After a long week A walk in the yard To clear my head Fall is in full swing But a few pansies Still peak from beneath The protection of the raspberry patch Nature provides a pocket of unexpected of color And a big smile on my face Pic & a Word challenge: Nature

Last week the aurora forecast was high. I peaked out the window before heading to bed – (I’m often sleeping when the best northern lights are out) – and all I saw with my naked eye was a slightly brighter area on the horizon. On a whim, I decided to see what my cell phone […]

And now for something different…. (Back to photos and Alaska stories tomorrow!) Those of you who’ve been around for a while know that my kiddos are homeschooled. They are involved in many different “extra-curricular” activities and sports as part of their schooling. This year, my eldest decided to try participating on a high school sports […]

A summer class – learn to make fleece kuspuks! My daughter chose a black and white fleece at the fabric store. Cutting out the pattern pieces: {Imagine a photo of her sewing the pieces together here. I apparently didn’t take one.} Wearing the completed kuspuk as she cuts out pieces for matching mittens! The black […]

I took a more literal definition of the challenge word this week, but I’m going back in time a number of years….back to the August before we moved to Alaska. Back when I was 6+ months pregnant with my eldest kiddo. We took a planes – trains – automobiles trip around the mid-west & western […]

Beluga Lake in Homer, Alaska. October 2024 It’s a man-made lake, created when they essentially dammed the watershed to put in a road to connect the mainland to the Homer Spit. Now, it is used heavily in the summer by float planes. (Most of those buildings over there are businesses catering to tourists. The planes […]

These past few months I’ve been spending a lot of time driving to and from sports practices, at sports practices, chaperoning sports trips, volunteering at sports events… You get the idea. (We decided to try out school sports this year – instead of rec or league sports – and it has been an experience!) Two […]

Kids are at their various activities. I have a few minutes to occupy. Read a book, walk the beach, breathe. Take in the view. Mt. Redoubt on the horizon never disappoints. What’s on your horizon? Pic & a Word weekly challenge: Horizon. Join in!!

Going back in the archives this week, to a boy and his water vessels. He could spend hours pouring water between containers. Still can, as a matter of fact! Pic & a Word Challenge: Vessel

Pic & a Word challenge: Listen Listen Frozen river, all is quiet. Heavy snow dump. River ice cracks Water flows over Listen Flowing water, not so quiet

We had a surprise dump of snow on my eldest daughter’s birthday recently, which made her extremely happy! (Having a December birthday in the northern hemisphere, you’d think she’d get snow birthdays frequently, but alas, often it is rain!) We spent lots of time outside playing and shoveling. My son decided to build snowmen. Then […]

Sometimes you have to reach to put up those lights! (Seen at the Bear Creek Winery Garden of Lights, Homer, AK. December 2024) Reach for more photo fun!

Free-range Alaska kids at a frozen Alaska beach on a sunny December day. Unconfined. The world is at their fingertips. Pic & a Word Challenge: Unconfined!

Layers of ice, when receding, leave rings for intrepid explorers to discover. {More photos and explanation of these here: Windswept} After perusing my ice, head on over to Pic & A Word and enjoy the rings of sandstone in one of the most amazing places on this planet.

Dreaming of snowy white, like this photo from a couple weeks ago…. …while today it rains, rains, rains. On another note, the other day I walked past our school/game/project table and saw this assortment. Whiteboards, white books, and white paper. Just a typical homeschool day. 🙂 More white at Terri’s Sunday Stills Challenge!

Sunset as viewed from the Ninilchik beach in Ninilchik, Alaska. You can actually see the sun moving as it lowers. It’s…hard to describe in words. (That’s why I take photos, LOL!) What’s on your desktop? Share at Claire’s monthly Share Your Desktop challenge!

Shambles….what’s left when snow sculptures meet too many days of 40*F with too many inches of rain. (Photos of pre-shambled creations here!) Pic & a Word challenge: Shambles

Taken on my beach walk last week. So many ice chunks left as the sea retreated with the outgoing tide. That thing sticking out into the water is a tree – the farthest part being the base. There’s another farther back, an evergreen, with branches still attached. Did it fall from the cliff, or was […]

Fresh air in the midst of a tough few weeks….yes, please! {Fresh is this weeks Sunday Stills challenge}

Sunday Stills: Stark {Words are failing me today, so you just get photos. 🙂 }