Productive Day

 amazing what you get done when you focus on cleaning the house.  it's like homework for me..i always got so many other things done when i had homework.

 this sea lion below has some sort of fish or something in his mouth...can anyone ID?

 appraiser coming tomorrow afternoon so i wanted the place to look a bit less cluttered and more worthy.  just want to get this place paid off in the next 15 years.  catch a lower interest rate before the rates creep up more and more.  want to get set up so i can save and pay for remodel hopes.

 worked last night and i always sleep amazingly well after my stretch for some reason.

 got pups out for a walk in N Biv.  no signs of bears.  no sightings of our bear in the tree off the side of the road.

 my new printer is up and working.  nothing fancy.  gave up on the old one after several attempts to repair.  will put it out front with a free sign at some point when the roads are dry and see if there are any takers. getting a pile of that stuff.  if there are no takers with the free signs I'll take the stuff to value village.  the place is way too slushy right now to do any give a ways though.  drip, drip, drip out there.

 also did my taxes and WARIS taxes. WARIS is easy as we don't really make much in donations.  clearly i am not the most fab fund raiser. I'm better at the advocacy part than bringing in cash.  we should have our lecture on the 1lth, all is a go!!  I'll have to get the goody bags together for the drawing after and i bought a little stand for my phone so i can hopefully get the live stream done of the event for those who aren't there.

 did get some cleaning done today despite my other tasks taking me away.  I'm sure my idea of clean is not quite as clean as others.  my mother had other priorities than a super clean house and i take after her.  :-)

 built a cairn and left some of the Blossom ashes in Seward.  all her ashes left last weekend have made their way into the ocean by now.  the tides came and carried them off. much better than having them in a can.  nice to leave her scattered, and to leave her scattered with ashes from Rio Catalina and Baby Huey is nice.  those were the dogs that were big parts of her life really.

 i have moments still, of sadness.  wish she was still here with me.  miss those beautiful curls and her personality was spot on....couldn't have asked more of a dog than i got in her. she is no doubt a tough act for these two to follow.  i try to avoid comparing them with her.  she was a once in a lifetime dog.  i do believe she enjoyed her time with the pups.  loved those times when she got into play mode with them.

 as much as i adored Blossom, i knew she was lonely after Rio passed away.  she was a dogs dog.  i really sensed that i was not enough in many ways...she missed having canine companionship.  the two pups may not have been her first choice but i know she did love playing with them. i was happy I'd gotten two so that she could have peace when she needed it but could join in the fun as well when she felt like it.  I'm sure she was entertained by their antics.

 was thinking about this all on the trail today.  she is in my heart and I'm sure she will always be.  I've been blessed with some pretty amazing canine companions.  Butch...he was a big love.  he loved to help, he was natural at it.  he lived in CA, SD and AK.  well traveled.  he carried everything and anything you asked.  he carried the groceries in, he carried the cats in their carriers into the vets.

 Baby Huey was more wild...Butch had been so mellow i kind of figured all labs were like that for some reason....Huey proved me wrong.  Huey was actually a name my mom had mentioned i think when i was naming Butch.  it seemed to suit this wild puppy born on a buffalo ranch in South Dakota.  he was actually the mellow one in his litter.  many times i wondered how the rest of them did.

 harbor in Seward.

 smoke from Redoubt i believe.

 and hitting the beach in Homer...Bishops beach.

 just in time for sunset.

 at low tide of course.

 have been working with the pups on the trails.  with them off leash I'm working on "hold up" and then "stay", "come".  sometimes i walk to them as they stay or i just have them stay a bit then come or just hold up and come.  change it up.  they are smart pups.

 pretty amazing sunset that night and the next.

 the light really hit Ivy and she glowed.

 Tusker is getting some red highlights.  i suspect those will lighten up even more over the summer.  so handsome. Ivy is getting more and more pretty as well.  they are both super sweet pups.  love that my dogs have all had easy personalities.  Ivy and Huey can both be a bit wild but none of my dogs are fighters, which is great.  they just seem to get along pretty well with other dogs.

 Ivy has her obnoxious streaks.  she is just so excited to meet those other dogs and humans.  she can't contain herself. hard to really get too pissed at her for that.  love these mugs.

 never got called in the other night.  slept great which is odd, but i was happy for that. hit the dog park a few times.

 liked these action shots.

 they really did have an awesome time down there.  great to have all that space to just run like crazy.

 nice to be there before the summer crowds arrive.

 places all over will be packed after memorial day.  the RV's will be making their way north.

 overall, i don't mind the tourists really, but it is just nice to have the beach open and free for play.

 nice reflections

 all the ripples always draw me in for shots.

 i think i only had like 7 patients last night in the ER....all night.  that is pretty breezy night.

 fresh sheet night tonight.  still finishing some laundry.  with pets it's pretty constant.  always something that has fur.  these guys for sure shed more than Blossom did.  Ivy more than Tusker though.  i think he may end up with more curls when his big boy coat comes in next fall.

 love those lines...the cars can drive on this beach...you can see a truck to the left. wonder how often trucks get stuck out there.  it could be a bit frightening when they'd drive too fast out there...hot dogging it.

 almost done with my ice chips so I'll head to bed soon.  love ice chips.

 getting a little money back in taxes but it's never as much as you'd like especially right now as you see the iitoo spending our tax dollars on himself and his families interest. not keen on helping out the Drumpf family

 I'd go make more ice chips in my little ice chip maker machine but i really should just plan on heading to bed soon.  not too many Monday walks left before we break for the season.

 these kids started chilling on the rocks in the sunset.  made for a few fun photo's i thought

 three nights down, three to go.  need to get the stuff together for our lecture.  want to have the pamphlets and stickers and the information in case they want to donate more directly for Round Island.

 better get off this computer and head to bed.  trash is out..pups are sleeping.  my turn

grateful for: A.  amazing sunsets and sunrises.  B.  science...the more we learn, the more we want to know.  we've only begun to understand our universe and all it's wonder.  C.  my small place in this great big world.