Happy 4th!

Hi all -- I'll be off for the next few day so happy 4th of July to everyone! D's brother and Uncle have arrived in town from Outside, and we'll all be converging for a fun fishing weekend. Will post photos when I get back.

Grow baby grow

After a slow start, my annuals are doing pretty well. The mix of sunshine and wet weather has really encouraged everything to grow, including the yard -- to D's dismay. He's going to be doing a lot of mowing this summer.

I need to go around and take some photos of all our plant life -- the geraniums are by far my favorites.

The cats are really enjoying Drift's kennel while outside...

I can't seem to keep them inside during the warmer months -- they just meow until someone lets them out or else we find the screen door open just a smidge (who says you need thumbs to open doors?)

I got your beauty tips right here

I was a bit perplexed when Drift started appearing with green streaks all over himself. Then we figured out that when he rubs his body against our neighbor's chain link fence, long blades of grass get in his way and leak onto his fur.

Or he is experimenting with eyeshadow.

"How do I look?"

Those orange cylinders are Drift's dummies for fetching. I wonder what people think of us when we're yelling "fetch your dummy...DUMMY!!!" at the dog in public.

Celebrity sighting

Oh my goodness, I forgot to post about my Bear Grylls sighting from Friday! Bear is this British mountain climber and explorer who has a show on the Discovery Channel called "Man vs. Wild." And he's, erm, quite attractive. (Don't raise your eyebrows at me...D knows all about my Bear obsession!)

A friend of mine is in town from Minneapolis so I skipped out on the fishing this weekend to hang out with the gang downtown. And who do I see walk into the outdoor area of Humpy's? Um, BEAR GRYLLS! I thought to myself, "that man bears a remarkable resemblance to Bear" before dropping my jar and realizing it was actually the man himself. I snapped a few across-the-patio papparazzi shots (he's the one in green):

No, I did not squeal in a high pitched voice or sprint over to Bear's table for a photo (both are actual behaviors exhibited by some "ladies"). I was impressed by us Alaskans -- for the most part everyone left Bear alone and let him enjoy a pint of beer (and hand-rolled cigarettes) in peace.

Fishin' 4

What, you want more photos? Of me? And fish?

Look at all the reds I caught! Well, maybe in fantasyland -- this was our combined haul from last weekend.

This is the first fish I caught that day -- I'm surprised he could swim at all, with the majority of his tail missing. Maybe a bear took that chunk?

Thanks to Mim for taking the following photos of me. I love having someone else with a camera around, otherwise I don't exist in photographs -- it's just D, the dog and the boat!

Midnight sun

Sunday was a stellar day in terms of weather. SUNSHINE ALL DAY! And mid-70 degree temperatures. D and I sat outside for a few hours on the deck (me: reading / D: boy crafts - fishing tackle) and we managed to get some color. Actually, I got a little color and D looks like he just returned from Hawaii.

Summer solstice has passed but the amount of daylight we are getting is still unreal. These photos were taken at about 11:30 pm on Saturday night: