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.

catch up from last summer still...haha

 most of these are from Hallo Bay with a few left over from Holgate as well.  what can i say summers are busy picture wise.  these are scenery mostly as this evening walk was not bear filled.  we did have a great opportunity to listen to the call of the wolves which was pretty amazing.  what a sound!

 light rain right now.  i'll don rain gear soon enough and head out with the puppies.  makes for a lazy start of a day when it's raining i find. once i'm out there, i quite enjoy it. yesterday started out like that as well but soon the sun came out and in the end it was pretty sweet out there.

 ran a few errands and did some touch ups on the little free library.  hopefully i can get that base built soon and get it out there.

 met with friends to hit the bear tooth and the movie, "zookeepers wife".  wildly depressing but still well done...except the last bit where it's a year later and the baby they had suddenly looked about 4 years old. that was kind of odd.  could have done without seeing all the animals blown up at the zoo and shot.  it's based on a true story though.  these things do happen.

 it's rarely a mention though with all the human bloodshed.  the animal losses are morphed by the human losses.  the animal losses are always there though.  i'm sure many of the Jews killed had pets that were left to their own devices or killed outright.  Zoo's that fall in to war zones are rarely left untouched. even if they are the animals are often left to starve to death.  keepers are forced away and food is scarce.

 had debated an outing this stretch off.  so far that hasn't happened.  lots to do around the house to though.  this break up/spring time is a great time to get some of that stuff done.

 the mosquito's are coming out.  especially in the evening. after the movie i went moose spotting, only saw one, but there were quite a few mosquito's.

 we did a loop around Little Campbell Lake yesterday.  no moose spotted there.

 these lenticular clouds were the ones that kept the plane from coming to pick us up for a few days.  the plane lands on a beach with an up slope so a cross wind could be very problematic.

 iitoo is out of the country.  snippets from his speech to the males of the middle east (it was a vast sea of males in the audience as is common in modern middle east), he seemed to stay on the message given to him.  thank God.  he does not do well with ad lib.  so the speech was not bad really.  sadly, i don't really think his actions match the speeches he tends to make.  but a nice speech can keep some peace for another day.  fear was he'd piss people off.  i'm sure he loved his greeting in Saudi.  he was treated like a king, which is exactly how he believes he should be treated...oh that he wasn't born in America and he could have risen to the level of king.  so they wisely stroked his ego to get what they wanted.  more arms and in return they have made a donation apparently to Ivanka's non-profit i believe.

 it is amazing that everything that he does that is totally like the crap they screamed about that HRC did is suddenly just fine.  as long as it's their person, all the corruption is totally fine.

 the GOP still wants to gut medicare and social security.  still want to make it easier to drill in monuments and national parks, still want to take away insurance...their core values or lack of values still remain.  we, the people, matter very little to those in office at this moment.  sadly, so many who still are on team Drumpf still don't seem to see that he is not fighting for them as much as they believed he would.

 they that watch faux news get the usual crap...if it's negative about iitoo it must be fake, or but obama or but hillary still, yes still.  they seem to push the victim role.  poor conservatives they have no power, they have no media, they have no influence.  once a martyr always a martyr it seems.  we all take on roles in our lives and it can be tough to reverse course.  truth is they have gained all of those things but still act like they are the victims.  being a victim does make success more difficult and fleeting so i'm ok with that. just think it's become so self destructive.

 this attitude seems to have also lost the conservatives their moral/ethical high ground.  since they have sunk to even lower depths than those that they call their enemies they no longer have any moral stand.  this administration is a source of constant lies.  they blame everyone else for all of their errors and take absolutely no responsibility.  the secrecy is extremely detrimental.  they blame leaks and leakers, but the leaks are only really a sign of how dire things have become in the administration.  he demands loyalty but, when those around him see mayhem and live in fear, their only recourse is to leak and hope that some how this mess will be discovered and dealt with.

 they like to think the leaks are from Obama holdovers but i suspect the bulk of them are just those in the know who are scared of what is happening.  the GOP knows it but they have an agenda that they would desperately like to push through before the crap storm takes away all power and respect.  before their base figures out that faux news has fed them a line of crap for years.

 below our guide is calling back to the wolves...they responded.  we had some fun out there.

 walking along a remote beach like this is always a treat.  it's amazing what you might find out there.

 we were a fairly early group as the bears were just collecting waiting for the big salmon rush.

 looks like a pretty big bear to me.

 i wear a size 6.5-7 for some perspective.

 remnants of the Japan Tsunami.

 these pups are overall pretty chill. they are currently just laying around waiting for me to finish doing this so we can head out walking.  they are never demanding.  not for walks or food.  they don't rush me for meals and often i just fill the bowls and set them down without dog presence.  Tusker still tends to pick up the bowls and move them to a preferred eating spot.  usually scattered across the main room floor.

 love beautiful big clouds and big skies.

 below you can see a wolf.  a nice sighting

 checking out the crossings.

 we chilled and waiting on the sides.  i think he was just curious how deep it was out there for potential crossings with later groups.

 they will move camp. in the old days they had an established camp but the rules changed and now they have to switch locations every few weeks i think.  more of a pain but the powers that be feel it's better for the land.

 family of some sort of bird.

 and of course, eagles.  can't be around salmon without eagles.

 this one is a juvenile bald eagle.

 coming in for a landing.

 adult

 fox prints

 bears down the beach as we head back to base camp for night.

 it was the mom and three cubs

 love these little cotton flowers.  the purple is monks hood.

 the rest are scenery from Holgate.  that is actually Peterson glacier i think. these are from the ride back to Seward.

 all seemed pretty calm out there, but it did become a more exciting ride as we turned into the bigger water.  had reminders of my trek out in Bristol Bay.  not excited to repeat that, but i just rode it out at the front of the boat.  we weren't really in any danger and we arrived back safely, but it was a bit sketchy in a few spots

 tough to take pictures once the slop began, but for this section it was flat and calm.  on the way out we had big sways.  those were fun. it's when the sways come from all different directions that it gets more dicey out there.

 i guess i have wasted enough time for the morning...now afternoon.

 ice from the glaciers can be seen pretty far out depending on the tides.

 off we go...below is more whale action though seeing them and taking pictures in the slop proved pretty tough at times.  we still stopped and attempted to watch. our best views of whales had been on the way in.

grateful for:  A.  folded chips. man those are good..it's the little things B. snuggle time with puppies. i'm sure they don't enjoy it as much as i do, but they oblige.  C.  the company of my pets. it would surely be a lonely home without them.