Sea Winds

There is simply no feeling more grand than feeling warm sun on your skin after weeks of rain of chill. That is exactly what happened to Quinn and I several weeks ago as we saw the sun coming from behind the clouds. The rain that had seemed to last so long was over, time to go spend some time in the sun!

Well, perfect days are few and far between in Juneau and this one was no different. Though the sun was warm there was a wind blowing, but we chose to ignore it and pretend that summer had arrived early. Off to the beach we went!

Don't worry, we didn't pack our swimsuits. It's still way to cold to go out in that water, maybe when the 4th of July comes around (maybe...). Greta however is no chicken when it comes to cold, and soon she was dragging Quinn out into the gentle waves to see if she could find any shells or sea stars.

Or maybe it was Quinn pulling her out. Haha!

We didn't find any sea stars or shells, but there were plenty of broken pieces of plates from the old dining hall of the Treadwell Mine that had been on this beach long ago. Some of the old buildings are still in the woods around the beach, slowly becoming part of the scenery overgrown in moss and trees.

 
As the tide went out we explored further down the beach, finding all sorts of relics from times gone by and places we had never been to before.

 

There's just something so exciting about exploring a new place, especially one that's right in your backyard (or on the other side of your town). Do you ever go out and explore some new street you haven't been down or a trail you have yet to tread. I highly recommend it, dear reader, it always makes a person's day more interesting!

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Morning Sun

Sunny days are with us again, and green is slowly covering the landscape of Juneau in Spring.
Early Monday mornings have become my favorite part of the week. Quinn goes off to work and I am left at home with Greta on my day off, busily cleaning house and preparing for the next week. But before we start our morning chores, Greta and I always go down to the flats for a nice walk.

I have taken to bringing Quinn's trusty camera with me on our early morning walks, for it's times like these that the birds sing to welcome the glorious morning, allowing me to take their photos if I'm quick enough. These eagles are often hanging around at my favorite spot, and I've had several chances to sing to them (which I'm not sure they approved of from their haughty glances).

"No, no. You were flat that time, lets try it again from the top and this time stand up and sing from your diaphragm." Oh dear, the last thing I need is an eagle telling me how to sing, haha! Don't they look rather judgmental to you as well?

Greta explores the flats while I sit on my favorite bench and sing songs to the Lord along with the birds, welcoming the start of a brand new week. Sunrises on the tidal flats are simply divine! 

(A spider web blows in the breeze)

Greta loves running around the flats chasing birds and streams along the sandy banks. She's always quite muddy when we're done, but thanks to the dewy grass of the backyard she doesn't stay that way for long! Melissa's flower beds have exploded with colors and beauty, making for lovely backdrops of sparkling sunlight.

On my way up the driveway I heard a tap-tap-tapping and I glanced up to see this woodpecker, tapping away at a sitka spruce. He was very kind and held very still while I took his portrait. Doesn't he look fine and handsome (and also maybe a bit startled, oops!)? If you look really closely you can see his holes from past trips to the very same tree.

Back up in the yard, Greta and Lupin play together. Lupin is still to scared to go down stairs by herself - though she can go up them just fine. This poses a problem when Greta runs up with Lupin behind her, one of them gets stuck coming down...
When she's not getting stuck on the stairs, Lupin is off 'helping' dad with his daily chores. Well, at least she thinks she's helping.

While the puppies run around and play a big raven calls from a tree overhead, fluffing his feathers in the morning sunshine. In the stillness of the morning buzzing can be heard going back and forth among the roses bushes, humming birds go to and fro, bright spots of orange or green. And in the back yard where Greta and Lupin play, stellar jays hop this way and that looking for tasty things in the grass, often scared away by the puppies cries and yelps. Such a perfect morning, wouldn't you agree?

(I took this photo right as the seller jay was hopping.)

It's mornings like this that make me sad when afternoon rolls around, haha! Isn't that silly? Oh well, I am a morning person, I guess it stands to reason that morning would be my favorite time of day - especially when the sun shines over the mountains. There's just something magical in the air that makes me want to sing "How great Thou art, how great Thou art!"

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Mother's Day Surprise

Mother's Day is always a happy day in our household, for Quinn and I are both blessed with two amazing mothers! But this Mother's Day was even more special because there was a new member of the family to be excited about, but I'll introduce you in just a little bit. For before I do that I want to tell you all about the fun we had on Mother's Day.
Abigail (yes, Abigail! She is home again!) set the table with Melissa's most favorite dishes while I arranged flowers for the center of the table. The weekend before Mother's Day, Abigail had returned home from school full of stories to tell us about all her adventures in Montana and Israel, where her class had taken a trip. Mom and dad came home several days later, returning from a trip to Iowa to see dad's family (and pick up a new member of the family...but again, more on that later!).

We were all so excited to be together again, it was such a celebration to have everyone sitting around the table - our family all together!

Dad had made shish kabobs out on the grill, and we enjoyed chocolate cake and my favorite lavender shortbread for dessert.

 (Laura photo-bombs my picture of the flowers.)

After all the fun of catching up over lunch, we gathered around and gave mom gifts and cards to show how much we love her - I think she felt quite special! Then later, Quinn and Laura brought out Settlers of Catan, and we played against each other to see who could get up to ten points first!

It was a very close game, jumping from Quinn and Laura in the lead, to everyone being sure that I would win, with Abigail swooping in and winning right before anyone had a chance to guess what she was up to. A very sneaky move on her part - we were all shocked! - but we congratulated her anyways as we all helped ourselves to another slice of cake.
As we fell into the sleepy-tiredness that comes after such a yummy meal, we laughed and talked and cuddled the puppies. Oh, what? Yes, I did say that correctly. Yes, I said puppies, for Mom and Dad had brought home a new member of the family, a little Bernese Mountain Dog named Lupin.

 
Yes, Greta and Lupin got lots of love as we all sat around the table, but what they really wanted to do was go out and have some fun - so out we went to watch them roll around in the wet grass, their favorite sport.

Greta and Lupin were not too sure of each other upon their first meeting. Greta especially acted quite like a chicken and ran behind anything and anyone close by to rid herself of the thing that kept barking at her insisting she play. Lupin wanted so much to have a playmate, but Greta (for the first ten minutes of their meeting) refused to acknowledge her, or would run and hide.

It wasn't until Greta realized that Lupin loved to run just as much as she herself did that she broke down and decided to become friends. Lupin does like running, but Greta runs in circles around her, which is absolutely hilarious to watch! The two of them are simply inseparable now, trouncing around and wrestling as long as we let them. Greta will have to enjoy it while she can, because soon Lupin will far outsize her!

Greta's favorite wrestling move is to get on top of Lupin and hold her down, I believe so she can rest for a minute before the next onslaught of Lupin's attacks. Lupin does not enjoy this at all and lets Greta know by rolling around and yelping to try to let her up, causing all of us watching to laugh until our sides hurt!

Silly puppies, such silly puppies! 

The Spring rains have come to Juneau and the new grass growing in the yard is constantly wet with rain drops, making for some very sodden puppies after a play-date.

We are enjoying Lupin's company so much, it's been fun having another puppy around the Barn. She and Greta have become such fast friends, it will be fun to see Lupin grow and become taller and taller as they continue to race and wrestle around the yard.

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