avoidance....

 it's what I'm best at. these are from July.  nearly done with July pictures i think.

 these first ones are up at Powerline Pass.  we got a fair bit of rain as we returned from our walk. great walk with great friends though.  i do feel like i haven't done the big hikes this summer, but i have still gotten out a lot and had a lot of fun enjoying nature.  the pups, of course, could care less where we roam as long as we are out there.

 yesterday we had the Monday walk. i  did some errands and then took the dogs to the Conners Bog dog park. 

 i have done some leaf raking this morning and filled a bag with leaves. i realize the garden guys tell you to leave the leaves down...but apparently those garden guys do not have two dogs. leaves make it tough to see the dog poop and unless i want an even bigger mess next spring i will rake and pick up poop for as long as i can.  soon they will be frozen...no smell and easier to pick up. 

 friends say that we are expected to have a warmer winter this year, does that mean more ice or will it translate to more snow?  time will tell.  each winter seems to have it's own ways about it.  the ice that forms in different conditions is pretty amazing.  I've seen some crazy stuff out there.

 some memory photo's popped up with my girl Blossom in them.  looking back and can see how much she aged that last year.  perhaps the puppies made it tough to really see the difference.  often though, things do come on slowly and so those subtle changes can be hard to see at the time.  she was the sweetest girl.  i am so grateful to have been able to have her in my life for as long as i did. 

 Tusker and Ivy continue to work their way into my heart as well.  each dog that shares our lives have their own personalities.  i feel I've been pretty blessed with the dogs and cats that have shared my life.  i often think how lonely i would be if i did not have fur family in my life. they are just a constant in your life.  they give you something to care for and they share the day to day stress with you. 

 did get some dry wall down last night. I'm much slower than some would be and i do think it's funny how i will get comments about hiring it out....which really equates to you are female you maybe are too frail to do this yourself...get a man.  as i joked with my one friend, if i had a man, i would no doubt be happy to give over this task and would be willing to do a few things for him in exchange...haha..but since i don't i just carry on.  there is no reason a woman can't do these things...we may be physically more weak in some ways, but we do have a strength and stubbornness...at least i do.  so I'm trying to put it to good use.

 anything you conquer in life makes you stronger and builds your confidence.  i have moments where i feel overwhelmed and then i just stop and have a mini pity party...and then carry on. 

 pretty flowers by the roadside. 

 watched a movie that was made about the book written about the Guernsey Literary Society of the Potato Peel Pie.  it was a great book, a novel, which does follow some true events of sorts.  it was in a time when Germany occupied Guernsey. 

 it's an excellent book if you haven't read it.

 these are from a day hike down to the local beach in Kincaid.  always a great time

 the pups love getting muddy

 i think i will try to get some more dry wall off before i get the rest of the day started, want to be much further along by the time my handyman returns to get this project moving. 

 i start back for three nights of work.  we shall see what that brings.  madness.

 my tiles arrived.  it's 4 boxes. i still have no idea if i have bought too little or too many.  i will see if the handyman can check my calculations and give me an idea if we are doing okay or if i should order more.

 that is a bear down the beach from us.  it had just been on the trail where i came down with the dogs before headed to the waters edge and then heading back up towards the main trail above.

 so i didn't have any closer encounter than this.

 i did go down and checked out the footprints in the mud.  kinda cool

 yesterday as i headed home from my day it was rush hour and traffic had to stop as a large bull moose crossed Tudor and headed into the woods. i do love that wildlife free flow through our city. 

 not sure why he went to the waters edge, just to cool off i suppose.

 some flowers, these next pictures are at  Gold Mint trail. 

 July is always a great month so see loads of flowers on the trails.

 also bugs and bears though..so life has it's trade offs.

 i think i will be pretty excited to actually cook again once my kitchen is done...it doesn't feel like it now but it will get done eventually.

 missed the crane migration south this year.  really didn't see any.  the swans are coming through right now.  there have been several out at Potters of late.

 also watched "speak" the other day.  it's a really good movie about what happens after a rape i thought.  i like that it shows the girl getting her voice back, her power back.

 at the beaver pond. on the return trip we heard there was an agitated beaver swimming around so we just cruised past.

 the fireweed is now all done, here it is really just getting going.

 fireweed is how Alaskans gauge when summer is ending.

 columbines, always a favorite flower of summer.

 pups are in a smaller pond created by the beavers

 we went a ways back this day, it was lovely out.

 flowers everywhere. 

 saw a huge plane as i went moose spotting yesterday.  it was a cargo plane.  i guess it was the biggest until one that looks similar but is way larger was built.  the second one is called a beluga, which is funny since i had thought this one i saw parked out there on the tarmac looked like a beluga.  well named.  as i drove to the dog park i saw the big cargo plane take off over me. 

 was thinking about my seeming ability to be calm at certain times in life.  thinking perhaps it was obvious even when i was a small kid.  during the big Sylmar quake i think it was i remember just laying in bed watching this light fixture sway back and forth over my head.  i really didn't get scared until later with the aftershocks and i think because my Dad had shared with us this book that had photo's of all sorts of earthquake damage.  i just had no idea that the shaking i had felt could turn into something to devastating.  in retrospect, perhaps the book was not the best idea for a 6 year old. haha.

 i remember as well in college sitting in the back seat of a car and quietly saying, "we are going to crash" over and over before we did.  they didn't really get what i was saying until it was too late to prevent the crash.  they suggested i be louder about it the next time. 

 it's just strange how people react so differently to situations.  have i become calm because I've worked as a nurse in critical care or am i working as a nurse in critical care because i tend to be calm in these situations.  is this something that has developed over time after having done this job and been in so many situations of crisis.  i don't think I'll ever know.

 a few posed pictures of the puppies.  they are pretty good at these posed pictures as long as i have the tennis ball...also i tend to only have a few seconds for them to maintain the pose, so i have to be quick

 better get a little demo done and then toss the tennis ball for the pups some more. 

thankful for: A. sleep  B.  laughter C. art