Christmas Lights abound..

 crazy, lazy day at my end.  dressing up the dogs this evening for photo attempts.  they look cute no matter what i do to them.  they are not thrilled but for the right treat they will put up with me.

 i walked the dogs out at N. Biv trails and then headed over to Kincaid for this tree walk thing. I'm sure it had an official name but....

 it would have been a ski thing as well, but we are short on ski's.  they did have lots of kids ski's there so the kids could try them on and ski around the area.  i suspect they had way more people than the planners expected.  i got there right at 4 and did a loop around Mize to look at all the fun trees. 

 others walked their dogs...maybe next year.  mine still seem to crazy for this level of excitement.  they had just walked so i didn't feel too bad leaving them in the car. 

 this tree was great...they tucked all these musical instruments in there.  kind of happy i went early.  much would have been tougher to see after it got any darker i think.

 this tree was covered in little bird houses...so cute.

 brass in the tree.  hopefully, they do this again next year and people will get better and better at doing their trees. there were some really good ones though.  i think this music one was one of my favorites for sure.

 this was cute too, little cross country skiers.  :-)

 there were a few trees where they handed out goodies. they also had a beer tent and some fires out for warmth and s'more making.

 i was tempted by the s'mores, but it was lots of kids making them...so i moved past.

 instead i headed to Bell's nursery and loaded up with See's candy.  i love the milk patties so i told her fill that box!!  that will no doubt last me several months. 

 the pups bought me a few other gifts while we were there.  they are so generous!!

 loved this...a bass all lit up.  it was in pretty bad shape, but still so beautiful.  the strings are lovely.  i played cello through Jr High.  never got great but when i saw that in 6th grade i just knew that was my instrument.  i think my Dad was pretty excited that i took to the cello.  he'd played violin.  he rarely brought it out when we were growing up that i remember, but he did pull it out on occasion. 

 he even bought me a cello...an unusual move for my Dad to purchase such a spendy item.  in my twenties i think the grand kids found it and it got beat up...still pretty.  i don't have it anymore. 

 i recall him taking me to this shop in the Green Hotel in Pasadena to get my bow repaired. 

 this Grinch tree below was pretty cute as well.

 as i left the tree lighting the cars were lined up and many people were walking towards the trail.  i think they had said the event would go from 4-6 but i suspect with that crowd they stayed much later.

 since i got there so early i had front row parking.

 always love these ice candle holders. so pretty.  they used them to keep you from taking the wrong trails.  it is super easy to get lost in Kincaid. 

 the dog was a bonus, haha.  the girl was apologizing...i said, there is a sled so I'm cool with a sled dog making his way into the photo.  haha. 

 attempted the Santa hats again. 

 more of the bird house tree

 one tree had these lit up milk cartons.  good idea

 a troll tree..little skiers and mushrooms.

 back to the wider view of the Grinch

 i have a few more packages ready to go now...one more trip to the post office i guess.

 maybe i can get them in there tomorrow.

 more of the tiny paper skiers.

 my sweet puppies!

 Ivy's strand of lights wouldn't stay lit so i had to hold the button down while attempting to take the pictures...added to the difficulty.

 loved this picture...don't think i have added it in yet. Winston and Morgan snuggled up together.

 a few from the dog park the other day...

 loved that sunshine

 even though it is all ice everywhere...come on snow!!

 there is a manikin in the tree. i guess they take it everywhere.

 another ice candle holder

 gotta love a tree decorated with a bicycle.

 more instruments in the tree. 

 just a few of the many i took out there.

 i saw KR getting there as i was leaving, she probably got some much better photo's. i am not that great at getting night shots...nor do i have the patience.

 this tree was simple but it looked pretty

 lots of tennis ball chasing today.  made my way to the yard....dog poop pick up day.  trash day tomorrow. 

 a snowman in a tree

 i put my pebble in the jar for the Grinch to win, but after i remembered the music one...that was really the one i liked the best. guess i better get off this computer.

grateful for:  A.  fun community events like this tree one  B.  good chocolate to spoil myself with  C.  that i have discovered i don't have to go to Glennallen to find these earrings i like.  DC Designs.  like little paintings.

Christmas Tree....Check!

 all up and decorated at this point

 the puppies involved themselves in the decoration process, which really just meant that they dropped a tennis ball at my feet at a regular basis.  so hang a few ornaments, toss the tennis ball, hang a few ornaments, toss the tennis ball.  that is how that went. made a few attempts at forced photo ops

 as you can imagine they were thrilled.  these are some pics of the last few days sunsets...we've had some dandy ones, i  must say.  above was yesterday.  i walked down to the beach at Kincaid.  turned out to be well worth it.  great reflections off the pond there.

 i think Ivy was a wee bit better at these photo ops...still fun and some silly pictures to go with it.

 the mantel has filled in a bit more since i snapped this

 put the tree in the front entry.  tried to limit ornaments towards the bottom and on the outside part as the dogs will be flying past and will no doubt take some ornaments each time they do. i think only one as come off so far so not bad.

 these first pictures are iphone shots so not always the best quality anyway.  above is today's walk.  took the airstrip and then returned via homestead and the back biking trails.  cleats required of course.  it is icy out there.

 so many pretty ornaments.  not all of them made it on the tree this year. it's a perfect sized tree. 

 Tusker kept his hat on for enough time for me to capture a photo

 can hardly tell Ivy has the Santa hat on.  oh well.

 the beach is pretty covered with ice.  it was low tide when we arrived.  hardly anyone out on the trails. the ice seems to have kept some away.  saw no moose either. 

 pretty out there though.  I'm sure someone with a better camera and skills would take some incredible pics out here...what i have is that i get out there...that is half the battle to any photography..you have to be out there  to get a shot.

 we braved the beach with the ice a bit...not really great for beach walking at this time.

 pups climbed on some chunks of ice. i took the tennis ball away...gets too lost in those chunks of ice...never to be seen again.

 the side trail appears to have flooded over.  it was a good 6 inches at least from what i saw the pups walking through.  i had to go a bit off trail to prevent from getting too wet.  this always confuses the dogs...they just run through it. humans...we really have devolved rather than evolved in many ways.

 this one turned out super cute of Ivy Rose...such a ham!!  she's like those eager to please kids.  love this face!!

 more ice and sunset...this is the beach at low tide. the chunks of ice land and await the return of the tide...this is a beach i brought a few brothers too...looks i bit different I'm sure.

 my work of the evening.  put on the Christmas music, took a break from it all...which is nice.

 bummed about Franken. like him and like how he has been outspoken.  so it bites that he has been highlighted as having used his position to get a little here and there where he could.  the other Senators have spoken and i think everyone figures he will step down tomorrow. i do understand that it is time for a zero tolerance.  no more of these pay outs either...in the end it would be better for the Dems to be able to say, not in our party...while the GOP is seeming to welcome both racists and pedophiles.  such an interesting place we are in.  the party that caters to  evangelicals also caters to white supremacists and pedophiles. that is screwed up. 

 i will be going to Dimond Nursery for my Christmas tree needs from now on.  they hang the trees up so you can walk around and spin them all and see the trees on all sides so easy...i had way too much fun tree twirling and it took me quite some time to select my tree but it was a very happy making experience. 

 i may go back and twirl trees again, just cause it is so much fun!

 look at that sky!!

 and there is the cute puppy, Ivy Rose.

 these reflections were amazing.  photo's do not tell all.  tonight's sunset looked super pretty from my poor trail vantage point, i can only imagine how it would have looked from one of my favorite sunset spots.  there were some more lucky photographers today I'm sure.  seems there is always someone somewhere.  there are many amateur photographers up here.  so fun to see what everyone comes up with.

 i liked the simplicity of the above shot. this was on the airstrip today.  no wind and this one puffy cloud. 

 just a few more jumbled pictures. the iphone loads in all jumbled. 

 have had some great sunsets my days off.  tomorrow i head back to work for 3...

 the holidays come and go quickly.  i need to get my local gift projects all done.

 adorbs...

 everything gets down to the removal of the Rus sanctions.  Flynn may have been involved in an attempt to bring nuclear power plants across the middle east?  seems a bad idea with all the unrest that seems to always be there, but it would have also required the sanctions to be removed to be successful....we will all have to wait and see what turns up in the investigation...for Rus it has been about putting the person in power who would remove those sanctions.  that did not work out yet for them. 

 seems to be the theme though.  we have paper ballots here and i hope we stay that way.  i hope the nation returns to this so that we can be more assured of safe and secure elections, much more difficult to hack into these.  we also need to do away with the gerrymandering and make the districts more rational so that the votes actually matter.  our Democracy needs lots of tweaking. we need to make more laws that will prevent these sorts of folks from trying what they have been trying to get away with...we need to get these folks out first though.

 the rest are from the night before sunset up at Basher trail

 kind of looked like an anvil out there.

 loved the contrast with the sunset and the dark clouds

 a 5 year old is dead after accidentally shooting himself. i have my paper back.  they went bankrupt, sold to someone else, changed the name back to Anchorage Daily News and now my paper has returned.  it stopped somewhere in there without notice.  not sure if i will get notice. i got an odd phone call.  another 5 year old passed away in a house fire last week.  rough week for kids.

 our nut job congressmen is now the most senior member in congress since Conyers is out after his sex scandals...he will be involved in the tax scam...i mean tax bill so he will no doubt insist the opening of ANWR stays in there.  thanks GOP.  drill and kill. 

 chasing tennis ball with sunset in  background

 Rus is out of winter games...doping scandal.  somethings never change.

 many thanks to Patagonia and REI as they will join the fight to prevent shrinking of Utah monuments....the Native community is overall not too happy with this decision considering the iitoo never spoke to them to see what their thoughts were. he's not too keen on native sovereignty I'm sure.

the religious freedom to not sell a cake to a gay couple is being heard i guess.  it is funny that the same who fight for this are seemingly fine with the possibility of being represented by a pedophile....so silly.  who cares.   they can just put I'm Christian stickers in their shop windows which will tell others, i am a homophobe but i welcome pedophiles so if you want cake to lure small kids with come on in.   the GOP will hear more and more of this as they keep allowing men with histories of sexual deviant behavior into offices of power.  you can scream Clinton but if the future is the Dems having zero tolerance and the GOP welcoming...well, just saying get used to it.

 your religious freedoms are not stunted by making a cake.  your religious freedoms aren't prevented by others committing what you feel is a sin.  you are still able to practice your religion. that hasn't changed and that won't change because a cake is made and a couple is married.  i guess we shall see what the court says.

 seems late for fire season even by CA standards but they have some big ones going right now.  my brother and his family were temporarily evacuated.  thankfully, all is well.  global warming and the melting of the ice pack in the north could be partially responsible.  there is reports that CA will experience more droughts

 need to put my reading glasses in here.  seems i often end up reading the paper at night 

 interesting article about women in prison in Afghanistan...some will have their kids with them.  i get the feeling that it can happen if the child is born in prison or if the woman has no one else to care for the kids or if they don't sign the kids over for others to care for.  the one woman they highlighted was in for life, got pregnant in prison, this changed her sentence to life over a death sentence. her daughter is now 11 and will remain until she is 18 it sounded like.  she has spent the entirety of her life in prison without committing any crime. 

 I'd watched a documentary and it isn't the most unusual thing for kids to be in women's prisons.  the documentary i saw was about India i believe.  the kids that are born there stay with their moms until they turn 5.  i believe that they found many women did better, were less likely to be repeat offenders. 

 there are a lot of ways to do things.  not all are right or wrong.  interesting concepts though.

 it's after midnight and I'm getting hungry.  may have to grab a snack before i crash. I've been liking the herb triskets lately...cheese and triskets.  tasty. 

 should be some fruit though i guess.  i have a little watermelon downstairs and a pomegranate.  those are too messy for late night bed snacking though.

 guess i shall move on from this.  hope you  are all enjoying some of the holiday season.  at least you aren't my dog and were forced to wear silly head wear tonight.  hehe.

thankful for:  A.  the music of the season.  B. the decorated tree which just brings a smile each time  i walk by  C.  twirling trees....a new pleasure.