more from June...

 a rainy day out at the Conservation Center.

 just returned from a few nights in Homer.  stopped coming and going to check in on the baby walrus.  I'm still calling him Nugget though he will get an official name at a later date. he is growing and looking good.  they have changed up his enclosure since i last saw him.  it's filled with water now and a platform.  he's being encouraged to swim more.  helps his bowels and just more normal and healthy for a walrus.

 the handlers are trying to only allow him to place his head or one flipper on them.  he's getting bigger and will get much bigger so they need to train him so he will  not hurt anyone in the future.

 was able to watch his feed this evening.  they encouraged him into the water and then they move around with the bottle.  he was hesitant at first to get into the colder water.  at first he had more sores on his body.  the gulls had already started attacking the little guy when he was stranded so he had open sores and they used warmer water in the puddle pool.  the bigger pool is cold water though.

 the walrus snugglers do 4-8 hour shifts.  there is always 2-3 folks in the area with him 24 hours/7 days.  they try to rotate the schedule so he doesn't bond too much with just one or two people. they also try to vary male/female handlers.

 fun to watch the little guy grow up.  will look at more pictures later.  going to Seward adds extra time to the drive so I'm beat.

 enjoyed my time in Homer...never a bad time in Homer.  mostly just chilled with the dogs and then shopped and ate.  lots of artists in Homer and Alaska really so there are quite a few little shops in the area.  usually it seems like i buzz in and out of Homer so it was nice to take time to meander through the various galleries.  so I'd walk dogs on a beach for awhile, then hit some shops, walk dogs on a beach, grab a bite in a restaurant.  so the dogs were beat each night.

 it started to rain last night pretty hard.  we still did 3 different walks, two in Homer before we left and one in Seward before i went to check on the walrus.  we all got pretty wet but it was relaxing and beautiful as usual.  not too many pics on the walks today...too wet.  yesterday I'm sure i took loads of dogs on the beach pictures.  

 lupine still blooming and now the fireweed is starting up as well.  always a beautiful drive.

 even dandelions are pretty though...when they aren't in my yard.

 these are still at the Conservation Center.

 was going to stop by there on the way out but it was pretty packed.  they look to have changed the entrance a bit.  will have to check it out another time.

 this day there were a few baby musk ox.  so cute...little puff balls.

 the adults were losing their winter coats still...knitters prize this fur.  it's pretty spendy yarn from what I've seen.

 it was raining this day i was there.  nice to have passes for both this place and the Sealife Center.  i can just come when i feel like it and enjoy.

 when i was in Nome i was finding this fur all over on the brushes and ground where the musk ox had walked...smelled pretty musky...hehe.

 check out that face...:-)

 tot - tongue out Tuesday..

 the pups did great in the car this trip.  we stopped a few times, but after walked they do great chilling in car for a few hours 2-3. still not great eaters out there.  they ate well as soon as we got home though.  good to keep it short.

 the low tides were at odd times so really only able to catch one low tide in the late afternoon.  the other low tide was in the middle of the night. there was always enough beach to play on though.

 pups got some good swimming in.  just saw otters out on the water. no whales or sea lions this trip.

 the pups chased birds a lot....a favorite beach time activity.  they did chase a bald eagle this morning...that could go badly for them one of these days.  today's bald eagle was a young one...it waited until the pups were a few feet away and then it flew off....thankfully.

 gotta get my annual labs drawn in the morning before my Dr appointment so i can't eat until after that.  boo.  I'll be cranky.  may have to take a snack to eat between.

 at at Fat Olives as it's by the Driftwood at Bishops Beach where i stayed. also met a friend for dinner last night at KJ's.

 there are some good places to eat in Homer as well.

 wolf

 bald eagle in Turnigan Arm.

 great little gift shop along the highway. they do these pretty impressive wood carvings. this one is an octopus...very cool.

 i think most of the rest are at University Lake.

 grebes on their nest with some babies.

 don't think I've posted these.  i try to keep track.

 so I'll turn in and get some rest.  tomorrow will be busy i think.

 sitting on one egg still and there are a few babies on the nest.

 easier to see the babies in the one below.

 i think i count 3

 more flowers at the dog park

 baby ducks and baby geese.

 saw some baby swans on the way out to Seward.  too far away for photo's.  saw a bull moose as well and on the way back i saw a moose with a few calf's.

 it was pretty foggy in places on the way back.  just a steady rain the entire day.  just sprinkles when i got home.  will have to mow the lawn as soon as it is dry.  really need to get out the weed whacker thing.

 that thing is pretty powerful....kind spooks me out.

 zipped through today.  i am home safe and had a very relaxing week off of work.  back on Thursday.

thankful for:  A.  safe travels again  B.  visits with baby walrus  C.  my sweet fur companions.

reasoning with a 120 pound dog is not effective..

 and yet i often find myself trying.  talking to her and reasoning with her to no avail.  she doesn't want to be left home alone but doesn't want to load up in the car.  i suspect she wants to just sit on the front deck...who knows though.  for sure a communication gap between the dogs and i.
swans are here and the geese and more birds show up every day it seems.  this par was out at University Lake.  so pretty.

 growth along the Turnigan Arm trails too.  spring is arriving earlier than usual but i haven't heard anyone complaining.

 headed here with Blossom before i started my 3 nights of work.

 this day Rio opted to stay home.  or maybe i helped her opt to stay home.  can't recall.

 work went fine.  first night i got to leave work early.  ER didn't need me and neither did the house so i was home and in bed before 4 am.  so maybe this walk was actually that next day.  hmm...

 amazing how days blend together.  who knows what happens what day. i'd say that i should be worried about dementia, early onset, but i've been forgetful my entire life so i really don't think it will be easy to spot those early type signs in myself.  hopefully i never get dementia or similar.  i think we all hope our brains hold out the longest.

 the next night i worked in Acc.  took a patient out, got a patient in and then in the morning both my patients were headed out.  transferred one and then got one ready for cath lab. so a busy morning but i got out a few minutes early that day as well.

 last night i again started in the ER.  was only there half of the night.  in the end they needed to call in a nurse to PCU, transfer a PCU nurse to ER to take my patients and then i went to Peds and got admits there.  honestly, the ER could have done without me or another nurse so that seemed a bit silly, but i don't make those decisions. i just go where they tell me to.  i try to avoid being in charge of anything but myself.

 was able to average out to over 10,000 steps/day this last week.  i was about 500 steps short last night, but was way ahead other days .  i had the music on and i was dancing but i ran out of time before midnight hit before i could get all the steps.  slept a lot yesterday.

 the other day between shifts i cruised the bog then took the hood up to Patterson and down.  with the app giving me distance and time and stuff it's fun to check out the various routes i take and see how far they are.

 these are my birds for that walk . geese and woodpeckers.  the woodpeckers have been very active in the hood. i wake up hearing that banging away each day.  so funny.  what a strange adaptation.  the world is a crazy place.

 have been trying to check the news. Horrible earthquake in Nepal, they also had avalanches after on the Everest so more deaths.  i remember reading interviews about Everest and the stream of bad luck they seem to be having up there. a lot of deaths these past few years.  many sherpas have lost their lives and more have again, along with climbers.  the death toll for this earthquake is still not tallied...over 4000 at this point for sure.  many villages just haven't even been gotten to.  these huge earthquakes are just amazingly devastating.  i'm always shocked by what a difference it makes in these places with no building codes as opposed to a place like Alaska or California.  i'm not saying we can't get trashed by a quake of the same magnitude but when you look at the damage, ours is generally much less. my thoughts go out to those of Nepal and the surrounding areas.  i know they must be terribly scared and devastated.

 i've noticed along Patterson Ave that people will put their own chairs at bus stops that have no bench.  this was true for over a year at a few bus stops further up the road and now they actually have benches put in.  now this one has chairs...funny too as these chairs have names on them.  so cute.  wonder when the city will switch them out for a bench. i'm sure it is nice for folks to have a place to sit and wait for the bus.  many who ride the bus are older.

 i think the quake was around an 8.  so very large. many avalanches and mudslides.  they are having a difficult time getting in to help folks and then large aftershocks keep occurring which worsens things.  saw a video someone took of the avalanche on Everest.  read that those who took refuge in their tents were some of the worse off as they became trapped in the tents and were picked up and slammed down.  folks from all over the world go to Everest and the surrounding area.

 in that article about the Sherpas and Everest. some in the local villages seemed to be saying they felt that the mountain decides if it wants to be climbed and they thought the mountain was tired of all the people up there.  probably of all the trash being left behind as well. they are trying to get helicopters in to get folks out.  it is a wee bit ironic to me that all these climbers can't find a way to climb off of a mountain?  supposedly the ways out are covered and unstable though. the air is thin and there is limited supplies i'm sure for experimenting with routes.  they are flying out the injured first so those who haven't been physically injured must wait.  there are many above the avalanche area who are trapped up there.

 they haven't had a quake that large in many years.

 i enjoyed watching these swans out there on U-Lake yesterday....everyone seemed to be enjoying the pair.  they don't often chill here.  lots of dogs out there too.  my pups were pretty tired by the time we got home.

 we were for sure not winning any speed races out there.

 have my appointment today to get my knee checked.  we shall see what the doc says. plan to walk dogs after and maybe see if there are any more swans out at Potters.

 the ice is pretty thin at U-Lake.  birds are so light though these swans can easily walk on top of the thin ice. not too worried about Blossom out there now.  she would just crash through this thin stuff and be fine getting back to land. the edges were open anyway so she'd have to swim pretty far in to be in any trouble.

 still need to make breakfast and it's nearly 1 pm.  took a late nap last night then lay around lazily watching a movie. so to bed late...movie and dancing at the same time.

 always love the swans they are so beautiful and graceful.

 they are working on the camera's out at Round Island.  the crew arrived safely. we are getting thank you notes out to the organizations that donated.  otherwise a slow week for me WARIS wise.  hand out my card at work, carry them around and then start up the conversation.  i'm always open to talk about walrus.

 little beaver swimming around.

 back to swans.

 and..then there are the mosquito's.  a few swarms of them out there yesterday. it's that time of year as well.

 the first bunch have hatched and are out and ready to attack and suck blood.

 quite the swarm of them out there yesterday.  no bites though.

 not as bad as the swarms i saw in Nome when i was up there. hopefully i won't get attacked up in Barrow this summer. they have daylight all summer so i chose late July/August.

 swans and grebes...the grebes are often spotted out there.

 there was also a huge and devastating volcano in  South America this week.  the earth is never shy about showing that it is more powerful than us all.

 guess i better get my day moving along.  do want to hit the gym later today for a swim and some rowing/biking maybe.  looks like we got some rain last night.

 maybe more coming.

thankful for:  A. buildings that have some earthquake resistence.  you can't always beat mother nature but i'm happy to live where we at least try a bit B. being needed at work, it's always a good thing.  needed and appreciated.  C.  that the swans are back..welcome spring