Late winter / early spring, the cottonwood buds start to swell. Time to make salve!! (Usually we miss them, but this year we were in time, before they developed too much!) We picked the buds and simmered them in coconut oil. We strained them (next time we’ll use a slightly larger strainer, LOL). We mixed […]

Waking up to snow on May 9th is enough to give anyone the blues… Yes, I know I live in Alaska and it can snow any month of the year. But we live in South Central Alaska, and near the coast to boot. So snow in May – while not unheard of – is not […]

This month, I’ve chosen a photo of some Greater White-Fronted Geese I took while on one of our shorebird monitoring trips this year. What are you looking at this month? Share it with us at Clare’s monthly Share Your Desktop challenge! 🙂

Recently, my son finished his 5th year in the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival Junior Birder program. As part of the reward for completing the requirements, he received a new pair of binoculars. Very cool! The box advertises that they are “Built to make snapping a photo with your smartphone easy.” Huh. Well, I had to […]

Patrick’s photo for this week’s Pic & a Word Challenge reminded me of a chapel and cemetery we viewed while in Newbiggin By The Sea in England last November. Some of the stones are so old that the constant battering from sea air has eroded them immensely. The contrast of the eroded old monuments next […]

Oh, boy!! Where to start with the theme ‘outdoors’?? 9/10 of my photos involve the outdoors, LOL!! The kiddos and I just got back from a few days of camping and hiking. How about a few photos from that? 🙂 We were exploring the Portage & Whittier areas of Alaska, and decided to hike the […]

Williwaw Creek, Whittier, Alaska Pic & a Word challenge: Cascade

Playing around with a camera on an overly bright day…. These are Wild Geraniums! More fun outdoor pastels at Terri’s Sunday Stills challenge!! Go check it out! 🙂

We wonder… Is this the same mom moose with twins that we saw in our yard a few days ago, just with one fewer babies? Why are moose babies (and wood bison babies, for that matter) born with orangish-brown fur, instead of the darker, seemingly more camouflaged brown? (This wee moose has already lost a […]

When Mother Nature hits the “go” button on an Alaskan summer, watch out! Plants grow inches – feet – in the blink of an eye. We have a short season – few days – but LOTS of light. (For the garden geeks out there, a fun tidbit: most spinach doesn’t do well here. It is […]

Field of Dandelions….an invitation to: Pic & a Word challenge: Invitation!

Lilac flowers, just beginning to open, after a summer rain. 🙂 The water droplets are so cool to look at when they’re big on my screen! Joining in on the Share Your Desktop Challenge fun! Edited August 2024 to add: I entered a slightly cropped version of this photo into the Kenai Peninsula Fair, and […]

Once every summer Usually July, but this year August We pull weeds Mostly horsetail and grass A few nettles, pushki, and a bit of angelica We call in a backhoe A gentleman donates his time and machine And has each year for 15 years Then we add water Usually from a hose But this year, […]

High Winds blow sea water up the beach and onto the sea wall. Frigid Temps freeze the salt water in layers. Temperatures warm, revealing icy layers. Leaving a windswept appearance, of sorts. Photos taken on the beach in Ninilchik, Alaska. February 2024 Pic & a Word Challenge: Windswept

Each spring, the lesser sandhill cranes arrive. They spend their summer raising their young and enjoying the rich food sources around Kachemak Bay. They tend to be pretty solitary, staying mostly in small family groups. They’ll return to the same nest location year after year. Towards the end of August, we’ll start to see the […]

Fall is finally starting to show here on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, so I decided it was finally time to switch away from the lovely spring flowers that have been gracing my desktop for months. (I do love that lilac photo, and I suspect it will find its way back to my screen a time or […]

Late start to autumn, but it is finally here! Frosts and changing colors. Love it! We saw this lovely high-bush cranberry bush on a recent hike. Such a beautiful red! How’s autumn in your neck of the woods? (Or spring, if you’re down under!) Share with us at Terri’s Sunday Stills Challenge!

Lunch break, on a beach made of stones. Yukon Island, Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Pic & a Word Challenge: Stone!

Back when I lived in Colorado, one of my favorite not-to-far-away places to hike was Mount Falcon Park. It’s one of many parks in the Front Range, specifically in Jefferson County. (As much as I love where I live in Alaska, one thing I do miss is the ease of access of SO many hiking […]

We finally had a hard frost a few nights ago! As I was outside doing something or other, I took a few minutes playing around on my cell phone with the light, and the frost, and the lilac leaves. I had to laugh when I saw that this week’s Pic & a Word challenge was […]