lazy, happy saturday!

 there were some options that interested me tonight, but instead i got totally lazy and carved that last pumpkin.  i took some of my stronger cough medicine last night as i was just sick of hacking, but even though i take less than the full dose i tend to be a bit hungover after i take it.  found some cool pumpkin designs on WWF website.  who knew.  great ideas though.  i printed them off for next years pumpkin massacre.  above is a rhino in case you can't tell.  came out fairly cool.  i do like rhino's and they are at risk of being totally decimated in the wild due to poaching.  idiots just want their horns.  so frustrating.  what is wrong with people that they can't see the beauty and value in preserving the wildlife of this earth and can only see the dollar signs of killing it.

 did manage a walk.  it's continued a bit windy but the blue patches i saw seemed to be over the north bivouac area so off i went.  i was thinking of hitting the beach but it looked pretty dark over that side of town.  above you can see the ball bounced into a tree and blossom is in background desperately searching for said ball.  eventually she found it...with a little help.

 we took the gasline to powerline to tank trail.  a bit muddy in parts but not too horrible.  my feet stayed dry and i just had my short boots on. need to buy new ones.  still sore on the bottom of my right heel...i'm self diagnosing it as a plantar fascitis.  stretched this morning before i got out of bed and i think it did help. gotta love the internet.  it was nice out really while we were walking.  was thinking of taking this loop for the monday walk this week.  we'll see.

 both dogs are tired tonight from their romp in the woods so i was successful.  there are a few movies out there that look interesting, but i can always see them later at home, cheaper.  there was also a hockey game and a gathering.  oh well.  as a bit of an introvert i can only manage so many social interactions in a given time span.  haha.  i do love my friends, don't get me wrong...i just go into loner mode pretty quickly.

 sunset from my place.  took a wee nap this afternoon which got me off schedule for my pool plans.

 a few more pumpkin shots.

 hard to know the angle and you can't really even see the pumpkin in these...they really are pumpkins though.

 here are the stencils that i printed off.  not too bad.  i got a bit confused with the rhino's head..delicate work.  didn't want the disaster that occurred last night to repeat itself.

 tried baking the seeds again.  not sure if it's really my thing in the end. but i did  like the rub spice that speedy brought over.  dillo rub?  a nice blend.

 this guy below is my resident squirrel.  he seems to like the seeds i hadn't cooked but left out for him.  he was very busy today getting ready for winter. i know he's got a stash of seeds in my shed...not sure if he has a nest in my shed or under my shed.  he was running back and forth along the fence, leaping across to a feeder, grabbing food and back to the shed. over and over and over again.

 it was quite entertaining.  i know i have no life...i sat there and watched his antics and attempted to get pictures of him through the window.  i did catch him in flight several times but they were all grossly out of focus.  they move so dang quick.  way quicker than i can.

 it's amazing to watch him fly up and down the top of the fence.

 blossom has been busy chasing cats out of the yard.  i always encourage her to chase them out as i don't want cats eating the birds i lure in with food..that would be cruel to lure them in to their death.  we've had some cat visitors these past few days.  blossom seems to leave the squirrel pretty much alone.  the cats do enjoy watching him though.

 i spent so much time watching him today i named him "argyle".  not sure why but it's kinda cute.

 so most of the pictures i took of argyle were tossed but a few survived.

 here he is in mid air along the fence.  he must have made hundreds of treks on that fence today.  i took pictures, left to walk the dogs, returned a few hours later and he was still at it.

 a few last pictures from the walk today.  it's brown out there and now we wait for the snow.  with the light fading you start to really want the snow to brighten it all up.  it just is so much darker without the snow cover.

 this is the black bear tree on the road.  soon a black bear will den up inside it for the winter.  it is indeed hollow.  crazy to think that a bear dens up less than 50 feet from that road with cars driving past it all the time.  i didn't walk over and check it out too closely though i thought about it.  there was a small part of me that was concerned that she was already in there, getting it ready.  no desire to meet up with any bears for a bit.  i could see that hole on the side though  and that was enough for me.

it's getting late.  i shall head off and read a bit or slap a movie in.  good night

there are no boring days in alaska...

had a chill day mostly. slept in, read the paper in bed, did the same walk as yesterday and ran some errands. in the evening i figured i'd take a stroll in the bog with the girls. was warned that there was a moose that had a fresh baby and had charged some people already. they said it was easy to see on the trail so i figured i'd continue my walk and stop at a safe distance. the moose had moved though. there were a few guys walking ahead of me so i kept back of them. suddenly, they were charged. she came out of the woods, they went in the woods to hide behind trees. moose kick forward so your best bet is to get behind trees where it's harder for them to stomp you. she turned and went back in the woods and they came back onto the trail after a bit. i stood still. after a bit they motioned that she was moving further back in the woods and it seemed safe to pass. i took a few steps forward and see her turn on a dime in those woods. at first she headed towards them but as soon as she hit the trail she turned and headed straight at me. i booked it with the two dogs in tow. rio hadn't caught a scent and probably had no idea what i was up to. luckily she didn't slip her collar or there would have been real trouble i fear. blossom just came along with me. she's no fool! we got into the trees and the moose kept coming around at me so i kept circling into the trees deeper. she finally wandered about 20-30 feet forward, huffing at me. it was a bit of a standstill for a few minutes. i had no idea where the new baby was, i suspect stashed back in those woods. i had no idea either what would happen if i tried to move. the standoff continued for a bit and finally i just made a move to get the hell out of there. she left me be. walked out with the two guys. they watched me get chased. never saw that baby.the mama moose still had some dangly bits hanging from her back end so that baby is fresh. she may still have another birth to come. often moose are twins around here. my heart was pounding a bit, but all is well. no baby moose photo's today!! above are all backyard shots. kept peeking out to see if i could glimpse this eclipse. it was pretty cloudy out. below is as good as i got. no special glasses or anything. took it in black and white. i think you can barely make out the moon in there. it was at the right time. saw loads are really great photos on the internet. for some it was at sunset so some really pretty shots. the sun is down now here, but it's still light out there.nice to have flowers in the garden. had some thoughts of getting out there in the front gardens. they are still a mess. summer activities begin next week so i was kinda happy to just have a lazy and relaxing day. watched a show on the japan earthquake and tsunami. seemed to be mostly home videos. pretty impressive. the quake lasted a long time and those tsunami's don't give people much time to react. frightening. the voices in the clips often said stuff like, "it's over, it's over". at first i was thinking, but the water is still coming in, when it occured to me they all thought thier lives were over. the water can appear so peaceful and serene some days can be a force to be reckoned with. feel badly for all those who were there that day. i'm sure it was horrific and terrifying. my heart goes out to them for thier loses. watched the clips of all the stuff being overcome by the water and then realized alot of that stuff is now here, on our beaches. carried by the tides.this is the squirrel that lives at my house. i am apparently feeding her and in this picture it looks like she may have a brood she is feeding so now i have a family of squirrels. she was busy today raiding my various birdfeeders. she is kinda cute. blossom loves to chase her up the trees.went to lowes and was disappointed to find that the quote for the carpet was a bit more than i expected. all this talk of free installation apparently doesn't apply to stairs. quite annoying. will have to think a bit more on this and get some other estimates. bought some plexiglass to repair the cat run, not sure i'm up for the task. don't want to crack it. it was more spendy than i expected.they had the gold nugget "triathalon" on that end of town. lots of out of shape runners on the road heading over to lowes. it's a mini triathalon. apparently created years ago to be run by young girls as there wasn't sports programs for girls and the parents wanted to prove that this needed to change. i like that aspect of it and i guess it's cool that it gives people who would otherwise not exercise a goal to work towards. they do like 8 laps in a pool, anyway they can, even with a kickboard. many walk instead of run. it just seems a bit silly...all to get a shirt or a ribbon or be able to say "i've done a triathalon". everyone gets to be a winner in our society. personally, i really just think it diminishes what it is to really do a real triathalon. the real work that goes into becoming a true athlete. this goose and i are both speaking out against making each and every aspect of american life a competition. these were in the bog before my walk was interrupted by a moose. did see a mama and baby moose as i left the lowes and petsmart and headed home. the babies are so dang cute. will be crazy the next few weeks as the little ones show up. those moose can get pretty protective of thier young...as well they should. some will fall prey to the hungry bears that are not too far out of life in their dens and ready to eat!the goose was squaking and soon his buddies flew by and he took off with them and landed back in the center of the bog.so pretty with all the green out there again.saw a woodpecker out there, but didn't get my big camera out in time.here is the mama moose heading back into the woods. you don't see the two guys cause they are on the left in the woods hiding behind trees. this is after she walked away from me. she is still ticked and we are in a bit of a standoff. right after this i felt brave enough to attempt to escape. some people have been held hostage for hours. i kept talking all nice to her. telling her it was okay and i wouldn't hurt her baby...not sure it helped, but i figure a soothing voice can be understood by anyone or anything. something must have worked. moose generally don't really want to kill you, they have killed people or just kicked the crap out of them. sounds unpleasant. i believe most wild animals don't want to waste that kind of energy on you unless they believe they are truely in danger or you look good to eat. she may need that energy for the next delivery if that is the case and perhaps scaring me was enough. believe me...i'm no threat to a moose.still those moose look pretty dang large when they are running right for you!!can you see another moose on the right side of the road. saw this one as i was coming home from lowes. near my house.the rest are from our walk today. we did a repeat of yesterday. i had some errands to run and it seemed like an easy trek. worked. blossom doesn't really care where we go, she just wants to chase her toy and play in the water. lots of water on this loop. the tree below has been nibbled on by moose. they eat the bark. they can get pretty high up there. there should be some better stuff to eat now with all the greens coming out. i'm amazed how many animals out there in the woods survive the winter on bark. porcupines are big bark eaters as well.still a few puddles out there to deal with. blossom never minds that.another day, another walk...she is one happy dog. rio was out there as well, not quite as thrilled looking. that moose would have taken her out if she'd slipped that collar. rio's collar seems to always be a bit loose. her neck has alot of loose skin so collars don't always fit great. perhaps i should think of getting her a harness. it may be safer. off to read or play drums...i can play my drums at midnight this week!! so fun!