Morning in the Backyard

Look at all the green moss and little plant shoots! It reminds me of something fantastical. I kept finding what I would consider perfect 'Gnome Spa' spots today, where they could get a massage and a sauna soak in a perfectly comfy root/moss complex. 

I went to work early this  morning, ready to spend a beautiful sunny day outside cleaning up after the birdies, only to quickly realize I WASN'T supposed to be there today. So I turned around, walked out the building, and up a mountainside instead! I decided to go for an early morning hike up to the treeline of Mt. Marathon, which is the mountain right behind our town, about 8 blocks from our apartment. It was the perfect day for it! This cute little squirrel was trying very hard to make enemies. As he threw pinecones and bark at me, angrily chirping and snorting, I couldn't help but get a little warm fuzzy feeling deep inside. So adorable in his little squirrel anger!

I know, the above picture isn't exactly the best and brightest, but it's the first ever picture I've actually been able to take of a varied thrush! They're my favorite sound in the woods. They have this really eerie call that's unlike anything else, but it's really pretty. I hear them a lot on Marathon, but they like to hide from me. So I was quite excited to snap this picture! This was the trail as I got a little higher up the mountain where there's still some icy snow chunks lumped on top of really moist soil. You can see a little peak of Resurrection Bay between the trees, which is the bay we live on. 

The blue sky was so nice! I was even able to take of my top layers and sit in the sun to enjoy my morning cup of coffee. Much more enjoyable on the side of a mountain than sitting in an office at work! Happy Hike!

Mushies and Pretties Oh MY!

Happy day! A new blog! I hope you are jumping for joy in the knowledge that soon, you will know what we've been up to! The posting has been long coming. We have learned that posting blogs becomes quite troublesome when you have neither 1. time nor 2. a camera. But today was a happy day! We have a brand new 15X zoom digital Nikon camera! So I will bless you all with some freshly taken pictures! It finally came in the mail today, slightly delayed due to a road closure on the Seward highway. We have only one road in and one road out of Seward, so when they decide to work on the road, it gets shut down and we get quite cut off from the outside world. No mail delivery, no fresh produce. It's a very good thing Tyler and I are so industrious, for we can produce our own produce! Pictured below, our Espresso Oyster Mushroom babies:

We ordered a mushroom spore kit from a wonderful place called Fungi Perfecti, right out of Washington State! These are our first bloomers, and I made a wonderful oyster omelette for breakfast yesterday with our first real mushroom fruit. Quite delicious. We have more mushrooms growing on logs in the apartment, but they won't fruit for about another 6 months or so.  This is our plant table. The buckets are full of oyster mushrooms in different stages of growth. The egg shell containers are little starts of basil, cilantro, and something else Tyler picked out and I can't remember....they've been growing so fast with our new long days! I can't believe how quickly everything turns around. We have cream colored curtains in the bedroom, and already we're loosing sleep because it's way too bright early in the morning. I spent the day taking down the curtains and measuring them so I can make new black ones. It's really just an excuse to bring goth into the bedroom.  This is one of our living room walls. It's called "Fierce Reflection". The centerpiece is a fantasy weapon Tyler made out of junkyard parts. Ain't no on gonna mess with the Barenjager Haus! And this is for my mom--so you can see my little Hooded Merganser decoy! Isn't it cute???

Okay, more to come later, I just wanted to give you all a quick update!