more from Homer..

 me with my pups.  my friend Cathy was out there with me so she took the pictures of us...thanks!!

 always love the color of glacier fed waters.

 feel like today i knocked off a few items on the to do list.  it remains long and i should try and make some phone calls tomorrow to set up a few things...like getting the fence fixed and getting my back lawn back up to a presentable state.

 put the old tv out with a sign that said "free" and it was gone within an hour or so.  i love to put stuff out with free signs.  i know, folks may just take it and sell on craigslist or something.  i like to think that even if they do that they need the money more than i do.  mostly with general stuff i feel like i got out what i paid for and it's too much hassle to try and sell stuff.  its much more fun to put it out with free signs and know how excited and happy someone was to get the find.  people love free stuff!!  the tv had been crapping out.  the picture would work sometimes and other times you'd just have sound.  if you left it on it would eventually get the picture back...hours later and then the picture would stay.  it just became too annoying and these things now cost more to fix than to just replace for the most part.

 it was funny, this moose crossed the road ahead of me.  by the time i drove that 50 or so feet that moose had disappeared into the brush.  always amazing to me how such a big animal can be completely invisible in the brush.

 finally got blossom in for her ear recheck.  as it's been so "hot" here i brought rio into the clinic as well just so i didn't leave her in the car...as i sat down i looked at her and noticed the tip of her tail didn't look right.  it's all raw and open.  so i had her checked as well.  no idea what is up with the tip of her tail.  she's not keen on me cleaning it though i can tell you.  she's now on antibiotics in addition to her other medications...my senior citizen.

 blossom's ear looks great!! i'm sure she was happy about that....she was not happy to be at the vets again though.  she just wants to leave.

 lots of little errands to run today.  got more material for the quilts and fabric paper to print on.  of course, my printer may be getting low on ink.  will try one or two after i write this and see what comes out.  so i may have to run that errand before i can get started on that project.

 kenai river.  a popular fishing and floating river on the Kenai.  i have yet to do this and really should add this to my things to do list.  looks relaxing and if i can catch a few salmon out there i'd be cool with that.  ate some halibut for dinner tonight.  always tasty.

 dog food and cat food and a new bin to put the cat food in as someone chewed the old bin up...not sure how they opened the closet door, but they had themselves a cat food feast.  the things the critters do while you are away

 for several years i've wanted one of those basket chairs that hangs from Pier one.  so i get 20 % off for my birthday so i went ahead and got one today.  they are spendy and cumbersome.  my element was packed today.  two big dogs, all that food and that big chair and stand.

 it is on my deck all set up thanks to a few neighbors.  finally met the guy across the street.  super nice. they both came to help me set it up. he saw the cheap tool that came with the chair and immediately went back home for better tools.  seemed he took a long time to return and it turns out he'd stopped to fix my gate so it's easier to open...how nice is that!!!!  they are planning a block party.  hope i'm home that day!!  a few times i just stopped and sat in my new swinging chair and relaxed....so comfy!!

 printed off the forms to create the non-profit organization.  had to find my NAICS number...government papers so nothing is simple or straight forward.  better just get used to that.

 behind on my paper reading.  walked with Lena today and she said Anchorage Daily News had put one of my eagle pictures in the paper the other day.  i looked later and it's in the Sunday paper.  always fun!! above is the tiny rooms that allow dogs.  perfect for me.

 not sure what is going down  in my one friends neighborhood but she is in lockdown with some sort of swat team in place, guns drawn.  they called her work to say she wasn't able to leave the house.  they are now in her bedroom as well, the police.  crazy. i'd be all scared.

 Bishops beach.

 don't think  i mentioned going through a drive through this week and as i went to order the kid said, "order when you're ready sir".  sir!! what?  when i pulled up i said, "clearly i'm overdue for a makeover" he apologized several times.
as i drove to work one evening i think it was i stopped at the stop sign.  well a group of teenage boys came flying in front of me without looking and were pretty happy that they didn't get nailed.  one was so happy he began calling out to me over and over, "i love you, i love you".  must have seen his life pass before his eyes.

 i always love Spencer loop and it's off limits in the winters due to skiing.  in the summers i try and just go with someone as there can be a fair amount of bear and moose activity.  was happy Lena joined me.  it's a good butt work out as well.  lots of long hills.  we missed more hills party due to time constraints but mostly because at the cut off to a short cut the trail was blocked off anyway...we had to take the short cut. not sure what is up with that...thought perhaps a bear had killed and stashed a moose but there are usually signs up for that.  hmm..

 bad hair day selfie...

 can't believe it's almost 1 am already.  do feel good and accomplished for the day. back to work for three more starting tomorrow night.  we are going to self scheduling and eventually to online scheduling. could be good, could be bad.  it's almost easier to just have a set schedule and then adapt to things...of course, this could force me to plan my life a bit more and actually socialize more. that can't be all bad.  have things planned for summer. looking like another fun summer.  not as much planned. i may look for plane deals to Barrow a bit later, maybe a long weekend. it's been on my to go to list.

 still a bit bummed i didn't just make Kaktovik happen last fall, but then again it was to happen the next week after that bear attack which may have been a bit too soon for me to have felt relaxed around those giant white bears

 i do feel quite fortunate to have seen both polar bears and walrus in their natural habitat.  not many folks have and many that have are friends of mine.  would like to see our Alaskan polar bears though. the ones i saw were in Churchill, Canada.  that trip wasn't cheap, but it was totally worth it.  we all have those things we just love to see and for me seeing polar bears and walrus in the wild was really high on the list. i've always been keen on heading towards eastern russia to see siberian tigers in the wild as well.  may become more and more difficult as the tensions between the two nations increase.

 politics are so annoying...why can't people just get along.  there are just so many nuts in the world.

 it's been somewhat depressing following the news of late.  i do often think the world would be a much less violent place if more women ran more nations.  of course, many women are never allowed to get an education let alone live a life that may lead them to run nations.  those poor girls in Nigeria continue to be held.  certainly those terrorists don't celebrate mothers day...they have no respect for women and can only fear them.

 walking with my friend Cathy...selfie...she looks great. always fun to catch up with old friends.  looking forward to meeting up with my friend janet for the paddle.

 that trip is coming up fast...i need to have them sent a list of what we should all bring and if we should make a costco run and bring stuff down with us. cheaper that way. calls tomorrow, fence, lawns...the never ending lists!!

 the next weekend after i was here they were having their shorebird festival. i'm sure there were tons of birders in town for that...the city starts opening up at that point....the tourists are on their way!!

 i'm pretty happy to be able to be a weekend tourists all year here.  it is funny how many people live some place and never really get out and see it.

 i really remember this when i lived in South Dakota.  there are some beautiful places in that area, just a little driving required. i'd come to do my shifts and it would come up what i'd done on my days off and i'd hear, "i've never been there" "i've never done that" from people who had lived there their whole lives. just so strange.  many were ranchers.  i'd take care of them and one  older guy said he'd never been anywhere except Nebraska.

 when i lived in California i would meander all over.  i'd load the car and drive up the coast, did that many times.  i'd sleep in the car or in a tent on a beach.  i know my mom worried like crazy.  i'd always have a dog with me. i'd drive to washington state or colorado.  all over.  i was always taking off somewhere for a little adventure.

 my mom always made me promise to call her each night while i was on the road here or there.  i rarely did...what an awful kid i was to cause her so much worry.  i was always a rolling stone i guess.

 later i think she lived through my adventures.

 a few of my brothers have asked a few times about my money situation.  not sure if they fear having to take their wild child sister in some day.  i'm sure i should probably be more serious in planning for the future, but it seems a silly waste when there is always the chance we have no future.  i do the basics and i have retirement through work.  guess i tend to live on an "it will all work out" plan.

 don't see myself living on the streets, but then  i could have some medical disaster that would leave me in a bad way.

 did write some papers.  if i'm going to live the rest of my life in some home as a burden to others that don't do anything heroic to keep me going...that is for sure.  the earth turned before i showed up and will continue to turn after i leave.

 will i leave some big mark on the earth, doubtful, but i've made a lot of small imprints that will stick around at least for a generation or two...that is the most that any of us get really.  very few people are remembered forever.  most of those are artists/rulers or major religious leaders.  funny...years ago it was the writer of the music that was remembered not the singers, and the writers of the plays not the directors or actors.

 many people need to feel that they will carry on even in their deaths,that they'll be remembered.  i guess there is some comfort in the internet and knowing we are always out there...at least until they replace the internet, right?

 Rio was loving the ocean...she's so cute...right now the tip of her tail isn't but overall she's still cute...not sure what happened..so strange.  the vet did mention it could be a cancerous growth..dogs get cancer of the tail?  can't imagine that being too dangerous.

 i'm not sure Rio even knows she has a tail

 today i left her at home with the tv on as i walked with Lena.  i have one of those neilson tv ratings things going on this week.  they picked a good week as it's mostly work days.  i did write a note in the back that i was working most of the week and that it was super sunny and warm and that not many Alaskans were probably watching much tv this week.

 i put a note in the booklet today that the tv was on and being "viewed" by the family dog.  should at least give whoever looks at all those booklets something to laugh at.

 more old buildings/boats from Ninilchik.

 everything seems to be falling a bit apart.

 loved this lovely rental property, bet that is toasty in the winter.

 a few from the canon on the church on the hill.

well, i'm sure i have bored you enough..i am slated to work the next three so i shall head to rest.  grateful for 1.  parents who weren't perfect but found a way to give us a nearly perfect childhood.  it was a house of love and laughter.  2.  my mothers laughter and welcoming spirit.  anyone who came into our home was treated very well.  my mom was always giving and wanting everyone to be happy around her.  3.  getting stuff done and then being able to relax guilt free!! night