Fat Bear Winner

 

 

This year's title goes to 747....the biggest damned bear I have EVER seen!

Fall...Almost Halloween...Fat Bear Week

 OMG...make sure you check your Halloween candy. 

Last year someone slipped a Glock in my Twix Bar!!!

Started the day with 44 degrees outside...shivering pumpkins and mums...and some hot homemade peach cobbler & coffee.

Life is good.

I love Fall!

Several of John's neighbors have taken Halloween Decorations to a whole different level this year.

Yeah...beyond spooky some of this has entered the realm of creepy...and the little trick'o'treaters might require extensive therapy.

The best moment came when John called from a bike ride at the tunnel...

and gave this chilling wolf-howl that reverberated and echoed throughout.

It was great!

 And the voting has begun.

Survivors include Holly, Grazer, Chunk, 151 Walker, 747, Otis...and a few other at this point.

Many of the less chubby have already been eliminated.

...if you have to dig a belly-hole to lie down...you are probably still in the contest...

Today's match-up 747 and Holly.
 

The final votes and winner will be declared on the 11th.

 

The guy went Thursday for the last minute details..and another CT Scan for the cancer in his upper lung...they start treatment on the 17th.

The surgeons have determined that surgery is off the table...given the nerves and blood vessel involvement and the fact it has basically grown into the lining.

The next six weeks will involve a regime of various chemo-therapies...six in total...and six weeks of concomitant (5 days a week) radiation.

The upside is that the surgical process would be much more difficult...and healing from it would take a long time. Everything we had read was pretty much terrifying. We are both relieved he won't have to under-go surgery.

There is a 60+ percent of a 5 year survival rate with the chemo and radiation...and he is in great physical shape and very active...

So we are holding our breath and hoping for the best.

It is all you can do.

A Cinderella Day here...catching up with everyone and the house. Hoping it is warmer tomorrow and I can start stowing some of the outside stuff and weed the borders before it turns really cold.

Have a great weekend!!

love,

Carla & the Sofi-Cat

 

 

 

Update:  It's official!!!

747 has won the title of

                                       2022 Fat Bear of The Year!

Fat Bear Week Begins

 

The salmon run is over...the bears are bulked up and will soon be hibernating...the bear cams will be shut down until next spring...and today kicks off the 2022 Fat Bear Contest. Chubby Cubbie being last week.

You can vote, too.

https://explore.org/fat-bear-week

The contest divided into brackets and lasting from the 5th until the 11th.

Last year #480 (OTIS) won the crown.

 

This year there are several contenders...but my money is on #747 who has outdone himself this year...and is huge.

A few weeks ago he asserted himself as the dominate male taking over from #856 who has held the position for several years, or so I am told.

                                       #856

Looking forward to seeing who emerges victorious this year!

October...Hurricane Ian...Chubby Cubby...Our Terre Haute Adventure...and Decorating

 

Welcome October!!!

Falling leaves...fall festivals...football...woodsmoke...hot cocoa and chili...hoodies and fuzzy sweaters.

I'm ready!

John and I just returned from our late September Adventure to Terre Haute...where the leaves at Val Demmings are just starting to turn...and hot peach cobbler is now on the menu...and  gathering seedheads and even a "theived rose" which made it even nicer...lol

The workouts and bike rides are definitely making a difference...and I've got to up my game...I feel like an absolute slacker!

And a huge THANK YOU for getting me through a stress-filled Wednesday night...

When they had first predicted Ian to make landfall a little south of Tampa...which is where my middle son lives...in an area that sometimes floods out with just heavy rainfall...OMG!

By Tuesday, although he had already battened down the hatches, he was still contemplating evacuation...then they projected the landfall would occur further south.

By Wednesday morning the window for evacuation was now closed..and it became obvious that this was a Storm of the Century.

Landfall was at roughly 3 PM at Ft. Myers...about 2 hours away.

Part of the storm surge would be over 18 feet high...homes, hotels and the like in the direct path were flattened.

 

Sanibel Island causeway was destroyed.

Captiva was cut off.

Flood waters in some areas would reach second levels of houses.

6 feet of water would rush down streets...taking with it houses, boats and automobiles.

 

We had missed a call from Lennon around 5 and turned on the TV to see how bad it was...

Unfortunately it was  CNN (Crisis News Network) showing the absolute worst of the worst...spiking my anxiety level to 11.

We turned it off.

The interruption in cell and wifi would mean no communication until he got in his car and found a hotspot he could use...he called back around 10 PM to let us know both he and the house were still standing and no serious flooding there.

...breathing again...

We did Cracker Barrel (and more hot peach cobbler) for breakfast...engaged in some light horticultural larceny...stopped for mums and a fat orange pumpkin for the patio...and returned to a couple of very grateful cats.

"Nope...you can't EVER leave again..."

                                                      Gadget

Yesterday, it had crossed the state and was strengthening again to a Cat. 1 up the eastern coastline through the Carolinas.

So...yeah...I am recovering today...okay?

This is the second year...according to the Brooks Fall bear people of the Chubby Cubby Contest...which precedes Fat Bear Week.

This Year's Winner...904 Jr.

  Who went from basically A leggy thin cub to this porker in one season.

 Next week is Fat Bear Week.

Already some of the contenders have eaten their way to the top.

568, Grazer, Walker 151, 747, Chunk...to name a few.

I'll post pictures next week.

And the decorating has begun...along with a neighbor/some neighbors near John who MAY have gone a little overboard on this Halloween Stuff.

I'll show ya later...

Even the rehab squirrel has joined in the fun.

Have a Great Weekend!

love,

Carla

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall's Arrival...Football and Chili

 

Yeah...it feels kind of like this.

The temperature dropped from 93 to 45 this week and has been hovering in the mid-60's. 

The hummer's are leaving and the wild tangled mess of the end-of-summer plants giving way for the mums, sunflowers and pumpkins to come.

Suddenly the trees are tinged with the beginning of yellow and orange.

And it is Fall!

Cinderella-ing here today and Amber arrives Monday to scrub the carpets.

Tomorrow set aside for football and the very first pot of chili and loaf of
French bread spread thick with butter!

And our Annual Bet. 

John has his Colts...and I have my Chiefs.

The winner of tomorrow's ball game gets the other's $5.

lol

The colors on John's riding path are getting beautiful!

And he has been taking me along in photographs. Which is nice.

Artists setting up easels along the bike path.

Impromptu Concerts.

Kitties.

A huge hornets nest!!

A "book-box"

And more.

I can't wait until we take a walk here together!!!

I may have to bring some books to leave at the box to share :)

Gadget waiting for her prince to come.

And "Mr. Wilson"

...sorry I'm late, babe...traffic was terrible!

 

And Fall, well underway at Brooks Falls in Alaska...

Where the salmon run is drawing to an end...and the bears are HUGE and almost ready for Fat Bear Week...and the contest...October 5th through the 11th...before hibernation.

 

(...a sad note this week...as #94, who had the quad cubs this year, lost one of the four to a boar early in the week. The big male killed one outright and went after a second but 94 fought him off and later reunited with the remaining 3...)

It is very very rare for quads to make it all the way to winter.

Now back to the housework!

Have a great weekend!!

love,

Carla

Sunday Update:

I STILL can't believe The Colts beat us.

Terrible game...good chili and I am  $5. poorer....off to drown my sorrows in a deep bubble bath.

Night.

Virtual China: Laioning Province

 

Liaoning (pronounced Lie-Oww-ning) is a small coastal province that borders
The Yellow Sea.

This area has a great number of military ships.

 It is known in Chinese as The Golden Triangle because of its location.But the name means Pacified Laio referring to the river which runs through it.

 In some areas it is not much wider than an irrigation ditch and can easily be stepped over earning it the recognition of being China's thinnest river.

Laioning is known as one of the foremost paleontological sites in the world... and was known in 1996 for the discovery of the first feathered dinosaur.

The volcanic ash that trapped this well-preserved micro-raptor gave us the first look at the link between dinosaurs and birds.

Liaoning Feathered Dinosaurs

https://youtu.be/Jj1KMVTfRzg
 

Agriculture here includes corn, sorghum and soybeans...also peaches, pears, apricots and plums.

 

Minerals include iron, diamonds, boron...as well as crude oil and natural gas.

The sea provides quality seafood, and is a thriving industry.

 

The population here is mostly Han Chinese...and the primary religion is Buddhism.

The Mukden Palace of the Ming Dynasty is the major tourist attraction, here. As well as the Castle Hotel.

Castle Hotel

https://youtu.be/LHyducnlbo0

 Nearby is the Jade Buddha Palace which has the largest jade Buddha in the world.

 

Next time we will sample some Liaoning cuisine!