Another Monday to Amuse or A Muse?

It's officially winter in Alaska! It's dark for 18 hours a day (not really, it's actually quite bright starting at about 8am until about 6pm), it's snowy and icy (I'm liking this part) and the moose are wandering the streets of Anchorage regularly now.

I'm in hibernation mode in a big way. I slept until 10:30am!! Slightly different than a few months ago when I was wide awake at 4 or 5am on a daily basis. Even the DOGS slept until 10:30am. They didn't ask to go out or for food or anything. We all turn into a bunch of bears up here in the Great White North.

Even during this sort of snowy, icy time there is still much to marvel at in Alaska. There are loads of birds frequenting our yard and our neighbor's feeders. We have Mountain Ash, Crabapple, Wild Cherry and giant spruce trees filled with cones - all of which attract a wide array of feathered friends - magpies, Bohemian waxwing, juncos, chickadees, titmouse, pine siskin, huge flocks of redpolls...

I decorated for the season a couple nights ago - put out lights, some select ornaments and pretty, sparkly silver, woven ribbon. I'm doing old school except for the candles - I really don't want to burn the place down! I'm gonna go take a picture. Hold on.

BRIEF INTERMISSION. 

Enjoy these recent pictures while I go outside:

Isn't this the coolest cloud? It looked like an angel.
Sort of an inversion/lenticular cloud with some high moisture.
Interesting clouds abound here in Alaska. 

Along the coast about a mile from our house.

Cute lichens.

Bract fungus on a birch.

A littany of lichens!

Beautiful day in the Chugach State Forest.

Alrighty then. I'm back. I was outside and got the mail and braved the cold snow! It's actually gorgeous outside. The snow here is light and powdery because it's so darn arid. The mountains that surround Anchorage sort of "steal" all the heavy moisture, so it's crispy and the snow is light and lovely. It's a bit icy today - there's an ice storm supposedly coming toward Anchorage, so tomorrow will probably be a day to stay in and avoid driving altogether.

So, here are the pictures of the front of the house and some of the cute ornaments in the lilacs and roses out front:

Someone recently asked if this is where Santa lives! It kind of looks like it, doesn't it?
 Note the half-eaten pumpkins on the corner there. The mooses still have some snacks waiting for them here!

Mailbox with the remaining ribbon. 

Chickadee ornament.

Icicles, ornaments and the bell that my Aunt Sis gave to me when I got married.

Neato wire snowflake ornament.

Happy panda in the snow!

Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving. Thanks for reading today and ciao for now!

Twin Peaks, Eklutna Lake and Surface Hoar (terrible title there)

Hey! So yesterday was, Mr. Big and Tall (the husband) gets-to-do-whatever-he-wants day because he's having surgery on his shoulder and torn biceps this coming Thursday. Poor guy feels like his body is failing, but what he DOESN'T take into account is that he's not a spring chicken and he has basically abused his poor body since he was in his teens.

What with the trail blazing and guiding and kayaking and rafting and hiking and going here and there with the rescuing and firefighting and traveling. Not to mention his job where he works 40++ hours a week and then when he's home? He's working on stuff. Building a new wood shed, cutting firewood, mowing the lawn, home repairs, handyman stuff.

What I'm TRYING to say is that Mr. B&T's body has served him quite well, if you ask me, given all of the abuse it has endured in the last 58+ years. I, of course, am quite a lot younger than he - had my first terrible back injury at 22 and then have been on the downward spiral with my damn back and my knees and my feet. I was addicted to cycling and running for years, so I managed to wreck my feet and knees in the process. Then, overuse and genetics presented me with the sexy condition known as degenerative disc disease all through my back and neck. Oh, it's a scene, man.

ANNNNYway, I'm currently nursing a back spasm (from the disc disease deal) and a groin pull. Yes. I know you're jealous. Deal with it.

Which leads me to yesterday? Well, in my head it does! Here we are, our merry crew on the way to Eklutna Lake in the Chugach Mountains. Only about 30 minutes from the house, just past Eagle River. The dogs were excited and wanted nothing to do with the comfy beds that Mr. B and T had set up behind our front seats. Nope. They had to be all up in our bidness the WHOLE RIDE.

Phoobles and Jaxie = best buddies

Wherever Phoobies goes, Jaxie follows! Like a little white Phoebe magnet!

Icy beach leading to Eklutna Lake.

Video of a nearly-frozen stream we crossed.

Mr. B and T with Jaxie! Phoebe was way out front!

So, we walked in one direction for a while until we were rudely interrupted by people going WAAAY too fast on ATVs scared the bejeezus out of us. We backtracked and then headed the other direction through some beautiful wooded trails. On that trail, I noticed these interesting ice formations that covered the fields by the woods - and covered most of the bushes and tree limbs. On the ground it's called surface hoar. On the limbs it's called air hoar. They're beautiful, somewhat regular ice crystals - classified as a type of snow. They're GORGEOUS and fascinating. I spent a good 20 minutes just studying this stuff and trying to capture it on my camera:

Triangular surface hoar. SOOO pretty.

This was more like cornflakes - but imagine a whole field of this stuff! 

And it makes a neat crunch when you step on it.

This is air hoar on a branch. Stunningly pretty up close.

Jaxie and Beebles.

A beautiful hillside with dramatic peaks behind.
There were sheep on the mountain, maybe 12-15 of them.

Eklutna Lake through the trees.

Twin Peaks (as in the TV show!)

Another shot of Twin Peaks as we were driving out.

A beautiful, chilly afternoon in the mountains topped off by a lovely lunch at the Eagle River Alehouse, watching the Patriots stomp all over the Broncos! Not a bad Sunday...

Hope you all had a great weekend. 

Ciao for today.

Christmas 2009

Here is our house right now. I'll be taking down the Christmas lights next week, so I wanted to get some photos of the prettiness during the holidays!





I like the wreath this year. I wanted to do something very simple. This is a neato juniper base and i added just pepperberries, birch branches and the maroon bow.



You can see the snow leftover from the storm that came through here on the 20th of December. It's all gone as of today, as we had very warm temperatures yesterday and then it rained today. That's one of the wonderful things about living on the coast - we might get a blizzard, but then the temps tend to moderate and it all goes away. This is very appreciated after growing up in Michigan where the snow comes and comes and never melts until practically May!