Redoubt 3 - AVO

The weather at home is clearing up a bit, so the AVO (Alaska Volcano Observatory) Web Cam is capturing photos of Redoubt. It had quite the eruption this morning at 9:24 am. The ash cloud went to 65,000 feet. Shut down our planes for a few hours, but we only had to cancel 1 flight, though several others were delayed.

I've been watching the web cam, it updates every 3 to 15 min. Here are a series of shots, sort of a time lapse effect.

1:39 PM

1:54 PM

2:23 PM

2:38 PM

2:50 PM

2:53 PM

3:10 PM

3:13 PM

3:25 PM

Redoubt 2

It continues to be cloudy and stormy at home, so we can't get pictures of Redoubt erupting. I'm sure the eruptions are spectacular.
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/images/recent_images.php

But the folks at AVO did a fly around yesterday. Their pictures are on their web site. Here are a couple that I down loaded, but the have lots more.

In Floor Radiant Heat

These pictures were taken on 3/11/09. I'm just getting a chance to get them loaded. The tubing is being put in for my in floor heat. Patty should have some shots for me once the mesh is laid over the top of them.

With a little luck, the concrete will go over them by the end of this week.

Redoubt

Well, Redoubt Volcano finally erupted late last night. We've been on volcano watch for a couple of months. The ash cloud is drifting north and has bypassed Anchorage so far. But we can't fly through it to get up here, so today's flights are on indefinite delay. Oh Joy! :-)

Anyway, it's cloudy and maybe snowing at home, so the web cams for the volcano aren't showing anything. Just low clouds. But I did find this photo, it was taken on 4th of July, 2003. That's Redoubt in the background, just behind Valda.

Vermont

Last week I went to Burlington Vermont. My friend Debbie was having a birthday party, so I decided to go visit for a few days. Really had a great time, just did a bit of sighting, saw a couple of hocky games and enjoyed some great food and even better company.

Guest's arriving...

Deb has a wonderful house, on Lake Champlain. Here are a few pictures from her deck. What a wonderful view!

Full Moon Over Deadhorse

I just had to post this photo, I think it's really beautiful. Though I didn't take it, and I'm not really sure who did. Someone who is working on the Pt. Thompson project. Roger e-mailed it to me last week, but I just got a chance to get on line and post it.

This is Nabors Rig 27E. It will be headed to Pt. Thompson sometime next week, once the ice road is ready for it. It's sitting in the Nabors yard, here in Deadhorse.

Sitting on my new deck...

Well, I finally had enough of messing with my taxes. So I spent an hour up at the house, just sitting on my deck. I think I'll spend a lot of time on the deck this summer....

Construction Update

I've been gone a month, so I went up to the house site and took some pictures this morning. Actually I took lots of pictures, but here are a few.

Here is one of the exterior lights. You'll never believe how long it took me to find these square cans. They take 2 bulbs and have a clear lens that fits over the top to keep out snow and rain. I think they'll look really nice against the dark gray siding.

And here is the temporarly propane tank. This will allow us to start up the boiler and put some heat in the house. It's right outside the kitchen back door. The permanent propane tank I'll put on a cement pad, on the other side of the driveway. It needs to be easy to get too in the winter, but away from the house in case of wildfires.

And lots of vents from the boiler room to the outside. One of these should also be the fill for the cistern tanks. At least I hope one of them is...

The insulation is in. It's really quiet inside the house now. A totally different feel to the whole place.

Here is another picture of the boiler room. There are lots of pipes and I have no idea what any of them do.

The 2 main cistern/water tanks are now connected by pipes, and have drains at the bottom.

This is an opening in the ceiling of the closet in the master bedroom. I have no idea why or what it's for. Also, a recessed light can.

Wiring & Plumbing

I love the view out the windows, looks like a nice sunny day. No snow on my deck either.

Patty took some pictures for me the last couple of days. It looks like the wiring rough in is done, and the plumbers are hard at work.

The insulators should be in there this week, so we're making progress.

Seattle Trip

I only had a week off this time, so went to Seattle with mom for a few days. We stayed with Shari & Mark. Went to the Seattle Flower Show, and did a little shopping.

And we had dinner with Todd & Sachiko. which was a lot of fun. Fondu at the Melting Pot in Tacoma.

Lori Todd Mom Sachiko Shari Mark

More Plumbing

It's been a slow week up at my house. The plumbers have been running some vents & lines. Hopefully the electrician can get started on Thursday, though it's been really cold again.

This is the view from the exercise room window today.


















The boiler will go in this litte room, here is where it will be vented. And I think the yellow line is where the propane will come in.























There will also be a garage style sink and small shower outside the mechanical room. Good for washing up things I don't want to take up to the kitchen.























And then here is the master bathroom, and then the guest bathroom.

Siding!

I got home this afternoon, and took a few pictures of the house. The siding is all on. It's dark gray. This picture with the sunlight on it makes it look really shiny, with a bit of a green cast to it. Patty says it looks more dark blue when it's cloudy.

So, now the question is...do I leave the windows all white? Or do I paint them the blue/turquoise color to match the soffits?

And the plumbers are getting started, which is also exciting!

January 20th, 2009 - Noon

Exploration Cat Train

It's been a pretty quiet week for me. Lots of bad weather in Anchorage and Homer, but work has been uneventful. So I haven't had anything to blog about. Though I think the siding is going up at my house. Maybe I can get a picture sent up and get it posted.

Anyway, about 1 pm I looked out my office window and saw a cat train headed west past the airport. It moves really slowly, but I got a half way decent picture of all the vehicles, towing their camp, etc. out to their work site. I'm not sure I'd want to be out working on one of these facilities for the next couple of months.

PS, the sun is supposed to rise on Sunday, around 1:45 pm if I remember correctly. I hope the weather is good enough to see it.

Free House?

This would be really fun to win! And it would be really fun if one of my friends won. Give it a try.

Darlenes Photo Website

My new neighbor Darlene has a photography business. I thought I'd post her website, she has some really great photos to look at (or buy if you're in the market). Plus she gets to make great trips all over the world to take pictures and say it's business :-)

http://www.viewnatureworksphoto.com/natureworksphoto/Home.html