Hurry!

The flowers are rushing to bloom! The lupine of a few weeks back already have seed pods ready to burst, the daisies here look great, but many are dying back, and the fireweed is reaching for the sky in pink spires. (note: the yellow is an arnica.) 

 Here, in front of my bedroom window, are two fireweed plants. We'll hope the snow is as high as the tallest one and not that itty bitty guy! (height of fireweed is supposed to tell us how much snow the next winter has)

This fireweed below is almost as tall as I am. I'm 5'2" and the tallest spire is almost to the top of my head! That would be a LOT of snow~

 Mum has a rose bush from Aunt Sally's yard. (some of you reading may remember Aunt Sally) Mum says it is a Sitka Rose. Whatever it was, the bees were falling all over themselves to harvest from it!

 The birds were also in a rush today. There were all kinds of winged creatures out. Babies learning to go solo and grown ones grooming themselves in the warm sunshine.

 Every breeze blew a drift of yellow leaves down from the trees. It was a tad disconcerting to know fall is so near.

 Here is my bathing chickadee! The little guy looks dead, but  he is very much alive. I am sharing several photos so you can see how alive this little one is. From where he landed on the picnic table to spread his wings to when he flew into a tree to finish preening.

Once he was finished, he flew off all clean and fluffy. It was fun to watch! 

The Fourth in Two parts-Part 2. Rocks and Waves

The latter part of the Fourth was on the Kenai beach. One of my friends went down cuz he had thought about fishing and rigged up a pole, but opted not to as the tide wasn't out far enough yet. I just watched the waves and rocks. I also saw a sea lion and a loon, but those photos were rather bad! 

I like the rocks on our inlet beaches. They are full of all kinds of mineral content!

 Same rock as above, just a different view of it.

 You find many kinds of heart shaped rocks. Last year I collected many of the smaller ones. This year, I am opting to leave the rocks behind. Unless I find the perfect one to send to Linda B.

 This was a very cool heart rock~ I've never found one broken quite like this.

 The top view is one side and the bottom view is the same rock from the more rounded side.

 I laughed when I saw this one. It is a skewed heart rock!

 "I'd be petrified!" "Oh, wood you???"  ok-bad pun.

 Not only were we on the beach, but there were kids on a paddle board, fisher people, and people like me who were just walking.

 I love wave photos. I also got wet twice!!!!! It is easy to focus on a wave and end up drenched!

the fourth in two parts: Part 1

It was a rather damp and windy day for the annual Kenai Fourth of July parade, but people were still after their parade candy! 

 In spite of the spate of fires in the area, the firemen were out in full regatta. Below is the 'White Knight' of the local Tesoro plant out North.

 When I saw this I laughed and laughed. In this weeks recent stand for political correctness, seeing two gals on Hawgs pulling a viking in a chariot was perfectly perfect.

This cute little car was followed by #10, who had a most awesome decal. The license read BepBep.

 The pick up below received the award for 'What on earth is THAT doing with all the old trucks and muscle cars?' Very strange.

 Shooting stars. Something you probably won't find in the Lower 48.

 I liked how this yellow mustang reflected in the puddles in between the rain bursts.

 

 This green pickup was my favorite. Or at least one of them! I was told there were a lot of cars in the parade this year. I didn't mind!!! And there were a great many Fords! I loved when the guys jumped out of the back to push it down the road.

 This young man made me laugh out loud as he queried, "Why are all the big kids taking the candy from the little ones?" Righting the world, one tootsie pop at a time.

 These three young ladies made a brilliant 4th of July trio.

 Green appears to be a favored color for rigs up here. This particular truck was sweet. Not only was the back bed filled to the brim with flowers, the two gals in front were dressed for tea in elegant old fashioned dresses, hats, pearl necklaces, and dangling earrings. I think the passenger even wore white gloves!

Everyone loved this giant old fashioned bicycle-am sure is is not the easiest ride in the parade! I also liked the reflection in the water below.

 Almost thought I was in Eastern Oregon!!!! Two red Farmalls.

An old red pickup. And it is a Ford! 

 A very LARGE VW bus. Decorated in a fine 70's style~

If I wanted to drive this truck, I'd need to make sure to follow the directions on the sign. (rolling eyes!)

A pretty odd, intriguing, strange day.

Today is Tony's 26th birthday. I was bound and determined to spend part of it sitting with dad and eating mint chocolate chip ice cream. It was a dream. I went to two different places that carried ice cream and finally decided to not bother. I went out to sit with dad for a little bit and then met with a friend who gave me a shot of Diet Dr. Pepper. That was a perfect pick me up. 

 These are some lovely works of art in a peaceful sanctuary. I walked in and felt relaxed almost instantly. I liked the explanations about the art-I hope the photos turned out ok!

I did stop at DQ to get ice cream in Soldotna.  The selection isn't as grand as the one in Milton, but I decided on the Jurassic Park Blizzard (it is the cookie dough one). I figured it would be close to something Tony might enjoy. So, I sat down with my ereader to wait for them to call my name. Alas, an elderly man stopped by my table to ask about books and ereaders. Being an avid book person, I reluctantly stopped what I was doing to show him how they worked. They called my name and I took EVERYTHING up with me to get my mini treat and the guy was still at my table. So, while the poor snack melted, I shared more information about books and ereaders. THEN, he tells me why he wants one and finally asks about my ice cream. I knew he was trolling for chicks, but really??????? He then admitted that he just liked to talk to pretty girls (!!!!!!!!!) and finally left so I could clean off the table where my ice cream had dripped and finish the chapter I was reading. NEXT time, I'm going with people!!!!

I went out to 'see' dad again and fishing boats were coming in heading up the Kenai to the canneries. The tide  had come in and it was fun to watch the boats. And the best part was seeing a family sitting on dad's bench!! It turns out they knew of dad and knew of me, and know mum and Janet. They also live out north near mum. Small world. But, a lot of fun. 

Finally, I ended my day at the Nikiski Pool. I dropped in to see if I could spot a friend from HS. Yup, I saw her and thought, 'There is another one who hasn't changed one smidge in over 30 years!' I am hoping to see her (among others) tomorrow at the Kenai Fine Arts Center. Should be fun! While at the pool, I saw an interesting bit of car care done in camo duct tape.  

 I got back to mum's and decided I needed some well deserved internet time! I hope you had a fun day, today, Tony. One that wasn't quite as odd as mine!

Cook Inlet, at last!

I finally was able to get to the beach tonight. It was around 11pm, but well worth it, in spite of the cold wind. I took mum's dog, so he could get out of the house. I think I wore the poor critter out! We went to the beach off of Salamantof Road. (I may have spelled that incorrectly, I usually just call it the beach road down from Tesoro). This first photo is very much life on Cook Inlet. Oil and fishing. 

 These are absolutely the ONLY rocks I brought home from this beach tonight. (it is also known as Agate Beach, but many of the beaches along the inlet are great for agates.)

Am not exactly sure why these two are so different in tones. Although, one is the sun setting and the other is of mountains nearby. They were both on 'normal' settings.