My new Flower Baskets

Hanging on my bike shop

Beer Heaven! Christmas came early! Contents of the care package sent by brewing buddy D Rock from Colorado. None of these beers are available in Alaska, so this is very special. He even included 2 of his own brews, Granny Gear Pale Ale and Agave Whisperer Wit. I have these hidden away in my bike shop fridge. The Lost Boys had better STAY AWAY FROM MY BEER! I think I will lock the shop up.

I will be rationing these, one beer at at time. Where do I start first???? I am intreged by the Agave Whisperer Wit. Maybe that will be the starting point.

We have ripped out our kitchen, dining and living room. We live in a barn, these area's were the grain bins once upon a time. None of our floors are level, they sloped down so the grain would go down the 4 shutes. We finished building and sold the Big Lake house and I *finally* get to have some remodeling and refurbishing done. I ordered cabinets the other day. I'm so stoked, barns have no closets so we have been very creative over the years when it comes to storage. When this is finished up, I will have a pantry and plenty of cabinet space for all my junk. It will really be nice to have a place to put everything. I had NO IDEA how expensive cabinets were. Mindblowing. But I found some that I like which won't break the bank.

In the meantime, I have no kitchen,stove, oven, sink, dining table, etc. We have a temp living room in the hallway. We moved the fridge and microwave downstairs. Using paper plates and not cooking anything except on the grill, microwave and crock pot. So far so good, but I miss a sink with running water.

Riding is finished, except commuting to work, until this is finished up. All spare time is being put into this place. The weather continues to be very hit or miss, mostly miss. This summer is a loss.

We are heading out to our cabin the 1st week of Sept. Still issues with flying out game on the bush plane. Still the stupid law that won't allow game to be brought out on anything which weighs over 1500 lbs. This allows only 4-wheeler to get the game out. Which is a HUGE undertaking in Alaska's backcountry - boggy ground, streams, wilderness. The area our cabin is in doesn't have "riding trails". It's wilderness. The idea is that if you can afford to use anything over 1500 to transport your game, then you have enough money and don't need to hunt. Still stupid thinking. We hire a bush plane to fly us in and out of our cabin for $400 and usually have a friend along who shares the cost. So it costs us $about $350 with the tip for the pilot. 4-wheelers cost $5000 easy. I can't afford to buy two 4-wheelers but I can afford to hire a plane once a year. This situation really bothers me. I have been living off of moose and caribou my entire life and Fish and Game rules won't let me fly my game out. When we had to start buying commercial beef, I got nauseated everytime I smelled or ate it. Ground beef especially has a bad smell to it, like a barnyard. Yuck.

Enough of that. I am looking forward to the cabin! I can't wait to get there!