A Day at the Toy Store

Before we get to the toy store, there is a bit to catch up on.

A Snow Day for Bea

Bea loves to lay in the snow

here she is with her Top Hat.

After she comes in she loves to snuggle

nothing like a cold wet dog in your lap.

Today I awoke at 5:18am to this view out my window.

I grabbed my iPhone12promax, ran down the stairs

and out onto the porch to grab this. 18 degrees and I

have on light thermals and sandals, I am climbing up

on the seat around the porch sliding on the ice.

Worth it.

The clouds were scattered this morning 

so we had a little pink in the sky at dawn.

I climbed back in bed, Bea and Lola

climbed on to warm me up.

Now on to the toy store.

My sister, Lisa and her, friend Ken, started a toy store, The Captain's Toy Chest, in Homer three years ago. Ken had been running the store until my sister moved up here last August. (the adventures of that trip are recorded below)

Although, my sister retired she is still doing some contract work. This involves a two month trip tagging sharks at sea. While she is away I will be taking her place at the store. This will involve my working the store on her days, Wednesday and Thursday, today was my first day of training on her computer/register system. We also spend time going over all the stocking procedures. Quite a number of customers came in so I got pretty familiar with the system. Tomorrow, I get my second and last training day, next week I get thrown to the Sharks.

Lisa asked my to bring some of my maze books for her to sell and we sold one, YEA. If you want one get there soon. If you come in on, Wednesday or Thursday, I will be happy to sign your copy, though that could reduce the value of it.

Bea accompanied us to the store and barked at every person that did not enter the store.

Display of my books with some colored pens or crayons

you can use to work the mazes.

Heart to Heart Mazes

Each maze contains two Hearts, find the Hearts,

then travel the path from one Heart to the other.

Use a different color each time you hit a dead end.

A few years ago I bought a pair of North Face boots for the winters in New Mexico. Since, the winters haven't been bad, they have been hanging in the back of my closet. I may have worn them a half dozen times at most. I remembered them and dug them out for this trip. I have been wearing them since Saturday, when I left on this trip.

At the store today I looked down and both of the boots have come apart, that sucked.

The good thing is that I saw that a company in town posted on Facebook, yesterday, that they had been cleaning the backroom and had found a bunch of muck/boat work boots that they were clearing out for twenty dollars a pair. I was going to go looking for some for the muddy season here and the price was great.

I got a pair of high slip on boots with steel toes. Perfect for cleaning the backyard of the winter of frozen dog poop. I believe my sister planned this all along so that she wouldn't have to do it. (Any kids in town who want to make some money shoveling a winters worth of poop, hit me up after the snow melts. Just don't tell her.)

 

Homer Wildlife

Wildlife is everywhere around Homer

LINK TO ALASKA PHOTOGRAPHY

Driving around Homer came across 

this moose on the side of the road.

Grabbing a bite to eat from someones yard.

Bald Eagle flying by the beach.

 

Finally Arrived in Alaska

As you may recallI I was denied entry in to Canada last summer, while helping my sister move to Alaska. I have finally arrived in Homer Alaska.

At the Sunport Airport in Albuquerque

Sitting onboard the plane at the gate

Albuquerque New Mexico

Sunrise at the Anchorage Airport

Anchorage Alaska

Flight to Homer

Ice breaking up

Lisa, the dogs and I in Alaska together

FINALLY

At the Homer Spit

Lisa and I

at the Homer Spit

Arriving at Lisa's House

Lola

Happy to see me

First morning sunrise

From the Loft

I am working on some photos of the eagle and moose pictures and will post them as soon as I can.

UNTIL THEN STAY SAFE

Alaska Style

 

My Bags are Packed

 The day has finally arrived, I am leaving for Alaska tonight. Yeah, going from 60 degrees to 34, maybe I can switch and go to the Bahamas, much warmer. 

I have been wanting to go to Alaska for a long time. I am hoping to be able to see the Aurora tonight, if the weather cooperates, which at the moment does not seem to be the case. Well, I will be up there for about two and a half months, so hopefully I will be able to see it at some point.

Looking forward to photographing all of the wildlife and fauna. Of course I will be out for the sunrises and sunsets.

I am taking my drawing pad and hope to finish the Maze I started last summer while traveling from Rhode Island to Alaska. It was interrupted by my being denied entrance to Canada. Now that I will be getting to Alaska I will finish the Maze.

Stay tuned for updates and pictures.

Packing and Cleaning

 Got my car back on Saturday, hopefully, they got it right this time. At least the rattle that I have been dealing with since the first time they rebuilt the engine is gone.

I continue to prepare to leave for Alaska. Cleaning the house, preparing the garden for planting and doing all the paperwork. Today I will be cleaning and oiling all of the wood furniture, a yearly spring project.

Last night we got some snow, we can always use the moisture, though it does mess with working on the garden. Yesterday I drained, cleaned and refilled the hot tub.

This morning out my bedroom window.

Here are a couple of pictures from the other day.

Sunday at the Hollar

Part of my preparation for going to Alaska was to have my favorite sandwich from the Hollar Restaurant in Madrid. They have been closed due to the pandemic, but reopened on the 4th of March. I had planned to have lunch on Tuesday while working at the gallery, then, I saw that my friend Lucy was playing at brunch on Sunday. Having not seen her in awhile I thought it would be a great time to go. The sun was out and the town was crowded, thought for the most part people had masks and were social distancing. I got to the Hollar and placed my order, Seared Tuna Sandwich, then found a table.
There are only a few "Hugs" that I truly remember. The first one came in the late '60s or early '70s, I was at Olympic Village in Squaw Valley California at a dance. I was walking though the crowd with a couple of girls I had meet skiing. When out of the dark a girl jumped into my arms gave me a huge hug, then she disappeared into the night. By the time I realized who she was she was gone. Another time I had met a young lady, again at Squaw Valley though a different year. We hit it off from the moment we met and spent the next week together. At one point we were in the shower, she was in my arms, when our movement caused the hot water to turn off. The cold water in a cabin, in the winter at Lake Tahoe is very cold. Needless to say when the water hit her back she squeezed me very tightly.
This brings us back to the Hollar, where Lucy took me in her arms and held on tightly and for a long time. I do love a great hug and am fortunate to have had three really incredibly, memorable Hugs.
My thanks to Carolyn, Eva and Lucy. 

Lucy at the Hollar

March 7, 2021

Wonderful cloudy sunrise the other day.

Click on the image to view full size

Only, a couple of more weeks before I leave. My friend will arrive in 12 days to look after my property while I am gone. Attempting to do everything I need to before I leave. The car is still in the shop and hopefully I will have it back by the end of the week. Garden is almost ready, have to check all the irrigation systems as soon as it gets warm enough. 

Time to prepare

I leave for Alaska at the end of the month. I will be house sitting and working at my sister's toy store in Homer for a couple of months. I am so looking forward to seeing Alaska. Looking through the hiking books and facebook links for places to go and things to do. I may make it in time to catch to Aurora. I will be there for the King Salmon and Shorebird Festivals. I ordered extra memory chips for the cameras and a new portable hard drive. After playing around with my, Zhiyun 4, I was able to get it to work again, yeah.

Friday, I took my car to be serviced, as a friend, will be housesitting at my house and using my car. I knew there was an oil leak, turns out the head gasket and cam are leaking oil. They are now rebuilding the engine, again. They are taking responsibility for most of the cost of the repair, thank you Subaru. I have a brand new Outback to drive for the week.

Cranked up the tiller and started to prepare the garden for planting. Emptied the raised beds, repaired and refilled them. I am working on tilling the rest of the garden and will then redo the drip system.

Grabbed a shot of a female Red-Shafted Flicker on the fence through my window.

I was out smoking a turkey breast the other day, this is a selfie I took, a reflection in the Weber BBQ.

Playing around with my iPhone12ProMax.

Turkey Breast, Bacon, Hasselback Potato.