worth the work tonight....

 i have an exposed beam now.  it really is going to look great and will add to the room when all is done.  i have always loved those exposed beams in houses so now i will have one...too cool!!

 just have to sand it and stain it. do the things i can do on this kitchen project. 

 before the Monday walk i had the heater guy come out to give me an estimate for the closing of one vent and placement of another under the sink cabinet.  sent my handyman a text and  he thought the quote was a bit high.  says he hopes to fly back in town tomorrow and do some work at my place.  he is a pilot as well as being  great at all sorts of jobs...typical Alaskan really...i mean the real ones.  they learned how to do everything. 

 so hopefully, he can do the heater vents for less. 

 we've had some rain but so far most of my hikes have been fairly dry...i mean mud but dry.  the pups got a good run today on the Monday walk.  always a great crew out there on the trails.  i have some super fabulous friends!!

 the last of the floor crap I'm trying to remove is sealed on with super glue it seems so i opted to switch to the beam to build up my ego.  removed all the dry wall off of it.  trash day has been a good day for demo stuff.  so the can is already nearly loaded again.

 my neighbor helped me load the old dishwasher into the back of the car so i took that down to the city dump area and put it with all the other old appliances.  so sad.  a woman there helped me unload it...she was looking for parts for one of her appliances so it is a win for others.

 i had several bites on the range but all those who showed interest never followed up.  hopefully i can get it out soon.  will call a few more places to see if i can just donate it...if they do pick up. 

 otherwise just make it super cheap on facebook marketplace and it will no doubt get a few more bites again.

 there are a lot of ranges on there though. 

 still needing to purchase some of those metal tile/tins for the back of the island cabinets and a dishwasher and under cabinet lighting.  then the costs will mostly be labor and the supplies he needs for installing things and getting prepped.

 oh and counter tops and a sink....still need to buy those.  I'm thinking i may need to purchase another set of drawers.  what i had set on the one side was really too long, thinking of pulling the one from the other side and using the two smaller ones on the island side, then buying one last cabinet of drawers for the gap between the stove and the fridge.  will discuss with Dan tomorrow. see what he thinks of it.

 these are the pups, myself and SH at a break along the Denali Highway in September.

 the pups just look so adorable in the fall colors.

 we had some wind over the last week so there really are few leaves left up in the trees still.

 back to work for 3 tomorrow night. 

 don't think the dogs like all the banging in the house...well especially Ivy Rose.  Tusker seems to chill, they do love all the visitors though.

 i will need to do a major house cleaning when this is all done. crap is all over the place.

 North Dakota will be a close senate race, made even closer by more GOP voter shenanigans...upheld by the courts i guess at this point.  Native Americans are being made to have actual addresses despite living on reservations where they have not had actual addresses for years.  po boxes will no longer be acceptable.  so suddenly, folks are attempting to get them new ID cards with actual addresses so they can vote in a few weeks.

 clearly, the iitoo and the current administration is not a fan of all things non-white. 

 the iitoo has been going after Senator Warren as she has spoken of having some native blood in her.  in a recent rally he told her he'd donate a million dollars to a charity of her choice if she got a DNA test to prove it.  she did.  of course, now she's annoyed some natives herself. he, of course, is trying to weasel out of the payment...he pays nobody despite all his big talk. 

 he is also taking the Saudi talking points about this missing and presumed dead reporter.  i mean, he did speak to the King and the guy denies they had anything to do with it...sound familiar.  Put denies having anything to do with attempting to influence our elections....if a nuclear bomb dropped on us from N.K.  he would just say, well, i called my dear friend Kim and he said he had nothing to do with it...i mean it could have been some 400 pound guy on his couch, right?

 SH poses with the furs.

below she is ahead of me in her car.  she turned around soon after this and i continued on across to Paxson

 glacier in the distance. we may not have snow here but i think the snow line is moving pretty fast down the mountains.

 some mushrooms..

 walrus did not get the cut at being allowed on to the threatened list.  poor timing for them really.  they are a species in an arctic zone and near highly desired oil fields.

 walrus are extremely difficult to really research in the wild.  we really do not have a clue how the loss of ice will impact them as far as breeding and life.  they are adapting to a degree but walrus prefer to breed and give birth on the ice and raise their young there.  we really have no data that tells us they can easily transition to doing these activities on beaches. 

 walrus are also incredibly sensitive to disturbances and so increased ship traffic up north could also have a large negative impact.  lawsuits have been filed in an attempt to reverse the decision to not list them as threatened. 

 they are a species in the cross hairs of the climate change battle.  one that many in my own family seem to believe is a liberal plot i guess and not based on science. my niece was telling me that her dad is impressed that i have started the non-profit to protect the walrus on Round Island,which lends to advocating for walrus all over.  she wondered why he doesn't just try to talk to  me about the walrus...i just said, Climate change...there are no safe topics anymore it seems.

 the latest hurricane was pretty deadly.  it really just wiped out a few communities. there are still many missing.  thought i heard one resident saying a house was taken to sea and there has been no word from the folks who were inside it.  there may be more stories like this i guess.  they will be taken care of I'm guessing, they are a swing state and they voted for the iitoo in the big election.  he seems to be petty enough that he factors who gave him electoral votes before doing for this state or that state.  Puerto Rico doesn't get to vote so he could care less about them.

 he is just embarrassing. 

 cruising by the river and almost near the bridge.

 a long ways to Paxson.  turned out to be a beautiful drive that day though.

 look at all those reds out there.

 the kitty is sleeping in a perfect circle behind me on the dog bed. Ivy Rose is stretched out next to me on the floor.  not sure if Tusker is upstairs or not.  he was.

 they finally chewed up my latest slippers. those lasted an impressively long time...they are maturing.  haha. 

 I've discovered that it is Tusker that relocates a slipper anytime i leave them out.  I've gotten brave about it since they haven't been eating them as much.  he seems to just move one without it getting eaten...but one got eaten.  I'll have to be more careful again i guess.

 time to cross the bridge.  one time a porcupine was on the bridge crossing at the same time we were.

 not too busy this day.  lots of hunters out on this road this time of year.  i debated looking for moose today but i opted to come home and get to the beam.  it was worth it i think.

 the river. they are so wide up here.

 well, i am off to bed. 

thankful for: A.  a freshly exposed beam  B.  walks on Mondays with friends C.  progress