Today is October 1st

Psalm 1:1-3

Blessed is the man

who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners

or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree

planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers.

A recent rock-climbing trip to Hatcher's Pass with good buddies Daniel and Luke:

Scoping out the mountain before the climb

Three of the brave and fearless rock climbers emotionally prepare themselves for the ascent.

Daniel and Micah appear friendly at first...

...however it doesn't take long before they are fighting over who gets to climb first.

Another beautiful day in Alaska

You've heard of tree huggers? Well, these guys are die-hard rock huggers.

Luke is a natural

Kenton gives it a try.

The end of a beautiful day

Now back to the site update:

Plumbing continues daily.

Adam at work in the garage apartment.

Discussing the next move

With the leaves almost all gone, more of the house can be seen from the neighboring road.

Roofing began on Tuesday afternoon!

One of the friendly and hard working roofers is Taylor, Duncan's son.

First the ice shield is put down by Jimmy and Taylor.

The correct shingles finally arrive.

Jimmy and Taylor unload the shingles by hand.

Beautiful Bonnie drives by in her pink car to check how the roofers are progressing.

Doug lends a hand carrying shingles.

A view from the drive - the shingles are placed on the roof in preparation for the next day's work.

Boss Brook with Taylor and Jimmy

Work doesn't stop until the light dims.

More painting for Doug - He called himself the Michelin Man

The shingling begins.

A visit from Shirley is one of the most encouraging and uplifting things in the world!

1. Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
   Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
   Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
   God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
2. Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
   Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
   Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
   Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.
3. Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,
   Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
   Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
   Perfect in pow’r, in love, and purity.
4. Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
   All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
   Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
   God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

~by Reginald Heber, 1826~

The last few days at the site:

On Thursday high winds struck Wasilla and Palmer resulting in power outages. For twelve to twenty-four hours people were not only without power but also had no heat or water. Thankfully it is not too cold yet, so besides the inconvenience, it was not a major issue.

The shelter which has kept the rain off of us for many days finally was torn to shreds by the high winds. Because of their destructive strength, uncontrollable power, and ferocity, being at the site in the wind storm brought back to me vivid memories of being in the house during the fire.

Also during the windstorm, the stove pipe shown above fell from the ceiling to the basement crashing through a temporary banister before is was rendered useless. If someone had been under it when it fell, they would most certainly would have been injured or killed.

Where the pipe was located before it fell

Where it landed

The temporary railing which was splintered by the falling pipe

The tent which was loaned to us as a shelter was turned upside down and tossed about by the strong winds.

Tomorrow the roofers are finally supposed to come and not only cover the ridge of the roof where an opening still remains, but complete the entire roofing job in one or two days.

There's never a dull moment around here.

(photo taken by Psalm)

Kenton on the ceiling

Leftover T1-11 makes a great sheer wall for a bedroom.

Teamwork demonstrated once again by the amazing duo, Roger and Duncan.

The completion of framing the eight-foot walls to fit the scissor trusses.

On Friday the walk-through with the electrician went very smoothly.

Despite the cold temperatures which suddenly arrived, Duncan and Roger framed in the long-anticipated loft between the kids' bedrooms.

Roger frames the wall which divides the loft into two sections.

There's not too much room to work up there.

The loft overlook

And we were blessed with more visitors....

Neighbor Bonnie pays us another friendly visit in the appropriate vehicle.

Brian and Liz dropped by on their way back to Juneau after bagging a bull moose near Fairbanks. We had not seen Doug's famous college buddy Brian for three years and this was my first time to meet Liz.

Seemingly never-ending work continues on the dog coop.

This afternoon Doug painted the gables in preparation for tomorrow's roofing

Doug actually looked like a professional painter armed with his paint roller and dressed in his white outfit.

The work ended at about 9 p.m. when the darkness descended.