in summer, so I had to use a bit of imagination. But it's a magical winter in the book, not even a regular winter, so I didn't have to worry too much about getting everything totally realistic. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/pugs_snowdovia_zps271d16ec-7436d2a1e5.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003C!--more Click here for lots more photos under the cut!-->\\r\nOo, there's Walt coming out of his garage.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_waltsgarage1_zpsy2lsji43-56fa3fde47.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nShould we ask him for a peek at what's inside?\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_waltsgarage2_zpscipx6hkr-a292b57382.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nNot many of these kinds of cars in Seldovia! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_waltsgarage5_zps6hencczu-49448c3f8f.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's Walt in his workshop, which he keeps toasty warm in the winter with that big log stove. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_waltsgarage6_zpshw1vfz8v-9eea0b2e32.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI love the way his tools glow in the light. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_waltsgarage4_zpshy3ye2ma-e7ab2a51ed.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_waltsgarage3_zpsi3h1rdef-2513055e7f.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nLet's walk around Seldovia and have a look at some more houses. Quite a few log cabins! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_logcabin2_zps7kn7r9nt-a75421cdb6.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThat's my aunt and uncle's house on the far end. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_slough_houses_zpsyh6mdadu-0ea75854a7.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nMy aunt always stops for a garage sale. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_garage_sale1_zpsw65xihme-496feca280.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThere are Kirby and John, having an extended lunch break while they wait for low tide to take out the boat they've been power-cleaning. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_kirby_john_zps8gmqbplw-cacff64442.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI love the way some people use plastic buoys as decoration.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_buoyhouse2_zpsxmwtanjv-8f20a1e965.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_buoyhouse1_zpsuhuju5lv-d520bbb5bd.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nOr sometimes they just leave them heaped up in a pile with their crab pots. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_buoys_field_zps4rsdtxdz-497dbeda43.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_logcabin1_zpsyu5qps0h-d68a7c94f1.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_garage_zpsc5mee81x-e6217db5e2.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_dandelions_zpseok50kqy-5a097b6e8e.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_boardwalkhouse_zps8liunvvy-901bd4f7cc.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_wooden_house_zpsf3himusa-6a44a0728d.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_trespassers_zpsncf9i3j6-62e81f2a2a.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_swedishhorse_zpsloccxyuu-b45366db41.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_redhouse_zpsspmn6p1y-f253eaa53c.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_pierre_marge3_zpsqsqbnbnf-3f93343848.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_pierre_marge1_zps9ilnihk3-40d79caaf5.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_logcabin7_zps8bbybdns-43dc9f1da2.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_logcabin6_zpstvhzhenw-39556dc39b.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_logcabin5_zpsm8c1plmy-da34b9607e.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_logcabin3_zpsut7uyyes-006686b31c.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_amazon_statue_zpsri84lmih-4a6050c571.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_birdhouse_zpsfqz0fov3-9f3e32f3a0.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_slough_sunset_zpsuwwdbmjo-485ff4da58.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd back to my aunt and uncle's house on the Slough. The crows there are very sociable, while the bald eagles tend to stay higher up in the trees and look down. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_deck_crows_zpspfu48qrg-53824888ed.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nFamily inside: \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_puzzle_evening_zpsuqvrgesu-5961be1566.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI took a zillion photos and did a bit of art while I was in Seldovia, so I thought I'd better not post it all at once. Stay tuned for more pictures. :) \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/seldovia_stuart_sarah_zpsnb4qwmj3-6b98446859.jpg\">","2017-06-29T07:55:00.000Z","seldovia-houses",[],"seldovia houses",1776628729098]