Deck Extension

Paul got to started on the 2nd 1/2 of my deck last week.  The railing system is on order, so I should have a finished deck in a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, here are a few pics of the current progress.

New support poured.

Support beam added.

Decking being added.

Stump Planter

Since I'm not home all the time, I don't plant too many flowers.  Just 2 small planters with some Petunias & Nasturtiums.  Those I can usually grow without killing them.  But I ended up with a bunch of extra Nasturtium seeds today that I'd already soaked.  And I have this stump next to the driveway.  So I took my garden tool and chopped a hole in the stump where the center is rotting.

Then I filled it with potting soil and Nasturtium seeds.  I'm afraid it's not deep enough, Nasturtiums like to put down long roots.  But if it works, it could be really pretty.  I'll let you know how it goes later this summer.

Cook Inlet Belugas

I know we have a small population of Beluga whales that live in Cook Inlet.  I drive down one side of the inlet when I'm driving between Anchorage & Homer.  Every once in a while I'll see a little ripple but I don't usually stop to take a good look.

Last Thursday I was driving up to Anchorage and slowed down because there were cars stopped all along the road.  It was a beautiful sunny day, so I decide to pull over and take a look.  There was a small pod of Belugas headed back up to the entrance.  I counted 9 a one point.  They were great to see, since they were actually very close to the road.

Unfortunately my camera doesn't have much telephoto power, so in these pics they just look like specs.  And shooting into the sun meant I couldn't see what  I was capturing with each picture.  But if you click on these to enlarge them, you should see a couple of whales.

Blinds, part 2

I finally got around to buying blinds for the 2nd guest room.  I really liked the ones I put in the first guest room, so I ordered a 2nd set.  Bali sent me the wrong blinds, they were too short and not wide enough, so I went through the whole exchange/re-order thing.  The 2nd set arrived while I was at work, so they've been setting in the house for 12 days.  I started to put them up before my guests arrived last Wed but ran into some problems.  Finally today I couldn't procrastinate any longer.  I needed to get them installed.  And it actually went OK.  Took a couple of hours, lots of trying to understand what the instructions actually meant.  And now that they're up, I think I should take them down and move them back on the extension brackets, about 1.5 inches.  BUT, I'll save that for a later date :-).


Valda & Sharon came up to help me hang them up because they're so long (128") and are hard to handle.  Though they're not particularly heavy.  I like that the cover the wall & door and can be opened/closed from either side.

Brackets finally secured to the wall.  I only broke through the sheet rock once :-)

Sharon & Valda

Finished!

Refrigerator Repairs - is my Samsung (RB215LASH) a Lemon?

I got home tonight and started putting away my groceries.  The carrots I'd left in the vegetable crisper were frozen solid with frost all over them.  At least nothing else in the fridge was frozen, which has happened.  I've been having trouble with my fridge/freezer ever since I moved in.  While it was under warrenty I had the guys from Homer Appliance Repair working on it.  After a couple of house calls, they'd ordered some parts for it, but then they went out of business and since the warrenty is expired, I haven't pursued fixing the problem.  But after putting the groceries away and doing some other things around the house, I realized that the freezer compressor was still running and probably wasn't going to shut off.

So I decided to try a temp fix myself.  I figured that he cooling elements were all iced up again, so I moved all the frozen stuff from the freezer into a cooler and unplugged the whole thing.  I'd watched the repair guys, sort of the last 2 times they'd been here.  So, armed with my electric screwdriver I removed a few screws and took the panel next to the ice maker off.  Then I got my hair dryer out and started blowing hot air in to the air vents.  After a bit I could see ice melting when I looked though the vents.  I know the repair guys had removed all the plastic shielding inside so I figured I could do it too.  

I managed to get the fan shroud off, and yep, the elements were totally iced up. 

Drain Hole - so the melt water has a place to go, but where?

Ice all melted.

Oops, forgot to put the fan shroud back on.

After a couple of tries, I got it all to go back together.  I must have put it back together correctly, because it seems to be working.  The temp is down from 65 to 52.  Hopefully I can get it down to freezing in the next hour so I can put the food back in there and go to bed.

But here is my question.  Does anyone have a good idea what's wrong?  I only have a vague knowledge about how the freezer works.  This freezer is supposed to be frostless, which actually means there is a short heating cycle that's supposed to melt the frost and let it drain down to the bottom and evaporate.  Obviously this isn't working correctly, but I don't know why.  But I sure could use some ideas on how to fix it once and for all.  Going though this disassembly and thawing process every few months is really a pain.  But so is it when it makes everything in the fridge freeze.  I've actually had club soda in can burst and spray all over the inside.

Radiant Heat Floors

After yesterdays storm it's pretty nice today.  Party sunny and 39 outside, so I have my heat turned down.  Normally I wear slippers all the time, but when I was changing I realized the floor in my closet was really COLD.  So I went and got out my handy dandy new toy, an infrared thermometer and checked floor temps around the house.  At the back of my closet it's 58.  In the back hallway it's down to 56.  Rather chilly on my bare feet.  But along the front of the house, where the sun is shining on the floor, it runs 80 to 84.  That's a very nice heat gain that warms up the thermal mass of the concrete.

Entry Bench

I really am having a hard time finding furniture, or at least furniture that I can afford :-).  I've been looking at benches for at least a year.  I wanted something industrial and metal that would look good with my concrete floor.  Plus it needs to be practical and sturdy.  I finally found one on CB2.  It's galvanized metal that's been clear coated.  It's very sturdy and I like the way it looks. 


It arrived just as I was leaving for work and spent the last few weeks in it's shipping box.  But Patty came up to visit for a bit last night so I had her help me put it together.  


So now, back to looking for chairs for the living room :-)

Anchorage Weekend

I spent last weekend in Anchorage, catching up with old friends.  I really had a great time, it's something I should do more often.


On Saturday we went out for lunch.  I hadn't seen Babs, Lisa or Lanie in at least 25 years, maybe longer.  In fact I don't really want to figure out how long it's been.  Shelley & Clyde & Paula were there too, but I was too busy talking and didn't take many pictures.  Lisa & Paul both posted some great pics on their Facebook pages.

Then on Sunday I had breakfast with George & Amy.  They couldn't join us for lunch because they were busy at the Sportsman show.  Babs & Lanie joined us too, but I left my camera in my car.  I guess it was too early :-)


And Sunday night a group of us went out to dinner.  We used Penny's birthday last week as an excuse to have dessert :-)

Owl House

Yesterday was just an amazingly beautiful day.  By noon it was 37 and melting.  Valda & I went for a walk up my road, though it was getting pretty icy from the melting.  And then we had lunch on my deck.  Before she left she held the ladder and took some pics of me putting up my owl house.  I hope to attract a nesting pair of Saw Whet owls.

http://www.birdingak.com/2009/12/12/northern-saw-whet-owls/

I finally bought a ladder, it folds up which I like.

Haul Road Storm Aftermath

I've had these pictures e-mailed to me by several people.  So I don't know who took them.  But they're pretty spectacular.  We had a several day storm and the haul road (or Dalton Highway) between Fairbanks & Deadhorse was closed because parts of the road were 'blown in'.  I heard that at one point there were 90 trucks waiting to come north.  Anyway, someone flew from Prudhoe Bay down the road to see how bad it was.   Here are some the pictures that have been circulating.  Thanks to whoever took them!

Ice Cut View North 1

Ice Cut View North 2



Ice Cut View South



DOT Snowblower Nside Atigun

Galbraith Airport View North

Galbraith Airport View South

Pump Station 3

Travel Planning

Look what arrived in today's mail from Amazon.com :-).  Our trip planning is well underway.  10 days in Italy then 10 in France the first 3 weeks of Sept.  I can't wait to go!

Fused Glass

Last week when I was still at home, I spent a day out at Morning Star Studio learning about fusing glass.  Linda is a great teacher.  I got to play around with 2 tiles and try out different types of glass, just to see how they melt together.


The first tile was done on white opaque glass with scraps of different blues layered on top of it.  We got to talking and let if fuse just a bit too long.  This caused the edges to draw in a bit.  And there is a little less texture to the layered pieces than I'd wanted.  But it was a good first effort.  I can use it for snacks or something, it looks great on my kitchen table.

The second tile was on clear glass with an iridescent back.  The flash from the camera makes it look gold, but it really isn't.  This one we fused just right, so it still has some texture.  I used frit (small pieces of glass) to make the flower petals, which was interesting.  I actually like how they turned out a lot more than I thought I would.  I was afraid they'd melt into the back ground more, but they didn't.

So, some more experimentation is due.  But the long term plan is to create a couple of large pieces that I mount on the wall behind my cooktop and use as a back splash.  I really like glass, and this is going to be a fun project.

Summer Schedule

I'm hoping for some company this summer.  So here is my schedule for your planning purposes :-)

New Office Window

I haven't blogged a sunrise or sunset for a while. I've moved offices, just a little less than 1/2 mile from my old office. The view quite a bit different, and the window is frozen shut. So I had to take these today through the glass. Boy it's nice to see the sun up after a couple of dark.
Sunrise at 11:54 AM

Sunset about 4:15 PM

Another Closet Completed

I decided I had to quit goofing off and get my closet shelves finished.  I'd started messing around with this project over the weekend.  But then decided I need a jig saw to notch the shelves.  So I went into town today and rented one for the afternoon. 

These shelves are a little crooked, but they're not wobbly, so they're going to work out just fine :-)

New Toys

I got the coolest toy a few days ago.  I'm really having fun playing with it.  It's a little speaker that I can hook up to my MP3 Player.  It's surprizing loud and sound pretty good.  Much better than any of the computer speakers I've used.  And it's really cute :-)  I added my chapstick just to show the size.  It's pretty tiny.

Ice Luminaries Part 2

Homer 'finally' got some cold weather. Close to zero at night, which is plenty cold for me. So I got a couple of ice luminaries made in time for my Christmas party. In fact, one got ignored a bit too long and froze solid, but it still looked nice in-between the other two :-)