Catch Up- August

Was rather startled by these moose. I was reading outside and heard something in the woods and spied this one. 

The bugs over their bodies was rather gicky!!! 

Then, I noticed there was a mom with twins! At least, I am pretty sure there were only two. 

This one looks like a young bull. 

Later, I went out on the lake and revisited my favorite tree spirit who was still standing. 

There were so many reflections in the still waters. Still waters that restore the soul. 

Near the end of August, I was able to visit a friend who lives on a side of the inlet I rarely visit. I love how this Mountain can be seen from everywhere! 

Back out north for more sunsets. These are from different evenings. 

The house in Nikiski with a smidge of the garage and a glimpse of the shed. 

These were unknown ashes. The gold ring inside made me certain they were not dad's or the cat's. I figured they could be scattered near Arness Dock anyway. It is a good place to hang out, dead or alive! 

These two young men helped load up furniture to take to Janet's. Of course, it happened to be one of the first days of serious rain in weeks!!! I was entirely grateful for their help. 

 

First week in June-so far!

It isn't surprising to see a ship at anchor down Salamatof, but it isn't often  you get to watch it leave. 

It was pretty breezy on this sunny day, the gulls were everywhere. There was beach fishing for halibut, but nothing else, yet. I was pretty impressed with this capture of the gull landing. The sun was in my eyes, so I didn't see much more than birds. I hoped for something nice, but wasn't sure I'd get anything! 

 You can see how windy it was from the curled feathers on this ones back.

 Later in the evening, I decided to hop down to Arness Dock for the sunset. Yet, the sunset wasn't as nice as I'd hoped. The clouds, however, were fascinating! Like sky etching from a Master author.

 The inlet was grey, fog was at the base of the mountains, above were some fluffy looking edging, then the above that some stretched out bits of cloud. Eerie and interesting.

 I'm truly enjoying these late daylight hours. I took this lake reflection from the house at about 1030 pm one night. The mosquitoes are pretty intense, but hoping the dragonflies that are starting to appear will take a few of those out! There are babies on the lake now, also an immature eagle. So, not many will likely grow up. As my friend Elaine has said, "I wish all the predators would eat fish and berries!"

 Our lupine are quickly reaching maturity, soon the fireweed will follow. Jon is arriving on Saturday afternoon and Steve will come up the next Saturday. They will miss the crazy red season hoopla, which might have been their goal! Now, all we need is Tony!!

September Stuff

We have had some stunning weather this month. Lots of sunshine and stellar sunsets. 

 I've eaten salads and dinners outside, although many more meals have been in the hospital cafeteria.

There is a salmon outside the window of her hospital room, thankfully, most of the other animals around are less metallic in their makeup. . 

Our fireweed is beautiful this fall. Normally, we see the leaves turn red and then the plants get ugly in the autumn rains. This year it has been dry, allowing the herb to keep the fire theme from flower to frost. 

I had a chance to watch waterfowl on Bishop Lake and earlier the same evening, I saw beluga playing just off the mouth of the Kenai. (there is a beluga count this weekend. There are only about 300 in the Inlet now.) 

In spite of moose season, there are any number of the creatures roaming around. I've been privileged to see cows with calves and even a young bull. 

Our local forecasts have heralded a change in the weather starting this weekend. I reckon our summer is almost over and is about to reach an end. In hindsight, I can honestly say it was a season to remember. I wonder what is around the corner??? 

Out and About-

Mum felt able to visit the beach on Thursday. She had the dog and her cane and a bag for rocks. 

 Obi was slightly bored cuz he wanted to walk a bit, but Mum said she'd take care of him.

 Obi's favorite thing to do, when he visits the Inlet, is to bark at the waves. He was very glad when mom took him near the water.

Mum was watching ripples near the shore and asked me to take photos of whatever it might be, so I did. They were pretty much in the same place the entire time we were there.

 I also picked  up some shells. Shells are rarely found on the Arness beach. I really like the odd one that looks a lot like a real heart. I couldn't find what it might be when I was online, though- Most of the rest are empty barnacles.

 Beach loot of shells and rocks. I found some things I've not found before, I think it is because of the recent really high tide we had. One of the rocks resembles rough petrified wood. It is rock, but not exactly.

At home the fallen tree had what I believe is Chaga on it. I removed as much of the growths as possible. Once it was cleaned a bit, I broke it into pieces for drying. 

I asked mum to stand in front of the fallen tree for a photo op. I really wanted her with a background of fireweed, but mot of that is already done blooming! 

 On Wednesday we went to the most awesome amazing spot in Soldotna. It is a small building near Fred Meyer with several businesses in it. A bookstore (where I purchased a book), a boutique (I got something there, too), I think a bakery (but I'm not sure, I didn't go in there), and the absolutely best place to eat I've been to in forever. It is called Fine Thyme Cafe and I highly recommend it. We met there with Sharon and some of Eileen's kids. It was good food and fun. Mum was very glad we met with them. (I didn't get a picture of everyone in the group, but I took several with their cell phones!!) The flowers are from their outside area. 

 The dragonfly is just cuz it was being nice and didn't land on me. These giant things clatter and are rather startling. Beautiful, but I much prefer to photograph them not on me! (it was back out at mom's house-)

It has been a busy week, starting with the downed tree of my last post!