The Family and I spent Easter with family in Portland. I missed the early Sunday festivities (it's difficult to work into the wee hours in Seattle and attend morning appointments in Portland), but was mostly present for the family gathering afterward (in all honesty my sleep schedule is still off). We had a nice evening just wife, son, mother-in-law, and myself. The wife and I talked about how our jobs are up and down. Mother-in-law had great stories of poor-laid plans, misplaced dogs, and over-abundances of ducks. By the time we retired to bed we had all been up later than expected.
Monday morning we bid farewell to mother-in-law as we departed town and headed north. We made a few stops, including lunch at McMenamins. I popped into REI to pick up a hiking map and book for Mt. Rainier. Not sure what this backpacking season has in store -- I'm not abandoning the Olympics, but I like the idea of exploring new territory. I also picked up a filter replacement for the water filter and stuff to clean and treat the tent. I washed the tent but will have to wait until the weather is more stable to take it outside, treat it with UV and water-proofing, and reseal the seams.
The chickens are well. The garden hasn't begun to sprout yet, but the indoor sprouts are doing very well! I've been spending as much time in my new "five-finger" running/hiking shoes as possible. I think it's time to start exploring day-hikes around Mt. Rainier!
I have some new ideas about the music/writing project I committed to choosing that I might decide to take on. I am disappointed that the writing (and the exercise, for that matter) has taken so long to start in on. I have let enough time lapse that spring and summer will now overtake any indoor project. That's fine, though, I now have several options to mull over while toiling in the garden and exploring the great outdoors.
I'm so happy spring is finally here.
Showing posts with label running. Show all posts
Showing posts with label running. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Another Productive Day
This morning the house was cold. Yesterday had been an usually long Sunday and I lacked the ambition to get a fire going in the wood stove. So I woke up this morning, made coffee, and cranked up the wood stove. Once the wife and son were up we loaded in a supply of firewood and had breakfast.
Then we set outside where the garden beds were waiting for us. They had been mulched, composted, and turned and all that was left was to put seeds in the ground. We've been patiently watching the weather forecast and putting off planting. Today was the day!
The hops were way ahead of us...
In the picture you can see last year's oregano still going strong in the foreground. Some of the herbs are in the pots under the tree. The CDs are hung up to deter the crows and other neighborhood birds.
Speaking of neighborhood birds, the chickens were also waiting for us this morning. Here they are scratching in the new grass just after being moved.
We did a few more chores around the yard. While we were out the mail came and along with it...
Before calling it a day we prepped some pinto beans for canning tomorrow.
Tomorrow's going to be another big day!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Busy Weekend
The past two days have been busy and productive. After my son and I arrived home early Sunday evening, the wife and I discussed chores and projects we wanted to focus on. Monday morning, we set to work.
We had made arrangements for someone to come by Monday afternoon to take our old washing machine off our hands (hooray!), so we had several hours before we could really go anywhere. We started in on some much needed spring cleaning and were making progress until the wife made an unsettling discovery. Behind the buffet in the dining room the floor and the wall were wet and moldy. We moved the furniture out so we could clean up, all the while trying to figure out when and what might have spilled back there. After removing some molding, sweeping, mopping, and treating the area with mold and mildew killer, we set up the dehumidifier to dry the area out. It was obvious the damage was due to something more than a simple spill. We suspect that it is the result of a leak in the wall from the plumbing to the bathroom on the other side of the wall that happened a year and a half ago. I dread the thought of climbing under the house to investigate, but it's going to have to be done.
We had just gotten the water damage under control when the people showed up for the washer. We got it loaded up, they were away, and we headed into town. Part of our inspiration for spring cleaning was the gift of a swanky, new sewing machine from mother-in-law. The machine came with a sewing table, which means reorganization. In the course of the reorganization discussion it came up that the wife's serger needed to be looked at because something wasn't working correctly. Our first stop in town was the sewing shop. After considerable poking and prodding it was determined that the machine was going to require a service -- and the service wasn't cheap. We agreed to put the serger on hold.
Next stop was to the watch repair for a couple new batteries, a new watch band, and a watch band repair. While waiting for our watches the wife and I wandered through new appliances, our new, super efficient washer fresh in our minds, and dreaming of future upgrades that use less resources.
From there we stopped by REI. While I was out of town I had lunch with a friend who began running about a year ago. He tried to persuade me to try doing a couple of 5K runs with him this summer and my interest was piqued. The biggest roadblock to running for me is proper shoes. I don't own any. I have fantastic backpacking/hiking boots, dress shoes, work boots, and farm boots, but no running shoes. I still had my 20% members discount available, but only for a couple weeks, and had found some shoes that interested me online. It was just a matter of trying them on and deciding which ones to go with, if any. Long story short, I found my shoes. The bad news is, the shoes I chose had to be back ordered (no instant gratification for me); the good news is, I got them for 20% off. I really need to start getting back into shape. It's been a rough winter in that respect.
After we got home the wife and I attacked the collection of boxes in our son's closet that we haven't really thought about since we moved almost three years ago. We found a handful of things that we thought were lost or were otherwise glad to recover. Mostly, we found a lot of charitable donations and dust.
Before going to bed we got online and ordered heirloom seeds for the garden.
Today we started with errands -- gas, bank, grocery store, library, produce stand, and the thrift store. At the thrift store we dropped off several boxes of stuff that had been taking up space in our son's closet. Then we went inside and made a very tiny dent in our ongoing effort to replace the kitchen plastic with glass, metal, and wooden items. I also found a pair of running shorts for $3.
When we got home we put the groceries away and I headed outside while the wife washed the dishes. I picked up the piles of straw and chicken manure around the yard, turned the compost pile, amended the garden beds with ripe compost, and turned the soil in the garden beds.
We still have a lot of spring cleaning to do -- the water damage discovery in the dining room was something of a setback.
Still, all in all, it was a productive couple of days!
We had made arrangements for someone to come by Monday afternoon to take our old washing machine off our hands (hooray!), so we had several hours before we could really go anywhere. We started in on some much needed spring cleaning and were making progress until the wife made an unsettling discovery. Behind the buffet in the dining room the floor and the wall were wet and moldy. We moved the furniture out so we could clean up, all the while trying to figure out when and what might have spilled back there. After removing some molding, sweeping, mopping, and treating the area with mold and mildew killer, we set up the dehumidifier to dry the area out. It was obvious the damage was due to something more than a simple spill. We suspect that it is the result of a leak in the wall from the plumbing to the bathroom on the other side of the wall that happened a year and a half ago. I dread the thought of climbing under the house to investigate, but it's going to have to be done.
We had just gotten the water damage under control when the people showed up for the washer. We got it loaded up, they were away, and we headed into town. Part of our inspiration for spring cleaning was the gift of a swanky, new sewing machine from mother-in-law. The machine came with a sewing table, which means reorganization. In the course of the reorganization discussion it came up that the wife's serger needed to be looked at because something wasn't working correctly. Our first stop in town was the sewing shop. After considerable poking and prodding it was determined that the machine was going to require a service -- and the service wasn't cheap. We agreed to put the serger on hold.
Next stop was to the watch repair for a couple new batteries, a new watch band, and a watch band repair. While waiting for our watches the wife and I wandered through new appliances, our new, super efficient washer fresh in our minds, and dreaming of future upgrades that use less resources.
From there we stopped by REI. While I was out of town I had lunch with a friend who began running about a year ago. He tried to persuade me to try doing a couple of 5K runs with him this summer and my interest was piqued. The biggest roadblock to running for me is proper shoes. I don't own any. I have fantastic backpacking/hiking boots, dress shoes, work boots, and farm boots, but no running shoes. I still had my 20% members discount available, but only for a couple weeks, and had found some shoes that interested me online. It was just a matter of trying them on and deciding which ones to go with, if any. Long story short, I found my shoes. The bad news is, the shoes I chose had to be back ordered (no instant gratification for me); the good news is, I got them for 20% off. I really need to start getting back into shape. It's been a rough winter in that respect.
After we got home the wife and I attacked the collection of boxes in our son's closet that we haven't really thought about since we moved almost three years ago. We found a handful of things that we thought were lost or were otherwise glad to recover. Mostly, we found a lot of charitable donations and dust.
Before going to bed we got online and ordered heirloom seeds for the garden.
Today we started with errands -- gas, bank, grocery store, library, produce stand, and the thrift store. At the thrift store we dropped off several boxes of stuff that had been taking up space in our son's closet. Then we went inside and made a very tiny dent in our ongoing effort to replace the kitchen plastic with glass, metal, and wooden items. I also found a pair of running shorts for $3.
When we got home we put the groceries away and I headed outside while the wife washed the dishes. I picked up the piles of straw and chicken manure around the yard, turned the compost pile, amended the garden beds with ripe compost, and turned the soil in the garden beds.
We still have a lot of spring cleaning to do -- the water damage discovery in the dining room was something of a setback.
Still, all in all, it was a productive couple of days!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)