mastiff fashionista!!

 i'm pretty sure she's the only mastiff in town dressed so fine!!  tonight i again did the rare thing and sewed for my dog.  i have made her at least 4 coats and now this neck/ear muff.  she just has those long floppy ears with that thin coat of hair so this is to protect her ears from frostbite on days like today.  i think it came out nicely considering my ineptness at sewing and craft type items in general. thankfully, rio is pretty mellow and doesn't mind at all being dressed.

 above is blossom last night with her two feline pals pogi and miss breezy chatterbug.

 rio today in the temperatures that were close to zero. we ended up doing a lot of loops and twists around north bivouac trails and were out there in the cold for nearly 2 hours.  my photo opts were many but i didn't take the opportunity as often as i should have.  dealing with 2 dogs, losing various items, doubling back to try and find lost items and the cold. so not very many pictures.  lots of cool frost out there getting started.  may just head out there again tomorrow, we shall see.

 not too long into the hike i noticed that rio had lost one of her booties.  they clearly make a difference as the rest of the hike she would stop and lift the one paw up.  dogs up here often wear booties in the cold and many tolerate them just fine.  blossom never took to them and i think her thick coat serves her well.  still one must be careful in temperatures this low.  rio does look lovely in her red coat and red booties.  once i add on her white neck scruff she will be toasty  i hope.  the red coat has paw prints as does her new white scruff.

 blossom seems completely oblivious to the cold and several times tonight requested to be let out so she could lay about on the back deck for awhile.

 we went out to the open area which in the warmer months is boggy and unpassable. i only saw a few small spots that had broken through.  there had been walkers and clearly a moose as well.  so if a nearly 1000 pound moose can walk on the ice i feel pretty safe.  still, i was alone so i am always a bit more cautious.  i put blossom on her leash before we got near the ponds that are deeper.  it would not be a good day in these severe cold temps for her to go through the ice.

 she was raring to go though.

 i stayed up late and watched, "frozen ground".  it was filmed in Alaska and was based on a real story up here about a serial killer.  the guy was a baker up here in anchorage.  was married with kids, guess he seemed normal enough to those around him, but in the end he was killing women.  mostly prostitutes from what i could gather.  he must have waited til his wife would go out of town with the kids and then he'd pick up a girl and hold her hostage, rape her repeatedly and eventually put the victim in his plane.  he'd fly the victim out to a remote location then release her only to chase her down and "hunt" her like an animal.  one girl escaped but the cops at the time didn't pay too much attention to her story.

 liked this odd snow design on the pond. looked kinda human or like an ink blot.

 anyway, one cop eventually did see a pattern and found the one girl that had escaped and eventually this serial killer was captured.  from what he movie said he's doing life with no chance of parole.  i think he finally admitted to maybe 17 murders, they only found 11 i think.  he'd kept a map with
x's marking the location of the bodies behind his bed, that was finally found by the police.  interesting case, sad.

 a few more pictures of rio's new neck scruff.

 she's so cute...in her own sweet way.  there is a 7 year old mastiff looking for a home apparently on friends of pets.  tempting to check her out.  female, overweight.  not that i need another gas passing, snoring beast in the house, it's just that these larger dogs can be harder to place.  everyone seems to love big dogs, but i think they don't realize what all is involved.

 made it to walmart today and did pick up a few small gifts for some family in Texas. i should make that christmas letter tonight.

 had a hard time sleeping after watching that movie.  probably not a good idea when you live alone to watch a movie about a serial killer and then try to sleep.

 these are a few of the ice crystal shots from today.  nothing too outstanding, i haven't quite got the hang of putting the frost in a picture that really shows how cool it is.

 you will just have to be patient and perhaps one day i'll get the knack.  black and white does seem to help a bit though.  makes it less blue anyway.

 it's just amazing how delicate they are and how intricate they can be as well.

 it does get chilly trying to get down and hold still for the macro.  i really should have done the long johns and ski pants over regular pants and skhoop.

 another day, more frost. perhaps a trip down the sledding hill on the south of town and then hit that coastal refuge...might be fun.  may need my cleats for that too.

 at least i'll have more sun and could just time it so i'm there for tomorrows sunset.  always a great place to enjoy the sunset.

 each blade of grass gets coated with crystals...pretty in the light.

 wanted to hit stumphenge, there is lots of ice crystals there.  should hit it a bit earlier to get the light.  maybe a good one to hit before i start back to work thursday.

 after the walk of today i was chilled and trying to push myself to head back out and redeem myself for my lack of photo taking today.

 eventually, i headed up to basher trailhead and caught the tail end of the sunset.  pretty.

 so hoping tomorrow is a better photo day.  did get some stuff done that's been on my mental list.  happy i found that material for rio's  neck scruff. i had decided last winter that she needed something for her ears for this winter so hopefully it works.

i better try and crash a bit earlier tonight.  no scary movies.  perhaps i'll start a new book.

halloween rituals and obsessed with ice and frost...

 blossom is so hollywood these days.   made halloween treat bags for those who came for monday walk.  the usual crazy eye glasses were included of course so at some point attempts were made to have the dogs test them.  manny wanted nothing to do with it and hopefully, he is not traumatized.  blossom heard the rustle of a treat bag and no longer cared what i put on her body as long as she got her treat.  she wore her jester collar for the walk and rio wore her one and only halloween/dress up outfit.  they just don't make cool stuff for big dogs!!  i must be the only person who wants to make my larger framed dogs look silly...silly isn't just for chihuahua's!!

 stopped by work as it was the day of the annual pumpkin carving contest.  there were just a few left out still, i guess it ends at 4pm.  clean up must have been fast.  this one with the dog sled team was up, which i thought was pretty cool...probably should have had more pumpkin in it.

 ob did their usual kinda strange and disturbing pumpkins.  this baby is pooping and the other one was breastfeeding.

 thusly inspired, and knowing that halloween is on wednesday, i went ahead and carved my pumpkins.  above came from the kit and below was free hand...my attempt at a dog.

 will  hopefully deal with the seeds and pulp tomorrow.  have never really totally gotten into the seed thing.  need a better recipe than the ones i seem to keep trying.  they look so good coming out of the over, but eh.

 did work sat and sunday...no on call for me.

 hit the bog on sunday between shifts.  lots of frost and bubbles again.  karen just gave me a tip she'd heard about the ice...carry hot water with you and then you can get clearer pictures of stuff under the ice!  will have to test that out.  we may try for potters tomorrow.  it's starting to snow a bit out there so if that goes wild we'll hold off on potters i guess.  i think it will just be  a dusting though.

 blossom and rio enjoy all the sniff action at the bog...local dog information i'm guessing.  blossom is the alpha dog of my two dog, otherwise she has not an ounce of alpha in her.  her alpha consists of checking rio's urine out and assessing whether the message is sufficient or putting in her two cents...it also consists of humping rio when she is  not getting enough attention.

 this is the side of the boardwalk above that blossom is sniffing.  i just love, love, love hoar frost and i'm still not doing it justice on "film" as it were.

 the lakes are freezing, i'm still a bit wary at times of going out too far.  i suspect that is my california upbringing. i'm not a natural on the ice so i'm not one to trust this whole going out on the ice thing.  i do love getting out there on the kicksled.  i think once it snows and the ice on the lakes are covered by the white stuff you just get tricked into thinking it must be safe.  somehow seeing down clearly into the lake and seeing how deep it is, well, it just makes you question the intelligence of walking across it.  out of sight out of mind is what i'm saying.

 of course, it does seem that every year people fall through the ice on the lakes and rivers and die.  the people that this happens too are often alaskan lifers.  water in any form is no respector of anyone, we are all at risk.

 i just love when the air bubbles cause these chains.  this tiny marsh area in the bog has tons of these things.i'm sure they have names...there isn't anything left to name in this world is there?

 i can tell the people who pass by me on the trail in the bog think i'm a bit nuts off on the side there taking pictures of these tiny puddles.

 how can i resist this though.

 today was the same.  we ran into the ridgeback photographer, jim barr i believe.  anyway.  we had just been enjoying the cool ice swirls in ponds out in the middle of our walk today and he mentioned that the ponds or tarns in the middle of the park were frozen.

 we decided to wander out there and check it all out.  so happy we did.  it was really a sweet walk. probably shorter than our usual but karen, lena and i still didn't get back til after 2:30 for lingering at the tarns.  just a treat out there.  of course, in my sleepy state i totally forgot my backpack with the big camera gear in it.  so all i had was my little camera and no extra battery or cards.  the cold tends to suck the battery, but i ran out of memory first.  as you can see i do not lack photo's today.  so perhaps a good thing.

 these are still from yesterday.

 work was not bad these past days. in the adults i started with 2 patients, gave one away and got a transfer in.   kept me steady, but not crazy.  my kid last night wouldn't slow down it's breathing rate.  always bugs you when you can't fix something.  hmm...docs are still trying to figure out what's up so i really shouldn't let myself get too worked over it.

 co-workers were fun both nights so all was well.

 this happens all over as the land freezes up.  that is a rock inside the hole.  this is also a problem on the roads and such so it can be tough to keep pot holes from forming.  doing road work is a constant issue.

 blossom playing dominant dog with rio...the only dog who will tolerate her silly dominance game.  of course, it looks even sillier when they are dressedin costumes.

 the teds thing worked out okay.  not my favorite, but there are worse things in life.  my body is tired, but that is usual after working nights.  i could say in the mornings it was just that usual "i worked all night" tired rather than my leg feeling totally wiped out.

 luckily, i live in a nation where care is a possibility. so often it's easy to forget that so many other humans on our earth get the same sort of medical issues as we do but they have absolutely no relief from pain, no treatment plan, basically, they just deal with it.  many die at a much younger age than we do here for very treatable things.  it's sad.

 these are on our n. bivouac loop.  the area where the trees really got nailed in the wind storm had these cool ice flow formations.  it was a kick just looking at the underwater happenings.

 cool swirls, right?

 i know i didn't do them justice with my little camera.  hopefully, karen got some awesome shots.  she has a lot more processing to do at home.  she shoots raw. i just do the basics, edit the basics and bam, i'm done.  she is much more patient and seems to enjoy that end of it.  i'm more lazy and the blog keeps me on the computer long enough.  :-)

 trying to weed out pictures as i go.  i loaded way too many.  soon this cool ice will be covered with snow so i have to take advantage of it while i can...well i don't really have too, but being that i'm bubble and ice obsessed, i must!

 just so many different things that ice does.  who knew?

 lena found this ghostly looking creature in the ice.

 so much bitching on the facebook site...can't wait til this election crap is over.   maybe people will get normal again.  i've never understood how people can seem to absolutely hate candidates or anyone that isn't on their side.  people get so nasty and horrible.  the behaviour surrounded elections it horrible.  i keep hiding posts.  so accusitory and hateful. of course, they all believe they are totally right and that anyone who thinks differently is obviously an idiot.

 manny stops briefly and i get lucky and capture him...well part of him anyway.

 anyway, all these accusations based on some information that fox news "uncovered".  nobody else seemed to cover this "big" story.  people just forget how different things are in other places.  you can't call 911 in libya.  i heard an interview with the ambassador over there that died, he knew the risks he was taking, he sounded like a very balanced person. in his heart he really wanted to help the people of libya and there are many there who also mourn his loss.  it's a chaotic place though.  there are risks and threats everywhere.  nobody is ever safe there at this time.  you just don't know.  if we would have sent in extra security, the death toll may be much higher and then they'd be accusing obama of recklessly putting more lives at risk.  spin, spin, spin..i'm dizzy and i want to get off this political rollar coaster ride.

 just popped downstairs and the snow is falling in bigger flakes now.  hm...

 today there were still fall colours out there, tomorrow it will be a sea of white.  this is why every day my walk is full of surprises.

 we kept the dogs pretty close to the sides on the ponds out there.  they seemed to enjoy it. i think even rio loved being on the ice and bunches of grass, so much easier for her than the roots of the trail and the frost heaves and holes.

 lots of bubbles for me to enjoy.

 lena forgot her camera, but she was enjoying all the sites out there on the trail.  the dogs wait for a treat.

 karen enjoys the photo ops of the day!

 gotta get cracking on that ceu coarse. was a bit annoyed by the last bit.  it's about cancer in women.  after they were really done with endometrial cancer and the scenario that went with it they added that the patient was single and lived with her cats.  seems a bit stereotypical and unnecessary to me.

 nothing wrong with having pets and that doesn't mean that every single girl with pets is some lonely freak.  just mildly annoying. i'll have to mention it in the course evaluation.

 lilly pads frozen in ice.

 a few months back during rounds the doc, mcghan, had mentioned that this patient of mine was really messed up and they were about the same age.  i then countered with the fact that men like this are in my dating pool.  all the alcohol is catching up to those who have taken in too much over the years.  it must have disturbed him.  i don't so that in an i'm so depressed way, it's just that when you get to a certain age the men in your dating pool can be a bit questionable.  many have alcohol or drug issues, many seem to be turning into pedephiles or just bad humans, and many just have a lot of baggage.  i don't want to become a caregiver to some old guy or deal with his ex-wife and all the other crap.  it's just reality.

 saturday in rounds i had another fine specimen in my age bracket with alcohol issues.  i'm guessing he was a bit disturbed by the sad dating pool i have as he mentioned it in rounds...he said something about this guy being in my dating pool.  yes and no, he has a girlfriend.  these losers actually do seem to have girlfriends.  some women are more willing to put up with the crap. i'm just not that girl.

 rather be out on the trails with friends taking pictures of ice bubbles!

 thought this one turned out pretty too.

 i think we were all thrilled by how the walk progressed.

 karen and i then went to kaladi's. kim and her daughter raven joined us along with another rt michelle.  one of our docs happened to be there meeting a friend of hers so she joined us as well....so another lovely kaladi monday too!

 a girl and her dog...lena out in the frozen bog.

 leaves frozen in time.

 blossom makes her way around the tarn or pond...still not clear how much water is required to go from pond to tarn and from tarn to lake. i think i will call these tarns...it's such a cute word!

 such a cutie.

 blossom turned 7 this weekend.  no big celebrations for her.  she's a dog...everyday is a party in her world...she hit the jackpot! must have been good in her past lives to get to live as a dog!!

 we went from subdued to silly pretty fast.  the glasses came out.

 realized this morning when i got home that i hadn't put the goody bags together yet.  worked quickly on the silly necklaces i'd decided to make..can't let that stuff go to waste.  i'd made and shipped goody bags to a few of my nephews. i'd had a partial package ready to go for a few months.  making it halloween themed gave me incentive to get it mailed before halloween. it did arrive in time and the boys seemed to enjoy it.

 above me, below, karen, lena and i.

 rio was forced to participate as well.  silly dog!!

 everyone lines up for treats from lena.

 blossom seemed to forget we'd put those glasses on her once food was involved.

 lots of bubbles.

 second tarn.  the winter trail crosses over this one.

 a few more bubble shots and i'm off to bed.

 we shall see what tomorrow brings.  it's not looking like potters for ice skating, but we shall see.  if not i'll have to think of another place to wander.  hmmm.....

hope you enjoy the pictures as much as i enjoyed taking them.