Progress

Here is a view of the cabin and back of the garage, which Bob finished today.

These are timbers from the Alaska Rail Road that we're using to build a short retaining wall that will  support the slope at the back of the garage. Another garden spot! 

A pile of dirt and clay to be pushed over the bluff eventually. 

My future rock garden. Guess I'll work on that tomorrow. Stick a fork in me. After working out, painting my workshop, hauling these rocks, and taking a walk on "our" beach I am done for the day.

Here is a nice shot of the back of the garage in the evening light - finished! The red arrows point to the locations of the future retaining wall (right) and rock garden (left). This used to be the mud bog but is going to be some nice garden area someday. 

King of the Hill

Pheasant look-out on a pile of dirt loaded at the edge of the bluff.

So close to finishing the metal siding! 

Crane Tracks

Sandhill crane prints on the beach:

Photos of the drain project as of June 8. First picture shows the eight foot deep trench that the porous pipe is laid in, then the trench is filled with rocks. 

This is the path of the pipe that carries the water from the drain trenches to the bluff. The mound of dirt will be pushed over the edge and then we will need to plant things that will put down roots in a hurry to hold it in place.

This is where the May tree was pulled out. We'll have more parking area and a (potentially) sunny garden spot. I need a tree there - maybe the quaking aspens.

This behemoth flies by doing touch-downs at the Homer Airport, I guess training on the short runway.  Bob says this is a new military plane that is replacing the C130. It is huge and it is loud.

As The Earth Rumbles

The Cats are at work digging dirt, transporting dirt, spreading dirt, and making a new world for us. I'll add pictures of their progress later today.

The first blue poppy is now raising its beautiful head. This is such a stunning flower that I have been planting it all around my gardens.

Arctic Trivia

It seems ticks are making their way north to Alaska as the climate changes. A species from Alberta is particularly bad as an infestation can actually kill a moose. An adult moose has about 32 liters of blood and an infestation of ticks can consume 40 liters in two months time, which means the moose has to more than replace it's entire blood volume. The blood loss along with lost hair and time spent scratching rather than foraging creates a hardship that added to winter stresses leaves them starving by January. This is the first time I've heard about ticks in Alaska since I first moved here in the early 70's and I do not look forward to encountering this pest. Next it will be rattlesnakes!

I have long been partial to the big fuzzy bumblebee, ever since learning they aren't the stinging kind, but after reading an article about the arctic variety I have a new found respect. In fact all the arctic insects have amazing life histories, but there are so many fascinating things about the arctic bumblebee that I am sharing the link here.

The Brief Busy Life of the Arctic Bumblebee

And the Rain Comes

This is the Homer Construction Rule: Once the ground is opened the rain must come. There is mud. Lots of it. How will I keep the dogs out of it? Only one good day was needed to put in the cabin drain and we didn't get it. Here (below) is a small mountain of mud that was dug out of the trench next to the cabin. That used to be the parking area at the end of the driveway. 

This is the trench on the north side of the cabin now filled with gravel. A pipe in this trench connects to the pipeline leading out to the bluff.

This used to be my nice gravel walkways, now a mud pit.

Here Bob reconnects the propane tank for the kitchen stove. The trench begins on this side of the cabin and wraps around the north side (above). All the run-off from the cabin will be carried away and the ground will dry. The guys found ice down a few feet right where Bob is standing. That's a spot that never sees the sun and it is still that cold that it hasn't melted. Good news came  today that Fritz Creek Gardens is having a plant sale this weekend. Guess I will see what else I can pick up. I'm going to need a lot of plants to fix this mess.

More on the drain

A few more pictures from the work on the drain pipe this morning. It's our own little water pipeline to rival the Alaska oil pipeline!

Sunny day pictures

The weather was too beautiful to waste the entire day working so we went out to the Spit for a walk.

Beach grass on the Spit.

This is Hooper's day.

A Polemonium (Jacob's Ladder).

A rare shot of Tux.

We saw this young bull moose wandering around downtown Homer.

Digging Begins

It's a sunny day for working outside. A trench to the bluff is being dug and pipeline going in. It's making a big mess, but the ground sure looks good. There must be six feet of topsoil before hitting the clay layer.

Bob continues work on the garage siding and I am texturing the walls of my work room.

The first Himalayan blue poppy opened and the trollius are blooming like crazy in the south side bed. 

Tag and Hoop enjoying the sunshine and soft weedy lawn.

Death of a Tree

Today is a sad day. I was not able to watch the guys yank the big old May tree out of the ground. We tried to save it when we built the addition, but it's right where the drain for house run-off needs to go. Here is where the tree formerly grew and the handsome young man that did the dirty work. Everybody looks young to me these days.

This is a shot of the lower section of our property where the moose likes to keep her newborns. The remains of the May tree are in the right foreground. It was dropped over the embankment in pieces and I suppose will help protect the area from further erosion. In the mid-ground around the standing tree is all the dirt that sloughed off the bluff this spring which prompted all this concern for drainage on the property. 

It's already June but still so cold the perennials are reluctant to open their flowers. Equisetum (horsetails) is growing like crazy, as is the rhubarb. If I liked making rhubarb pies or jam I'd be in business. I don't expect many raspberries again this year as the moose ate all last years growth almost to the ground.

Updates

This is the back of the garage with siding going up and showing the catwalk (the ladder-like wood structure between the two lower roofs). Once it is stabilized with supports Bob can work on the upper section of the wall a little more safely than trying to climb a long ladder from ground level. You can see there isn't much area to set a ladder for working way up there. Stabilizing that slope with a retaining wall is another project on the endless to-do list.

Here are the inexpensive curtains made from a 9'x12' painter's canvas. They are simple hemmed panels hanging from ring clips so these are super easy to make, and the heavy weight of the canvas gives them a nice drape. (Dog beds on the floor below.)

Work on the ground drains begins tomorrow but the septic guy still hasn't come out. Not looking forward to all the mud and mess while the work goes on. 

We saw two Brants and a Whimbrel on the beach yesterday. A Sandhill crane was shot by arrow last week. It died a day later. Cranewatch is offering a large reward for info on the shooter. Hope someone turns in the idiot.

Spitfire

Momma was back last night and her little one is growing by leaps and bounds. Full of piss and vinegar, it was investigating everything, attacking a vinyl post in the neighbor's yard, charging mom and tearing around the yard in circles. Boy or girl we don't know yet, but it surely deserves to be called Spitfire. 

I was up at 4:30 this morning and saw that mom had settled in on the bluff overlooking the treed area below where she safely leaves the calf. If she sees anything moving, smells danger, or the little one cries out she will be there in an instant.