wind and rain today...

 mostly i just walked in the wind.  the rain got going harder after i was done walking.  the wind was pretty strong though.  a few from various walks up local.  first from walk with bob and tanya out prospect heights, then a few from when i was out at eagle river and then mushrooms from my walk in girdwood yesterday...yes i said yesterday!!  i am now done with august and have begun on the september shots.

 it would probably help if i wasn't so addicted to the mushrooms.  i need to sit down and catch up on the cd's so that if my computer goes out i have all those somewhere.  then i can start attempting to load them onto my shutterfly account.  so much work is involved and i don't even do anything with my pictures hardly.  don't know how people do it when they actual do more stuff than i do.  crazy.  i'd need to hire someone to handle all the computer work involved with photography.  i'd just want to go out and take my pictures and then just hand the memory cards over to someone who just loves to tinker with them on the computer.

 do they have those people?

 bob, tanya and maddie...and the dogs of course.

 sunset from stuckagain heights over anchorage.

 clearly i didn't make it to talkeetna or even hatchers pass today.  the weather looked pretty crappy and i thought i should get some crap done at home....basic stuff like laundry and dishes.  i was hoping the lawn would dry up enough for me to mow it, but that never happened.  one of these days i'll work on that.  still growing.  won't have to mow much longer though.  everything is going into stop mode soon.  the flowers are all seeding out and dying off.

 instead i made a walk out to the beach at kincaid.  i was wanting to go shopping at the rei sale.  was looking for a belated birthday gift for tanya.  i think i'm good just have to get it in a presentable state and deliver it.  then i'm just behind on a few other gifts.  don't know why i'm always so behind.  well, i do know.  i'm lazy and would rather be out walking and taking pictures than doing those practical things in life.  it's not that i don't think highly of those i want to purchase gifts for, though admittedly i am not a good shopper.  i don't relish wandering around in stores.  hoping to find the one thing someone doesn't have or will totally love.  sometimes you get lucky, but it just seems like most people just buy what they need or want so it's hard.  gift cards can seem dull.  but they are easy.

 blossom checks out the big hole in the tree.  as i've discovered these big trees are sometimes hollow and sometimes even house bears over the winter. sometimes a bear and a few cubs.  who knew?  but looking inside this one it does look like it could be quite the cozy place i guess.

 it was super windy today out there.  hard to walk on the beach.  the sand and rocks were blowing in my face.  blossom was even shutting her eyes to it.  she still managed to have a good time.  i tried to keep her from going in the water as it seemed rough and i didn't like the tide changing.  she took off like a rocket though and when it comes to water and tennis balls she is unstoppable.  makes me nervous and often i just leash her up for her own protection.

 she is a much loved dog and so i am probably a wee bit over protective of her.  

 these are all in eagle river.

 it'll be a fresh sheet day at my house tonight. i do love fresh sheet days.  i also changed over to a warmer blanket.  it's time.  little bit by bit i will be getting ready for the winter.  still want to get a party in and use that fire pit.  would be embarrassing not to.

 would be hard to start a fire out there in all this rain though.  want to make the drive north and see the fall colour changes.  i'm sure you would all love a break from mushrooms.

 i need to get my eyes checked.  it's getting more and more obvious. there was a bull moose off the trail and i put the camera in manual focus mode.  most of the shots were a wee bit blurry, but had seemed pretty clear through the view finder.  i may have to get glasses for improved photo shots. can't trust any auto focus when there are bushes and such mixed in with moose. the camera's always focus on the twig and not the moose.  one day you will talk to your camera and say, see that giant animal that is what i want to take pictures of not the twigs and blades of grass.

 it's just stuff far away that i am finding a bit blurred...oh and stuff super close as well.  i want glasses that will do both, but without the line i guess, next time i go i will check into that.

 it is a bugger getting older.

 i had some bad memory cards.  thankfully i was able to return them to the store and get a replacement.  the new card seems to be working so that is good.  i also bought a few other things that i've needed to replace and haven't bothered, like knives that are actually sharp and bowls that aren't all chipped.

 i'm torn at the grocery store. overall i prefer the do it yourself check out.  i always enjoy talking to the sales people but nobody can bag stuff right.  it's so annoying. of course, i find that those do it yourself check outs are terribly inefficient.  today it kept saying "attendant has been notified" and there was no reason to notify the attendant.

 i have to confess that i bought a big old bag of chips again.  i've been bad a few times. my no chips in the house rule has been broken and i am not good with chips in the house.

 blossom gets herself all happy and muddy!!

 will recommit myself to the no chip thing as soon as the pool opens up in a week or so.  swimming at least 2x a week and no chips in the house.  soda only for work when i'm too tired or other rare occasion.  these are my goals.  i did buy a few 3 pound weights to swing around when i'm in front of the tv.  i was watching this thing and they were talking about getting weights and then just moving your arms all over for better bat wing control.  i want to tone the arms up a bit.  don't like these old lady arms i seem to have at this moment.

 anyway...i maintained without chips in the house for a long time so i know i can do it again. tanya does time off dairy...not sure i could cope with that. i love cheese and milk too much.

 a few fall colours for you to enjoy.  it's just getting started but i do love watching the changes happen.  seasons change so rapidly here.  it's crazy!

 the controversial moose shot.  michelles dog ran past that moose down there when it was laying on the trail.  that thing jumped up like a rocket.  it didn't look happy but it also didn't slam maisy or kick. it just stood it's ground.  michelle was rounding up her dogs, mine were on leash, so she looked up so i could take the picture. a friend thought we took a risk getting this picture. being close to a ticked off moose is always a risk, but mostly moose settle down as you move away.  i wouldn't have taken any added risk.  that moose could easily get us, but it wasn't likely.

 i've been charged by several moose, never while i was trying to snap a photo though.  i'm pretty careful, believe me i'd rather not get charged or stomped.

 these were on spencer loop.

 now these are from yesterdays girdwood walk.

 loved these macro's of these tiny mushrooms.  the tops of these are smaller than a pencil eraser or close to that...not counting those little hairy bits.  i guess i hadn't noticed those hairy bits before.  these came out pretty cool.

 more tiny mushrooms.

 did run into a guy on the trail that was rattling off some of the scientific names for them.  nice couple, they passed me coming and going.  i was going slow with rio and to take pictures. so many mushrooms!

 rio actually opted to stay home today and not do the walk.  it's been ages since she's turned down a walk.  maybe she felt that wind out there and decided we were fools to go out in it.  we were not alone out there on the trails though, that is for sure.

 doing good on my texting goal.  just trying to be more social by texting people.  we shall see.  too early to see if my social life improves or if people actually text me independently. i just get tired of being the only one initiating a social thing.

 trying to decide if these two are too similar to keep.  hmm...

 guess i'll leave it there and move on.  these guys below look a wee bit like penises.  circumcised.

 bunches of the tiny ones.  i had to use the flash in girdwood.  with all those trees it was dark down there, plus it was cloudy too so that made it even darker.

 the unofficial mayor of talkeetna, stubbie the cat, has been attacked by a dog.  hopefully the sweet orange cat will be okay.  sounds like it was pretty bad.  poor guy.

 really liked this tiny mushroom as well. below...it's another shroom that is smaller than a pencil eraser.

 it's just amazing how much variety is out there and when you really get down on your hands and knees and look around you see so much more. of course, all this getting down on my hands and knees also meant getting back up.  i don't pop up and down as rapidly as i used to.

 trying to sort out this pals thing.  it's an advanced life support class for when kids stop breathing and/or their hearts stop.  the adult version and the basic version are now on line. i'd heard this one was too, but when i went to sign up i didn't see that as an option.  hoping i can do that rather than have my schedule get all messed up.  will have to pop onto my work email and see if that can happen.  that would be so much better!  they are sticklers about you not expiring.  though the funny thing about that is when the peds icu was totally busy they asked for volunteers from the adult icu to come up and cross train.  one night one of the nurses from down there oriented for 4 hours and then was on her own the rest of the shift.  she hasn't taken pals for several years...so why is that okay and someone like myself who works in peds icu and is current on my pals can't be late by even a day getting my recert.  it's a joke really.

 there was bear scat on the bike trail heading down to the beach and apparently there have been bear sightings on the little trail that you cut off to take to the beach.  i never saw one and i made some noise.

 did see something i can't say i've ever seen down there.  i heard a pop of a gun and then saw a bird come falling to the earth.  i had no idea that it was legal to shoot ducks on the beaches there.  it was so odd.

 hunting/fishing...all part of alaska.  i just hadn't ever seen or heard of it in that park before.  guess they just have to be on the beach.   of course if you are really thinking of doing it you'd better look up the actual rules.  i'm just saying what some other folks on the beach told me.  who knows.

off to check my email.  good night.