Lesser Sandhill Cranes

Fred & Ethel (that's what Patty named them) stopped by for a visit tonight. They live someplace pretty close, and normally visit every morning (around 5 or 5:30 am and boy are they LOUD). But they must have been out for an after dinner stroll. It's really a beautiful evening.

Anyway, I was sitting on the front steps talking on the phone when they walked by, totally unconcerned that I was less than 10 feet away. They messed around at the edge of the woods for a while so I finally went inside, found my camera and took a couple of pictures.

Then they decided to continue their stroll and headed down the driveway.

http://www.alaska.edu/opa/eInfo/index.xml?StoryID=121

Kenai Forest Fire

Well, the summer forest fires are starting. This one is 1200 to 1500 acres and is now into day 3. Patty took these 2 shots about 12:30 AM 6/21. She was a mile or so from her house at the Jones gravel pit. They're a bit dark, but not too bad considering they were taken in the middle of the night.

Check the http://www.adn.com/ web site for some more daytime photos of the fire.

Pine Grosbeak

Here is a picture from a couple of months ago. A male Pine Grosbeak at our bird feeder. They start off a rosy pink color and get darker & darker as it gets closer to breeding season. The females stay brown & gray. We had a small flock of them at the bird feeder every day for a couple of months.

My Office

I decided I'd better clean all the 'old' pictures off my camera, so here are a few that I've taken the past couple of months.

How do you like my new desk? It's very ergonomic. It can be set as low as 22 inches or as high as 56. I try to remember to stand up for a couple of hours every afternoon. These 12 hour days, spent sitting in front of the computer are really not good for my body.

And then here are some pictures I took this morning from my office window. I never get over how FLAT this area is. The 'hills' in the distance are mostly a mirage.

I'm sick of FLAT today, and I want to see the ocean and palm trees. Maybe I'd better change the CD's I've been playing the last couple of days. Lots of Willie K, Ka'au Crater Boys & Jimmy Buffet. Though I am enjoying the sunshine. NO fog at all so far today. But since I have a 4 pm helicopter trip scheduled, I figure it should fog up around 3 pm.

A Visitor Looking For Lunch

Our Island Repair crew had a visitor for lunch on the 6th. They weren't to excited about this unexpected guest, since he was looking at them as his lunch.

Thanks to Dave for the picture.

Kitchens

My newest adventure is trying to design a house. I've been looking a 100's of house plans and pictures. It's over whelming in many ways.

Here are 2 very different kitchens, but I can see making both of them work with a few tweaks. I like the light wood and will probably go with a Maple cabinets. There's a lot I like about the flat kitchen island with the attached table. And there is a lot I like about the taller bar/island (though not the country look).

Hmm, and any backslpash will need to be in blues & greens, not red & orange :-)

Any comments or suggestions?