tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-241080702024-03-23T11:15:30.164-07:00Waterfalls and Honey DaysHeatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.comBlogger1128125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-52900133837162638182021-03-11T20:06:00.001-08:002021-03-11T20:06:25.285-08:00House cleanup update<p> It was warm (65 degrees!) today and so for the 2nd time this week I got out the wood chipper and started cleaning up. Earlier this week I spent a couple hours trimming a couple of trees. Today I worked on that 6-foot tall pile of branches that was pictured in my previous blog post. I worked on it for 3 hours and did not finish. That pile is nothing, nothing at all compared to what is in my backyard. I realized that I will be working on the cleanup all summer. I don't mind it, but I had other plans for the summer.</p><p>I was going to paint the kitchen cabinets, and I still plan to do that.</p><p>I was also going to tear out the lower deck and build a fire pit. I think that might have to wait until 2022. </p><p>Updates on contractor work.</p><p>Had 2 roofers give me an estimate. The first one came out to my house twice and never even got on the roof, didn't even bring a ladder either time. The 2nd one climbed on my roof and did a thorough inspection, removed one of the branches at no charge because he said he was worried about it falling on the kids, and then gave me a price that was 1/3 of the first roofer's price. I hired the 2nd one immediately. He said the roof on my house is not damaged at all, just the gutter. So I didn't have to do an insurance claim. I do have to get my shed roof redone though.</p><p>We are also proceeding with remodeling our 3/4 bath. Two contractors came to my house and one contractor requested photos by text. Of the 3 contractors, only one gave me an estimate. That estimate was what we had guessed it would be, and based on his professionalism we plan to hire him.</p><p>Next up we will be installing some more modern lighting in several rooms in the house. For whatever reason, the living area and kitchen have no overhead lighting. That's right, there is no light in my kitchen. I USE A DESK LAMP ON MY KITCHEN COUNTER. And then we have tall floor lamps in every corner. But sometimes it would just be nice to flip a switch and be able to see. Then we have a hallway with no light because the existing ceiling light just does not work even though we've had electricians look at it 3 times and say there is nothing wrong. And finally our laundry room has a big fluorescent light that Mike says is ruining his life. We have low ceilings, which maybe is why the previous owners never installed ceiling lights? but we can do recessed lights. And so that's what we are doing. But after the roof and bathroom stuff is done. Just in case of surprises.</p><p>Finally, and this was decided after the power outage, we have decided to pay to run natural gas to our house. We will replace the hot water heater, install a gas fireplace insert in that fireplace we hate, and prepare a place for a natural gas powered generator. The gas company said they would have a contractor call me within 24 hours. That was at least a week ago. Maybe 2 weeks ago.</p>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-74081087185409269242021-02-27T14:24:00.004-08:002021-02-27T14:26:06.977-08:00Photos from polar vortex Feb 2021<p>All the photos were taken with the iPhone. The photos do not come close to capturing what I can see with my eye. I will have to try with the Canon and work on contrast.</p><p>February 12, a light snow, fun. But by the morning of the 13th, the 3 trees I marked in red would have fallen. In addition to many branches falling from the taller trees above. That's just in the frame of this photo. Countless trees and branches fell around and on top of my entire house.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHym6YwAapjcBoRs-ZV3-oDqvoPNytRD5aJEuzdcUv9pyqHDapP0EGdqntquN1BM8fvQxg0m0tyHri8aAXJeFZARFLfpEgzj9TdtUF3gQjONQZSNBYmkuGNnhdKLVN-wX7dIDg/s1334/IMG_5029_LI.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1334" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHym6YwAapjcBoRs-ZV3-oDqvoPNytRD5aJEuzdcUv9pyqHDapP0EGdqntquN1BM8fvQxg0m0tyHri8aAXJeFZARFLfpEgzj9TdtUF3gQjONQZSNBYmkuGNnhdKLVN-wX7dIDg/w640-h360/IMG_5029_LI.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>I took this photo on February 17, trying to get it from the same angle as the photo above.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimTf-h_9e6y-BUsLHT1BETjroP91pF9e7QRTGzX4EJwxV71JyR9P3KM_gGxCLmye0lOu2R_aiPxqTRXK3bHIoDM_zsOpEKAGbBmx2vTdA-iuNEy0JDB8Qg0o85l_12MmtQydnT/s1334/IMG_5028.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1334" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimTf-h_9e6y-BUsLHT1BETjroP91pF9e7QRTGzX4EJwxV71JyR9P3KM_gGxCLmye0lOu2R_aiPxqTRXK3bHIoDM_zsOpEKAGbBmx2vTdA-iuNEy0JDB8Qg0o85l_12MmtQydnT/w640-h360/IMG_5028.PNG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>The path and area where Mae was standing covered in branches.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGWgcflyxkbijRjV6lwQauBALWHdvLyaPp38-4c3rpinEYL2RIt9LpD9lZ-MrijK8iPyMLjs7z1CFixLXzscHRujZFfSqPr-NzheYNGp7yhUUpko7LUpE_MWZ2wPpTNnrcghOu/s2016/IMG_5132.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGWgcflyxkbijRjV6lwQauBALWHdvLyaPp38-4c3rpinEYL2RIt9LpD9lZ-MrijK8iPyMLjs7z1CFixLXzscHRujZFfSqPr-NzheYNGp7yhUUpko7LUpE_MWZ2wPpTNnrcghOu/w480-h640/IMG_5132.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDU13H5TL0hYzHZsFy8hBUg7SLuyLLNc8W1gY184Kcu8bTezAXvYqnhZhrIw-ilE6sEfIU4UK_0Jcyd3vaNo_G7TwfELOh85VUsIfc8lJSbx75t_umXBCAT_6uJm8-yBwRUg9g/s2016/IMG_5130.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDU13H5TL0hYzHZsFy8hBUg7SLuyLLNc8W1gY184Kcu8bTezAXvYqnhZhrIw-ilE6sEfIU4UK_0Jcyd3vaNo_G7TwfELOh85VUsIfc8lJSbx75t_umXBCAT_6uJm8-yBwRUg9g/w480-h640/IMG_5130.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What happened was this. The night of the 12th, we had freezing temperatures and rain. That caused this to happen to all the trees:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYlJuZmmnG475uEVzRuCAu3xeYDJ2DY9xQoPE8y2VUkOC4IcTrWd9slf8snwtGNwLqiqPeHHtfYz7mJ47mcf3rYWuT1nKvE99BNDfuVhRVUPmvnyUizO9jOHiBT7jYdkmUSgLu/s2048/IMG_4952.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYlJuZmmnG475uEVzRuCAu3xeYDJ2DY9xQoPE8y2VUkOC4IcTrWd9slf8snwtGNwLqiqPeHHtfYz7mJ47mcf3rYWuT1nKvE99BNDfuVhRVUPmvnyUizO9jOHiBT7jYdkmUSgLu/w480-h640/IMG_4952.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Inch-thick ice formed around every branch, down to the tiniest twig. Ice also formed around the electrical lines. It was very heavy and the weakest branches and electrical lines started falling the night of the 12th. Our power went out intermittently that night and at 11pm I had to ignore this urge to get caught up on our laundry. I told myself, "don't be stupid, just go to bed". I really should have followed my instinct and done the laundry. Around 2am I opened my eyes and I knew the power was out. I went and put an extra blanket on Libby because she normally just sleeps under a thin blanket. Shortly after 2am, I heard a tree branch fall on my roof. It was loud and terrifying although I'm pretty sure the kids slept right through it. And the next one too.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the morning I went out to check the damage. The side of the house that the tree branches fell on is hard for me to photograph while standing on the ground.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These photos were taken the morning of the 13th. In the first one I circled the gutter which had no damage at that moment.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEm5J2OH2lbTCs7jV3DxqJIc5XyGPZZVSCMMaMVdaYzFdMVLA62xqiG016vRyY0iTTc3gEGPHo6MBefuyeAod34oDEYo964SFFMMuhd0xbMTPbkxwDXEtLgnRGtyjtRM-_KvqL/s2048/IMG_4958_LI.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEm5J2OH2lbTCs7jV3DxqJIc5XyGPZZVSCMMaMVdaYzFdMVLA62xqiG016vRyY0iTTc3gEGPHo6MBefuyeAod34oDEYo964SFFMMuhd0xbMTPbkxwDXEtLgnRGtyjtRM-_KvqL/w640-h480/IMG_4958_LI.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWoPFNChrc7Imnz5yyVEKQ1ONe9_rFJjOkqooXDq3NjdudtJ6otVlIGdGeCEjtsnd95A6E35VOkSU81Ov-qRYXxmB8qt_YLmJD2p_p2OBgS7VkpDIWFhDSVGZHazK_3gjnyc_A/s2048/IMG_4957.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWoPFNChrc7Imnz5yyVEKQ1ONe9_rFJjOkqooXDq3NjdudtJ6otVlIGdGeCEjtsnd95A6E35VOkSU81Ov-qRYXxmB8qt_YLmJD2p_p2OBgS7VkpDIWFhDSVGZHazK_3gjnyc_A/w480-h640/IMG_4957.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Above is that same back walkway where Mae was standing. Again, this is the morning of the 13th, and the path is messy but still walkable at the time this photo was taken.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here is I photo I took today, Feb 27th. Forgive my face, I was staring at the image behind me.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbHAtqGhsFpK-l5uQyptS39G99IrVGN_bb5jIAyOmGlkgYEnlkzOLOwUsVBQyIEAKL93IHld-emWmtQ1wZmSxUfWl_Lg6e3PhVpYIzAAmw6pAsXwgJzDtDDzuaj9VLTYHKK-5D/s2048/IMG_5127.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1539" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbHAtqGhsFpK-l5uQyptS39G99IrVGN_bb5jIAyOmGlkgYEnlkzOLOwUsVBQyIEAKL93IHld-emWmtQ1wZmSxUfWl_Lg6e3PhVpYIzAAmw6pAsXwgJzDtDDzuaj9VLTYHKK-5D/w480-h640/IMG_5127.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have 2 dogwood trees in my front yard. Here is what I saw the morning of the 13th.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One of the trees lost a small branch at the end of my driveway. In the back you can see a tree fell on my neighbor's car.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFpG3NugErNhlUTtzkQzNfkeJigFi6Vo6jqJg3qmMhSCF6sF4i__bylrGKDtFBRFwbImZrc5xgUd3xACZhyphenhyphenvKnPc66nZ5EGpBRaj2Zi4nkA0oOZRlNGueKtHQqBFVsLMWvU7CS/s2048/IMG_4955.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFpG3NugErNhlUTtzkQzNfkeJigFi6Vo6jqJg3qmMhSCF6sF4i__bylrGKDtFBRFwbImZrc5xgUd3xACZhyphenhyphenvKnPc66nZ5EGpBRaj2Zi4nkA0oOZRlNGueKtHQqBFVsLMWvU7CS/w480-h640/IMG_4955.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And here is my other dogwood on the morning of the 13th:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwP3QF8apiQKf05PmiHRPGspwXdE2464T8kwbASY43wIzMOHNngEfaUoEA5CWAixwbJmB8-DjCi58km2c6PVLC_MCk87fzYHKM_iH7rx-jq-1RhUYgc5tNvC5jE446Mapa1bU/s2048/IMG_4951.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwP3QF8apiQKf05PmiHRPGspwXdE2464T8kwbASY43wIzMOHNngEfaUoEA5CWAixwbJmB8-DjCi58km2c6PVLC_MCk87fzYHKM_iH7rx-jq-1RhUYgc5tNvC5jE446Mapa1bU/w480-h640/IMG_4951.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This photo of the same tree, different angle, was taken on the 15th. I am not sure when that branch fell.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk7n8OCohnQWPZCg6VjHvuWzSjvQrBjo_W4vbxI8sHn33XBbhVgNw_4ETpfOQe40CMa89ZwvYkc6oDFLBV0Eu9EqAqJeZKniZD3DjdrOfpFathDdT34hP2KNoaUrqen9_AuJ6z/s2048/IMG_5012.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk7n8OCohnQWPZCg6VjHvuWzSjvQrBjo_W4vbxI8sHn33XBbhVgNw_4ETpfOQe40CMa89ZwvYkc6oDFLBV0Eu9EqAqJeZKniZD3DjdrOfpFathDdT34hP2KNoaUrqen9_AuJ6z/w640-h480/IMG_5012.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You can see on the 15th the ice has not melted. It's still very heavy and the branches are coming down every few seconds. I tried to get a video of the branches falling but it was harder than it sounds. The branches would make sound and I would try to hurry and point my camera there but I would still miss it. I did personally witness 2 more branches fall on my roof. Here is a 4-second video, once again I caught it on camera too late but you can hear it and see the motion after the fall. (You might have to try the video twice.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy11iCLT9Bir-oLuiViQGaw5kZ_rnzVcUDbBADjg9Q9XpjNMsUSqnOj2bDrMJ4rrea5JFjJoPSaJXs' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One of them must have been very heavy because when I took this photo on the morning of the 14th, now my gutter is bent in a crazy fashion.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkg4E3t7RFIHMamFN2UDY2pKGNTchytFktf32h6xqV3mvWy4-ft8Di5U8v1GFmPkjdsg3SZ2euJcp_aHfWXKBV6dDd90Vbw2Jc5HH8J5c2JJ__-IO0dknr4fWwRSMl74EPLkuH/s2048/IMG_5008_LI.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkg4E3t7RFIHMamFN2UDY2pKGNTchytFktf32h6xqV3mvWy4-ft8Di5U8v1GFmPkjdsg3SZ2euJcp_aHfWXKBV6dDd90Vbw2Jc5HH8J5c2JJ__-IO0dknr4fWwRSMl74EPLkuH/w640-h480/IMG_5008_LI.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But going back to the 13th. Mae took a walk around the neighborhood and came back and told me there were power lines on the ground. I wasn't sure I believed her so I told her to show me.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9gCZ7IkWY3JkvmJb1toxfizRv52KXqSSpPyZjUbjRwMS3eTU-fIpGbZNg4dVK27rkjlbKYQAnRtJpjFF940oTRBgFNOekDkiwB0mS8gIkYiD3Ufgb16re5eTfj8bRuf1lHbuC/s1334/IMG_4968.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="750" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9gCZ7IkWY3JkvmJb1toxfizRv52KXqSSpPyZjUbjRwMS3eTU-fIpGbZNg4dVK27rkjlbKYQAnRtJpjFF940oTRBgFNOekDkiwB0mS8gIkYiD3Ufgb16re5eTfj8bRuf1lHbuC/w360-h640/IMG_4968.PNG" width="360" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The photo above is just one example of many, many, many. This one was down for 7 days I think before the power company came out.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Because the branches kept falling, and after I took that video on the 14th, I asked Mae not to sleep in her bedroom until the ice melted. She set up this cozy cot in the living room. We have candles in the back and a propane heater in the lower left corner. We still had a little hot water in our electric hot water heater and we used it to take pioneer baths that day.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeNSrrNSs6r53UikrGXkxvmvChIQ9S1oIG6oiP0atSxZPY771JA7Fi_TUHvPnBO9EllCL5XU78XkGf8iU7mqSJVQTgaJRHbi3s9PJLskSOPIMUB7aqt4MFm0z6eb_9V926U-4Q/s2048/IMG_5021.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeNSrrNSs6r53UikrGXkxvmvChIQ9S1oIG6oiP0atSxZPY771JA7Fi_TUHvPnBO9EllCL5XU78XkGf8iU7mqSJVQTgaJRHbi3s9PJLskSOPIMUB7aqt4MFm0z6eb_9V926U-4Q/w640-h480/IMG_5021.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">By the 15th I was on my last little can of propane to run the little camp heater. We had big propane tanks but no more little ones. Close to 300,000 people out of power in the Portland area meant that there was no more tiny propane cylinders or any alternative heat of any kind.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oh, you might wonder about the fireplace in the background. Yeah, we hate that thing and it's getting replaced with a gas insert just as soon as I can get a contractor over here. But we did heat our home with the wood stove that is downstairs. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is how we cooked:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq9PVL5MSJSlY0rVCJ9LOUi_zWPLYHFPii7JRO3OO8WgpzcW__BPq_vz4JAgGvZBQ3KYLpUSAfi9WhCe0DLxs2ZRfrL7onlE9VIlxM0ZEnlGzujLtv3vu7-3wF2mq5FLnPtpof/s2048/IMG_4983.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq9PVL5MSJSlY0rVCJ9LOUi_zWPLYHFPii7JRO3OO8WgpzcW__BPq_vz4JAgGvZBQ3KYLpUSAfi9WhCe0DLxs2ZRfrL7onlE9VIlxM0ZEnlGzujLtv3vu7-3wF2mq5FLnPtpof/w640-h480/IMG_4983.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This was our fridge:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq7zOPMaccNjkXn1Lsd8_XvbsoWL1qb9l0hkXH3pYLCfk6UhLeRsEtdiWLVL6PgZyt2SspI12461n4gUVWEkawgxspFJqVtFDAaRKuryaE5yjiWD9qxNMs1D5inulMqPCPORJv/s2048/IMG_4982.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq7zOPMaccNjkXn1Lsd8_XvbsoWL1qb9l0hkXH3pYLCfk6UhLeRsEtdiWLVL6PgZyt2SspI12461n4gUVWEkawgxspFJqVtFDAaRKuryaE5yjiWD9qxNMs1D5inulMqPCPORJv/w480-h640/IMG_4982.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On the morning of the 15th, this tree at the end of my driveway fell. That tree was literally on my to-do list of trees to chop down. It was in the power lines and I knew it had to go. I was so happy to see it fall. Since our power was still out and we only have an electric chain saw (and the chain fell off last summer), Mike had to get the tree off of the car using a hand saw.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRCNyqzv3rz_qMVoBU9hGOIzr9oND51rCdr9zJkmj42T1pDiubVZG17ImHQWsIOUJK4ukD7xbmm82oNTaF_MOSMhGF30NzEh4Yg6YcJ4JdXCGvXtfmjgGM_7dg01-PwyZtu1_H/s2048/IMG_5025.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRCNyqzv3rz_qMVoBU9hGOIzr9oND51rCdr9zJkmj42T1pDiubVZG17ImHQWsIOUJK4ukD7xbmm82oNTaF_MOSMhGF30NzEh4Yg6YcJ4JdXCGvXtfmjgGM_7dg01-PwyZtu1_H/w640-h480/IMG_5025.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At this point you can see the ice on the street has melted and we can finally drive. First Mae and I went out in a pointless attempt to find small propane cylinders. Then Libby and I went out to go to Walmart in Portland. In a pointless attempt to find small propane cylinders. When I got to Portland I realized they had much more snow than we had gotten in Oregon City. And when we got to Walmart it was closed!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But it was warmer that day and our house at this point was nice and warm from the wood stove. Mae said the living room was much warmer than her bedroom and so she slept there another night. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Feb 16th we still did not have power/internet and my office was telling me they were going to send me a lot of work to do. I do not like to turn down work. And more than that Mike and I were going crazy from not bathing. Since we did not have internet, even on our phones, my sister helped us find a hotel. We went to the hotel to use their hot water and internet so I could work. It was so nice! Although we did not sleep there, we used the hotel for 2 days. My neighbor called me on Feb 17th to say the power was back on.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We had it good. I visited a girl scout home on the 19th that is just a few blocks from me. They still did not have power and their firewood had gotten wet so they were cold. I brought them some dry firewood. They still did not have power on the 20th but they told me they had gotten some more wood from another friend.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here's 2 more before and after photos.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Front yard Feb 12:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzFxtGhUYxQGSQuPI2Rx0GizXSDxXB61HycF7kOiUb89hIK3KYPY4i2H7OJCtY8dqrBxMhXoaKF3tBJswFHW6JTt2phU-ie2VFvormqIkEYbrrnRaKE68aZsksFfjbBiUpzLbm/s2048/IMG_4917.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzFxtGhUYxQGSQuPI2Rx0GizXSDxXB61HycF7kOiUb89hIK3KYPY4i2H7OJCtY8dqrBxMhXoaKF3tBJswFHW6JTt2phU-ie2VFvormqIkEYbrrnRaKE68aZsksFfjbBiUpzLbm/w640-h480/IMG_4917.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLsXiWnk0JQoukmrny_30plS4EwVlbIonaGW5JLYDuQeIdd1ltcLcXPre1T7pHsr8H1Z35aA7tA-_He3EzGnuepoOsqWNyRA4CYJEHYQ3qCBuoYqAMRwqMQy3Q_9x20qRsayHd/s2048/IMG_4920.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLsXiWnk0JQoukmrny_30plS4EwVlbIonaGW5JLYDuQeIdd1ltcLcXPre1T7pHsr8H1Z35aA7tA-_He3EzGnuepoOsqWNyRA4CYJEHYQ3qCBuoYqAMRwqMQy3Q_9x20qRsayHd/w640-h480/IMG_4920.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Feb 15th:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6-0fQZdDA4a2IvUADcUxlBOVtmzOQAlwiAkT3dpK96yVHwSRGtMZNrPAs4n-_gdsHDdUS0Mx_AHIv-75RXYKSajaIidrfXQYFYgCoQrurOcVJzQLDb70rss-t1TLku8TqjC8E/s2048/IMG_5015.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6-0fQZdDA4a2IvUADcUxlBOVtmzOQAlwiAkT3dpK96yVHwSRGtMZNrPAs4n-_gdsHDdUS0Mx_AHIv-75RXYKSajaIidrfXQYFYgCoQrurOcVJzQLDb70rss-t1TLku8TqjC8E/w640-h480/IMG_5015.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And today, Feb 27th. The mess over my shoulder that is 6 feet tall is stuff that Mike cleared from the driveway. When I get the chain saw fixed we will turn it into firewood. Based on the existing stuff that fell, we will have firewood for the rest of our lives. But that's not all because we plan to have 4 extremely large trees taken down.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheW_xleT8HF2gmM_BIgujgNIYQ7vDfhAZ4fHW4g4MtNIxn4C316dhqVVnLELn4vb1GMatTFZIwhqR8UNn0TEyxknoPV6UqeJRZEDeIa2IgKlqAbDQJ82OBoqWlx-dJjO84e3bo/s2048/IMG_5123.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1539" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheW_xleT8HF2gmM_BIgujgNIYQ7vDfhAZ4fHW4g4MtNIxn4C316dhqVVnLELn4vb1GMatTFZIwhqR8UNn0TEyxknoPV6UqeJRZEDeIa2IgKlqAbDQJ82OBoqWlx-dJjO84e3bo/w640-h480/IMG_5123.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We will keep the 4 trees for firewood as well. The 4 trees are too close to our home and after 2 freezes and one wildfire in the past 12 months, we think nature is trying to tell us something and those trees have to go. We already knew they had to go, but we're talking about a bill for several thousand dollars, so, it was hard to prioritize that before now.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Two of the trees that will go are the big chestnut that we hate anyway, and the other one that was dropping branches on the roof. The other 2 that will go are at a different end of my house, not pictured. But one grows over my chimney which just can't be good, and the other one is the type of tree that falls down, so it has to go. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My front yard area(ish) has 2 dead trees but I think they are small enough and far enough away from the house that I don't need to pay to have them removed. To be fair, one of them already <a href="https://honey-days.blogspot.com/2017/01/snow-day.html" target="_blank">fell on my house four years ago</a> so now what is left is the bottom half.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We have not yet had a roofer climb up to see if my roof is damaged. I looked in the attic crawl space and there's no holes or leaking. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This county looks like a hurricane went through. Between us and Texas (and others), State Farm is overwhelmed with claims right now. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After spending last summer removing trees it looks like I have a similar summer ahead of me, only this time the trees are much larger. Fun! And, I wish I could start now, but it's still a little too cold outside for me. Mike repaired our little electric chain saw today, though, so we can start soon.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I took this photo from the 2nd floor, looking down. The reason I took it is because none of that stuff is supposed to be there. Except for the blue barrel. The blue barrel marks the entrance to my little hiking trail. The barrel held walking sticks. So, you're supposed to be looking down at a clearly marked dirt path heading downhill. Instead, you're seeing 3 trees that just laid down right there. The path itself is not navigable at this time, but thanks to my chain saw it will be soon!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW3lovz6vzhFbO2t3EFJywby0Jt8JBMXlSAaJVoDAhLwBXr7q6dMZfHiQabGquQ9f6LqomW0yxbqeyORVhBmI5J__TexEh8mJ2mmBStCptP1lWENsojk02g7xN8SHQW_eiQ-Mv/s2048/IMG_4986.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW3lovz6vzhFbO2t3EFJywby0Jt8JBMXlSAaJVoDAhLwBXr7q6dMZfHiQabGquQ9f6LqomW0yxbqeyORVhBmI5J__TexEh8mJ2mmBStCptP1lWENsojk02g7xN8SHQW_eiQ-Mv/w640-h480/IMG_4986.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-34412456185363225712021-01-29T12:47:00.002-08:002021-01-29T12:47:46.618-08:00Friday 5<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR5xfS8h81mVz_rqUZMaKn1Co3c0ebznP1vRhRVX3FF8SEhwIYE5ZsPDAJulY3cVQaZnzyIgYPE-UlgclP-EsTTCqYWqgU5UZap8oQxipkZeSqgtbOLOBpsMcy9Ebwqf6ZH3Al/s2048/IMG_4795.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR5xfS8h81mVz_rqUZMaKn1Co3c0ebznP1vRhRVX3FF8SEhwIYE5ZsPDAJulY3cVQaZnzyIgYPE-UlgclP-EsTTCqYWqgU5UZap8oQxipkZeSqgtbOLOBpsMcy9Ebwqf6ZH3Al/w640-h480/IMG_4795.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Five random things about this week.</p><p>1. We got the game Mastermind, and we've been having fun playing it. Also that is my Valentines tree in the background of the photo.</p><p>2. I use the Public app for investing in stocks. I started using it about 2 months ago and I turned $25 into $30 so far. I did not invest in GameStop and I didn't know about the Reddit plan. When the GameStop thing happened yesterday, the clearinghouse (Apex) for Public did shut down trades from 'normal' investors, but not hedge fund investors, for several hours. I want to say about 6.5 hours. Public stated that they disagreed with this decision and they negotiated with Apex to reverse that decision. I realize my $25 investment is beyond comedy, but as a student of economics I 100% disagree with Apex's choice to shut down trades. Incidentally, I also have (paltry) investments through TD Ameritrade and I have an account with e-trade. Public is FAR easier to use than TD Ameritrade. But since I don't have serious money to invest I guess my opinion is limited to a review of the user interface. Public also differs from the hated-on Robinhood app in that they educate and alert buyers when an investment is risky. Mike was impressed with my gain so far and my "strategy" of investing in things that I like and use myself. Which was funny after I saw a blog post headline that said, "Do you really need to be told to invest in Apple and Netflix?"<br /></p><p>3. We decided to do a minor remodel on one of our bathrooms because the existing setup promotes a moldy environment. I don't like the fact that we will probably have to use our home equity to pay for the update, but I do not feel like we can afford to allow possible mold. The problem is that the shower leaks, so we need to replace the shower stall, as well as the floor covering. I'm pretty sure the previous homeowners installed the shower just for the purposes of selling the house, but not for functionality.</p><p>4. We had a snow day this week. It was pretty for a few hours before it melted.</p><p>5. Mike's car broke down and has to get a new radiator. I had to go pick him up about 45 minutes away. It was in the 30s and he had no coat. The tow truck driver was not allowed to let Mike ride with him due to COVID-19 etc. AAA sent him a taxi to take him to Denny's, which honestly was stupid since restaurants are closed. Anyway he was able to walk to a grocery store that was closing in 15 minutes and wait inside until I got there. Really, you need to have a coat when it's 30 degrees out and you drive anywhere at all. </p>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-79514864782114445832021-01-22T12:15:00.006-08:002021-01-22T12:15:46.226-08:00Friday coffee post - the one with the muscovy<p> Not much coffee left so let's see how far this week's diary gets. The week felt long, in that both Mike and I agreed that <i>yesterday</i> felt like Friday but here we are with another workday. </p><p>I finished scheduling all but one of our 2021 weekend getaways. We have a LOT booked this year, all new places, and they all look like so much fun I can't wait. There is just one month that is missing a trip, but since it's more than 6 months away I am limited in campgrounds that take reservations. </p><p>I have already fallen behind schedule in my Star Wars book club. I think I was supposed to finish <i>Master & Apprentice</i> at least 2 days ago, but I'm only about halfway through. It was a bit of a slow start but now I'm enjoying the story. Still, when one only reads about 21 minutes per day (<a href="https://gretchenrubin.com/2020/12/read-for-21-minutes-read21in21/" target="_blank">#Read21in21</a>) then one can not commit to the Star Wars Canon book club schedule.</p><p>I downloaded the Toss decluttering app and have been using it all week. It gives one task per day, random, and so makes decluttering more like a game.</p><p>Homeschooling difficult this week due to my work schedule. Mae chose the "Inside Government" Girl Scout badge which I thought was rather ambitious, but also a good idea. I got through 2 of the 5 steps this week, not counting discussion of the inauguration.</p><p>We did manage to get out to the park once this week and Libby and I found a new walking trail along the river. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE6_DsPI9dNpkPJicJ6VMx3nixvxjoth847RMEQNrRe714JszCifpCU9AqfQgY9cu8N0miob_q64wI-zQwMcbX_BdwQ7GSPan5gKaadQPlAF7S3GDLRtXA0s7AwYCmg1WjIRDj/s2016/IMG_4765.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE6_DsPI9dNpkPJicJ6VMx3nixvxjoth847RMEQNrRe714JszCifpCU9AqfQgY9cu8N0miob_q64wI-zQwMcbX_BdwQ7GSPan5gKaadQPlAF7S3GDLRtXA0s7AwYCmg1WjIRDj/w640-h480/IMG_4765.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>We also saw a muscovy duck which Mae referred to as a "turkey". Wikipedia says the muscovy is an invasive species in the US and we're supposed to get rid of them. The muscovies have lived at this park for a long time, as many years as I have been going there. There's usually only one or two and I've never seen them aggressive. Their large size keeps most people distant, although this week we did see a family of 4 posing for photos with the muscovy, which was ignoring them completely.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVaiJ-6ytgyqWuHts_y0m86Mx4wMxTG8OGkmt9r2lQ7MBfAH7TznHfKRyQbVKZA2Cn5OMOGYmxVO7AA7y1ollUorU92KhDYkYgJNF-e5hOZDF5DNEwSrYzELOijgu-l9urydVe/s1920/muscovy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1282" data-original-width="1920" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVaiJ-6ytgyqWuHts_y0m86Mx4wMxTG8OGkmt9r2lQ7MBfAH7TznHfKRyQbVKZA2Cn5OMOGYmxVO7AA7y1ollUorU92KhDYkYgJNF-e5hOZDF5DNEwSrYzELOijgu-l9urydVe/w640-h428/muscovy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h1 class="single__headerTitle--U3a_e" data-reactid="241" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #005781; font-family: "Verlag A", "Verlag B", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 2.875rem; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.22; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></h1>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-32308716916471609182021-01-15T21:35:00.001-08:002021-01-15T21:35:08.263-08:00Steens Mountain area photos<p>Here are some photos from our trip to Steens Mountain last September. Mike said he wanted to see the wild horses, and luckily we found a herd right away.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjItaFwA7PnN-mT-IFQqigjDI1mwO1kx8-YObBBjzTMK7ZyBE1Dg7dRaNI9zLiimHxz23zMCfM7qFWZ9xrdnK4e6XzFF5epBgVlGFo28r4SrA-yTfl-iOEdRiaPWnfDZ9ULm2sG/s2048/IMG_3315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjItaFwA7PnN-mT-IFQqigjDI1mwO1kx8-YObBBjzTMK7ZyBE1Dg7dRaNI9zLiimHxz23zMCfM7qFWZ9xrdnK4e6XzFF5epBgVlGFo28r4SrA-yTfl-iOEdRiaPWnfDZ9ULm2sG/w640-h480/IMG_3315.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhacvmswiLowQaGYsB71BtWL6IWhIsDrcvxaAtr9RDy4p4QjMyMUFoYdmqK5vICXcR86Aq2HZIpvlr6aXWBJw4mU1ITvR2D8Qc5jfp5a3rJJCp0yOkG26DcwUkZXpfNPjPSXNC/s2048/IMG_3349.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhacvmswiLowQaGYsB71BtWL6IWhIsDrcvxaAtr9RDy4p4QjMyMUFoYdmqK5vICXcR86Aq2HZIpvlr6aXWBJw4mU1ITvR2D8Qc5jfp5a3rJJCp0yOkG26DcwUkZXpfNPjPSXNC/w640-h480/IMG_3349.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpp8zNzfkFc5JTBRFeC5GWCSQoOH3I-WyW1ZMPOwjSou2T6egLByVX3vWr0goNRb8AD895jJZGopHLdSbU2wOvdN3IdG58PS7U5WcfN9iK2i0qmRrgd-cir5M3ayX5gj97HePA/s2048/IMG_3346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpp8zNzfkFc5JTBRFeC5GWCSQoOH3I-WyW1ZMPOwjSou2T6egLByVX3vWr0goNRb8AD895jJZGopHLdSbU2wOvdN3IdG58PS7U5WcfN9iK2i0qmRrgd-cir5M3ayX5gj97HePA/w640-h480/IMG_3346.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinbLwbzCVheWQfCkLOErtlIyyvgCe8U2RrBLBDx-QneGEC0IO_FP-kL4wEci2U8QV00Vz0oinu_HeIcLZl5aHOCPWB2eUIyOgjtz_Mpr9-Fs-3yxWhN2hEN7IkL5YWURcyeUx8/s587/Heather+at+Steens.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="587" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinbLwbzCVheWQfCkLOErtlIyyvgCe8U2RrBLBDx-QneGEC0IO_FP-kL4wEci2U8QV00Vz0oinu_HeIcLZl5aHOCPWB2eUIyOgjtz_Mpr9-Fs-3yxWhN2hEN7IkL5YWURcyeUx8/s320/Heather+at+Steens.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I didn't actually need the binoculars</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Steens Mountain is an unusual mountain in that it is not shaped like an upside-down V, and it's not part of a mountain range. It's a very long, very tall rectangle, so long that you might think it is a mountain range. It was forced upward by volcanic activity, and many walls in the area look like they were built from large toy blocks. They are very geometric and flat. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDQWeI7R3Ytx9pYK6oMmmiBd2aBexp1MLFKBBEmgLU-FTAM0e6R6I3w9kazE3HnQ-EYhA6zbvHG0Z0LjmgI84XsVeSv2IkomVBCFtxYJwvWVHsMX8eDvi9jFIyB-WkU6CD7c_w/s2048/IMG_1187.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDQWeI7R3Ytx9pYK6oMmmiBd2aBexp1MLFKBBEmgLU-FTAM0e6R6I3w9kazE3HnQ-EYhA6zbvHG0Z0LjmgI84XsVeSv2IkomVBCFtxYJwvWVHsMX8eDvi9jFIyB-WkU6CD7c_w/w640-h480/IMG_1187.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV7VU5ij5JPX1M9p1nVTiJYGwssWHE3AyxSKY3Y3nmrp6-YdM1b8If0u7DEYIhsT5Psvr2Q-QzCyEUOsBGXhTjN3dS2HiueFz7cG4tzKOxRzwQyVwJPOfs0gX42w9D9Cud5pYM/s2048/IMG_3448.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV7VU5ij5JPX1M9p1nVTiJYGwssWHE3AyxSKY3Y3nmrp6-YdM1b8If0u7DEYIhsT5Psvr2Q-QzCyEUOsBGXhTjN3dS2HiueFz7cG4tzKOxRzwQyVwJPOfs0gX42w9D9Cud5pYM/w480-h640/IMG_3448.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>You can drive your car nearly to the summit, making the road the highest road in Oregon. Although Steens Mountain is not the tallest mountain in Oregon...just the road is the highest. We drove to the summit and walked the rest of the way up.<div><br /></div><div>Here are the kids at the summit and they were being scared looking down over the side. The Oregon wildfires were going on at the time and the air was very smoky even though we were about as far from the fire as you could get and still be in Oregon.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtCtjzj8bNCBM60n34YjIAKRlhpnwU58IwO-zgce9YYt2tps2LNAm3hUIiZUmCOB7yr5fi5o_zZwptsBrB1atQK5BZyVzf4DYG18srfzKc9UnojsJsa5eZ-2aiaeP8oidSYpy3/s2048/IMG_3443.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtCtjzj8bNCBM60n34YjIAKRlhpnwU58IwO-zgce9YYt2tps2LNAm3hUIiZUmCOB7yr5fi5o_zZwptsBrB1atQK5BZyVzf4DYG18srfzKc9UnojsJsa5eZ-2aiaeP8oidSYpy3/w480-h640/IMG_3443.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sunset photo in the smoke...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNDmfL_tVPOpqZA5wbfiQ-KQGGkDV37EQrYuar0vy1gha3ck_haL6s8TA2Lu47y4B__PtvulQfr3VkBDwhsAFM9BbwdHlsBuwe78Oo-Zai8LQAucYSq473I_SXqfP-bcsfFTZ4/s2048/IMG_3311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNDmfL_tVPOpqZA5wbfiQ-KQGGkDV37EQrYuar0vy1gha3ck_haL6s8TA2Lu47y4B__PtvulQfr3VkBDwhsAFM9BbwdHlsBuwe78Oo-Zai8LQAucYSq473I_SXqfP-bcsfFTZ4/s320/IMG_3311.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On another day we picked up jaspers etc at a dry lakebed:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHEqqhurnV9aHOSZFeAYlVIWMmi_WuwxkwVFOfvqpSUP455yOVaBh4Svxn42RM1JE7XRMjtdb1SeYwFaW5orWLiVyS28KgNjRAAl0AOrdEeI0PoR0XNppdrQ6LA13YuZeNtBvl/s1334/IMG_3508.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="750" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHEqqhurnV9aHOSZFeAYlVIWMmi_WuwxkwVFOfvqpSUP455yOVaBh4Svxn42RM1JE7XRMjtdb1SeYwFaW5orWLiVyS28KgNjRAAl0AOrdEeI0PoR0XNppdrQ6LA13YuZeNtBvl/w360-h640/IMG_3508.PNG" width="360" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And on another day we went to Little Glass Butte and picked up around 100 lbs of obsidian, forgive the screenshot for now, I can't find the original photo.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ZQAe0xRf4NvTizhQAqkaHmUNmDcDul2FsT_KvHYFT9u57FTI4owVWOA8dF5unQGt2rt6AywetmRys2z4D-BbWeOFYezy6Znpa4lKU4oKue3rN4NsTQC1tCkEwHwf771m6Os0/s1334/IMG_3505.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="750" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ZQAe0xRf4NvTizhQAqkaHmUNmDcDul2FsT_KvHYFT9u57FTI4owVWOA8dF5unQGt2rt6AywetmRys2z4D-BbWeOFYezy6Znpa4lKU4oKue3rN4NsTQC1tCkEwHwf771m6Os0/w360-h640/IMG_3505.PNG" width="360" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I think the same day we went to the dry lakebed, we ended our day at these funny hot springs in the middle of nowhere. Well, everything in the Steens Mountain area is the middle of nowhere.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip9FOlsgjqQ71ETGH5EdLofGRzQh02nw_rADHdAbjks6u9H6pmzGTFDTSiydboGGKM9U4DWrV7wzoDMxfkAMsZndOt-qMhLvQjcZgkXIfBtskI1OxGbQkwwnsKtopzIs8cr1A-/s2048/IMG_3485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip9FOlsgjqQ71ETGH5EdLofGRzQh02nw_rADHdAbjks6u9H6pmzGTFDTSiydboGGKM9U4DWrV7wzoDMxfkAMsZndOt-qMhLvQjcZgkXIfBtskI1OxGbQkwwnsKtopzIs8cr1A-/w480-h640/IMG_3485.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj9H510eZxhzYsrEx_y42B1GN-bI8QFTmntdR8UyawNLT-q8A2SBMYIE0RDui1-DOtq4pW_gygtMcy6_oK52uj4CGNBsxs5oWdYZVdHxBUvOyis1OlEI1RCkfZ9E9zXK4hSRD0/s2048/IMG_3468.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj9H510eZxhzYsrEx_y42B1GN-bI8QFTmntdR8UyawNLT-q8A2SBMYIE0RDui1-DOtq4pW_gygtMcy6_oK52uj4CGNBsxs5oWdYZVdHxBUvOyis1OlEI1RCkfZ9E9zXK4hSRD0/w480-h640/IMG_3468.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz5NrkhNDVSzhtOX4l7C8Y-WgDEl54BrXSg8R45epJwnT7vvXHx9Y0d7EB5wVj2r_AKFjIMZoyJ_xQ5BPr3R8USILHPVKn1omrVbzpNemcCRlPKO_H52OP41TRlb2E3aacYVbj/s2048/IMG_3498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz5NrkhNDVSzhtOX4l7C8Y-WgDEl54BrXSg8R45epJwnT7vvXHx9Y0d7EB5wVj2r_AKFjIMZoyJ_xQ5BPr3R8USILHPVKn1omrVbzpNemcCRlPKO_H52OP41TRlb2E3aacYVbj/w640-h480/IMG_3498.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We enjoyed our trip very much and would like to return another time to see more when it's not so smoky.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-78877870669531668782021-01-08T21:12:00.003-08:002021-01-08T21:12:23.961-08:00Great Wolf Lodge trip<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx41xX_ZUhE6fo7CDOIj4x77KaA5FUsLk1Cuefweyww7Gc_3JeaMxx1QkvwSBD-F_PKozRbVxorEBTd8x8qVW-uHWOEhvzw45cuRN4og5103j0wrDKtRR-vmwJ0O2DQgg0wW3E/s1334/IMG_4667.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1334" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx41xX_ZUhE6fo7CDOIj4x77KaA5FUsLk1Cuefweyww7Gc_3JeaMxx1QkvwSBD-F_PKozRbVxorEBTd8x8qVW-uHWOEhvzw45cuRN4og5103j0wrDKtRR-vmwJ0O2DQgg0wW3E/w640-h360/IMG_4667.PNG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We have just returned from a trip to Great Wolf Lodge. Almost everything is open, though you have to wear a mask unless you are eating or actively playing in the water. Restaurants are takeout only, but they seem to have expanded their menus a little bit and allow for more ala carte ordering and now have single slices of pizza instead of just whole pizzas. No cash is allowed, so you pay with card or wristband. It was just me and the kids this time, so I was the only adult. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Something that troubles me about quarantine/closures in general is the lack of public restrooms and the lack of public water fountains. This is a problem that has presented itself multiple times to me over the past year and certainly once again on this trip. And I figure if I have this problem then it must be many times worse for a homeless person. I also believe the kibosh on cash surely presents a problem to many people (homeless or not) as well. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Anyway, back to GWL. No refillable drinks and you couldn't even refill your water bottle because the drinking fountains were turned off. And the cashless issue meant that my kids could not pick up food on their own. This did become a problem on our last morning when Libby was sick to her stomach and I wasn't feeling well either. I did not feel comfortable leaving my room and there was no room service. Mae was hungry for breakfast and I had not brought any food from home, and this was our last day anyway so even if I had I imagine she would have eaten it already. I gave her Pop Tarts from the vending machine that was a few feet away from our room. She barely nibbled on it, but then I guess she wasn't that hungry because she announced that she was headed to the pool. She took herself to the pool for an hour and a half while Libby and I slept. She came back and said she'd played with some other kids and they all went on the water slides together. It was her 4th time at the pool and I'm glad she got to do that.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Libby also played with new friends the night before. They played kind of relay races in the lobby and they posed in front of the Christmas tree to take photos. It was very cute. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was a fun trip but I hesitate to travel again without another adult to back me up. I don't feel I was 100% prepared for illness or for issues presented by COVID-19 closures even though you'd think I'd be used to both of those things by now as they are a daily presence in our lives. Lessons to be learned, I guess, but I regret not learning them sooner.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I was lucky that GWL allowed my kids to have room keys (wristbands) though I had to make a special request for them. This let the kids be a little more independent, although we still had some issues when the kids wanted to be in 2 different places and there was only one me. Examples: Libby and I were at the pool and Mae went back to the room to take a shower. Then she couldn't figure out how to turn off the shower and she had to leave it running while she went to find me at the pool. Also we could only check out pool towels with my wristband, so when Mae went to the pool on her own I had to send her in with a bath towel. Or when Mae was at the pool and I went to check on Libby who was back in the room, and then Mae left the pool and abandoned the pool towels that I had checked out at $15 each. I suppose the solution would be to insist that we all stay together at all times, but they are of the age where they really value their independence and I certainly support that.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When Mae wasn't swimming, she was playing in the arcade, where over 2 days she won 5 stuffed animals. I can tell you there was no social distancing enforced in the arcade. I also don't believe that GWL is operating at a reduced capacity. It sure didn't look like it to me, not by measuring the number of cars in the parking lot or the number of people in the pool on a Wednesday. It was a lot. Oh and they said they've removed some chairs from the pool area and "strategically" placed the others, but again, no. I didn't see it. Social distancing is kind of enforced in the elevators and in 3 of the smaller stores. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I did see a lot of cleaning going on. In the arcade, pool chairs, banisters, hand rails, carpets, etc. Lots of cleaning. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We paid about half of what we usually pay for such a trip, so it was a good value considering the minor inconveniences.</div><br /><p></p>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-43358289373305652082021-01-02T14:26:00.000-08:002021-01-02T14:26:30.582-08:00Happy New Year 2021<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4hi0_Lbawi__Kd1qc7OktJuxKib9Ppv-OJSkFKkKwEcy-rwMSzSoPlpErKgOmp_RTLvUGVkbko4P09zS4iRYKJqsVeAMAzcWPTEFSJlzjs3-z-32v8qkOYxoZNpg79jNogll/s2048/tall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1638" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4hi0_Lbawi__Kd1qc7OktJuxKib9Ppv-OJSkFKkKwEcy-rwMSzSoPlpErKgOmp_RTLvUGVkbko4P09zS4iRYKJqsVeAMAzcWPTEFSJlzjs3-z-32v8qkOYxoZNpg79jNogll/w320-h400/tall.jpg" title="Look how tall the kids are" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I just realized I never posted about our trip to Steens Mountain in September. I'll have to get to that later.</p><p>We had a 20 for 2020 New Years Resolution list, but about a month or so ago I tore it off the wall and threw it away. We are not doing a list for 2021. We did about half the things on the 20 for 2020 list, I'd guess, but we changed a lot this year and priorities changed too.</p><p>My word of the year for 2021 started out as "Less". Which is something I have been working on for several years. But then I realized I also want "More". Less of the things I don't enjoy and more of the things I do enjoy. So I have both words now. I think I will do the necklace again because that really really helped when our theme was "Fun". </p><p>I finished watching <i>The Mandalorian</i>. Unfortunately I saw a spoiler before I saw the end so I knew you-know-who was going to be there at the end. Of course it made me really happy but I did not cry like everyone else did, maybe cuz spoiler. The scene that actually meant more to me than you-know-who was the scene with the 4 women defending the Mandalorian.</p><p>Still working through <i>Cobra Kai</i>. Mae started watching <i>The Masked Singer </i>starting from season 1 from a few years ago. It's cute because of course she doesn't know who any of the celebrities are, but she likes to watch it anyway. </p><p>I guess I joined a Star Wars canon book club as something to do in 2021. It has a very ambitious reading schedule so I don't know if I can keep up, but so far so good. So I'm currently reading <i>Dooku: Jedi Lost.</i> I guess I'd give it 3 out of 5 stars so far. The story is good, the dialogue is juvenile, the format (screenplay) is atrocious. I'm also currently reading <i>The Paper Magician </i>because it's free on Kindle Unlimited. Currently 2.5 out of 5 stars. Hoping it improves but the plot is getting too weird for even a fantasy book.</p><p>Other 2021 goals include more camping around Oregon and Washington, finishing a couple of income-generating projects I started previously, and some boring legal/financial tasks for our business. Around the house, I'm going to paint our kitchen cabinets. This is a big job that will probably be the one that takes all summer. I also want to rip out our 3rd deck and pour concrete, but may need to hire a contractor for that. I'm not sure yet. I'll continue to maintain the acre as I cleared it this summer. The before-and-after is astonishing and now we know what we have to do to keep it up. I will also work on clearing a new path down into the ravine. Maybe. There is a known cougar in the ravine at this time that is caught daily on a neighbor's game cam. I guess I could clear a little path and put up my own game cam. That would be fun. I did surprise an owl on my property a few months ago, I got really close to it and that was pretty cool.</p><p>In 2020 learned that if you don't move your car frequently, like, because of quarantine so why would you, then a mouse moves in. Yeah, that happened. It doesn't help when Libby spills a box of Cheez-Its in the car and leaves it there. Well technically that is my fault, I guess I'm the one that left it there too long. </p>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-40589291873569986152020-09-27T19:40:00.005-07:002020-09-27T19:40:42.483-07:00Kids cooking classes on Zoom<p> ...not recommended!</p><p>Both Libby and Mae have taken cooking classes on Zoom. I imagine a cooking class with a child is chaotic even in person, but it's worse trying to communicate on Zoom. The kids both said they had fun but I really wouldn't recommend doing it again.</p><p>Mae made chocolate truffles and chocolate-dipped pretzel rods.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT_OHeqJxOwAkViHIUB3t9xN8RHdLUNWqeKUp3VFvgX5j9qyzxMKCm_RWObXpAPaLcux6YuDHZaDhpVsisSbsmMkyjfeoIdpfjEl-HgXvpEAB38_14KRtW3M3eWvvP6l2rWMeW/s2048/IMG_3063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT_OHeqJxOwAkViHIUB3t9xN8RHdLUNWqeKUp3VFvgX5j9qyzxMKCm_RWObXpAPaLcux6YuDHZaDhpVsisSbsmMkyjfeoIdpfjEl-HgXvpEAB38_14KRtW3M3eWvvP6l2rWMeW/w480-h640/IMG_3063.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Libby made baked apple cider donuts.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin96AwEsFq2iN2VjnxRJzzwXQnRN-qbhy6NUP5LqEgFjomEtbRpVxL91O8EGDzH8Q1if5S02oroR938YNCxL_UbV1XUgi83FEakkgRcGr2t5hDenKQGC6N5bFzwR6sUG9MNUdj/s2048/IMG_3520.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin96AwEsFq2iN2VjnxRJzzwXQnRN-qbhy6NUP5LqEgFjomEtbRpVxL91O8EGDzH8Q1if5S02oroR938YNCxL_UbV1XUgi83FEakkgRcGr2t5hDenKQGC6N5bFzwR6sUG9MNUdj/w480-h640/IMG_3520.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A bit less chaotic than Mae's class, but it was difficult for Libby and the chef to communicate. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I look forward to in-person classes returning again.</div><p><br /></p>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-40443958021565903032020-09-26T20:49:00.000-07:002020-09-26T20:49:00.447-07:00Deck re-do updates<p> Here are some photos from when I refinished the front deck. I pressure washed it, then sanded it, then put down wood filler, then wood preservative, then 2 coats of primer, then 2 coats of deck paint. </p><p>In these photos you can kind of see the before and after. The last photo is with wet paint and I tried to barricade the porch. Somehow Amazon managed to bypass my barricade and my WET PAINT signs and they still walked on the porch. I was very annoyed with them. But happy that the paint dried so fast. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4GbbGux6zDOHPxREq386Q8fOVN9YqJD4VuxZGebgRGebzWBqBXnKRWzhOaKGXFJtuY7FB9jV5ThiOlcssZyTPHKUjNMF3VF8NB9hGmgcJtalN4pSlX58V0hkv0diLgc-VdIvM/s2048/IMG_3049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4GbbGux6zDOHPxREq386Q8fOVN9YqJD4VuxZGebgRGebzWBqBXnKRWzhOaKGXFJtuY7FB9jV5ThiOlcssZyTPHKUjNMF3VF8NB9hGmgcJtalN4pSlX58V0hkv0diLgc-VdIvM/w480-h640/IMG_3049.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyuNZ03RtP6kVwWz9DYKPV6OhkDuubFC9jGuq5LQ9Mx_JztXV4MqI-Ifhk8vhs2VK-hlnZpCJMJE_yLbge7xtrIVbFncoDhyphenhyphenSlfezx5yjObz06yOpMgIlTjwQvX0arbYRtF7eo/s2048/IMG_3054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyuNZ03RtP6kVwWz9DYKPV6OhkDuubFC9jGuq5LQ9Mx_JztXV4MqI-Ifhk8vhs2VK-hlnZpCJMJE_yLbge7xtrIVbFncoDhyphenhyphenSlfezx5yjObz06yOpMgIlTjwQvX0arbYRtF7eo/w640-h480/IMG_3054.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq-FLmigq5IZel3aQN0WfXKnR2oXTuiy4ZHYn9cxeoGk4-erpdcNQHGRbfe4FtCTXSBIm6qatoopQxUTB8_TiF_7fQvSZGlW_MOatidoQ9HaF2GHnpVALA_sRMC0-ZG4De4Izf/s2048/IMG_3056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq-FLmigq5IZel3aQN0WfXKnR2oXTuiy4ZHYn9cxeoGk4-erpdcNQHGRbfe4FtCTXSBIm6qatoopQxUTB8_TiF_7fQvSZGlW_MOatidoQ9HaF2GHnpVALA_sRMC0-ZG4De4Izf/w480-h640/IMG_3056.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><p>The deck on the other side of the house...didn't get finished in time. I got as far as pressure washing and sanding. It's in worse shape so then I tried to do wood filler but my wood filler experiment turned out disastrous. Then I found one board that is actually rotten, not just cracked, so Mike said he would replace it but he did not. And then fires happened and we were not supposed to go outside due to the poor air quality. And then it started raining and it has rained ever since. The weather report shows sun all this week so I'm hoping I can finish it now. Tomorrow is my birthday. Maybe I can get Mike to replace that board.</p>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-83283347938581825462020-09-25T20:29:00.000-07:002020-09-25T20:29:35.727-07:00Crater Lake photos<p> It's going to be hard to choose just a few photos of Crater Lake. We went on a Saturday, so we had to wait in a long line of cars to get in. But once inside it was not crowded, except at the visitor center, which was actually closed. I guess you could stand in a very long socially distanced line to get a sandwich or something, and so everyone was, but we had brought our own food in the car. </p><p>So, there was no visitor center and also no trolley tours or boat tours. I wished we could have done a boat tour, and I almost cancelled our trip, but Mike said he wanted to go anyway. I'm glad we did. It was nice to drive the rim. We drove clockwise as most everyone directed, and it was great!</p><p>The first thing we noticed is that it is true that water is unbelievably blue, so much that it seems like there's an error when you look at the photos.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioIblAE8tyoIgiI0xvtR3jOHoReMNmtM8QzhP6-93hX-orN24r9IQLi-w1c4lFiqzmHWHc2AggT7ryqTJ7wR_X-2UN95pqtTspFqzQmJ4PWHr_OmsLYF2Et7oDd3uvyXXoxk73/s2048/IMG_3040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioIblAE8tyoIgiI0xvtR3jOHoReMNmtM8QzhP6-93hX-orN24r9IQLi-w1c4lFiqzmHWHc2AggT7ryqTJ7wR_X-2UN95pqtTspFqzQmJ4PWHr_OmsLYF2Et7oDd3uvyXXoxk73/w640-h480/IMG_3040.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>We also got lucky because fires in northern California had already started, but the air was relatively clear that day.</p><p>Don't feed the animals! But they are so cute!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF_s4S0wjWkdyUb54F3J-R5k2Uk4Lq_VuixPGRDDYQBKJsfqZutVDyqeqKHltV5TD0u9eH-dliqPNuY3vaP6bIV0QrwSVaGKFFK0yadZ-kCsVp9QJrqs5yBFdQ-MBKEkrEEi1y/s2048/IMG_6864.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF_s4S0wjWkdyUb54F3J-R5k2Uk4Lq_VuixPGRDDYQBKJsfqZutVDyqeqKHltV5TD0u9eH-dliqPNuY3vaP6bIV0QrwSVaGKFFK0yadZ-kCsVp9QJrqs5yBFdQ-MBKEkrEEi1y/w640-h426/IMG_6864.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>The lake is not actually in a "crater", but rather is a caldera. But since we are literally driving around the rim of the caldera, it is very steep down both sides - both the lake side, and the opposite side down the mountain into a valley. Due to the steep angle, there is only one path that goes down to the water. It switches back and forth but it still very steep. Libby and I considered walking down. Mike and Mae didn't want to. But it was hot that day and Libby and I decided against it because we knew would be gone a couple of hours. We decided that a better day would be when the boat tours are open again, as this is the only path down to the boats as well.</p><p>When we got further away from the path down to the water, I took this photo. It seemed that NO ONE was choosing to walk down. The path is hard to see in this photo, but look for a whitish-strip going down the volcano on the right-hand side of the screen.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXCo6VlV20uLeriVCsFrJvI_tpw7N6uLfiKqyB_ajDkWE5_ePtuCLzSoCfXjXFWTR2K_LqSlUsFC9RrdaofFa5xSmf503Z6ccqbEQZIGA7a6f0Ubo7-kUTu5E7V2X490fbQpm6/s2048/IMG_6942.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXCo6VlV20uLeriVCsFrJvI_tpw7N6uLfiKqyB_ajDkWE5_ePtuCLzSoCfXjXFWTR2K_LqSlUsFC9RrdaofFa5xSmf503Z6ccqbEQZIGA7a6f0Ubo7-kUTu5E7V2X490fbQpm6/w640-h426/IMG_6942.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Family in front of Wizard Island:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7IA56ZdjK1h7OUGKSpTe9H6duNRyzq3KQ3fny6FkVH4Gz0kXDIzIEQPRmFdB_DegIO6y32M9BuBvPJJyRaO6uSyrlLGQz1tzOrolkX5mo7WnHHI6lo18HybPZfLXg5bRjYk13/s2048/IMG_6820.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7IA56ZdjK1h7OUGKSpTe9H6duNRyzq3KQ3fny6FkVH4Gz0kXDIzIEQPRmFdB_DegIO6y32M9BuBvPJJyRaO6uSyrlLGQz1tzOrolkX5mo7WnHHI6lo18HybPZfLXg5bRjYk13/w640-h426/IMG_6820.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>And Mae and me in front of Phantom Ship island:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_tFZOSLdVLZnk3YOR33HiM5N3JgTGIC9tmiP1R4sjESWjVXiwz1FLdA2cdT30ri9TWnYY6tg7mLd0rkWOz6SB_d-FNQvDuhciChrYGm3rBB0skesRpCaHssKyh0FGdHUvxeY/s2048/IMG_6954.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_tFZOSLdVLZnk3YOR33HiM5N3JgTGIC9tmiP1R4sjESWjVXiwz1FLdA2cdT30ri9TWnYY6tg7mLd0rkWOz6SB_d-FNQvDuhciChrYGm3rBB0skesRpCaHssKyh0FGdHUvxeY/w640-h426/IMG_6954.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>I like this one of a black and white bird over the blue water. Yes that's water in the background, not the sky. The bird is a small speck but you can click on the photo to enlarge it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-a8TzTBjlFxUZzHwK_NZgbmqjoub7IZUuuYCgHfMmD3NoNSlvMoZwUs8wBLee5uBGZihBAXsnj0yosWoEulG1nw7KDpzU06htKKlI-vZe-gFBK3gzlRAq63fnwh9u2HW9gNC/s2048/IMG_6858.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-a8TzTBjlFxUZzHwK_NZgbmqjoub7IZUuuYCgHfMmD3NoNSlvMoZwUs8wBLee5uBGZihBAXsnj0yosWoEulG1nw7KDpzU06htKKlI-vZe-gFBK3gzlRAq63fnwh9u2HW9gNC/w640-h426/IMG_6858.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-76567500198539714622020-09-25T19:37:00.000-07:002020-09-25T19:37:28.052-07:00Union Creek Resort, Prospect, Oregon<p> Last month we visited Crater Lake and we stayed at Union Creek Resort as our base camp. They have rooms or full cabins for rent. We got cabin 19 and it was great! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMigIuWxd8CDt7OpxTd-wyZbtjYjcdELMSX7NxMmLUYKOTSf4hmdLuosUL7AXv5q7RnTC6cwPrS8FKvohZndgXrync60p5i_uHtvK9LnIqrXPRTRDcPCZY03ZhSOO3cVJoFp1C/s2048/IMG_6783.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMigIuWxd8CDt7OpxTd-wyZbtjYjcdELMSX7NxMmLUYKOTSf4hmdLuosUL7AXv5q7RnTC6cwPrS8FKvohZndgXrync60p5i_uHtvK9LnIqrXPRTRDcPCZY03ZhSOO3cVJoFp1C/w640-h426/IMG_6783.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>It has 2 bedrooms. Here is Libby and Mae sharing the trundle bed and watching <i>Inside Out</i>. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuGIUCzZMA65Dzvf8ZEO5qc_mM5KZD3WBYV-9XDAq2UqSkHymGw6GpN5mncFLIJxlN-Fgr2xi6bWyIjlRE5sHE7d-EBo_z35-fvGKO26FkU6CcIJvXcv5r8v_BBUf5udwOFxgz/s2048/IMG_3012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuGIUCzZMA65Dzvf8ZEO5qc_mM5KZD3WBYV-9XDAq2UqSkHymGw6GpN5mncFLIJxlN-Fgr2xi6bWyIjlRE5sHE7d-EBo_z35-fvGKO26FkU6CcIJvXcv5r8v_BBUf5udwOFxgz/w480-h640/IMG_3012.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here's Mae and me in front of Union Creek.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMLHk0ZgFd1aLbpZVGyC7Z_BfKgHc8vhDNJ7KzpUwzMbYOhQkuCL8SRYlllqkGmBl4WxWOI0XSV5eTYLyQ5N9ukEUTKAMUXWWL-J8Y81J7WOzzApM-H_f0_WHadg_ky32bvNTU/s1280/IMG_2985.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMLHk0ZgFd1aLbpZVGyC7Z_BfKgHc8vhDNJ7KzpUwzMbYOhQkuCL8SRYlllqkGmBl4WxWOI0XSV5eTYLyQ5N9ukEUTKAMUXWWL-J8Y81J7WOzzApM-H_f0_WHadg_ky32bvNTU/w640-h480/IMG_2985.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>When we weren't at Crater Lake we did some local hiking.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKZgxW3qnF2Dyylz8Z6H-oCORwOgUyCfme-tlyiYXuJE3784yArahuebtZOH3FWWJoQb6ufyRvTA19tjRWBUE675DiOh_7YU4Ms8RdbERMRBKsRXQGBNv7So140PSJX41RpiDp/s2048/IMG_2995.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKZgxW3qnF2Dyylz8Z6H-oCORwOgUyCfme-tlyiYXuJE3784yArahuebtZOH3FWWJoQb6ufyRvTA19tjRWBUE675DiOh_7YU4Ms8RdbERMRBKsRXQGBNv7So140PSJX41RpiDp/w480-h640/IMG_2995.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEgFqsQjkxGz-CxNHJVRsSI6fGb3tlW8zyZqOveSBr2jS7O68ahyyNq_4FVEBs83aWtUnZ8N2D502Jkll1MbJ02SiZb7cV0H6DcibBQF4k-nf400NCGKMwZvGBCjB0VrmjUGsi/s2048/IMG_6797.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEgFqsQjkxGz-CxNHJVRsSI6fGb3tlW8zyZqOveSBr2jS7O68ahyyNq_4FVEBs83aWtUnZ8N2D502Jkll1MbJ02SiZb7cV0H6DcibBQF4k-nf400NCGKMwZvGBCjB0VrmjUGsi/w426-h640/IMG_6797.JPG" width="426" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJJYJJEqccdlxeBKT48x7XGh_NFydLi35fPd-32LgyunLEAwtDDu9-rWl6iY6fJUc6NXFUsOUOclZtpYwfY6KACfyGcf8gj3DkCYGOCYk9LzW0FOYqQSKuV7wNmWFWX9eaMQj/s2048/IMG_6800.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJJYJJEqccdlxeBKT48x7XGh_NFydLi35fPd-32LgyunLEAwtDDu9-rWl6iY6fJUc6NXFUsOUOclZtpYwfY6KACfyGcf8gj3DkCYGOCYk9LzW0FOYqQSKuV7wNmWFWX9eaMQj/w640-h426/IMG_6800.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>I tried to get the kids to take a photo with me but they ran off.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNOpfgCvl_q_5ip2nPrnWIWW4Uu5dG9rHnEGqLF-BetkfExr2Ngf9iWcr99J1a1WLpgYTbzbrPh6f_Rz198iRotzkqrtghZxuK-sKLm8nBYMTWmdzcYL-enwhuhmwPiTFjFUT_/s2048/IMG_3003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNOpfgCvl_q_5ip2nPrnWIWW4Uu5dG9rHnEGqLF-BetkfExr2Ngf9iWcr99J1a1WLpgYTbzbrPh6f_Rz198iRotzkqrtghZxuK-sKLm8nBYMTWmdzcYL-enwhuhmwPiTFjFUT_/w480-h640/IMG_3003.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><p><br /></p></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-50923013537074030742020-09-12T11:52:00.002-07:002020-09-12T11:52:51.563-07:00We are fineToday is Saturday and we are in day 5 (I think) of wildfires and day 3 of "level 2" evacuation. Level 2 just means hurry up and wait. We had to pack but then not go. Level 3 is when you have to go, go now, no more time to pack. There are so many people in level 3 that the county asked us in level 2 to stay home because the traffic was so bad. Anyway, the smoke has cleared somewhat and it really does not appear that we will have to go.<div><br /></div><div>Photo I took on Wednesday, no filter. See how the sky should be blue but it is orange.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOxiBhmjZe4dhZZ3GZuuslT42M-cHU4gxwu6P7xImfPSAGvaq9nKOXv2GcTEwzvqJ_iBrimbLwHIic0rwSJIRjv8MxLz4zbNfCNKx-dxO2nrfYliekDqO8MhuPDQucWdscS64U/s2048/IMG_3104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOxiBhmjZe4dhZZ3GZuuslT42M-cHU4gxwu6P7xImfPSAGvaq9nKOXv2GcTEwzvqJ_iBrimbLwHIic0rwSJIRjv8MxLz4zbNfCNKx-dxO2nrfYliekDqO8MhuPDQucWdscS64U/w500-h375/IMG_3104.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My address was at level 1 evacuation at that point. Level 1 just means that residents have to monitor the emergency alert system.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On Thursday at 1pm they changed my address to Level 2. The fire itself is about 20 miles from my house, so the level 2 evacuation was more about the smoke/air quality. We packed our suitcases with clothes and put a few things in the car. Then we hosed everything down in case of sparks. Smoke makes me nauseous and for the first time in my life I was happy to wear a mask.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBSSHpfIdpSSpJl5aRcUQ0wJ0h8DH4B9p-VGLe3LSUCXJ5nVCPWyKh2M9ScqLbKf27KvS11V_UJy3KwzDtRQ66SVhxPlIwXg7funoxuyKLfrXGsCngUZkfp2VIln6jjtiXg9Ze/s2048/IMG_3126.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBSSHpfIdpSSpJl5aRcUQ0wJ0h8DH4B9p-VGLe3LSUCXJ5nVCPWyKh2M9ScqLbKf27KvS11V_UJy3KwzDtRQ66SVhxPlIwXg7funoxuyKLfrXGsCngUZkfp2VIln6jjtiXg9Ze/w500-h375/IMG_3126.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Yesterday was Friday and the air quality was much better. Today is about the same as yesterday. Rain is on the way this week and then hopefully the evacuations will stop and we can unpack.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was surprisingly easy to pack. All my years of preparedness and minimalist training actually paid off. I know I have written about this before, that many years ago a building fire and a car accident (I was not even in the car) showed me that I was not mentally prepared. I have been so careful to train myself since those incidents. But I was actually surprised that it worked. I felt like I should have been more panicked or something. More freaking out about stuff to put in the car "just in case". I actually started questioning my own sanity because I was NOT panicking and running around like a chicken with the head cut off. I thought surely I must have been forgetting something critical. After several hours and still no level 3 order, I could see that I have actually trained my brain very well. Nearly everything we have is "backed up" in some way. 99.9% of things that aren't backed up, we are ok with walking away from. The memories are in our heads, not in the things themselves, and my brain is ok with it. Apparently same with Mike's brain and the kids' brains. We have gone over this and over this many times but never had to face it in reality until now. And yet I'm surprised with how well it worked.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The emergency alert system went off on my phone at 3:30pm Thursday. It was just an alert regarding level 2 evacuation. But the kids heard the alarm and grabbed their little suitcases and ran to the car. They thought it was level 3 time. I had to run after them and tell them it was still only level 2. Mae packed milk in her suitcase. Libby packed water.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Several of my neighbors have RVs or multiple properties. We don't have either of those things. Another piece of land has been on our wish list for a long time. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In other news, one reason I have not posted our vacation photos yet (I have 2 sets of vacation photos) is because our internet modem failed, we got a new one, and our connection is just terrible. But of all miracles, somehow my address is eligible for fiber and so we are supposed to get fiber on Monday. So when my internet is finally working on Monday I will start uploading vacation photos.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the meantime the internet connection is so poor I can't even watch TV. Can't go anywhere. Can't work on my deck painting project because of air quality. I am very bored.</div><br /> </div><br /><div><br /></div>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-73445472962658793832020-08-20T20:44:00.006-07:002020-08-20T20:44:48.929-07:006 week diary<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfnYaxxrQ2LDwv2DkkLQ_lCaCHYaZSv6xG-ORHrTGCwdYaBb9dWVWt2zfXNn-K37JAzNE5sUaItuieAz9PWY9XlIFUJ4GIHtvl-huSWJilkDNGmUbxzYzq3cf40jNFq63Un2RZ/s1280/IMG_2647.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfnYaxxrQ2LDwv2DkkLQ_lCaCHYaZSv6xG-ORHrTGCwdYaBb9dWVWt2zfXNn-K37JAzNE5sUaItuieAz9PWY9XlIFUJ4GIHtvl-huSWJilkDNGmUbxzYzq3cf40jNFq63Un2RZ/w246-h328/IMG_2647.JPG" width="246" /></a></div> Have not written in 6 weeks because it felt like everything was always the same. It isn't, though. The kids love reading my past "week in the life" posts and want me to do another one. I started one but stopped after 2 days. <p></p><p>And I did get busy again as both DAR and Girl Scouts started regular virtual meetings among the officers, and so the to-do lists and calendars came back to life.</p><p>For DAR I am teaching classes online and coaching people via email, in addition to serving on 2 other committees for my chapter, planning the year ahead the best we can.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0RoQBK1yL4yvIllAK_D-fzwRPX80nVMeUjQx7ob-S_4azhA0V-N-9kEq00qtRy87O8yt8J5Odo9219Cdb1bf_EU6XM4EfnLZ9TUu_y2rROmjTLGHRUNSc1AuJFCCTRylh7Bnh/s1280/IMG_2614.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0RoQBK1yL4yvIllAK_D-fzwRPX80nVMeUjQx7ob-S_4azhA0V-N-9kEq00qtRy87O8yt8J5Odo9219Cdb1bf_EU6XM4EfnLZ9TUu_y2rROmjTLGHRUNSc1AuJFCCTRylh7Bnh/w512-h384/IMG_2614.JPG" width="512" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>For Girl Scouts I'm still learning my job, so I have to attend classes and be coached by others.</p><p>The landscaping, or rather, cutting down of trees and shrubs and vines, still continues. I can't even begin to measure how much stuff has been removed. Literal miles of blackberry vines, dozens of trees.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSyCz4AE33_M2txbsnCF1YeGjP93JB4BXHsyDe_GX52YdhbGE1z122HsAzAY48xFtHbwF6heSGzxVNorrUjJlFDhOFU9jS9FIfN6SXo5Lbjt0FsAkCBRM5GBCMRL0nge9MNEi/s2048/IMG_2419.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSyCz4AE33_M2txbsnCF1YeGjP93JB4BXHsyDe_GX52YdhbGE1z122HsAzAY48xFtHbwF6heSGzxVNorrUjJlFDhOFU9jS9FIfN6SXo5Lbjt0FsAkCBRM5GBCMRL0nge9MNEi/s640/IMG_2419.JPG" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>We celebrated Mae's birthday. She is now 9! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVOBqIl-Hu1AhfQaajJ053drUPdoqK7wI9nOfI58frfCSYdUpg3MudHrhBgBzfUMTLJI81deMeHxyWqcMP0kPpaF81iw_jfRsKevAheOOi8Wj7jSGakHRjmDPfwxA-tqVrxas/s2048/IMG_2566.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVOBqIl-Hu1AhfQaajJ053drUPdoqK7wI9nOfI58frfCSYdUpg3MudHrhBgBzfUMTLJI81deMeHxyWqcMP0kPpaF81iw_jfRsKevAheOOi8Wj7jSGakHRjmDPfwxA-tqVrxas/s640/IMG_2566.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>She should have taken her third grade exam by now. But we haven't even tried to schedule it yet. I don't suppose anyone would actually come to our house like they did last year for Libby. So she has more time to study. </p><p>Their home school science class went virtual, so we dropped it. I refused to pay hundreds of dollars tuition for science 'class' you can get on YouTube for free. The school basically said it was begging for tuition in order to keep the teachers employed, but Mike said we can't afford pity pay right now.</p><p>We started traveling again, just camping trips and visits to state parks in Oregon. We really enjoyed Beverly Beach State Park and will go there again. More trips in our future give us something to look forward to. However, poor Libby's eczema makes her skin like tissue paper, and the beach sand made her skin bleed. But she liked looking at the stars at night. We identified the big dipper, Jupiter, and Saturn. And I flew my pocket kite on the beach during the day.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFXWFS8IH8of4AMa3fuYkfukrYjffLV5rUG6ELdFLcPmK3RWnpUkDTRQzv-9ekiGGQPf3I2iQbWojaLP6lwfnhHSc2CGKPhv9-NVTe3jpNjI4r7_jhMiB4Rr3fS1P5aTf-YWv/s2048/IMG_2913.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFXWFS8IH8of4AMa3fuYkfukrYjffLV5rUG6ELdFLcPmK3RWnpUkDTRQzv-9ekiGGQPf3I2iQbWojaLP6lwfnhHSc2CGKPhv9-NVTe3jpNjI4r7_jhMiB4Rr3fS1P5aTf-YWv/s640/IMG_2913.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGquHZZZCie-WXg2pYO7NqOyx2u079jXQyq162fc1KN-Kmgbe6ZBGHS9-dU-aNkD3gN4otIjsFHnunLmewuLtWrQuTuCda44CRRL1WddSECIFv1IhyphenhyphenPiS0j13SgxIrKLO-UZN/s2048/IMG_2949.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGquHZZZCie-WXg2pYO7NqOyx2u079jXQyq162fc1KN-Kmgbe6ZBGHS9-dU-aNkD3gN4otIjsFHnunLmewuLtWrQuTuCda44CRRL1WddSECIFv1IhyphenhyphenPiS0j13SgxIrKLO-UZN/s640/IMG_2949.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><br /></p><p>We talk about Halloween but are not sure what to do. Perhaps a trip to Great Wolf Lodge, but is the reduced price worth the discomfort of wearing a mask from nose to chin? Doubtful. So we will probably do nothing.</p><p>The summer is ending too fast. We painted one side of our house and it was a great success and now we want to do another side before the rain starts. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygexCwpFpkuXbJ1N4JNMpHSN0ErtTPpjmIqYZa8QeSNPh4RneeeTA3z87wyEX1gnxMyqrIZWYr77gkoMzJF4LaJrSDc0f_PAiwPJh-bDeD84nQOt5EvEde68n9QQ-royqYvVZ/s2048/IMG_2450.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygexCwpFpkuXbJ1N4JNMpHSN0ErtTPpjmIqYZa8QeSNPh4RneeeTA3z87wyEX1gnxMyqrIZWYr77gkoMzJF4LaJrSDc0f_PAiwPJh-bDeD84nQOt5EvEde68n9QQ-royqYvVZ/s640/IMG_2450.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5YrM9l4Nb2xxKKk5K8z3SB3JEpwJImuj93tOE37LDPnX5lSSklAaUUY5-5qbxs3Di3ScgSxY7IIZNlLoBRvm5Bh_B4tIc93y7PKl88AefFvo7VG39qt5oU4IQrUPksK02WtKp/s2048/IMG_2958.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5YrM9l4Nb2xxKKk5K8z3SB3JEpwJImuj93tOE37LDPnX5lSSklAaUUY5-5qbxs3Di3ScgSxY7IIZNlLoBRvm5Bh_B4tIc93y7PKl88AefFvo7VG39qt5oU4IQrUPksK02WtKp/s640/IMG_2958.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br />Also notice I took the chain saw to a tree stump between the before and after. I have pressure washed the front of our house and it will be painted tomorrow.</p><p>And the decks! All the decks! Have not even begun them yet and they must be done. Primer, color, clear, five coats of deck paint in total. Mae convinced me that since I am painting and not staining, I don't have to sand the heck out of the deck first. Just sand a little. But can it be done before the rain starts? </p><p>Finished watching: Dead To Me, World of Dance, The Politician. Re: The Politician, I loved season one for its absurdity and gorgeousness. Season 2 is a bit less absurd, still gorgeous especially character Alice's costumes. And Astrid's. Well, it's just amazing. But season 2 was more thoughtful and when Ben Platt sang "Corner of the Sky", well, as soon as he played the opening notes I was just grinning from ear to ear. Even though he sang the lyrics wrong. Who cares if he sang the lyrics wrong. Why didn't Bette Midler correct him when he sang the lyrics wrong??? Anyway, another thing I liked about the show is how they cast differently-abled actors in roles that don't focus on their differences.</p><p>Currently watching: Umbrella Academy season 2.</p><p>Just finished reading: <i>Station Eleven</i> by Emily St John Mandel. It's a masterpiece, exquisitely written. A post-apocalyptic story following a pandemic. Very strange to read right now.</p>Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-29765856161409069652020-07-03T11:21:00.000-07:002020-07-03T11:21:07.965-07:00Friday 5 - landscaping 2nd edition1. I realized days too late that among the regular ivy that I've been pulling, there is and has been poison ivy. And I wasn't wearing a long sleeve shirt when I spent 5 days pulling ivy last week. So that happened. I didn't know much about poison ivy but now I know the rash is a slow burn that gets worse every day. Libby has a steroid cream that she has to use on eczema and the internet says I can use that on poison ivy if it's in the first few days. I hope I am still in that window but it has been more than a few days. The itch is not very bad, it's just troubling that the rash continues to spread and get worse. In other news, my cuts on both thumbs have resolved but one on my right hand is still infected and puffy. This is from an injury that I sustained through my gardening gloves. So, lessons: wear long sleeves. Wear fitted leather gloves. I guess the flimsy little regular gardening gloves are ok when you're just playing in dirt but not when you are attacking an unrelenting jungle. I wear leather gloves when I'm doing blackberries and wood chipper but they were too bulky for ivy pulling, I thought...<br />
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2. I finally got word that my replacement wood chipper will arrive next Wednesday. That will be a good day. I have so many piles of branches everywhere you look. I'm excited to chop them up.<br />
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3. I finished Mae's path down to the creek. Next, while I'm waiting for my wood chipper, I'm working on clearing an area in my front yard that is full of blackberries, a vine I don't know what it is but hopefully not poison ivy, and a whole bunch of random shrubs. The blackberry is certainly an issue but the vine is possibly worse. Remove!! Don't trim, remove!! In past years I only trimmed back this area. This is an area I have actually cleaned up every single year and it just comes back as if I did nothing. But I have my new mantra now, Remove to Improve. I got some stump killer that you paint on with a paintbrush. I'm going to remove every bit of the blackberries and paint the little stumps. I'm going to find the source of crazy vine and remove it or at least paint it as well. There is a tree I have chopped down 3 times and I'm going to take a chainsaw to it and paint the remaining stump.<br />
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4. Several years ago we had <a href="https://honeydays365.blogspot.com/2015/07/raspberries-211-214.html?q=raspberries" target="_blank">raspberries</a> and although I pulled them a few years later, a few canes came back up last year and I let them stay as long as they behave and stick to their little cage. So we have some raspberries this year and I pick them for Mae just like I used to and she still loves them. It makes me so happy to do this for her.<br />
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5. Since the kids like hammocks and swings so much, I'm looking for a suitable place to hang one. You would think I could find a suitable place but so far I have not. But it is possible that after I clear more shrubs something ideal will emerge...Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-51535613861243703592020-06-26T12:18:00.000-07:002020-07-03T11:21:33.156-07:00Friday coffee post - landscaping editionI have had a shift in mindset regarding living on one acre on a hill over a ravine over a creek in Oregon. We have been here 7 years now and each summer I did 2-3 relatively large projects, like refinishing one deck or re-seeding the postage stamp sized lawn or hauling rocks or cutting raspberry vines, or planting our blueberry bushes, or trimming trees. But it has not been enough and some areas of property have only been barely touched, or not touched at all, for 7 years.<br />
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This means my usable area has shrunk because the unrelenting jungle took over those areas.<br />
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With all this time on my hands not driving anywhere, I was able to start working on the landscaping more. We got the wood chipper and it was my best friend. Until a couple days ago when I accidentally got a rock in it and I broke the blades and then found I could not replace the blades because the bolts holding them in were stuck. The wood chipper has a great warranty and I will get a replacement, but in the meantime I have no wood chipper. And I had chopped down like 10 trees and I didn't get them all chopped up before I broke it.<br />
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I had to move the felled trees to one of the areas I had cleaned out.<br />
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That has been a lot of my story lately. My acre is so chock-a-block that I have found that in order to clean out one area I actually have to clean out another area first in order to actually get to that area.<br />
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We have giant redwood tree on the acre and I had not raked under it, ever. I had to rake up 7 years of dropped pine needle things. It filled up 3 of the city trash cans. I disturbed mice and snakes and some kind of bugs nest. Ok I didn't actually see any mice and snakes. And I only heard the bugs before I ran away.<br />
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The reality is that after roughly 40 hours of work I feel like I've cleared about 1% of my property. And so now I know it is never over and not to look for the end. Just do the process. Every day. I do enjoy it although I talk to myself constantly while I'm out there and I curse very terribly. I have found that the best thing to do is focus on one section and work on it until it is complete. That means I have to turn a blind eye to all the other areas that need help. In past summers I have not done that and it was very overwhelming and depressing to turn 360 and see that everything needs help. It is still hard to not do that when I know that in addition to the jungle I still need to paint one side of my house and completely refinish and/or rebuild 2 of my decks.<br />
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Also I heard Tim Ferriss say "remove to improve" and I think he was quoting someone else because that's what he does, but the point is that is my mantra now too. I don't trim trees anymore. I REMOVE them. Because now I know what people mean when they say "I have weed trees on my property." I have them too. They are not trees, they are giant weeds, and they will come back. I don't trim hedges, I remove them. I don't push back ivy (sigh), I remove it. for now. I don't save the blackberry branches for the blackberries. I just remove them. There's more blackberries someplace else on my acre.<br />
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I cut my right thumb on my wood chipper when I didn't know where the broken blades were. I got an infection on my left thumb from a thorn or splinter that is still stuck in it. But my coffee is empty and I'm going to go outside and pull ivy now. I had asked Mae what area I should focus on next while I'm waiting for my new wood chipper. She said, "can you clear the path?" and I said, "OMG WHICH PATH" and she told me this muddy one that goes down to the creek. So that's what I'm working on. Making the path wider while being entirely surrounded by jungle. I cut vines and wrap them up into a ball and then I throw it like a football.<br />
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Here is a picture of Tommy in 2017 helping me clear that same path, so you have an idea of what I am talking about.<br />
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<br />Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-70051895769109839492020-06-19T19:46:00.000-07:002020-06-19T19:46:19.985-07:00Friday 5 - 5 things that made me happy this week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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1. We went camping last weekend and although it was not ideal it was also fun. And we were grateful to get out to a park that was actually open, thank you State of Washington! (You can figure out which state parks are NOT open and are cancelling reservations.) It was too cold and too loud (didn't know it was next to a highway). But Mae's favorite thing about camping is the hammock, and that was really fun.<br />
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2. I watched the new Ben Platt at Radio City Music Hall concert on Netflix and found that I don't really care for his music at all, but when he sang "Share Your Address" and the whole Radio City Music Hall just lost their minds I couldn't help but feel happy. I don't even like that song. But that performance is a case-in-point example of live music being a million times better than recorded music. If you heard "Share Your Address" on the radio (and you were me) you'd probably not give it another thought. But the live performance is like, THIS IS THE GREATEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN. The audience reaction was so uplifting that I actually watched it twice!<br />
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3. I bought this 1978 record set on eBay and I love it! It has music from the movies (including documentaries), theme parks, and cartoon shorts, all things that would have been interesting in 1978. It's on 4 records.<br />
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4. To keep myself amused I have been attaching 1923 passport photos to people in the familysearch.org family tree. Back in 1923, apparently you could get a passport in only a few days, and apparently you could get one so easily that you could book your ship in advance and not even worry about whether the passport would get to you on time.<br />
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Sometimes I find passport photos like this:<br />
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5. The sun FINALLY came out and I am able to work outside again. There is so much to do that it is almost depressing but it feels good that I can get started.<br />
<br />Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-86169034789672952502020-05-29T12:54:00.000-07:002020-05-29T15:24:13.939-07:00Friday 6 - trying to stay positive<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It was difficult to stay positive this week. I don't have TV and I unsubscribed from <i>The Oregonian</i> and I deleted Twitter so I learned about George Floyd via a haunting Tik Tok video that made it so I could not sleep. The next day I found a very helpful Lifehacker article about how to help and I tried to do all the things it said including phoning the DA myself and you know I don't like to talk on the phone. But speak, even if your voice shakes, I tell myself.<br />
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Here are some things I focused on this week to try to stay positive.<br />
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1. Be grateful for my kids' piano lessons. They are doing really well, even being restricted to Zoom lessons, and this week in particular Libby had really great lesson in which she wrote a new song in 30 minutes.<br />
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2. I started my new role as a state officer for the volunteer organization I belong to. I'm not officially sworn in until July but it seems the job was meant to start this week, so I started training and throwing myself back into the work. We had a good meeting yesterday with my local chapter and I got to say something important that I felt good about.<br />
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3. Back to my kids, I am grateful for their positive attitudes. Mae has even adopted a daily gratitude practice of sorts. I taught them a sort of game that I wrote about on my Christmas blog and they really like it. It's just a practice where you review your day: the high point, the low point, and something random (usually something funny). Everyone enjoys it, and then Mae and Libby take it a little further by talking between themselves reviewing their goals and accomplishments for each day. It is so precious I have to pinch myself. Libby developed a checklist to check in with herself at the end of each night as well.<br />
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4. Menchies frozen yogurt recently reopened and the kids I went there this week and it was so nice! We were allowed to stay and sit at tables, no masks required at any time. I miss sitting down in a restaurant.<br />
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5. The sun was out this week. It will rain again next week. But we had sun this week and I finished painting Libby's dresser in an ombre pattern and it turned out better than I had imagined. Also my new wood chipper arrived today so I hope I can test it out before the rain starts again.<br />
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6. Mike and I are happy about the return of the show <i>World of Dance</i>. It's a nice way for us to bond as we root for our favorite dancers and laugh at the judges. With the judges. We like the judges. It's just that they are funny.<br />
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<br />Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-7478659882901877682020-05-22T14:56:00.000-07:002020-05-22T14:56:58.041-07:00I liked it better when my car had soundThis is my 6-bullet Friday - upgrades needed or in progress.<br />
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But first, quarantine update. My county is approved to open tomorrow, but no one knows exactly what that means. The county sent out an email saying it does not really mean we are open. So, yeah. We're open, but not really. Or, we're not really open, but we are open? Maybe I'll have a better update next Friday.<br />
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Upgrades we've been working on:<br />
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1. Right before quarantine I had a stupid amount of work done on the 4x4, and I do mean stupid. And in the process the mechanic somehow broke my car stereo but at that point I hated the mechanic so much I refused to complain because then I would have been without my car even longer. And also I knew that the stereo was due for an upgrade anyway and this would just push me to do it. For a while I just used a Bluetooth speaker instead, and then for a long time we just didn't drive anywhere because of quarantine. But now I'm ready for an upgrade so Mike the audiophile is going to take care of it for me, soon-ish.<br />
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2. We painted 3/4 of Libby's bedroom furniture. It looks amazing! She chose a light turquoise color. Arendelle blue, if you will, but she wouldn't call it that. We're going to do the dresser in an ombre pattern, but we paint outdoors and it has been pouring rain for the last couple weeks and so that halted a lot of our projects.<br />
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3. Painted Mae's bed as well. A dark turquoise. She also has plans to stencil the rest of her furniture.<br />
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4. Upgraded my record player, which had been on my New Years Resolution list for 2 years. Finally did it and I am SO happy with the new setup!<br />
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5. Bought the house paint we need for the exterior. We are only doing one wall for now. We got a quote for 1.5 (small) walls last year and it was too expensive, so we'll be doing it ourselves.<br />
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6. Later upgrades in the planning stages: We have the paint to do our kitchen cupboards, which will be a big change, but probably won't happen until the exterior of the house is done. Also have to redo my herb garden because it actually drowned with all the rain we had lately. Then 2 of our decks really need an overhaul. And we've decided to invest in a wood chipper to help us deal with the unrelenting jungle that is our acre. We just have to decide if we're going to go with a lightweight electric model or the more powerful but more expensive gas model. We have to decide soon because the rate at which I chop things down is greater than the rate at which our weekly garbage service hauls it away.<br />
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<br />Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-53738359675346463612020-05-15T19:25:00.000-07:002020-05-15T19:25:02.338-07:00Friday 6 - things I've noticed about myself in quarantine1. I have not changed my opinion about masks. I have always thought they look stupid and now 2 months into quarantine I have not changed my mind. Unless the wearer is using it for fashion or privacy. Then it is ok.<br />
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2. We eat a lot of fast food or restaurant food because I don't like being stuck in my kitchen all the time.<br />
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3. We travel a lot for my own personal entertainment. When I get bored, going literally anywhere is enough to entertain me. I once heard it said that travel is for lazy people, and I completely understood the sentiment. Not that I really consider myself lazy, but still, I get it 100%.<br />
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4. As much as I dislike people, I really love going to very large social events. Movies, sporting events, fairs, concerts, theme parks. I have been to hundreds of large social events and they are among my happiest memories and the biggest drain on my bank account. I now regret not going to even more of them.<br />
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5. I have not changed my opinion about distance meetings. Skype, Zoom, etc. Most of the time they are not as efficient. Well, I know that many meetings in general are completely unnecessary. But getting a piano lesson or diagnosing an ear infection is just not the same over video.<br />
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6. I have confirmed that I'm a rebel when it comes to scheduling. Unless I'm going to a show of some kind I really resent having to be at a certain place at a certain time, even if it's a Zoom meeting and the place is my house. Deleting every single event from our calendar has been really calming, although boring at the same time. Adding events back (which at this time is only Zoom meetings) is the opposite of calming.Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-2641089452972492142020-05-08T18:39:00.000-07:002020-05-08T18:39:47.696-07:00Friday 5Some things we did this week.<br />
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1. It's sunny but not yet too hot. I have been pulling ivy on our acre. Kelsey pulled a bunch last year behind the shed, but otherwise we have not really pulled ivy in the 7 years we've been here. So, it's trying to take over the house at this point. I also started putting salt and vinegar down on the walkways in order to keep weeds from taking over where there is supposed to be gravel. It's working!<br />
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2. I picked up paint to paint the kids' furniture. We plan to start painting on Monday. Libby says she has outgrown her pink bedroom and wants to change it to a blue theme. Libby and Mae chose shades of turquoise and lavender to paint their furniture. It will be an ordeal, especially Mae's bed, because the beds were built in their rooms and can not come apart or come out of the room. And Mae's bed is huge. We will start with Libby's bed, then Libby's furniture, which can be done on the porch. Mae's bed will probably be last. We also need to paint our house, so that will be in the near future.<br />
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3. Received the Shutterfly 2019 yearbook today, so that's one more thing crossed off the 20 for 2020 list!<br />
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4. Visited a new (to us) Little Free Library and we picked up book 1 of a new series we weren't familiar with. It's the Humphrey Hamster series. The kids really like it and so I ordered a few more books in the series from Goodwill. Libby wants to get a hamster as a pet after her room is finished.<br />
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5. Still selling my charm bracelets, about 5-7 every week. But 2 were reported delayed or missing this week which is troubling. One was related to COVID-19 closure, but not sure about the other one, still waiting to hear from the postmaster. This is a bummer because I already faced a huge cut into profits with Etsy's new mandatory advertising, and I don't want to chip away further by having to buy insurance every time. Well, I already did the math and it's still not worth it to buy the insurance, so I already know I'm not going to. But it's still a bummer.<br />
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<br />Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-84813103744385185952020-05-02T16:38:00.000-07:002020-05-02T16:38:17.364-07:005 bullet Saturday - 20 for 2020 editionHere are some things we have been working on at home that have been on our list of New Years resolutions.<br />
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<ol>
<li>Start an herb garden. I started from seed: basil, rosemary, thyme, and cilantro. They are outside on one of my decks. I have 3 decks so I have to specify "one of" my decks, you see. That's one of my favorite things to brag about. I have also upgraded one of my other decks by adding some patio furniture. I greatly regret not doing this sooner. Mike and I love having meals or coffee on this particular deck now because the view is incredible. Maybe I didn't think of it sooner because it rains so much or is otherwise too hot. Or the wasps. I don't know. But at the moment it is perfect and we love it.</li>
<li>Upgrade the record player. I bought a new one but haven't set it up yet. But I'm very excited about it.</li>
<li>Decorate the wall over the sofa. I don't know why I didn't do this sooner, but I just got out some existing Oregon artwork that we previously had hanging and I put it back up. I am also going to hang the girls' ukeleles over the piano so they function as artwork and are off of the floor. I guess I didn't do all this before because we kept rearranging the living room. But now we have finally settled on an arrangement that we like, so I can finally commit to putting something on the walls.</li>
<li>Make the 2019 photo yearbook. Done. I don't really like making the yearbooks so last year it took forever and Mae ended up doing a lot of it. This year I found out Shutterfly will make it for you and currently for free, so I took them up on it. I'm pretty sure I had looked into that about a year ago...it's called "make my book" or "design my book" or something like that, and at the time it was not what it sounds like. But since then it appears they got some humans involved and now an actual human will design the book. So Mae chose the photos and I sent them to the human and the human designed my book for free. I just added some text and then hit the Buy button. Done!</li>
<li>Learn the Wolf Song on the piano. I have completed this with chords and vocals so I guess it's technically done, but I still want the teacher to show me how to add some more melody to it. He tried to show me some improv techniques on Zoom but I'm not getting it so I might have to wait until we can do in-home lessons again. In the meantime I'm just practicing until I have it memorized. I still can't play it without the sheet music and I'd like to be able to do that someday.</li>
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Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-27830065285578206242020-04-19T19:26:00.000-07:002020-04-19T19:26:44.683-07:005 bullet Sunday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<li>Last Sunday was Easter Sunday and I set up another epic egg hunt for Libby and Mae. They start with a clue and then each egg they find after that has a clue for the next one, and so on. In the photo above, they are reading a clue. They love these egg hunts! Mae's big prize at the end of the hunt was a set of dollhouse size bunnies (Calico Critters) that she could play with in her little gnome garden. Libby got a video game with a very long name: <i>Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire's Conspiracy. </i>It was a really beautiful day and I wanted to go out, but everywhere I wanted to go we were not allowed. We ended up going to a public park in an undisclosed location because the park was somewhat out of the way and also has a very long nature trail that I hoped it would be ok to walk. I also chose that park because I know the woman who lives across the street and I hoped that I could convince her not to call the police. I didn't need to worry. When we got to the park, the woman that I knew was actually hosting an Easter service in the front yard. There were lots of people there and they weren't wearing masks or distancing at all. I awkwardly said hello to my friend and then Libby and Mae went to play on the swings. A sign was posted saying that the park amenities were closed, but nothing was taped off the way they are at other parks. At first we were the only ones at the park but then a few other families came and had picnic lunches on the grass. No one else played on the equipment, although eventually my friend came over and pushed her dog on the swing (yes, really). Later in the week, a friend of ours rode his bike over to our house and then he said I was irresponsible for taking Mae to the park. Twice this week. That I was acting like an "American", he used air quotes so you know just what he thinks of Americans. I told him if he was so scared of the virus he probably shouldn't come over to my house, then. </li>
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2. My charm bracelets have been selling like crazy and I just figured out why. It is because Etsy started advertising all products on Google. I don't remember them telling me about this. The reason it matters is because right now the advertising is free, but starting May 1 I have to pay for it. Which is fine, because clearly it is working, but it means I have to stop selling some of my products on Etsy because the advertising fee is pretty expensive and not all of my products have that much margin. So I am glad I figured it out this week while it is still free. Libby is now designing her own fangirl charm bracelet and Shannon is helping us test some product.</div>
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3. We got a stimulus payment which actually came as a complete surprise to Mike and me. I stopped reading about stimulus checks when it didn't seem like we qualified for one. I suppose something changed after I stopped reading the news. It was nice because Mike had told Mae we could not afford to buy bird seed for her bird feeder, and after we got the payment he went and got a nice big bag of seed for her.</div>
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4. I have been watching a lot of unusual Christmas movies from the 30s, 40s, and 50s. My favorites so far are <i>A Christmas Wish</i> starring Jimmy Durante, and <i>We're No Angels </i>starring Humphrey Bogart.</div>
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5. Since the libraries and bookstores are closed we have been using a Little Free Library that is near our house but I never actually stopped at before. We have gone there twice this week. Well, three times. We brought a lot of books there today and we feel very good about it.</div>
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Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-79118925569841724322020-04-10T15:18:00.000-07:002020-04-10T15:18:30.114-07:00Friday 5 - home school editionToday I saw a news article saying to "stop calling it home schooling." Referring to the emergency distance learning that schools are doing right now. This resonated with me because this is the number one thing I have to explain to people about our homeschooling, even when it's not COVID-19 quarantine. Here are 5 common things I have to explain about home schooling.<br />
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1. Home schooling is not the same as online public school. Where I live there are several online public schools to choose from, but they are still public school where a teacher is provided, curriculum is provided, and the curriculum and testing and attendance has to meet traditional public school standards. In a home school I am the teacher, I choose all the curriculum, and here in Oregon, I do not have to report attendance or keep track of any hours.<br />
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2. Home schooling is not the same as a charter school that doesn't meet every day. We also have one of those available to us where I live. The kids go to school maybe once a week? I'm not sure. And the rest of the time they study at home. But same as bullet #1 above, the school still provides curriculum, a teacher, and is required to meet all the same public school standards.<br />
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3. I don't know how it is in other states, but in Oregon, I am required to be my child's teacher. If I am reporting to the school district that I am home schooling, then I am not allowed to outsource my child's education. I don't know why that is the rule in Oregon. But it also means that I can't legally home school someone else's kid unless the other parent and I agree to some sort of co-op. Maybe that's the reason, they don't want rogue teachers running entire schools at home? I have no idea. And yes I do notify the school district that I'm home schooling. There are home schoolers who don't even bother with that, and technically that means that those kids are truant.<br />
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4. I do not get paid to home school. I don't get a tax break. I don't get to report home school hours as volunteer hours (for those organizations that keep track of such things, home schooling is explicitly excluded). I do sometimes get a small discount at a teacher supply store. I do have to pay for curriculum if I do not choose free curriculum. The school district does not supply any materials to me. The school district does have to allow my kid to play sports if I find a way in, meaning, they certainly don't go out of their way to make it easy for me.<br />
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5. I get a lot more questions but I want to stop at 5, so I guess the next most common question I get is, "do you plan to home school forever?" and my answer is yes. That is my plan. Plans change, and I don't have a crystal ball. But we are having a lot of fun and our plan is to home school always.<br />
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<br />Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-12509277953294586582020-04-03T09:00:00.000-07:002020-04-03T09:00:52.899-07:00Friday 5 - things I have accomplishedDay 22 of social distancing. Here are 5 things I have been doing.<br />
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1. Binge-watching the '80s TV series <i>Head of the Class</i> on the Roku channel.<br />
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2. I knit a large blanket and have started on a second one.<br />
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3. Exercised every day to <i>Just Dance 2020.</i> My favorites so far are Never Gonna Give You Up and Proud Mary and I Get Around. I also think Under the Sea is cool because it is seated and so it is an accessible dance for more people.<br />
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4. I learned 11 measures (so far) of a new song on the piano. Our music teacher says it is a "pretty advanced" song. It was on my 20 for 2020 list to learn the song. So it is ok if I take it slow, I just have to finish it by the end of the year. I try to learn a new line every day but if the new material is particularly hard then I take it slower. One of the measures took me 2 days to get because I have to play 4 notes with one hand (at the same time) and my hand is not that big. I really don't like chords like B-flat-7.<br />
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5. Tried a new chocolate cookie spritz recipe. I liked it, but the kids didn't. Also I threw my cookie press away after that because it was this awful bargain cookie press that I got for $5 and it didn't have enough power. So now I need a new one before I can try more recipes.Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24108070.post-82046634186324460222020-03-27T11:55:00.000-07:002020-03-27T12:01:30.685-07:00Friday 6 - Day 15 of social distancing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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1. I always feel like I'm either underreacting over overreacting. The media can't be trusted and it's hard to find out what is true and what is misinformation. <i>The Oregonian</i> reports daily figures of new cases of the virus but we must also understand that those are based on test results and whether or not the county even reported their results that day. If a county didn't report then the media says that county had zero new cases that day. <i>The Oregonian </i>also shamed Oregonians for "flocking to the coast" and then they posted a photo of 3 people at the beach, who were standing far apart from each other. This led me to come up with the phrase - 'rona shaming.<br />
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2. Last weekend Mike and I both separately spoke with our neighbor who keeps sending their kids over to our house, and advised them to stop that. Because the kids live part time in 3 different homes and therefore come into contact with a wider number of people than we do.<br />
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3. I had a rebellious day and I went to the store for non-essential items like Easter candy. Most people were really nice but one person made a dramatic show of staying 6 feet away from me. That same day I witnessed 2 acts of misogyny and I was super-annoyed. Perhaps that is not the right word. The dictionary says it means "hatred" and I didn't witness acts of hatred but I did witness 2 acts treating women as inferior. The first one I was just shaking my head and after the 2nd one I felt like I was banging my own head against the wall. Both were related to dealing with COVID-19.<br />
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4. We have been playing <i>Just Dance</i> every day and it's really fun!<br />
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5. Mae commented that she feels like I am able to spend more time with them now that all their extra-curricular activities were cancelled. We had classes 4 days a week, before. Those extra hours in our day really do add up. When I knew we'd be staying at home more, I ordered a bunch of loop yarn to be delivered. Mae and I are finger knitting a blanket out of it.<br />
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6. It is even harder than last week to get groceries. Also I never thought I would say this, but Amazon really let me down by changing their 2-day delivery to 1-month delivery. I mean you know I love Amazon so much that I was prepared to vote for Jeff Bezos for president with Alexa as his running mate. But now Walmart.com is my new favorite. I did not need stuff in 2 days, but 1 month is ridiculous.Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050141568945340839noreply@blogger.com0