Jet Sees His First Moose!

The day started normally.  Woke up.  Started the coffee.  Put the leash on Jet for his morning walk.  Step out the door.  We stopped dead in our tracks.  SCREAM!  Well, not a real scream -- more of an internal scream.  Jet started barking -- real barking.  What caused all this hysteria?  A moose in the driveway.  This is pretty damn close -- too close for comfort, so I dragged Jet back in the house.  He would have to 'hold it' until Rick could help.  I've been a bit scared of moose ever since my friend Nancy was trampled by one about 6 years ago.

While Rick took Jet for his morning outing, I bravely went on the deck and snapped some more photos, never getting too far from my front door.

That house is across the street, where Murphy the 125 pound labradoodle lives.  He and Jet love to play together in the snow.  It's really fun to watch them.

I thought she was leaving at this point, but she was just reacting to Jet's barking.

Here, she's heading back to those yummy willow branches she was working on.

No zooming on this photo, just to give you perspective on how close this moose is to our house.

Not Bad for a Sunday

While we woke up to what looked like a serious blizzard, the sky finally cleared off.  The 1" of snow melted quickly, leaving me very little to complain about!

I was quite productive for a Sunday, even though there were plenty of puppy distractions.  This photo shows 23 pairs of earrings.  I made one more pair after taking the photo because 23 simply did not feel right to me.  Silly, huh?

For the past few day, a pair of Bald Eagles has been hanging around our neighborhood.  I can't get enough of them and I finally remembered to bring my camera on our afternoon walk with Jet.  The eagle mating season is probably in full swing this far north and the pair, who mate for life, are probably building or rebuilding a nest.  I only saw one of them today.

It's amazing how easy they are to spot when there are still no leaves on the trees.  I hope they hang around a while.

Featured Artist - Elise Strauss of Koi Creek Beadworks

Elise Strauss of Koi Creek Beadworks is one of the sweetest people I know. She is a lampworker extraordinaire and an outstanding jewelry designer. Elise had a booth at our Bad Girls of the North Craft Show in Fairbanks this past weekend. I think it was her first time showing in Fairbanks and I'm sure the crowd was as excited as I am by her lampwork. She creates amazing wildlife beads. Please check out her etsy shop and you'll see what I mean.

MOOSE!

We woke up today to a moose bedded down right behind the house. When I say RIGHT behind the house, I really mean it. These pictures were all taken through the kitchen windows. I cropped some of them, but I left the window frame on one photo, just so you can see how close the moose was to the house.

She started out laying down, but soon arose to forage for breakfast - ok, I'm just guessing here, but she did start eating a willow branch right away!

Once she started moving, she just kept going and I feel fortunate to have gotten any pictures at all. It's amazing how stealthy these huge animals can be. Within minutes, she was continuing her breakfast in the neighbor's yard!