Here is the Old House Seth and I have been working on. The inside is done and the outside is being excavated and landscapes this coming weekend. I just created a website to show our potential renters so I hope it works, just in case you are interested here is the website: dearmounoldhouse.blogspot.com

And now here is something you will really enjoy:

New improved outside and deck



Old outside house and old deck




New improved kitchen



Old Kitchen




Bedroom #1 old



Bedroom #1 new



Bedroom #2 new



Bedroom #2 old



New living room



Old Living room




New Bathroom



Old Bathroom

Clearing the Island

This last weekend was spent doing some/lots of manual labor, the type where you shimmy up a rope and than proceed to clear brush for 2 entire days. Meghan was good enough to help us, lots of help!!! It rained one whole day making things a bit more tricky, especially when you are sliding brush down a gully to the ocean!!! What everyone needs in this case is an amazing friend who works hard and has the positive attitude that never fails. In the end we did an incredible amount, created 270 degree views for the cabin and clearing a way to build a dock and stairs to the site this coming weekend. Ginger did not care for the rain, she did not care for the sheer cliff ascent but when it was time to descend she laid very carefully in a backpack as we lowered her to the rowboat, now that is an impressive dog!

Ginger served dual purposes that weekend as a bear dog and bomb sniffing dog. We found this rocket shell on the beach and after calling the police, than the troopers than the coast guard as instructed on the can warning it was a bomb! We were told to just through it in the trash, it was mostly likely not armed anymore. So as usual with anything that floats in on the tide, we are storing it in the outhouse.


Along with bombs and chainsaws we saw lots of seals, otters, eagles nesting in the woods above the cabin site and two river otters, a very rare creature I hope to sight again.

A little trip to the Bahamas

Well, we are back from a two week trip to the Bahamas followed by a week in Washington with the Andersen/ Anderson fam and a week with Ma and Pa Peltz.

The Bahamas was a once in a lifetime trip. We visited our friends Rob and Nadine who are teachers at a boarding school for 16 and 17 year olds from the United States on an Island called Eultheria. The school takes 70 students per semester and teaches them about sustainable living, renewable resources and encourages learning through hands on participation. Seth and I stayed on the campus and enjoyed swimming at least twice a day, snorkeling, biking, running, kayaking and spear fishing. We took a little trip on the kayaks along the very deserted coast (the southern tip of Eultheria is not populated by much besides land crabs and conch shells. Lots of sunshine, 85 degree water and great people (the other teachers at the school were great fun!) Lots of beautiful fish, Seth received one on one scuba lessons and we had our first shark experience, I spose our unborn son did too, which is what crossed my mind when I watched the creature swim underneath me!!

Visiting in WA was great, met Melissa and Gail's new pup, Rum Doodle the Poodle, very cute and full of energy. Enjoyed the warm windy weather, went on a nice hike, windy bike and beautiful boat ride. Mom and I dropped Seth at the airport in Seattle and had a whirlwind shopping trip with excellent maternity pants in the basket and a quick visit with Melissa and Gail.

Few, now to catch up on the chick weed in the garden and the out of control flower beds, one forgets how lush Anchorage is until you leave for a month and can't see you house under the hops plant.