Ducks, Blooms, and Sky.

This blog post is mostly photos. I wanted to sit down by the lake and photograph the ducks, so I sprinkled cracked corn in the water. Well, it was VERY hot today and I got all sweaty waiting for them. I thought about The Bird Woman from 'Freckles' and couldn't do it. I don't have the fortitude of that fictional photographer of birds! I even went back out in the kayak before dinner, to see if they'd show up. They didn't. At least, not until dinner and the Mariners baseball game! I zoomed in on them from mum's house! 

 Eventually, the families swam off and I took a few pictures of lupine. For my friend, Chris, who calls these 'blue bonnets'. And I was surprised, they DO kinda look like little bonnets-in a funky sort of way.

 Later, the ducks came back. I must have sprinkled more cracked corn down there than I thought! There were at least two families, but

 Bottoms up!!!

 Mommy did it, so can I!!

 The clouds rolled in FAST tonight. We were expecting dry thunderstorms. It is warm and gray and breezy. Reminded me a lot of the weather in Eastern Oregon. Cept, no rain.....we can hope some falls sometime tonight. But it is already midnight and we  have pewter skies and dry warm wind. Can't even see the sun anymore!

HOT HOT HOT!

It was HOT today-in the 80's out north and I spent part of it on mum's lake. The part after 7:30 pm. 

 Reading in a kayak is more work than reading in a rowboat. There isn't much room to move, you need to protect your book thoroughly, and the winds move  you hither and yon. I kept needing to move away from the shore, the wildlife was very distracting!

 One of my better Golden-eye photos. Am pretty sure she had a passel of littles, but these guys are terrible moms and often swim off and forget their babies.

 The sewing needle (what mum calls them) dragon flies were all over (and mating!) in the grasses on the shore.

 Just a feather. I was rather impressed when I saw it on the computer screen. I'd have to rate this one a Jonathan photo!

 The bigger dragonflies were also mating and made clicking noises as they launched into the sky chasing each other. I wondered if the noise was from their wings or something else. Fun to watch.

 I took this because am not sure how many bright blue skies we'll see. The fire from Sterling has grown and with the one up in Willow, our area is gonna get smoke. We're supposed to stay in the warm breezy temps all week. It has kept the mosquitoes down, but I really don't like fires.

The Big, the little, the cute, the lovely, the work, and the play!

It has been a while since I posted anything. OK, last Sunday? Anyway, I thought I'd share a few of the more fun moments in Nikiski. 

 A large young bull moose browsing and smaller vicious mosquitoes that flying and biting as I walk on the Pipeline.

 Adorable birds, squirrels, and ducklings (I love the baby ducks..unfortunately, so do loons. The larger families have been honed down to just a few per pair in just a few days.).

 I love being home for spring and summer. When it hits, it hits FAST. It hasn't been very warm, but the days will soon be getting shorter (in two weeks) and the foliage needs all the growing time they can get!

 This is part of the yard mom mows. I didn't go clear to the bottom..it sort of reminded me a great deal of Jon on the tractor on some of the ground Brooks' farmed. Mum says she doesn't either! It is made up of grass, dandelions, horse tails, fire weed, and assorted other green growing things that get in the way.

 I love being able to get out in mom's kayak. I do NOT like the ungraceful exits I make, but to get in means you must get out!

 (kayak selfie)

My view from the shore. I didn't want to get out and I realised how pretty this was!!!

 My favorite part of the lake is how much life is on it. Yes, there is death. Loons and eagle and other predators who are living their lives enact their part. This year, however,I've seen 6 white birds sweeping over the water and thought they were tern. We have had tern, but not so many at a time. Well, the smart young neighbor boy next door (OK, he's probably a young man by now....) said he had researched them and found they were gulls. Skeptical, but ready to check, I was able to get a fairly decent photo of one of them sitting on the float in the lake. The neighbor was absolutely correct!! They ARE gulls. Bonaparte Gulls and this awesome link will take you to a spot where you can hear them- ID for Bonaparte Gulls.

I hope you enjoyed this visit to mum's house! I'll be sharing more soon!!

Sprucing up the Lake Front

I started this project on Saturday night, after we watched the Mariners win over Tampa Bay--they didn't win again, but they are still fun to watch. Anyway, after we got home from church, I dinked around a little bit and then decided to go and get INTO the lake to remove the weeds I could. As you can tell, I managed to wade thru moss and whatever the heck these plants are til I finally got to the 'old' lake bed. Just beyond the weeds, from where I am standing, you finally hit rocks and sandy bottom. It is amazing how high the lakes  have gotten over the years. And it is more interesting to note how much lower the lake is this year than last. 

 Obie barked and chased the weeds I threw and had a grand old time. I think both of us old dogs are pretty tired. I have cuts all over my hands and am sort of sore from bending over and pulling these things up.

This is a photo of the weeds I pulled They have roots off of their main stem and a root ball in the mossy bed below. I'll keep an eye on them to see if they get flowers. I kind of want to know what they are! 

 In my cleaning I found what mom and I think might be part of a dock or something from eons past. I set it up straight and liked the look of it. I'll eventually remove it, but for now it adds a bit of rustic appeal to the shoreline.

 Here it is all tidy and clean. I like how a kayak can go thru weeds and brush, but I kind of wanted to see if we could swim in the lake this year. We can, we just need to wade thru the fibrous floor til we get to the rocks beyond. The ducks seem to appreciate the clearing I've made. We had one family basking on the little platform most of the evening. Until an eagle came to visit.

 You can't see him very well, but  when I got my camera all organised, the bird was at the top of the spruce tree on the left. Waiting for a webbed snack. It did dive and there was a whole lotta splashing and water, but it appears he missed. Those mama ducks are pretty fierce about protecting their young. It started in a tree right above the cleared lake area and ended up in a tree rather close to the house, but he was very camouflaged by the branches before it took off for the perch high above the lake. I was very glad no one got eaten this evening. Mum said she  has already buried one duckling carcass after the eagle tore out the heart and chest cavity. Sometimes you forget this magnificent national bird is one of the top birds of prey and a scavenger.

Rainy Days Out North

Mittens is almost always willing to be photographed, as cats are. 

 Woke up to pouring rain and wind. It lasted most of the day, so we hung around the house.

 Later, however, it calmed down again. I decided to trek outside after we watched the Mariners lose by one to Tampa Bay. I didn't like where this particular willow was, but I liked how it looked. So, I photographed it before uprooting it! (making the path down to the lake easier-I need to work on all those darn rosebushes next)

 This is from the far end of the lake (it is about 10pm or so). You can see mum's house in yellow and the neighbor's float in reddish orange. I overheard them discussing sleeping out there this summer. I may ask if I can do that one night as well! I'll need to tie up the kayak, though. Early morning swims are not very warm!

The lily pads are so pretty as they emerge from the lake. I can see hard balls of yellow buds following behind!

 The lake was so calm after today's storm, I found I could photograph mum's house upside down!

 There was fun stuff all around the lake. Sometime, when I have nothing else to share, I'll post those odd things. This one was too cool to keep back. I like the fall of the old grasses against the greens of the new.

 And, to round out this set of pictures, Mittens, again! (I took it the same day as the first one--Wednesday.)

Around the House

After I got the frame for mum's green house put up, I had to remove the debris from the area where it was going to live. This is PART of a root from a wild rosebush. Yes, they are lovely flowers, but they are a pain to have in the yard. They are pokey and they are invasive and no one likes to eat them. (most critters prefer the garden stuff over wild roses in summer)

 Here is the green house all done--for the most part It has some air leaks, but we'll work on those!

 Mum's birds are always starving!!!!!

 The juveniles are just as greedy as the grown ups! (camp robber or grey jay)

 There are a lot of different kinds of dragonflies out. Little black ones, the tiny colored sewing needles, and the itty bitty ones that look like clouds of bugs-only they are the good bugs!

 Lupine are starting to bloom!!!!!

 Just another sign marking the road my sister and I used to walk on to catch the bus. The road has changed a bit, but most of it is like I remember.

 I loved how the sun shone on the birch bark!!! I took more photos of this than I am sharing here!

 And I found my first Alaskan heart rock-haven't been to the inlet yet, but you can find hearts on the Pipeline road, too!