app art and blood...

 occasionally i use a fun app and art up my photo's.  the ice berg one came out really cool i think...

 the blood...well my poor girl got nipped.  ears always bleed a lot and she screamed/yelped pretty loudly as well.  she did not appreciate the dogs taking their play to this nasty level.  she is a sweet heart and i always worry because she can be overly bouncy and some dogs do not appreciate her energy. it sounded bad and looked bad but in the end it isn't too bad and i think she will heal

 I'm always afraid of a hematoma in the ear.   when they shake their heads the blood can collect in the ear flap and then require draining. also when they shake their heads blood can splatter across the walls.  thankfully, she did not do this.

 more art..so what happened.  trail heads are always an excited dog area.  i really should just put them on leash anytime we are near a trail head.  just another level of excitement.  the dogs in the lot were off leash though so when i see loose dogs i think i don't have much chance to stay upright so this time i left my dogs off leash and they ran ahead to greet the other dogs...well one of those dogs went after her.

 nobody's fault really.  the owner got his dogs into the car pretty quickly and asked about my dog...i think i said, "she's bleeding".  he apologized.  i think checking on us and apologizing in this new world are miraculous really.  i never screamed or freaked out. my dogs came running back to me as soon as they heard me and could get away from his dog. i didn't actually see the attack as it happened in between cars as i approached.

 the owner apologized a second time as i made my way to my car with the dogs.  i just said she was high energy and it can be too much for some dogs. 

 in a more civil world that is how things used to work.  everyone took a little blame, but nobody assumed that any blame should then turn into a financial exchange or law suit.  brush it off/walk away.  that was the way of the world.  a world that is sadly less and less familiar. so i was happy that this exchange went smoothly on the human side at least. 

 she does look sad after i cleaned her ear at home though. today she looked perkier.  i returned to N.Bivouac trails with them again today mostly because i just wanted to erase that memory.  she is super sweet i just don't want her to become a scared dog.

 the first dog we met today was a happy lab so that was good.  the next crew was a group of i think 4 dogs, one came running at us barking.  actually at first i did my usual and pulled over with the dogs and put them in a stay.  only one of their dogs was on "leash" it was actually on a waist harness so the human could skijor...the owner in this case today said that there was no way his big dog would run past but would drag him so he basically lay on top of the dog, which grumbled as we made our way past...so a test, but my dogs behaved perfect for me and we were on our way. 

 thankfully i have vet and vet tech friends just a text away.  her ear care is pretty basic i think she will just keep it clean and put ointment on for a few days and watch it.  dogs move on much quicker than humans do.  i really did not like the sound my poor girl was making as she was being attacked.

 just finished 2 nights work.  ER and then ICU. kept steady but not overwhelming.

 met with friends the afternoon the first day i worked for some sledding. I'd hit the dog park first.  the temperatures for that day were i think 2F.  so i bit of a chilly day out there. i think we were sledding for an hour. 

 goggles would have been helpful.  a few times i thought i may end up with some corneal abrasions from the snow blow back.  mostly i feared I'd end up injured from Ivy's antics.  i learned the best approach at the bottom of the run is to drop and roll of sorts.  roll out of the sled and curl up in a ball as Ivy seems to have begun jumping on me as i stop.  sledding may be too exciting for her.

 see it looks much better today, the injuries..i know i have some new bruises from sledding. my chin for sure has felt swollen...

 above is one of my favorite pictures of Ivy.  so funny.

 below is this evening.  she fell asleep like this on the couch while watching tv. she is getting more snuggly. when she was a puppy she was just way too crazy to ever calm down this much.

 in ER the other night i had ordered a large bed for a large patient...as i attempted to move this bed into the room the bed just died.  so now we had this huge bed in the middle of the area the ambulances bring patients though.  they could get by but not a great place for this bed to be.  ended up having to keep getting more and more folks involved trying to get this bed out of the way...it wasn't budging.  we thought perhaps if we plugged it in...

 but there wasn't an extension cord so we had to bring the code cart over so we could use the extension cord on that to plug the bed into and then into the wall.  it still didn't work.  someone did get on the bed and make some attempts at cpr, which cracked us all up. 

 all we could do in the end was through brute force drag it back a few feet and out of the path.  hopefully, they have moved it by now.

 I'm just off tonight and then i go back to work for 2 more nights...for New Years Eve. i may just block the dog door and leave some music on for the dogs just to try to mask the fireworks. 

 we have some lovely snow right now.  i have heard that it may warm up at least one day...i hope not.  i want this snow to stick around for a bit. 

 no missed walk days for some time.  still ice under the snow but it's getting pretty well packed down on most of the trails.

 oddly, stumphenge was not stomped down.  the bikers have been going through the center which makes me think that other area may be frozen over enough to travel. will have to check it out later.

 the pups are very encouraging in the mornings.  they do love to get on the trails

 many of the tennis balls and toys have found new homes...the snow may have dropped some off.  saw some bikers out near there and the guy was loving on my dogs and said he'd been thinking of bringing out more toys to add to the tree. he has no dog but loves them.  he's admired the trees we've decorated for several years.

 won't be long until these puppies are 4!!  how can that be.

 the snow was clumping a bit, Tusker gets much worse clumpage than Ivy Rose does. his paws are more furry.  poor guy. 

 the porcupine turned out good too

 when i first posted a few of these years ago a cousin of mine who i have really zero contact with but fb went on this rant about how my doing this was taking work away from artists....which seems nuts since I'm using my own art/photographs.  this particular cousin is very trumpy and seems fairly illiterate sadly.  i either unfollowed or unfriended him.  he had several other outbursts that were random and bizarre.  who needs that...

 the totem came out cool as well.

 certain photos work better with this app so it's fun to experiment.

 Sunday baking...today was apple muffins.  an old favorite.  they don't get very fluffy though. 

 the sea star tracks come out better with this app.

 i ended up taking a nap after my walk today. thus it's nearly 2 am and I'm awake.  i work the next two nights anyway so may as well stay on a bit of a night schedule.

 i have become very accomplished at doing nothing...or very little.  it used to be i would have guilt over doing nothing but now i realize that being able to just chill is a gift.  many have no idea what to do or feel horribly guilty doing next to nothing. 

 lack of productivity is not a bad thing i think though.  i mean the stuff that really has to get done gets done.  had a discussion the other day where what would one do upon retirement.  it wasn't an easy answer for others but for me...I'd do the same stuff i do now just wouldn't have to bother with work. 

 i am also totally fine being mediocre at all things.  i do not have to reach a point of perfection at anything to enjoy it. 

 our culture is so competitive at times that many take every thing they do to the highest level.  they can't really be happy with how they perform unless they are besting themselves or others. i do not feel a need to best myself or others really.  just happy doing.

 i really should do some decluttering.  it's time to put away Christmas.  i think I'll do that after these next two nights work. 

 the holidays screwed up my usual schedule. 

 i shall head to bed.  I'm a good sleeper too.

thankful A.  that I'm not competitive  B. that i no longer have the many church obligations that went with the religion of my youth. C.  sledding!!  and a bonus D.  that Ivy Rose was not injured too badly in the attack.  poor girl. 

farewell Christmas...

 animals are always welcome in my place...now i have a few more.  thanks to all that were generous and kind through the holidays.  always appreciated.

 we got a nice snow fall these past days.  more fell today.  the pups and i did some major shoveling this morning.

 i can't say that Tusker is the most helpful in this task as he chases the shovel and is digging the snow off as quickly as i can put it on.  Ivy then attacks Tusker and i can get some snow actually shoveled while they wrestle a bit. 

 today we just hit the dog park at U-Lake, yesterday we did Connors Bog.  there were several moose chilling there and it was sheer ice covered in powder. i really should have worn my cleats despite the snow. 

 got some fun videos of the dogs unwrapping their gifts. cracked me up that they nosed out the tennis balls first. Ivy is a slash and tear unwrapper while Tusker is more slow and measured in his task.  they just have different personalities and it comes out in funny ways.

 my sister sewed these new scrub tops for me.  i selected material up here and sent it down to her.  she is just an amazing seamstress.  very detail focused, which i am not.  i cut corners at every task i can.  that is just who i am. 

 i enjoy baking but i tend to cut corners with baking as well.  I'm basically lazy at everything i attempt.  i do manage to get by in life somehow.  i have managed so far anyway. 

 worry about what you must but i am not big on worrying about the future i guess.  never have been. i just enjoy the day that i have ahead of me.  i think much of that comes from years of being a nurse.  you just see how fragile life is.  i could slip, fall and have a brain bleed tomorrow.  enjoy each day...don't waste it. 

 haven't looked at the pics on the big camera yet.  so these are from June.  a mixture...almost done with June anyway. as the light returns i will again get out more and more so I'll start getting behind on photo's again. 

 these aren't actually sunset, but they look that way due to the smoke from the many fires we had this summer.

 it did look beautiful though. 

 it made me sad to see all the lost trees and think of all the lost animals. 

 Australia is being hit with major fires at this time...their summer.  it looks awful and the fear is many animals will have a tough time recovering.  just devastating.

 the smoke was all over this summer.  between that and the heat i had a tough time attempting bigger walks.

 lungs not the best really.  not bad...happy i left Los Angeles.  i would be much less healthy if i had stayed there.  returning is always terrible certain times of the year.  my lungs and smog are not a good combination.

 usually the air up here is perfect. 

 this is from a trek to Reed Lakes. i was attempting to get out of the smoke by going to Hatchers Pass to hike.  the smoke made it's way there by late afternoon but if i got out early enough i could avoid the worst of it.  i do recall this day being super hot though, which was tough...now super hot here is the 80's but that is nearly 24 hours of heat.  we just do not tolerate that up here.  hard to explain why that heat feels hotter, but i know that when temps drop into the 50's in L. A. we were always freezing.  just what you get used to sometimes.

 overall it was a pretty day.  i just tried to adapt to what we had. 

 these are old mine areas. 

 proof that those who scar the land do not return them to nature but instead leave their mark forever.

 lots of pretty flowers in June up here.

 i made sure to select walks that would have water access.  a must for the dogs on hot days.  i think i dunked my head this day as well.

 is this from the iron in the area? or leftover from the stuff left behind?

 i really just wanted to sleep all day today.  the dogs were very patient with me and eventually they were rewarded with outdoor play time while i shoveled and a walk.

 i was out of eggs as well so i braved the grocery. 

 back to work tomorrow.  2 on, 2 off. i work New Years Eve.  the only worry will be the possible fireworks getting to the dogs.  may just shut the dog door while i am out or see if someone will come close them in. people get nuts on holidays. 

 i have two puppies sleeping behind me. 

 need to do house clean up and un-decorating at some point.  i suspect I'll wait until after this stretch. 

 always enjoy the Christmas Tree lights.  the smell....the house is due for a good cleaning though. 

 at least now the dogs are just tracking in snow and not mud.

 we are expecting more snow over the next several days, also the temps are supposed to drop below 0F. 

 this is from a day at University lake..this moose was standing in the water, walked under the little bridge there and then up to the trail.

 looks little in the first picture but looks much bigger in the second one..same moose.  just looking down at in in first and across in the next on.  strange.

 another day out at Hatchers Pass.  this day i took the dogs to a trail out of Independence Mine.  Gold Cord lake.  not a long walk.  some uphill...actually below you can see the area of the lake. 

 not too difficult, short like i said.  and you are rewarded with a lake at the top

 there was also creek access for the pups early on so they could get soaked and stay cool til we go to the lake

 they do dry fairly quickly though.

 we do switchbacks a bit up that rock hill

 view of the mines below.  i had never done this hike, had heard of it, but wasn't sure where it was.

 i will do it again...though it was pretty crowded the day i did it. everyone was getting out of the smoke i guess.

 there is this little relic part way up.

 that little hill looks bigger as you get closer

 focused on going up the hill. boulders and thin trails with humans...so i had to focus on the dogs so they wouldn't cause me or others to tumble down the mountain.  this is what you get to enjoy at the top though.

 still snow!

 the dogs, of course, got to chase the tennis ball and cool off.  a few humans went in...it is a bit chilly though.  it was hot out.

 guess i shall crash for the night. good night...hope your Christmas was pleasant.  i know it's not always what we want it to be or what we remember from years past....some times you have to reside in the good memories, cherish those and hope they carry you forward.

grateful for: A. kind friends and happy dogs  B. family who accept and respect me for who i am C. the laughter and joy the dogs bring in to my life.