Moose in October

It's past the midpoint in October, snow is on the way! The garden has been cleaned up by woman & beast (not in that order). Moose hunting season is over so the moose come out of their hiding (not really, but it sure seems like they know when to disappear) to continually check on the garden that produces no more. Who's here today?

Hello Mama! Trim my bushes while you're back there, I forgot to. (They're some variation of sweet pea but not the garden variety; bushy, woody, some thorns...I always forget the name and ask my neighbor every year.)

Nope, nothing left, all cleaned up. No dessert for you!

BTW, where's your baby?

There she is!

Ok baby, that Mt. Ash really doesn't need an annual trim.

At this rate it will never grow to be over 3 ft tall. Move along, thank you.

We've had this pair and a cow with 2 older calves make regular appearances in our yard. The 2 families seem to take turns moving thru, spending a few days here and there then back again. I have to be on the lookout on our jaunts thru the woods. If Sissy sees them she will try to chase them off, to the edge of the yard or across the trail. Not always a good thing.

To Clean or to Hike...

hmmm, that is the question. HAH right!! Sunny, fall day... Hike it is! Today we climbed the Butte. It's a nice little "hill" in the middle of a wide, flat, glacial valley. From the highway it looks kind of weird there, out of place, but it is a nice bit of a climb with a wonderful view at the top, for us non-mountain climbers! : )

Look, termination dust on the mountains, already!

Ahhh, view of the glacier from top of the Butte.

Slight zoom.

Ok, picture for Scott, away at work on this fine day. Uh, You whooo, Sisssssy, squeak!

There we go! Gotta be fast with dogs!

Sigh, back down the trail we must go.

Still time to clean a bit, but probably not tonight! : )

Fall off-road trip

Now that his Toy (truck) is home, Scott has been itching to take it out for a drive on our AK trails! It's hunting season for moose here so this became a combo scenic, camping, off-road, hunting trip. It was a quick trip tho, only 2 nights, over the rainy, cool Labor Day weekend, but it was beautiful, and a pretty comfy ride! : )

Our camping spot, transport & abode -

The views surrounding our spot -

Closer in - waiting on the fire...

The views along the trail -

Colors all around -

An old beaver dam still stands -

Sheep. They were on the move!

The hunt for moose was not successful but for beauty and escape, it was!

Good night!

Through Canada in less than 4 days

Hello! Thought I'd pop in and post a few pics from our roadtrip from WA to AK. I didn't take many, it rained during most of the trip so we kept trucking. (my rear and back is still recovering) We made the trip to haul the Toyota up from my sister's. This is the little truck we had used on our roadtrips in WA, OR & ID last year. Since Scott no longer works out of Vancouver WA, he's been anxious to bring it home to AK so he can play with it on the trails here. : )

All loaded up

Black bear crossing

After seeing about a dozen bears I finally get my camera out quick enough for this pic, then we don't see anymore bears.

Kluane Lake, on a nice sunny day!

Sunset

We drove together across the border into AK for the 2nd time in 17 years, almost to the day. Scott said he planned it that way... really? : ) Glad to be home!

Looking Up?

I looked out the window to check on Sissy. She was looking up in my direction but not at me like she usually does when she wants in. What in the world is she looking at?

I had to go down and see for myself ...

Yup, definitely looking up at something, she didn't budge as I walked around her ...

AAAHHHHHHH! Good grief! Squirrel! On the wall of the house, really?!

And that is how they sat, quietly, for several minutes. Until the squirrel tried to make his move, slipped, caught himself and started chattering like crazy. I suddenly felt surrounded by squirrels as several more responded to his chatter from the safety of the trees. Then Sissy started barking, adding her noise. I finally had to pull her into the house to leave it alone long enough for it to, hopefully, get down and go away. Golly, I hope they aren't making nests in the roof! Maybe that's some of the scurry noise I hear late at night. Squirrels! Argh!

Scott's gone to the dogs

We attended a trail work day last weekend and had a BBQ afterwards. It was a small, fun gathering of adults and dogs, with plenty of food! Scott thought he'd relax on the ground and soon had most of those 4 legger's gathered around him.

Sissy was a bit jealous! She was doing a whine/growl/smile mix with her hair standing on end. Silly (spoiled) girl! This little black lab pup, Lily, was sooo cute, and funny.

Eatn' time? Whatcha got there??! Sure smells good!

Got any to share?

Ok, trying the front approach.

I can just taste it, just a lick, just...oh that smells yummy!

Yes, only someone else's cute, young pup can get away with this. : )

January Swap cards

Wow, this month has flown by! Hubby came home from work early and my seasonal tax job started up, so I have not stamped much this month at all. I had signed up for some swaps earlier so I did get those done by monthend, barely.

This was for a Blue & Silver card swap. This time of year, when I think of using blues snowmen and snowflakes always come to mind. (I tried to think of something else but it wasn't happening.) I like snowflakes and snowmen, and with these old silver flake brads and blue & silver flaky ribbon this came together quickly in my mind! The snowflake background stamp was used with Versamark & clear embossing powder.

Stamp: Great Impressions-snowmen, Our Daily Bread Designs-Snowflake Swirl Background

Ink: Versamark, Versafine-Gray, Tombow Markers

Other: Silver brads, Ribbon (Michaels or Hobby Lobby), Clear Embossing Powder, Stickles

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This was for a Red, Black & white card swap. In person, the white is more ivory and the red is more brick/barn/rustic red(ish). I really like the effect of the embossing & sanding for the background. It was fun and saved me time not having to go thru papers, trying to pick & choose a combo & layout... not that I didn't try to before I settled on this technique (eye roll). The black gathered ribbon was part of a small stash I got as part of a grab bag a long time ago.

Stamp: Our Daily Bread Designs-Scripture Collections 3; Ink: Versafine-Black Onyx; Paper: DCWV; Other: Martha Stewart Doily punch, Cuttlebug EF-Victoria, Black gathered ribbon, sandpaper

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This was for a torn edges card swap. My mind went blank at first until I went thru some of my new stamps from Our Daily Bread. : ) It took me longer to decide whether to go with brown ribbon, keep it 2 tone, or add color, as shown here.

Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs-Full of Grace Pray, Wood Background, Don't Worry (butterfly)

Ink: Stampin'Up-Chocolate, Tombow Marker, Sakura Stardust pen

Other: Sizzix Leafy Branch, Ribbon

I'm doing better at keeping my commitments for swaps than at making birthday cards for my family, ugh! There won't be many more cards (or commitments) made until after tax season.