another year older, none the wiser...

kayaks bunch together in the calm of the lagoon. peace from the wind is never a bad thing. below is at the campfire night 2. jennifer, sandra and paula entertain.

jennifer paddles under blue skies, below is some of the odd rock conformations on hesketh island. not sure if conformations is a word and if it is, if it's the right word, but it's after midnight so i'm in no mood for getting out the dictionary.

sandra paddles in the calm waters around hesketh and enjoys the sights of the day.

i'm forever taking reflection pictures. i never bore of them. kayaks are great photo ops in my mind. the bright colours just look so brilliant on the water. i love it when the water is flat and calm...best time for reflections...and no worry of tipping over.

these two pictures are taken of hesketh island. you can see what a magnificent day it was for a paddle.

while we waited for our water taxi ride back to homer there were a few families on kayak beach enjoying a picnic i believe. the day was warm and the kids had stripped down to the undies and rain boots. just looked so alaskan...i'd taken another cute picture but it appeared once i got it on the computer that one of the kids had stripped down a bit more... i didn't want to be accused of child porn. hehe. kids always have a great time.

these are just the kayaks lined up while we ate a snack and waited the taxi. that's all the pics for tonight...off to work tomorrow so may load more after the weekend.

so say i anyway. i turned 45 today. the older i get the less i care about the whole birthday thing. i mean the celebration of. i like getting the well wishes and a few cards and calls as much as the next gal, but i like a peaceful day overall. today was just such a day. i went for a walk with a friend and our dogs in the rain, took a nap, talked on the phone for a few hours and finally joined a friend for a dinner out at outback. haven't been there forever and ate way too much. we stayed several hours and just laughed.

i have a few gift cards for amazon so i'll need to peruse that lovely online store again. i was on last night and tried to outfit my new camera with an extra battery and lens cap holder, but they would ship from someplace other than amazon and that about doubled the price of said items. so i selected some books and then just gave it up for the night. who would think i'd reach a point in life of having no real needs. i have too much "stuff" already and i pity the person who one day has to go through it all if i haven't weeded it down by the time i leave this earth. hopefully, i have a few years before that becomes an issue. i have a gift card for body shop as well so i'll have to get over to the mall. i obviously don't do that very often as that gift card is from christmas. i love the stuff at the body shop. my big gift i bought for myself, or i could say the dogs bought it for me....though neither has a job. i call blossom my "guard dog" and rio is "the enforcer". so that would be thier jobs...aside from general giving of attention and that of jesters of the house.

rio is all full of tiny bumps from mosquito attacks. those bugs have gotten very thick this week. can't stand the little buggers and have nearly had many car wrecks trying to rid myself of mosquito's in the car. one mosquito can quite un-nerve me.

i failed to mention the last picture in yesterdays tutka installment was to show how much ash was on the mountains down there. of course, i was baffled for a bit as to why the mountain tops were white, but then it occured to me that it had probably snowed at the tops since the volcano blew.

played a bit of the mediator as usual. most of my family is mormon and then one brother is gay so the gay marriage issue can be a bit of a hot topic. exchanged some emails with jeff as it seems he's been getting pretty rankerous with a few of the other siblings. i figured he'd be pretty upset about my response...emails can get pretty out of control i've noted. i can be a little frank in expressing my opinion on matters. we did have a good talk today about it all. i listen and put in my two cents. neither side will ever totally agree with the other so how does one find some sort of peace in the middle. i may never know, but at some point you just have to accept that there will never be agreeance and forge ahead. i do think he gets worked up over things and goes on the attack...it is always amazing how as you grow older you tend to grow apart at some level. at least that is how it's happened in our family. i left the church in my early 20's and that definitely put some space between me and my siblings. the church is a strong social institution and not being a part of it creats a divide that will never really be bridged. time and distance further the gap. i try to call and keep in touch. with several siblings this is simply me listening to them. i'm always amazed at how little they know of me and my life. i know it always saddened my mom that we weren't one of those close families. a few siblings rarely make the attempt to keep in touch. life gets busy, people get involved...it's work to keep those lines of communication open and easier to just let the ties that bind unravel and fall away.

i suspect society will eventually pass the gay marriage laws...it really just seems the fair and just thing to do. nothing happens quickly in a society so one must be patient to some extent with the process. some things take generations. gays have made a great deal of progress in a short time, while blacks and females and such still struggle with thier rights and liberties. he got his earful from me because he once again brought up the nazi germany comparison. i really get annoyed by this sort of comparison...we really have lived a cush life in the states for many years....it's just beyond our grasp to comprehend what others in the world have endured who have lived in active war zones. i find it offensive and belittling to compare our struggles to anything those poor people endured.

watched a show on cults last night which is always just fascinating to me. how reasonable and intelligent people can get lured into these bizarre cults is just wild. amazing how much power one individual can have on those around them. also watched my netflix, "after the marriage"...hell i think that is the name. i enjoyed it. probably wouldn't watch it again, but it was interesting. not the story i had expected, but kept me watching to find out what would come of it.

i've been listening to my solitudes cd's as i write. i love the set of them pachelbel, bach, mozart and beethoven. i used to play them at work when i had ventilated patients. just so relaxing. the noise of all the icu machines can be really loud...thought it may be nice to have something else to listen to. hopefully, the pics will load soon and i will crawl happily into bed with a book, a few cats and two dogs...well rio will sleep on her feather bed on the floor. blossom really just chills for a bit on the bed before heading back downstairs.

45 years...i'm not some huge success, i've never married and i've never had kids. i suppose this would all make me a failure in the eyes of many in society, but i'm happy in my little world that i've created. i love living in this amazing place and am constantly awestruck by the beauty that surrounds me. i have been blessed with the health and ability to get out to remote parts of alaska and get to be mesmorized by the sights and sounds. a have a great many friends and aquaintances who bring me great joy. i've been blessed with great animal companions as well. i do love my family despite the sometimes disconnected lives we lead. i've really enjoyed watching my siblings kids grow up. life is simple, but it has it's little joys if one is willing to listen, look and feel....

more pictures tutka bay...

monday turned out to be beautiful. the water was calm and skies blue. i got up early, but not as early as jennifer, she was up and enjoying the views for a few hours before i got out of bed. i enjoyed the last uncracked egg and some bacon. i rarely eat bacon, but sure tasted great out camping. we decided to explore the islands that lay in front of us. first we found water, then crossed over to elephant island. that island is in the next 2 photo's. very pretty. the rock formations of the two islands we cruised around were fascinating. must be volcanic in origin. i was surprised by how many flowers are already blooming. i guess at higher tides you can kayak through the trunk looking part. the above birds were in rookeries on the island we kayaked around next. that island is called hesketh island. we'd debated going around the larger island on the other side of elephant called yukon island, but we had time restraints. in the end we were all mesmorized by the beauty of the smaller island. i figured they'd all look similar, but hesketh continued to awe us.

the duck in yesterdays picture was called a harlequin and the birds in the top picture are black guillemots. pretty cool. i'll get to add thier photo to my bird book. looks like we actually got pretty lucky seeing those. this time of year many different birds are traveling to/from so you get quite the variety. looks like i have to make more copies in order to put one in my book.

the pictures here are just ones i took monday morning before we were up and moving for the day. there are just so many things to see anytime one is by the water.

it was an enjoyable day of paddling. the only downside to paddling in this region was all of the boat traffic and all the signs of civilization that surround you. there is plenty of nature though to keep one occupied. we got picked up at kayak beach around 4 or so and enjoyed a side trip into sadie cove to pick up some others. we chased the spouts of killer whales, but didn't get a good sighting. no pictures.

we all ate a rapid dinner on the spit before heading off to anchorage. it was a pretty drive back. i stopped a few times to take photo's and the sun was starting to set when i got back to anchorage near midnight.

the dogs were very happy to see me come through the door. yesterday was clean up, plant and today was relax. i actually ended up walking in kincaid in the morning and discovering the mosquito population of anchorage had bloomed while i was away. my extended family is also growing. two neices are preggers...congrats shannon and kelly. my nephews wife is also expecting. have been having issues loading pictures to facebook so will probably just add a few more here.

so not much else to say...enjoy the pictures i guess....

tutka bay...and other stuff

above, sunset at kayak beach...i think this picture was taken between 11:30 and midnight...sunset is late here in the summer. below is a cool duck...will have to look up the name tomorrow, it's from day one paddle for me.

above is mt augustine, the volcano furtherest from anchorage, below is the next active volcano headed north called mt iliamna. have no idea why it came out sideways..it wasn't that way when i loaded it. sorry.

i was quite obsessed with these eagles perching on this rock so took many pictures. there were many cool pictures so you may see this again when i load more pictures tomorrow.

so more pictures are uploading, but they are taking forever tonight so i'll just go back and fill in later...so it may be a bit mixed up, but it's late and i'm getting sleepy. last week was spent working, cleaning house and preparing for this weekend kayak trek. was meeting 3 friends (sandra, jennifer and paula) out at tutka bay for a paddle. i am not always expedient in making my plans. i think it's just so hard at times getting the house ready, finding someone to deal with the dogs (especially rio) that it can be stressful. once i'm gone it's easy for me to relax and just enjoy the beauty. i know it's good to get away from my pets on occasion and my simple, comfortable life here. i'm a bit of a homebody. i love to cabin up and follow my happy routine.

my friend scott volunteered to take on the furs for the weekend. lucky for me he was in town this week. lucky for me that i got wednesday night off to prepare. it was a bit of a crunch. had to arrange the water taxi out of homer to the bay and plan on the 5 hour drive....

above is an otter that we spied chilling on the beach. of course, once he saw us he felt rather vulnerable and booked for the water. we saw lots of wildlife...the bulk was bald eagles so lots of eagle pictures. i got to test out my new camera some, but it's too difficult to change lens' in a kayak and also i tended to keep my powershot out on the kayak deck for fear i'd get salt water in the new rebel. mostly, the rebel sat in it's dry bag on the deck.

below is an eagle...their nest was right by our yurt so lots of baldy activity and sounds. i love the chitter. i used to have them wake me up every morning in ketchikan. i'd open my eyes to the chitter of bald eagles and look out at the ocean.

work was steady for me. of course, i was unable to get an on call for friday night meaning minimal sleep the next day and much more to do in order to get to homer in time for the water taxi. the charge nurse tried to pawn off a patient in the early morning and after some heated discussion we did "tag team" the patient and get him settled into bed. i had a respiratory kid who was doing okay and i was kept busy by a kid who got run over by a van. he was pretty dang lucky really. nothing too major except for his nose being removed...i guess that seems pretty major, but i mean of all that could go wrong when you are 8 and going under a large van....hey not too bad.

i stopped by the grocery, packed a bit and crashed for maybe 2-3 hours of sleep. i woke rushed about, loaded the car, tried to fool the dogs into thinking all was normal...but they were so onto me. they really don't fool easily. my friend scott showed up right as i was about ready to leave and grabbed leashes and dogs and headed off for a walk so i could just sneak out. i heard later that rio figured out pretty fast that i was not with them and put her breaks on. she booked it back to the house and didn't want to leave again...no doubt for fear i'd return and she'd miss me. that is life as a blind dog with seperation issues. she is better overall. i did make it out before they were dragged back to the house by the stubborn, panicked mastiff.

i hit the road and before i'd made it to girdwood ( a mere 35 miles away) i'd been clocked going 77 in a 65 and pulled over. so after i got my $200+ ticket i slowed down. i had to keep in contact with the water taxi place as they were trying to put me on with other people so they weren't using the boat and gas for just one person. my friends had arrived the night before and taking a water taxi early saturday am. i called them and when they told me to just try and hurry...i informed them i had proof of hurrying in the form of a ticket. i slowed down and i must say that was quite effective in waking my arse up.

above and below are just pictures at the very low tide sunday am. i'm a lover of the tidepooling and the girls laughed at how quickly i got up and ready to hit the tidepools. the water was beautiful, flat and calm. with other kayak friends we would be out on the water for the best part of the days kayak...the mornings tend to be lovely flat calm...these girls liked to sleep in and kayak when the wind seemed to pick up in the afternoon....so i tidepooled. so above muscles and barnacles and below seaweed.

the trek to homer is always beautiful, but it was uneventful after the ticket. i got to the water taxi on the spit at just after 5:30. the boat was headed out for a pick up so they held it up and it was a mad rush to get me and my gear on the boat and also to get me outfitted with a kayak. happy i just rented with them so all was ready at the dock. of course, it was such a rush i worried that i wouldn't have a skirt or lifejacket and paddle and all that stuff. the captain kept assuring me it was all on the boat. it was.

i must say i was very happy with a purchase i'd made earlier that week of a normal, non-mummy sleeping bag. i tend to really move alot in my sleep and those mummies just make me nuts. i get all torked up and actually my back was killing me after the hope trip. the $25 bag will be great for cabin rental nights in the summers. i was plenty warm. it's only rated to 40 degrees F. my mummy is 0 F rated. we stayed in private yurts...see below. it was pretty comfy. they hadn't stocked it as well as they are supposed to but we did find enough wood to burn and keep us warm.

like i said...in the morning i went out to see what the low tide would bring. lots of starfish and not too much else really. i did enjoy watching the eagle in the nest.

we paddled into tutka bay more when we got out on the water. then crossed over and headed for a lagoon. the water started to get more choppy. not my favorite, but once we hit the lagoon the water became so sweet and calm. we all just silently allowed our boats to be pulled into the lagoon with the tide. eventually we had to leave, eat some lunch on a little beach out of the lagoon and then do the hard paddle to our second yurt site at kayak beach. it was hard only because the wind had picked up and water was quite choppy, not to mention there is lots of boat activity so the wake can really give you a toss. before we turned yet another "last bend" (that happens all the time when you paddle....your destination is always around the next bend). we saw another eagle or two and that cute otter.

the new camp was amazingly picturesque and i took many pictures to prove this. it was just a great place to be settled in, especially as the day just got more and more beautiful. the sunset was specacular, we had a great fire going on the rocks above the beach and had million dollar views. we were up til late enjoying every minute of it. some campers from another yurt around the bend into sadie cove came and shared some wine and the view with us. oh...did i forget to mention the killer whales we spotted while paddling and also a large sea lion that came up fairly close. i kept hoping the killer whales would cruise by,but no luck there. thus is the end of day one...i'll add more pictures and tell you about day 2's paddle tomorrow. it's well after 2 am and this girl needs her sleep. it's taking way to long to load stuff tonight. not sure why some days it just goes and others it takes forever....enjoy the pictures

kayak photos and talk of the day...

these are pictures from a weeklong kayak trip in harriman fjord. we camped at a different glacier every night. very beautiful scenery and the weather was awesome. thought i was done for when the entire face of a glacier came down our last day of paddling. the waves created were so large the mountain and glacier weren't visible any longer. above is an amazing waterfall...no photo could do it justice and the sun was hitting it. below are some marmots out enjoying the sun, waiting for us to sleep so they could raid our food...whatever they thought they could find.

not much explaining required for the rest of those pictures. we've had yet another lovely alaskan summer day. took the dogs to kincaid to test out some loops off the jodphur trailhead. i love the butt diminishing hills of kincaid. the pond that had filled in the trail a few weeks ago is gone and so the trail was again walkable. no lakes so the dogs needed a few bottles of water from thier gulpy bottles(those are the best things!) blossom lays down when she gets thirsty. with that thick coat on a day with temps in the 70's she can get pretty hot. 70's is really about as hot as it gets here. this fact is fine with me.

from kincaid i headed to costco to compare thier price on the canon rebel Xsi to that on the ad for best buy. costco is en route to best buy...they price was really the same with costco slightly lower. i went with costco and bought my new camera for my alaskan summer adventures. should be a fun summer.

this weekend we head to homer for some kayaking and yurt camping. in june kelly and i will drive the denali highway, i think she'll bike it and i'll be road crew. we can stop and take some little treks with the dogs too i think. should be cool. then july takes me to kodiak to catch the ferry to dutch harbor and august is another roadtrip to deadhorse via the haul road north. will caravan with whoever i can round up. there are a few that are coming already. figured that way if someone gets a flat there are several of us to help each other out. was out to dinner with a few who want to come so the plans are getting made.

went to martha's viewing this afternoon. the quilt we made for her was laid on her coffin. it took us just a few weeks to put that quilt together, but it gave her such joy to have a quilt with pictures on it from the trail that she had loved so much. she had loops put on one end so she could hang it up and look at it from her bed. i think it was a great idea to put it on the coffin as i think people are generally uncomfortable with a body laid out. it gave a focus point away from her being deceased and instead gave john, her husband, a chance to reflect on her happy days. he was showing everyone the quilt and talking about the trip with pride. sometimes such a seemingly simple thing done for another has an impact that you just don't realize. i just thought it would be nice for her to have a reminder of her strength on her lap when this disease was making her feel so weak. it had the intended impact and then some. john told me a few months ago that they had discussed putting it on her coffin....i was so not ready to hear that at the time,but listened intensely as john needed to be able to talk about everything. i know today was hard for him, but i think it was also so great for him to have so many people come and support him. we have all worked with both of them for years and they are both such wonderful people. it was nice to see some faces from the past.

a few of us went out to dinner afterwords. we are planning trips for the summer and we reminisced about martha. laughter and tears...

along with my birthday this coming week, it is also the aniversary of my mothers passing. she passed 3 days before my birthday 2 years ago. the chilkoot trail trip came soon after her passing. i had called my mom nearly daily so she had been in on the planning and a few years before that my mom had been on a cruise of alaska and had been on the whitepass rail with me. i got emotional the night we'd finished and quietly cried to myself as everyone else slept in the hotel in whitehorse, yt. we had finished the trip and everyone had someone to call and report in to. that would have been my mother for me and i couldn't call her. i'd been on a train that last time i'd ridden i'd ridden it with my mom. just a flood of memories that i couldn't hold back.

it's been a long and emotional day today. i think i will go fill the tub and relax before i sack out for the night.

chilkoot trail...more pictures

as the days pass i remember less of the loss of my friend and more of the fun of the trip we all took together. a mixed bag of people hell bent on completing this trail. i have my book by archie satterfield to help remind me of the histoy of the chilkoot. i love that it's called the "longest museum". there is a great deal of history all along the trail. remnants of a gold rush that sent over 20,000 people over a mountain and through the woods as it were. most were never rewarded financially for thier quest and a great many animals perished and several men. many hiked the chilkoot in the winter and many died in an avalanche that occured one day. there was always talk on the trail as to which would have been the easier climb. in the winter the snow could be formed into steps, and was, which made the drive up a bit less taxing, but it would have been extremly cold at times.

my pack weighed a good 50 pounds and i did the 32 miles once, the men from 1898 carried much more weight and had to repeat the process over and over. in order to get past the canadian border the men had to have a set amount of gear. the loads were moved section by section. there was all sorts of shenanigans on the trail. criminals charging fees to get past, some made money hauling packs for others..needless to say lots of crap was left by the side and remains there still.

of course these pictures are in no particular order. i'm not that organized. the train station is in bennett and this is the end of our journey. not for those of years past. large settlements sprung up with businesses where now just nature and historical remnants remain. at bennett the hiking was ceased and the boat building began. it's a boat trek from bennett to dawson city. we took the train back to skagway...the train is another interesting tale. it's called the whitepass rail. an impressive feat. they reserve the back car for the backpackers so we are seperated from the tourists. not sure if this is because of the odor we emit or to save us becoming part of the attraction. as we walked in with our packs we were greeted by tourists who had road the train out. they were excited to talk with us about our trip.

above is the group in happy camp as we left for bare loon camp. there are three camps between happy and bennett. deep lake is beautiful, lindeman is more sprawling and functional...was pretty packed back in the day i guess. bare loon is quite picturesque. happy is the camp after sheep and the summit thus the name. the below picture is that glorious moment that we spotted happy camp after a long day of hiking. it was a great site to see.

martha takes a moment en route to happy camp. i forgot about that yellow cup. she gave up worrying about giardia and just kept dipping it in any fast running water we passed. there was lots of it that we waded through. i know she was probably tired, but as you can see, she was happy. some say the canadian side is more beautiful...i think it all had beauty. it's amazing how many different types of ecosystems you walk through. rain forest before summit, more dry after, even a small dessert to cross. it's a great way to see alaska...and part of canada.

below is another picture i love....all the packs tossed aside at the bennett station while we all happily go off to explore without the 50 pound weight. i hope you have enjoyed this stroll down memory lane. i think it has helped me to leave behind the sadness and take the memories forward....thanks...

just finished 4 nights of work. not too bad. some pretty sick people, but i didn't have the worst of it. i had confused patients. my one heart guy was pretty funny now that i'm not scared he'll fall out of bed or pull anything important out. he was probably just goofy from the meds and anesthesia remnants. i believe he thought he was on a caribbean cruise. at one point, i asked him if he was still hurting and he responded with, "do i want a hickey...?....yes!!" and preceeded to attempt to pull me in the bed. the next night i asked if he remembered me cause he was all smiles and seemed to recognize me...his response was "you were the one that was this close to getting mad at me". i let him know it was because he tried to pull me into the bed. i know he was mortified. we had a much better night. i ran into him when he was off for a morning xray and he smiled and asked if i'd forgiven him. of course...just funny. just another night in the icu.

in between work i got the pups out for several walks. the bog and the dog park are weekend favorites between shifts. today i was back out at kincaid. it's drying up fast. it's all this sunshine. i also was on the computer trying to decide on a new camera. i need a digital slr. i was thinking of one of those canon 50D....but after reading all i just don't think i need that much camera. i take good pictures with my little powershot. an slr will just give me more options to play with,but if i get some major camera i know i'll just spend lots and not use much of the gadgets. photography is mostly about setting up a shot and you can do that with any camera. more mega pixels will make it easier to blow pictures up larger for my wall. so now i'm looking more at a canon rebel Xsi. i think that will work well for me. my friend tanya has some super fancy camera, no doubt costs lots of bucks, i can tell it kinda drives her nuts and she has mentioned wanting more of a point and shoot. plus i go to some places where weather can be brutal and scenery spectacular. i don't like the idea of having so much money in camera gear that i'm all stressed about the gear and forget the beauty. i figure the camera will be a great birthday gift from me to me!!!

the mosquito's feasted on me today. i left my camera and bug spray in my dog park pack...dang! my blood is apparently very tasty. had lots of those things one has to do in life to do today...pay bills, plan the kayak trip for this coming weekend. we're off to kachemak bay for some fun. i had to arrange my water taxi and kayak rental. i've never kayaked down there. should be cool. i am totally unprepared right now so i should get off the computer and work through my gear. i'm sleepy though so i suspect i will just put on the jammies and crawl into bed. good night all...

chilkoot trail...random photo's...

have thought of my friend martha often this week. thought i would add more chilkoot pictures since i know this was something she loved dearly and had great pride about. me too. above is martha after we had all summited the trails highest point. elation....
below is the group at the summit marker...these pics are a bit backwards...sorry. anyway...martha, gail, sue, sandra and myself and some random dog. guess he was proud of his accomplishment as well. i'm so happy i didn't bring a dog though as the rocks would have been brutal on the paws.

above is one of my favorite pics. we've done the stairs and have reached a saddle before the summit. we just look so beat up at this point. martha brought up the rear so not in the saddle yet.

below is still on the stairs. it was so foggy that all below us was imperceptable. gail rests as another backpacker treks up from below.

this is the view on the trail..right before we hit the stairs. so it was rough going all day...lots of rocks to work over. we had to locate those little orange posts. that took some effort at time with all the fog. i believe martha is first hiker followed by sandra.

just thought the tree's looked cool in the fog.

bear in sheep camp. there were signs of bear along the trail, tracks, scat...this guy wandered through camp. didn't seem phased by all the people and activity in the camp. we were careful with our food and they had cache's for storage. this night i do recall remebering at 3 am that i had gorp in my pocket. a fact that kept me awake for much of the night worrying about what to do with it and if a bear would smell it and come after it. this is the camp before the long day of hiking to summit and happy camp beyond. not a good night to miss out on precious sleep. i've never found tents all that comfortable to sleep in and i fight with mummy bags as i like to be able to curl up when i sleep.

above is a group shot before we took off for the summit. back is sandra, martha, gail, me and sue is in front.

below is a little day hike from the first nights camp to remnants of the gold rush. we had this little hanging bridge to cross. there is another one that you have to cross with your pack. i'm not a fan of hanging bridges over water that move. i stayed back and took pictures then made sure i was the only one on the bridge when i crossed...didn't want any swinging. of course, part of this could be from my childhood with 5 brothers who loved to make things rock that weren't supposed to rock just to freak me out!! thanks...hehe

these are all backwards. this is the trail on day one...well part of it anyway. southeast alaska has lots of boardwalk trails like this. we started the trail in rainforest and ended the trail in desert sand. you see everything on this 33 mile trip.

below is the group shot at the trailhead. we had great weather to start the trip.

perhaps i'll post more tomorrow or the next day. i have lots of pictures from the trip. martha's memorial is not til next week...guess i will have my little memorial in photo's here.

i was up til almost 3 am last night painting in the bathroom. i really don't like painting ceilings and had to be very careful not to get the white paint on the new green tiles. it went well, i still need to add more of a second coat and paint the cabinets. i think i'll end up putting the pale apple green on the cabinets after i prime them. i need to get new toilet, new light fixture and some new towel holders and such. oh...and the floor.

i did wake a bit sore this morning, but took off to spencer loop with kelly. it's again a pretty day and kelly is a favorite hiking friend. the dogs romped and mud wrestled. blossom has some old, healing wounds on her belly, not sure where those came from. she seems fine. i wonder if she scraped her belly coming off the dock one of those jumps. hmm? my cat mufasa is looking pretty rough. not sure how many lives that cat has left. he's walking like his kidneys are giving out on him. still jumps up on the counter for his meals. he's always been a huggy cat. very sweet. off to watch a bit of "once" a favorite movie of mine. good night....