seward in springtime

spring is springing all over the place here in alaska.

this evidenced by the first batch of slow-moving, high potency mosquitoes. hot-tub sitting is not quite so enjoyable as it was at minus 15.

we have just returned from a long weekend away where we had a great, extended time in seward.
jaden celebrated being 6 years young with his very dear buddy lydia. ("she's 5, and i'm 6 now.")
a lovely, relaxing, no home-improvement time was had by all.

we are home now, faced with an almost done kitchen, a very happy and nicely settled in dog, (whom is still being called rocky, sometimes rocket and whom we love very much) and an overly affectionate cat who thought we were never coming home.

trees are trying to bud. undergrowth is pushing its way to the top of dead, brown debris in the woods, and the driveway is muddy.

its the start of the work week for me- so cheers.
here's to blooming trees and flying insects.. ..
sort of.

hello rocky

so jeff and i came together oh so many years ago, each with dog.

mine was a devoted lab mix who was, admittedly, a mama's boy. he was sweet and protective and a joy to have around.
my life will forever be changed because porter was a part of it.

jeff's dog was a loving, aloof chow mix with fur as red /orange as it comes, and who was smart and attentive. he even let us get away with calling him graham cracker chow-chow biscuit...
again, we are better people because we loved him.

we are dog people...

we've been without both of our beloved animals now going on a year and a half.

in the deep, dark, depths of winter, we started looking at the alaska dog and puppy rescue website.
you know, just dipping the toes in, looking at doggie mug shots to see if our hearts were ready.

today, jeff came home with this handsome boy.





my heart keeps reminding me how hard it was to say good by to those devoted 4-legged friends. luckily, my head remembered the alfred lord tennyson poem;

"tis better to have love and lost,
then never to have loved at all."

i guess we're back in the game.

international

so today i finally got up the guts to stop in at this old farm house that i pass by every single day. the surrounding land has those famous mat-su farming fields and amazing views of pioneer peak, and also these 3 old rusted-out trucks parked out front.
i knocked on the door and asked if i might take some pictures.

the nice man said yes.

friday

sometimes you just need to watch silly feel-good stuff on youtube.

mosaic monday

we are dreaming of spring.

easter bunny

well, imagine our surprise when peering out the dining room window this easter sunday, we see old cotton-tail himself. he sat and nibbled on something yummy for quite some time.

this weekend we went down to girdwood to meet some friends for dinner. it was a lovely time. jaden, very unfortunately is sick, sick, sick with an unrelenting fever and cough. he told jeff and i yesterday "my blood pressure is slowing down" in quite a dramatic fashion. poor little guy has a nasty bug and is all tucked in on a make shift bed in our bedroom for the night. today was to have been his last day of skiing at alyeska, but we had to skip it and head home instead.

here are some of the sights seen on this overcast day along turnagain arm.
i love the huge chunks of ice sitting out on the mudflats. and although you cant grasp the scale here, many are much larger than your average car.

soon...

happy tuesday.
ive been playing with a new photo editing program on-line.
check it out here.

spring, really, it is.

what do you do on a springy day in alaska?
well, hike a glacier, of course!

i've posted many pictures of the matanuska glacier before, but i've not been there this early in the season.
it was extra spectacular with much more snow than in july, and of course the landscape changes with every visit.
it really is one of my favorite places to spend time in this great state.
it's wondrous!
you must click to appreciate the scale, and even then you wont really get a grasp.
just book a ticket already!

many thanks for karen for suggesting the get together. it was a lovely day!

just another day in paradise

while all you are bragging about getting the spinach seeds planted, this is the view from here.
i've heard its spring in some parts.
cant you just hear the northern exposure theme song in the background of your mind?