Last weekend I flew to Anchorage, Alaska and then to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. From Prudhoe Bay we got on a small plane and flew about 150 miles north and landed on the ice. I spent the night on the camp. From the ice camp, I boarded a helicopter to fly out to meet the submarine for what was supposed to be a 10 day underway.
However, late this week, the ice around the camp started to break up a little bit, and the exercise was finished early. When we returned to the camp we could see the huge section of open water where the runway had been before we got underway (the camp had made a second runway when the first was lost). Here are some pictures from the camp:
Ready to board the flight to the ice camp. Cold weather gear and survival kits were required for the flight.
Sunset on the ice (the first night at the camp)
Very Swedish looking fuel drums. The helicopter is in the background.Waiting for the hatch to be cleared of ice before embarking the submarine for testing under the ice.
I started regularly blogging three years ago. Yes I know, I actually started this blog in November of 2010; but, I didn’t post anything between November 2010 and March 2011. I have written 340+ posts in that time, and recently just passed 100,000 written words
It is fun to go back and look at what I have written over the past couple of years. It is nice to see that my posts have gotten no more interesting nor have they stopped jumping around on random topics. But that is ADHD for you. Even though I can’t focus on writing on just one or two topics, I have been able to keep posting in the blog. Even if only one or two people actually read it.
Over the next three years, I will try to write another 100,000 words. I’ll try to post more pictures. I’ll continue to not try to focus on writing on one subject. That would be too boring anyway.
Ben and Susanna took a few minutes tonight to play “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” together. Ben on his trumpet and Susanna on the piano. I’m impressed because I can’t play anything…
I’m mostly happy with the chicken coop I built last summer. The biggest problem is that I made the entire top a single hinged lid. It is heavy. With 6″ of snow on top of it is really really heavy.
The feeder for the chickens is inside the coop and requires that I lift the lid every week to refill the feed. One option would be to saw the roof in half, and have a left and right side that are easier to lift individually. Or I cold build a new feeder that can be refilled from the outside.
Susanna voted for the second one. She doesn’t like the chickens, and would appreciate being able to care for them without having to hang out with them in the coop.
Today I went to the box store and for less than $20 I picked up 3″ piping and connectors to make a new feeder. It is a simple feeder, with a tube to hold the feed on the outside of the coop and a tray in the coop. Even though you can’t easily tell in the pictures, the tray does have an end – the feeder doesn’t just dump the feed into the coop.
I installed and filled the feeder today. Hopefully the birds won’t stand on it and poop in their own food. But they probably will.
Overall, this was a quick easy project. It may have worked better with 4″ piping (it would have held a lot more food – almost twice as much). Or maybe I could have used a longer section of piping to hold more food.
Coop with the new feeder installed. I probably should paint the feeder to match the rest of the coop. Maybe later this spring.
Watching the Melodifestivalen 2014 finals live from Stockholm
Today was the final for Melodifestivalen 2014 – Sweden’s music competition for the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest. Susanna is a huge fan of the contest.
The time zone difference means that it is a 2pm show local time. We pushed the streaming video to the house TV and the whole family watched. Susanna and Ben both dressed up for the show. Will, Targa, Tucker and I didn’t so much. But we all enjoyed the concert. It helped that the songs we liked did well in the end.
Today Susanna and I took a day for ourselves. My Christmas present from her was a gift certificate at the Spa at Norwich Inn – not too far down the road from us. We headed out the door shortly after the boys left for school.
Our first appointment was a yoga class (and not I am not very flexible at all… I would probably benefit from some more yoga) followed by swimming and enjoying the hot tub/sauna/steam rooms. After a wonderful lunch at the restaurant upstairs, we had an afternoon massage session, followed by more time in the hot tub/sauna/steam room.
We finished up around 5pm, with plenty of time in the day to enjoy the cold Connecticut weather.
What a perfect way to start the week! It also means a short 4 day work week.
This morning, Ben had a soccer game for one of the two leagues he plays on. Susanna isn’t feeling well tonight, so I figured I would try my hand at making a very short video of Ben playing. It is at least a little more creative than watching TV. The video was made on my iPhone, and edited on OpenShot.
Ben was the goalie for the first half, and then a forward for part of the second half of the game.
I finished touching up the paint in the front hallway. The hall has been cleaned (though the walls could use another wiping down after the paint fully cures). I think we can call the project finished!
Final view of the new hall ceiling and ceiling light.
the ceiling with trim installed (and first coat of paint). Yes, I know, the walls need to be washed. And touched up.
Over the past few years I have been trying to write down what paint color we use when we are painting rooms (or the outside of the house). It finally paid off. When painting the trim around the ceiling in the hallway, I went to the basement to search for the trim paint, “I’m sure I have some of that left over around here somewhere…”
Of course, none could be found. So a reasonably quick Google search of this blog digs up “Classic Ivory” trim paint. Voilà. A quick trip to Sherwin-Williams and we have matching trim paint.
So, I figure I’ll record paint colors (as best as I know them) for the house:
New hall light from House of Antique Hardware.
Exterior:
Walls: Concord Buff (SW 7684)
Trim: Rookwood Dark Green (SW 2816; satin)
Accent: Rookwood Dark Brown (SW 2808; satin)
All interior trim is Classic Ivory (SW 0051, semi-gloss) except where noted. Ceilings are white (Sherwin-Williams ceiling paint)
Dining Room: Custom paint from Home Depot to match an unknown Sherwin-Williams paint selection (note to self, next time just go to Sherwin-Williams). Anyway, I’m not super happy with the paint colors I picked for the dining room – it would have turned out much better if I had gotten Susanna’s input before choosing a color (but she was in Sweden, and I needed to paint the room).
Study: Unknown; Trim: Not repainted
Will’s Bedroom: Down Pour (SW 6516, satin) and Empire Gold (SW 0012; satin) – we used left over paint from the kitchen.
Ben’s Bedroom: Paint from Home Depot (Glidden Freshaire Choice): Northern Pear Tree and Roof Top Garden
Master Bedroom: Lantern Light (SW 6687)
One of the things I love about Sherwin-Williams is that all of their colors are on the Internet. And if I can’t find the colors there – they have a record of my previous paint purchases. I have been very happy with the quality of the paint and the service and will not buy paint from anywhere else.
