Electricity

Though we live completely off the grid in Arizona, in Alaska we bit the bullet and bought electricity. (And boy did it cost!) It's taken us a few years to get the job done. First the utility company had to dig about 1500 feet and install a meter box at the closest corner of our property. That happened, if memory serves me right, in the fall of 2010. In 2011 The Fisherman and our friend The Bear rented a mini-excavator and dug from the corner of the property to a point almost to the house.
This year, The Fisherman and I finished the last 40 feet to the meter by hand.
The Fisherman, who hates loose clothing, dug the trench.....

while I, who hate snug clothing, scooped out the results of his digging.

And we're done!

The utility co-op connected us up about a week ago. A couple days before that we had the satellite company and hook us up with TV. We watched the news by generator - just like in the "old days" when we were building our Arizona home.

The next project is building a shed. Our little cabin has been a construction site for about five years. With a nice large storage shed, we'll be able to clear it of all the power tools, hand tools, and a couple of 10 foot long kayaks we've been storing there. It will be so nice.
We purchased two little couches last year, along with a small rocking chair. We put a caribou hide up on the wall and have had some of The Fisherman's great photos hung up for a year or two.
It's starting to feel like a home! Once we get it emptied of all the shed stuff, it's going to be so nice. We'll get the little kitchen stove figured out for converting to liquid propane. We'll get a table, another bed, and some other things to make life more liveable for us.  Can't wait.

It's such a beautiful place, our piece of Alaska. When The Fisherman and our realtor walked the prospective land in 2005, they discovered a spendid view. The realtor was surprised to see it. He didn't know it was there. He's the premier property realtor in these parts and he's trapsed around nearly every piece of property around. But the view from our little rise of earth surprised him. He said it's very probably the best view in all of our rural area.

I've' posted it before. But I can't resist showing you again. Next post.