Happy New Years Eve

Here I am in Deadhorse for another New Years Eve. Missed seeing the lunar elicpse because it got cloudy about 9 am. That was a bummer, it had been really clear and the full moon was beautful when I came into work a little before 6 am.

Though the days are getting longer, it's still dark all the time. We don't get a sunrise for another month or so.

Virg sent met his photo of our jet on the tarmac over at Kuparuk today. I don't know who took it, but it's a nice shot showing the full moon. That flight departed at 2:30 pm, so this had to be taken some time close to then. -27 over there when it was taken.

Early Christmas

I had an early Christmas today.

First, my new washer & dryer were delivered.

Then my bar stools arrived. They got shipped into Kenai this morning and mom & dad brought them down. They are molded alumuinum. Very light weight. I like how the look against my dark floor and island counter top.

And, after dinner we decorated sugar cookes. It's after 11 pm, I'm ready for bed, but it's been a great day.

Heifer International

Here is a link to Heifer International. They are one of my favorite charities. I think what got me interested was their "Passing on the Gift" requirement. I think it's really import for the people who receive help from any charity, to be able to eventually, pay it back, in one way or another. And giving the gift of breeding pairs of animals, to others in a poor community, just strengthens the entier community.

http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.201549/

And then, here are a couple of sunset pics from the past few day. The one with the airplane in it was Monday afternoon, around 1 pm and this other one was taken Wed around 3 pm.

A few new house pics

Well, this 2 weeks has gone by way too fast. I got a fe more things done around the house. The guest bathroom is now finished. AND, I managed to get the settling tank for my cistern cleaned out. Boy was that a task. I'm glad I only have to do it once a year.

And Paul got some time to work on the upper cabinet doors. The aluminum frames are going together quite nicely. Once we get them sized correctly, I can order the frosted glass to go inside them.

Sunday night and Monday morning we got some snow. Then Monday afternoon there was rain, followed by more snow over night. YUCK. Though the roads aren't as bad as I'd feared.

Saturday Sunrise

From my bedroom window...its warming up a bit. Might get some snow but it will probably be mixed with rain.

Guest Rooms & Guest Bathroom

OK, today I finally got the guest bathroom finished, which meant getting the glass block wall caulked. It's done and cleaned & the shower curtain is hung.

So, who is coming to visit and when?

This is sunset tonight, taken through the window in the guest bathroom.

Winter Sunrise over Kachemak Bay

I'm at home this week, still organizing and enjoying my new house. I'm about finished with the guest bathroom and should get some pictures posted of it tomorrow. In the meantime, I thought I'd post these pictures I took yesterday. It's was clear & cold (today is partly cloudy, but still cold). I didn't think my camera would take a very good scenery pictures, but these came out pretty well. I took them from my deck. You can see how cold the water looks.

Getting Ready for Winter

I managed to get my icicle lights up. It's kind of a grainy picture, but it was pretty dark when I took this on Wed night.

House Update

Here is a quick update. I've been doing a lot of unpacking and putting stuff away. In fact I got the file cabinets installed under my counter/desk and spent an entire day sorting paperwork, setting up files and filling up the file cabinets. I also took several boxes of old paperwork to the dump :-).

And this is a milestone. Paul got the block wall at the end of the guest shower put together yesterday. It still needs to be caulked, but I'll do that when I'm home next R&R. This has been a real pain, I started ordering the parts back in April. But the glass place in Anchorage I ordered the supplies through, didn't talk with the manufacturer and after 3 more orders, and getting the wrong materials, the manufacturer finally told me they would not sell me the right boarder to use the blocks in a wet environment. They only installed that themselves, and not in AK. So Paul took all the wrong parts we'd recieved over the past few months and modified some of them to make it work. Thanks Paul!

Penny & Carol came over for dinner.

And I found some of my Halloween decorations.

Another Arctic Sunrise

As winter settles in, we're starting to get really colorful sunrises. They are one of my favorite things about working this far north. Everyday is a new sunrise, and they're all different. I wish my little camera could capture the colors, but it really doesn't. The dark pink along the horizon was really a fluorescent magenta. It almost hurt to look at.

Then a little later, as the sun move around the horizon a little farther, the oranges were amazing. Look at the how they light up the bottom of the clouds.

And the moon through the clouds was pretty too. I started taking these about 8 am, and the sun finally came up over the horizon a few min after 9 am.

Internet Shopping - www.donfamily.com

As most you probably know, I do a lot of shopping on line. It's much easier than wandering around in a store.

So last month I found this duvet cover on e-bay. I really liked it but thought the shipping charges were high, so I looked around a little more and actually found a web site for the company who makes them. And they also sell silk stuff duvets. I've been wanting one (since I'm allergic to down), so decided to splurge a bit and buy a duvet and the new cover.

http://www.donfamily.com/products/Product_97.html
(The web site has a few problems, so you have to scroll down a couple of pages to actually see the items being sold.)

I e-mailed Christina (though the address link on their web site has a typo in it so it doesn't work, the real address is christina9876@hotmail.com) and got a quote, including a couple of pillow shams that she said they'd make for me, that aren't part of the package. Then I got her invoice and paid through PayPal.

Then I got to wondering if I'd ever actually get my items. Sometimes buying from another country through the internet, can be a bit iffy. However, about 10 days after I ordered it, my duvet, duvet cover and extra pillow shams showed up in the mail. Great service and a reasonable price. Thanks Christina!

I really like the material. I may have to order another cover in the spring for variety. They have some great options.

A definite sign of winter....

Yes, Chuck had to de-ice the jet a few minutes ago, before it could depart. That's a definite sign of winter.

Moving In

Well, I finally got to move into my new house. There are a lot of small things to finish and I expect they'll take most of the winter. But that's OK, it's very livable. I'm really loving the view. Now that it's dark a night, the stars are amazing.

This is the entry hallway, just in front of the main doors. The 2 guest rooms and the hall full of closets are to the right. And the kitchen, living room and master bedroom are to the left.














This is the back hallway, it will eventually be all closets. But I need to decide what 'insides' I want for each closet, and then figure out the doors. I'd like to put a bypass door system on and then make the doors with aluminum frames and frosted glass, which would match what I'm going to do in the kitchen. But I'm not sure I can afford to buy them this way. Paul and I are talking about a way to buy kits and build them. When they finally get installed, I'll post some pictures.






















This is the 'middle' guest room. Currently no furniture and full of boxes & other stuff. Most of this 'stuff' will migrate to the crawl space or basement next time I'm home.

















I got the duvets ironed, and laid them out over the packages of sheets, pillows, etc. But didn't actually get around to making the beds. Penny & Louie are coming down for a few days in Oct, so I'll get the beds made before they show up.
















I did get my computer moved and hooked up to the internet. That was big step. I 'needed' to be on line to feel moved :-)





















Here is the kitchen island, part's 1 & 2. The upper kitchen cabinet doors still need to be ordered and then installed. But that should happen before Christmas. They'll have aluminum rims and frosted glass inserts.






















Eventually I'll get a flat screen TV to hang on this wall at the back of the living room.

















And here is the living room. Pretty fancy camp chairs :-). It works for now but I really have to buy some chairs and then get the cushions on the window seat. I've want a couple of pedistal style swival chairs, I'm just having trouble finding the right items. I can find them in black or brown leather, but I prefer something upholstered, and with some color to it.
















Here are a couple of brief looks at the basement. I still need to get the file cabinet drawers upstairs and installed. And there is a lot of cleaning to do, but the basement is pretty much done. That's Patty's elliptical machine, I had it covered up when I was spray painting the file cabinets. How do you like that bright blue paint? I post some more pics once I get the file cabinets installed upstairs.





















And there is some left over construction material in the cistern room. I'm going to need this stuff in the spring, so it just might sit there all winter.

Quick Update

Just a quick update on my house. I've been moving in, and started living up there. But I'm not going to get my internet hooked up until next Tuesday.

Here are a few pics of the drawer pulls. I really like them.

Morning photos from my office window

I've had a really busy shift at work, but remembered to stop and take a few pictures. I sometimes really love the view out my window.

We had a lot of fog last week. This is actually light fog, just drifting across the runway. It was very pretty, these pictures really don't capture how soft the light was. I took these on Saturday.

And here is sunrise this morning. My little camera doesn't zoom in very well, but you can see the moon, and Venus just above it.

Update on some of the finish work.

Valda sent me the photos, she took them yesterday. The legs have been installed at the end of the 2 counter tops. I really like how they look.

And Don got the kitchen light rails hooked up which is great. The under cabinet lighting is nice, but not enough at night.

And here is a picture of the laminate counter top next to the sink. It does have a nice texture to it.

Kiva Update

http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/
This is a great blog from Kiva fellows, all around the world. Check it out when you have a few minutes to read.

House Update - it's basically done...

It's been a long 10 days, but a lot has been accomplished. The bank came out yesterday for a final inspection. I really want to close the loan tomorrow, before I head back north, but I don't think they'll have their paperwork ready until next week. I guess they can FedEx me the paperwork and I can FedEx it back.

Anyway, when I got home last week, Paul was basically done. There are some finish detail for next week. Like all the drawer pulls need to be put on. 1/2 have arrive and the other 1/2 have shipped, so they should be here tomorrow.

I spent 4, long days scrubbing the floors. A lot of the black surface came off, exposing the sparkly metal filings underneath. I'd still like a lot more of the black to come off, but it will as I continue to scrub it and grind it. But now that I have it waxed, I rather like it. I'm calling it distressed asphalt. It does give the whole house more of a loft look, like it's a 100 year old floor which is kind of fun.

So the floor process was to rent this big machine from Ulmers. Fill it up with water and guide it around and around and around. Sort of like driving a Zamboni. Buy the second day I had the hang of it, though there are a few scrapes on the walls that will need to be filled in and painted when I re-paint next spring.

Here are the floors after they were scrubbed, but before I waxed them. The final product is a lot more shiny.

And the island counter top came in. In this picture it just looks black. It's cold rolled steel with a clear powder coat over it so it won't rust. I'll have to be a bit careful about scratches, but I really like it. Up close you can see all of the marks from the steel rollers which gives it a lot of texture. The legs should arrive tomorrow. They're steel too, but the first set were a foot short. A little miss communication with the welding shop, but easily fixed.

Mom & dad came down on Monday and helped me put all the cabinet shelves and book shelves in. I like the book case.

Then on Tuesday I unpacked some boxes and put a few miscellaneous items in the shelves. Some of the kitchen shelves I can't open. So once the drawer pulls get attached, I'll have to re-arrange the dishes, etc. I'll have lots of that to do when I'm home the end of Sept.

Hangers are up in the guest room closets.

But last night I did make dinner up there, just a baked potato but the oven and stove top both work. I ran all my new dishes and glasses through the dish washer and it works too. Even the freezer is making ice :-)

And this morning Roomba was all recharged and back to work!