Alaska Updates

growing like a weed ...

2011-08-29T09:57:00.000-08:00

the cool big kids .. Gunnar & Nora

2011-08-29T09:56:00.000-08:00

Max arrives ...

2011-08-29T09:53:00.000-08:00

So, what's new for 2011?

2010-12-30T11:10:00.001-09:00

It's a girl, and a boy, and a girl. And a boy in June.

The Sojourn

2010-01-13T10:27:00.000-09:00

I borrowed the name from Roy, but I finally got her in the water. Whether she stays is unknown, but it's been nice knowing her.

It's time for a "name that boat" contest ...

2008-10-20T08:45:00.000-08:00

I was getting a little bored with relatively few home improvements to do, so we bought a boat this weekend! 27' Seasport Seamaster. She needs some TLC, but it's the boat I've been looking for at an incredible price. Shrimp from the Sound, anyone?

We've got a new sport!!

2008-10-20T07:38:00.002-08:00

I have picked up another lifetime sport (along with Jim L, Jim K, Thomas, Colleen, Matt, Mike, John D, and a few more)..

Finally Finished!

2008-09-19T09:25:00.000-08:00

New Projects

2008-07-06T20:48:00.001-08:00

Cordova in January

2008-04-21T07:47:00.000-08:00

lovely place, very cold. I'm trying to catch up on a few months of entries ...

Another great day for diving in AK

2008-02-25T11:08:00.000-09:00

These photos were from a December dive we did in Seward. Very chilly, but being in the middle of a school of herring made it all worthwhile. Oh, and not being in the office.

How did I end up with the High Life?

2007-12-13T13:08:00.000-09:00

A little high/low with my buddy James

2007-12-13T13:07:00.000-09:00

Bird Creek Barbarians RFC

2007-12-13T13:05:00.000-09:00

A little Rugby ...

2007-12-13T13:04:00.000-09:00

The not-so-moosey moose hunt

2007-09-29T19:21:00.000-08:00

Alternative called "the really long horse ride".

They like me!! They really like me!!!

2007-09-29T18:49:00.000-08:00

do horses drink beer?

2007-09-29T18:45:00.000-08:00

Room with a View

2007-09-29T16:26:00.000-08:00

Louise Klouda was nice enough to let us stay in her house when we were in Homer. It's got quite a view.

The Jones'

2007-09-16T13:41:00.000-08:00

Jen, Lauren, and Mason were around as well. I didn't know you could use Red Vines as straws.

Pig Roast

2007-09-16T13:39:00.000-08:00

Mr. Fosler decided he wanted to roast a pig, so we did it during the Block Party. It turned out really nice, although my lawn is still has burnmarks. As usual, Bill made new friends.

Now this is fishin'

2007-06-29T19:38:00.001-08:00

we went down to Kasilof a couple of weekends ago with the Hellens, our neighbors. We used a setnet to catch some reds and kings - it's a tough way to go, fishing with 60' of gillnet. Our freezer is full of salmon, so now it's on to halibut ....

it makes the flowers grow ..

2007-06-27T17:03:00.003-08:00

it's amazing what 22 hours of light will do for you.

Projects, continued ...

2007-06-26T22:25:00.000-08:00

well, what would a weekend be without a project? The back room is now finished ....

Memorial Kings

2007-06-04T11:43:00.001-08:00

We went down to Homer for Memorial Day and had a bit of luck trolling for kings. We'll get more pictures up on the blog soon ... summer has been the usual and I haven't gotten many pictures taken!

More Aurora

2007-04-01T11:51:00.000-08:00

and finally, the living room

2007-03-11T18:55:00.000-08:00

what will we do with our time now?

The kitchen is done!

2007-03-11T18:50:00.000-08:00

we are finally getting projects crossed off the list. The final trim went up and I think all we have left is the backsplash on the back of the viking. The days are getting longer, but the snow isn't disappearing nearly fast enough. Skiing has been great, though.

how do you pronounce "sauna", anyhow?

2007-03-11T18:46:00.000-08:00

finishing touches ...

2007-02-12T18:22:00.000-09:00

John "bob vila" Gates graciously spent his saturday showing me how to do some custom woodworking. He has a fantastic shop and planned and fabricated the cherry trim for two doors and the pass through window. I learned about plinth blocks and why you shouldn't drink too much coffee and play with saws. We still have to apply the clearcoat and fill the nailholes, but everything is starting to come together. Thank you, John G.

the front room ....

2007-02-12T18:16:00.000-09:00

we cranked out the front room this weekend (and today). Pulled up the carpet and pad, managed not to puncture ourselves too many times with the tack strips, sanded the old finish, patched some holes, and put down four coats of varathane. Hopefully the dog claws won't be too tough on it, but I'm not so sure. It looks very nice now, though.

The Maine Reason

2007-02-06T13:05:00.000-09:00

Seems like everyone I know now lives in Maine. Brian & Carrie still haven't met John and Kathy. They are all just swell people. Maybe the Byrnes just need one more reason ... meet the parents of this lovely cheeseball ....

a match made in .... wyoming?

2007-02-05T21:41:00.000-09:00

Camp Kill 'em & Grill 'em

2006-11-08T10:05:00.000-09:00

There is no shortage of pheasants in North Dakota. We had a great time, got lots of birds, and the hospitality was what you'd expect in the heartland. Fischer hasn't lost his touch, although he's a little older and did a lot of sleeping when he wasn't hunting. The midwest is still super, and i found out that "hot dish" is actually a casserole. Also, jello is a course in the main meal, not for dessert. Jan and Duane, Roger, Mitch and everyone, thanks for a great trip!

Who's your daddy?

2006-11-01T08:28:00.000-09:00

I've been meaning to post this for a while ... tell me there isn't a resemblance in these two dashing fellers ...

Who love you, baby?

Trick or Treat?

2006-10-31T07:55:00.000-09:00

We got our first snow on Sunday and have been getting ready for
Halloween and the bazillion little monsters that are going to show up
tonight. We had an early "trick" last night, though. We heard a loud
thump at about 10:30pm and when I went to investigate, I found a small
bull moose about 4 feet from the front door eating the pumpkin that I
carved. He then went across the street and took a nap in the neighbors
front yard.

Finally, the cabinets are in

2006-10-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

Countertops!

2006-10-13T18:00:00.000-08:00

Jorge and his crew from Mckinley Countertops came by today and installed the surfaces in about an hour. They look fantastic!

Remodel Progress

2006-10-12T21:29:00.000-08:00

Ok, here are the latest photos. Fischer is down in North Dakota with Curt, so Yianko feels the need to be in some pics. Countertops may be here tomorrow, the ceiling gets done Monday/Tuesday, so we may be close in 10 days or so. Props to my peeps in Maine ... thanks for everything, Mr. Byrne. You are keeping me on track.

sheetrocking does not rock ...

2006-10-08T13:52:00.000-08:00

well, the rock is up and the sanding begins. I don't enjoy sheetrocking, unlike my brother.

Kitchen Remodel, Part 2

2006-09-28T15:35:00.000-08:00

and the walkthrough to the living room was the next to go ...

Kitchen Remodel, Part 1

2006-09-28T15:30:00.000-08:00

The outdated kitchen at 2822 Illiamna has vanished. We are slowly making progress with wiring and sheetrock, not as quickly as we'd like but we'll get there ....

Special Family Members

2006-07-21T19:10:00.000-08:00

every family has certain members that are more ... special .. than others. This is Jerrold, the "special" member of the day in the Alaska Olsons Blog.

here fishy fishy fishy ....

2006-07-21T19:00:00.000-08:00

a picture from several weeks ago that was stuck here on the computer in Homer. At this point in his life, Beck is about the size of a small halibut. Keep checking back for other Beck comparisons to the animal kingdom

I'm talkin' to YOU!!!

2006-07-12T21:56:00.000-08:00

Our nephew Beck is a real cutiepie, although a little demanding. In this photo, he was telling me to get more sweet potato baby food for him. He's not so sure about more green beans.

Whew, I feel better now ....

2006-07-12T16:05:00.000-08:00

an inconsistent blogger ...

2006-07-12T16:01:00.000-08:00

it's been weeks since I blogged. I don't think it is a character flaw, only a sign of my schedule. SO, since I don't have a picture comparing the size of Beck to a halibut, I'll post a few pics of some killer whales from my trip to the Bering Sea last year ...

Anchor River Kings

2006-06-26T08:33:00.001-08:00

A late update on our fishing trip two weeks ago. We went to the Anchor River for a little bit of king salmon fishing and were pretty successful, as the picture shows. John and I each caught four or five kings over the weekend.

Preparing for Denali

2006-06-21T09:18:00.000-08:00

We're getting ready for our big adventure of the summer (other than having james/jen/beck, bill/billy/mikey, jennifer/lauren/mason, & bill/maria for visits!). We are taking the bus back to Wonder Lake in Denali on Friday morning and then riding out, which is about 85 miles. We're planning on riding at night when there are no buses on the road and the animals are the most active. The first leg should be about 32 miles to Toklat rest area, then to Sanctuary River the next day and the last 20 miles out on Sunday morning. More to come!

a new arrival ...

2006-06-13T15:18:00.000-08:00

our friends Greg & Megan welcomed Elias Reid Soule into the world last Thursday. I think his eyes were open at birth - he's a cute little fella. Not to take anything away from mr. chubbycheeks (beck), who has a bit more of the telly savalas thing that the little babes love ...

Bother ... er ... Brother ....

2006-06-13T07:20:00.000-08:00

James has been bugging me to put up some new posts, but we are waiting on some photos from last weekend. So just to hold James over, here is a fine photo of the brothers Olson

The Pribilof Islands

2006-06-05T16:04:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of May I got to take a trip to the Pribilof Islands to do some tech support for our field office there.

It was a pretty incredible trip - very few people get out to "the Pribs". It's a three hour flight in a twin-engine Saab turboprop from Anchorage, mainly over water. Almost 3/4 of the entire population (~600,000) of the Northern Fur Seal breeds on the islands of St. Paul and St. George, but only the big males were on the beach when I was there. When the breeding is taking place in July/August, the entire beach under the boardwalks are covered with seals. NMFS does counts from the boardwalks during the summer. I know Bill has already done some research, but here are some links for the rest of you ....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pribilof_Islands
http://www.pinnipeds.org/species/norfursl.htm

House Projects

2006-06-05T15:48:00.001-08:00

This weekend was spent working around the house. A new fence, garden boxes, and the greenhouse were the main projects. We had a horrible spring, but things are looking up .....

Quartz Creek Camping

2006-06-05T15:42:00.000-08:00

Our first camping trip of the year was a week ago. We stayed at the Quartz Creek campground (on the shore of Kenai Lake) and then went on to Homer for the weekend. Fishing wasn't that great, but the company was fabulous (as always).

We're looking forward to getting all the siblings up this year. First will be James, Jennifer & Beck at the end of June, then Bill, Billy & Mikey in the middle of July. Jennifer, Lauren, and the finally-mobile Mason will follow in August. Bringing up the caboose will be Bill & Maria in September. They just can't get enough Kachemak Bay oysters!

Our first post

2006-06-05T15:35:00.000-08:00

Our photos will never be as good as Beck's Daddy ... but our dogs are cooler than their cat.

Here's a recent picture of the front of the house, and the big@ss truck we had to get to pull the bambi.

More pictures to follow .....