stair rail project is the current house project...

 

had a lovely walk around Campbell Airstrip, came home and my back snapped a bit.  drugged and starting to move around again. have been popping out the little wooden buttons on the stair rail. pull those then use the sanding machine. then i'll just have the bits to do by hand...then clean, dry and stain. 

ordered a bunch of new buttons to stain. was going to look for some made from some other material but i'm not sure they come that way.  i will stain them though.  there are nearly 200 small buttons and a dozen larger buttons.  they have some old wood glue inside so i'll use wood glue and re-insert after the banging for the carpets is done. 

may head out moose spotting this evening after i write this.  perhaps sans dogs in my car.  

this old bridge down a random road near Chickaloon. i like to wander places i have never been on roads i have been on.  you never know what you will find down a road in the middle of nowhere.  the old buses were there as well. 

we managed our walk with very little rain today.  

yesterday we walked at Eagle River Nature Center.  more people so i had the dogs on leash much of the day...probably what irritated my back.  they do not like being on leash.  not as many flowers there as up Hatchers...but less traffic to deal with. 

got some paper shredding done. the cardboard table is still up, but there is much less paper crap to get through now. shredding is very rewarding.  just seems like homes fill up with paper crap.   eventually it gets stacked and you have to deal with it. 

i do like to be an organized mess.  i like stuff to have a proper place even if it doesn't always reside in that place.  there is the hope of getting it back to a place. the office still has some clutter as i clean it up but the clutter count is coming down nicely. 

i also ordered some little tire blow up spot covers that are better than the factory ones.  the ones that came with the element were green which supposedly meant there was a mixture of air in there so the oil change folks didn't want to fill the tires with regular air...so those are gone.  don't see those on the new car but can spruce them up.  

debating the seat cover stuff.  i am enjoying my new leather seats and love the heat so i really don't want to decrease the comfort there. even on a hot day the heated seats feel great on my lower back.

really need to get to a flooring place and check options for the downstairs bathroom and main room flooring...possibly the upstairs master.  

wild flowers are fun to find.  now the mushrooms are starting to pop out again.  hope it's a good year.  last year was amazing for mushrooms.  

a little wind blowing through the valley

loads of flowers on the sides of the road this time of year.  soon it will be fireweed everywhere. 

some places you can see fireweed for miles.  pink hills. so pretty

the road headed down to access the glacier. 

i was fasting today because i was going to get the semi annual blood check...the place was closed so i starved for nothing.  i don't do well starving.  so i stopped at Subway before i headed to meet LS for the walk.  

we took a different path to avoid the reported moose.  no bears spotted. i'm always happy to hear of a moose though as that usually means less chance of bears. i mean if a moose smells those bears it would book probably so if one is relaxed and eating they have noticed a bear.

this is another pull out i investigated on one of my treks to Matanuska Glacier.  turned out to be an old road/trail. still need to see if the trail is marked in the milepost.  looked like a trail headed out of there. always looking for good dog stop spots.

for a time in some places the dandelions go wild.  looks pretty...though i'm not a big fan of them in my yard...they do look pretty. 

pink flowers in front of the glacier. 

my planters are now filled with weeds in addition to the flowers. i always start with good intentions.  i'm not a great gardener though.  too lazy. 

there are always amazing views.  really, no matter what direction you take in this state you will find pretty stuff.

a trek to Reflection Lake. 

always another great spot for flowers in the summer

always enjoy reflections

the dogs first trek back in the Element.  they were so happy! they love the old car.  so easy for them to get in/out of.  i may have to put up a gate eventually as i really find i'm liking the dogs in the back of the car.  

Ivy helping me make the bed.  always cracks me up. such silly dogs.

Tusker in front of the glacier.

we will need to make another trek out there.

pups at a campfire on the spit.  

more from my garden area. 

not too wordy today.  will get back to work...i may sneak out and look for moose and stuff first though.  

how many more of these buttons can i pop out tonight.  will be easier to sand with them out...then stain. i already bought the stain.  it's the same chocolate chip stain color i used for the beam and the cabinets in the bathrooms.  will have to peruse my stencils and see if there are any that may work on the stair railing.  

i just will do it the black with a layer of stain over to mute the stencils.  don't want them too bold but i do like the look. 

horse in Palmer.  

Ivy is in here with me.  gotta get the cats a few spots in here as well.  go through some drawers and stuff and put out the freebies on the next sunny day.  what to do with old lap tops i no longer use? 

a kitty and his stuffed dog toy....the dog he prefers since it never tries to hump him. 

just a quick blog post...just to toss in a few more photos and let you know i am surviving. 

thankful for A.  the buttons that pop out easily B. fun hikes C. ice cubes