another litter have all found homes since last i wrote

Had a few more trips to Homer. It's easy and beautiful there. Adjusted my schedule to hit some low tides. The trip after I last blogged, I was texted by animal control with another litter. I took in Amora and her 4 adorable kittens. dropped them back off when I was headed for the next trip to Homer. 

It's been a cooler year with rain or clouds often in the morning. Some clearing by evening. The wildflowers are popping out, and even the fireweed is starting to grow. The lupine and many other flowers are a bit behind schedule. 

The crew was so cute, and a few were especially snuggly. The mom immediately got diarrhea and vomiting. Got right on them, and the shelter staff even gave me instructions and supplies to do SQ fluids. Amora looked thin and was thin.   3 days of SQ fluids and she did start to perk up. A few kittens also got some fluids. Just tiny Clubbies was slightly underweight when I took them back, was headed to Homer again though. Clubbies got a home first, and the others soon followed. Amora, the mom, had to have her milk supply dry up so she could get spayed. She found a home within a few days, though. So sweet. Great to have success with these litters. You really get attached fast. Miss Clubbies and Bondii both wanted to eat solids from my lap for the longest time.

Named the kittens after a TV show in Australia I've been watching reels of. A reality show about the lifeguards at Bondi Beach.

Always love my Homer low tides. This last trip, we took a water taxi over to explore a new spot to beach comb.  Lots of seaweed but still fun to see new stuff and explore a bit. I was nervous about loading and unloading the dogs as the first boat did not have a front loader. We arrived at the beach, and they pulled out a ladder. Sunny jumped off the bow onto the beach. Ivy is a bit older and has bad knees. The owner of Mako's had joined us and he kindly got Ivy safely to ground. The return boat had a front loader, so we could just walk on.

Usually get 15,000-20,000 steps a day on these trips. 

Tomorrow I head to Valdez for a few nights. The little cabin i love at the KOA wasn't available, but we will stay in a big tent already set up that has cots. I've done that before. Not as good as the little cabin, but it's just 2 nights. The week after I will make another run to Homer for another low tide.  Maybe we will do the hike to the glacier or go to Seldovia to walk. we shall see. depends on tide times

Should do some bigger adventures, I think. So far this is working. it's all pretty. Fun to just get out and explore. 

Work, well, I'm always pondering when to retire.  The health insurance is my biggest concern. They put me in ICU again. When I asked the staffing people, they said I had been removed from the ICU list. They returned with putting me with step-down patients. The next night, CSU. The next week, back in ICU but now with "stable" patients. The thing with that is that if those step down or ICU patients become unstable, they will not trade out assignments. It's too difficult, as you'd have to move patients around in that unit. If I transfer out a step-down patient, I will be expected to take whatever ICU patient comes. In the meantime, the last time I worked there was in December, I think. It stresses me out to be guilted at 5-10 minutes before shift starts to take assignments i am no longer comfortable with. It feels like bullying at some level. The unit already has your name to come help, and now you are putting everyone in a terrible position at the last minute. It's not fair to me or to them. 

By morning, I had a tension headache with nausea. Called out. These units are literally making me ill. I wrote a note at like 3 am to the management team. Hoping this helps.

I wish ICU had not become a source of such stress, but I am hypervigilant when I am there. I do fine, but at what cost, really. At this time, the cost is mine and somewhat my coworkers, who have to support me more than they should. Do not wish to stay in ICU longer than i should and have to be made to leave. I've seen that happen. ICU is just not a place where you can be less than 100%, and I do not feel 100%. I simply do not work enough hours there to stay confident and skilled. No amount of healthstreams can make up for lack of time at the bedside

Having worked ICU for over 20 years, I do believe I've earned a break from it, and I also believe that I can still be an asset.  I may still just retire if I can find reasonable coverage. Sadly, this nation values its workers so little. Values all its people so little. the corruption and greed is so out of control. 

We just had 250 years this fourth. I did nothing to celebrate really. It was fireworks for 2 nights in a row until well after 1 in the morning. Ivy stayed close, but poor Sunny Boy was panting and clinging tightly to me. Last night he tried to fit himself in a small space. I got him back on the bed and under the covers to snuggle.  Nothing to celebrate in my mind. We are headed in a terrible direction. white supremacists gathered in DC to celebrate and protest. 

Bears are in the neighborhood. It was tipping trashcans and pooped in my front yard, brat! I'll put his poop at the top of my trash in the can. I tend to layer my trash. Anything that smells interesting to a bear gets layered under cat litter or yard clippings or dog poop. I also have a bungee cord that I release before they do their pick up. Hoping that bear leaves the garbage tomorrow. Trash bears are often killed. not a good habit. Saw one a week or so ago strolling down Tudor Rd.  

I need to do more packing. I've done so many trips over the years that I generally can toss stuff together fast. Texted Bill at the glacier. Haven't heard from him. may have to just call. Always love to stop there at the Matanuska Glacier to let the dogs play in the kettle ponds.

Lots of lawn mowing. Things grow crazy fast up here in the summers. I have many lazy feeling days, but I do get walks in. Try to head to different trails. Yesterday I headed to Powerline to explore the flowers.  Last month I checked out Barbara Falls in Eagle River and Thunderbird Falls. I kept hearing about Barbara falls but I finally located it and went to see it. will have to add it to the list of good spots.

Went to Potters Marsh yesterday as well. There is a pair of Sandhill Cranes that have a little baby there, called a colt. I did get lucky and caught a glimpse of it. Will have to look on the big camera. The swans also have 4 babies, called cygnets.

Rainbow with my flowers in boots. So cute.

The dogs do not actually care where we go.  Often we just go to Campbell Airstrip or the dog park at University Lake.  As long as we get out walking, I feel good. It's easy to get lazy. In the summer, friends tend to scatter. It can feel a bit lonely. Be lonely and do it anyway. feel uncomfortable and do it anyway.

You do get more used to not being invited, never fully used to it though. Feelings still get hurt at times. That is the trade off. In general, I'd say single life has worked out well for me. I suspect there are far more people who are surrounded by people who they feel lonely around. Having a spouse and/or kids is no guarantee that you won't feel lonely. 

As a kid i was surrounded by people and felt so alone. Its worse to feel overlooked. 

Sweet Amora.  

She got pretty thin and weak. It was getting tough for her to feed these little guys. So happy we were able to get her feeling better.

I turned 62 in May. There were no plans made, no cake. My Birthday often falls on/near the Memorial Day holiday so over the years it's eclipsed. Better this than Christmas, I'm sure, though. Spoke with people who called. It's just a strange thing, Birthdays. I have no idea how to deal with attention directed at me. Never really learned to embrace that. It just felt abnormal. A Birthday feels like some obligation. 

You really do want to be noticed, to get that attention, but you have no clue how to enjoy it. It just feels awkward. 

A few are starting to talk of planning vacations here next year. Until tickets are bought, I generally wait a bit. Alaska is one of those places people speak of going to, but when it gets closer, there are things that prevent it. We get enough patients in to see that health is not always a hindrance to travel plans. Come die in Alaska. It happens. You may as well leave the planet doing your dream trip rather than leaving it wishing you had tried to take that dream trip.

Everything is green. Missing my kitten time already. They tried, I think, but I have little trips planned in the summer. It was never my intention to give those up for kitten care. You have to set boundaries for yourself in life. All aspects. I really appreciate that the shelter doesn't try to guilt me into skipping trips. They have tried to work with me. 

Look at these sweet faces! 

They change so quickly; it's so fun to watch their skills improve. 

here is Clubbies hitting 1 pound. 

my cat is well over 1 pound. 

kittens are the best!

Work the next 3 weekends to get that Homer trip in. A bit of driving.  The roads seem to have been especially dangerous this summer. be careful out there.

Clubbies had extra toes. 

Saw this mom with her calf near Kincaid

In other news, the Element has moved to a new home. As much as I loved the car, it deserved to be given the love it needed. I'm not wealthy enough to keep up on the maintenance an old car needs, nor am I capable of doing the work myself. She is getting spruced up. It just didn't make sense to have her anymore. I think I understand my Dad selling his 1964 1/2 Ford Mustang more now. Probably in the same boat. How it works for me is you are either making a car payment, or you are spending money repairing an older car. I'd rather have a newer car that I can depend on. 

She was a great car and I hope she makes her new humans happy.

Chappo, really got into his feeds. 

Tamarama, Bondii and Clubbies.

i'm sure i missed stuff. that is the latest catch up.  grateful for A. these fast summers and all the changes week to week. B. another successful litter C. another fun trip coming up. i better run prep!
 

back from Haines Alaska

 

these are from the big camera from this trek. it's been a busy few weeks. a lot to catch up on, but thought i'd toss a few in and give a brief tale of the trek. above is like a rainbow and a half at least. i've seen double rainbows but this was a rainbow with extra color

these were far away but mountain goats or sheep by Kluane Lake.  this was in the Yukon Territory. my friend arrived on a Sunday night. we went for a drive since we'd ordered pizza after her arrival. in that time we saw a moose and her calf and a trio of young black bears.  we never saw the mom but the black bears were chill and playing so i'm guessing she was near by.  seeing bears from the car is almost always the best. 

i had to work one night before our trek away. it was in the ER, so slammed and exhausted after words. sleep and a walk at the dog park.  then since it was my friends Birthday we headed out to eat. Brewhouse for herb crusted halibut. we both love it. 

we did the drive to Tok day one.  it was ripe with fall colors.  we stopped several times to allow the dogs to play/walk.  we stayed at the Caribou Cabins in Tok.  great little cabins, dog friendly. they do have a few caribou there. they were chill about the dogs. we stayed here on our return back as well. that night we were gifted with a little northern lights display. always a treat.  there was a big show on the Sunday/Monday night we returned. it kicked in after 12:30 and after all the driving i crashed after dropping CR off at the airport so i slept through it. 

the next day was the longest drive. from Tok to Haines.  border crossing in and out of Alaska. you have to leave Alaska to get back to Alaska. we saw these bears driving the Haines Highway.  anyway. before we hit the border that drive to Haines, we hit construction.  really it was the only construction zone delay we had but it lasted about an hour. usually, this is a great opportunity to get out and walk around but there were so many biting flies surrounding the car that neither of us found that to be an appealing option.

it was a beautiful drive though. our border crossing in to Canada went smoothly. he only asked if my license plate was real. 

we had a mix of rain and sunshine. rainbows and fog. other than the bears we saw on the Haines Highway part we didn't see much scenery through that section. it was super foggy.  i always had decent visibility and there were hardly any other cars on the road out there. Kluane Lake was beautiful so we stopped to make sandwiches and walk the dogs on the lake beach. 

on these long drives you top off the tank every chance you get. since we'd be in the Yukon and British Columbia for only a matter of hours i put the phone on airplane mode to avoid roaming. we did see some fox as well along the road. no photos of them though. 

we got in to Haines just after the sun had gone down so the last part of the drive we didn't get scenery.  we crossed back into the states easily. showed him our bear photo, which impressed him. the dogs health certificates were checked and the dogs looked at. the CDC forms he never bothered with because he told us the fact that we knew what he was talking about was proof enough that i'd filled them out. the guy crossing back over in to Alaska on the drive home never asked.  he was our only serious/cranky border agent.  it's hit and miss really. 

we stayed 3 nights at the Beach Roadhouse in Haines.  they have a series of buildings/cabins/yurts.  almost at the end of the road to the right of town, past a landslide area. we were in one half of a duplex. dogs allowed as well so it worked out perfect really. the owners have quite a bit of property so plenty of places to walk dogs. there was a great trail at the end of the road.  we took that the next morning down to a beautiful beach. i think that was less than 2-3 miles round trip. 

that first day we explored the town. not ton to the town and many buildings for sale.  apparently one guy came in with the intent of re-inventing Haines and bought many properties only to abandon his plan so subsequently a lot of places on the market now.  reminded me of one of the stories running through the old series Northern Exposure. a wealthy astronaut in that series was hell bent and making Cicily an oasis that people would travel to from all over the world. 

this bear gave us a lovely show.  day 2 in Haines was a beautiful weather day.  we walked on a long beach at Mud Bay. the dogs got to run off leash and had a great time. after we opted to go check out the haines highway again since it was foggy on the way in and the drive out was looking like a rain day.  so back over the border for a few  hours.  we just did around 60 miles each way. check out the highest elevations and see the mountains we would other wise miss.  this bear entertained us coming and going. in these he's playing in puddles by the side of the road. 

rolling around.  so cute from the car. as we drove toward border crossing i saw something ahead  on the road.  couldn't tell if it was a biker or motorcyclist...in the end it was a small plane.  they can use roads to land and that is what happened so that was interesting. that was at mile 33 restaurant.  we stopped there on the return trip and took in an early dinner. CR had explore places to eat more than i had.  so we checked off several places during our stay.  we ate well for sure. quite a few options. 

we also cruised over to the Chilkoot Lake a few times over our stay and there was also some cool old buildings that used to be military ages ago.  many have been transformed into condo's.  there was also a big grass field in the middle of those buildings so another good place to let the dogs play while we enjoyed some totem poles and historic buildings

we also stopped and enjoyed this cool gyrfalcon on our sunny day drive. it looked to have captured a chipmunk and was enjoying it's meal.  

there was some discussion as to what sort of bird this was.  several sources seem to confirm gyrfalcon. 

there were quite a few totem poles in town.  there were some really old ones on the field laying down.  loved those and there was one a the library where the clever totem carver had placed a book in the hands of one of the characters on the pole...the book was titled, "totem carving for dummies".  i found that amusing. 

there were several beaches that we stopped to let the dogs play on too. i always enjoy exploring small towns up here. i had been to Haines briefly years ago. it was a stop on our cruise of SouthEast Ak. we stopped, got in a van and then headed out to the Chilkat River to see bald eagles.  they congregate in October/November so really not tons of eagles back then or this trip.  lots of bear scat all over and some bear tracks on beaches. 

nice feather display

the drive back tends to feel shorter and technically it was shorter. no construction stop. ended up with better weather than expected. stopped again in Kluane.  we also stopped at this pretty waterfall in Canada. again...just stops to eat, stretch and walk dogs. gas up when we could. 

got back to Tok and ate at really the only place in town Fast Eddy's.  Tok it much better than Glenallen, charm wise, but neither are really all that charming. the coastal towns have it all over some of the interior towns which are more utilitarian than pretty. 

we made a stop at the Matanuska Glacier on the way back. the dogs love it.  better to get them silt stained on the way home. 

overall, a lovely trek.  

i got a bit lazy after i returned home and my friend left. typical after a long drive and excitement of exploring this amazing place. 

the pets survived, thanks LS for stopping by to check on them. the dogs and humans survived the border crossings. 

Covid Cat has an air tag on so i checked on him at times. mostly, he tends to stick very close to home so that is comforting. 

dog park and local walks.  only skipped walks one day this past week after returning.  that was a total lazy day.  it was sunny so i just enjoyed the sunshine and read a novel i've been working on.

got my two shifts in last week.  pcu and peds. 

i'll have to hop in the shower and get these guys off walking soon. my handyman has been coming in this last week working on the shed.  so great to see progress after looking at the shell all summer. i got a layer of primer on the wall up front as well. so progress all over. 

he's on his way over now to finish the roof. i was thinking of a metal roof but in the end it would have to be ordered and take weeks to come so just going with shingles now. 

i bought some little boat style port windows so i'll have him put one on each door and then i'm thinking put one under the roof and set it up so the cat can have a place inside/outside to chill.  just enter through the little window. put some cat steps up to the top. 

always about these pets.  

it was a lot of photos to load in the computer...caught up.  

yesterday i walked in N. Bivouac.  found one of my favorite tiny tourquoise mushrooms.  lots of them.  so pretty. 

watched a mini series the other night.  met with my friend SJ for dinner last night.  

todays goals...maybe get a new skeleton...it is getting to be that time of year.  stopped at home depot for more primer and they had Halloween and Christmas stuff out. 

MT picked a date for the pumpkin massacre that sounds like it will work for about everyone so that is great. 

this is that old fort area above and below from a beach outside town. i better hop in shower. 

grateful for A.  safe travels to and from Haines B.  more amazing sights and memories. C. health and happiness