There we were, just passing the time as usual and almost without warning, it starts snowing. I hadn't been listening to the news, so I didn't expect it. A friend told me he had heard that it might snow and I thought he was joking.
Snow can be fun, but the timing of this one made rush hour into a total mess. Stephen left work at 3:30pm and didn't get home till 7:30pm. And it's only about 12-14 miles.
Today, it's warmer but the snow is still lingering on the ground and will likely be here for a couple of more days.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
Christmas with our 8 grandkids
It was great to have the whole gang over and we took a lot of pictures. I just wanted to get this one up for all to see.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Picture of a restored trailer like mine
I mentioned that I was going to post a picture of my itty bitty trailer, but I haven't been able to get the wires to work between my phone and my computer. However (and you are so lucky), I was able to find a picture of a restored 1960's Li'l Loafer.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
My latest adventure
OK, so I am easily distracted by just about anything. Down the street, a neighbor named Rod had a 1960's Aristocrat Travel Trailer called the Lil-Loafer. The whole thing is maybe 12-13' long and the living quarters are 9.5' long. That includes a kitchen, dining, sleeping, and storage (no bathroom, but an area where they hung a roll of toilet paper). I paid him $200 for the little wonder and hooked it up to my old Suburbasaurus and towed it back home. It weighs less than 1,000 lbs. so I hardly knew it was there. Carol (God Bless Her), has learned that I need an occasional diversion and that they don't always turn out bad. I reasoned that I could tow this behind my van and save on hotel bills. Who am I kidding? But, really, if I go to an area, I could stay at a campground for about $30 per night. I cannot get a hotel for that. We'll see. The trailer has been neglected and came to our house covered with moss and crud and nearly flat tires. After I got into it, and gave it a good scrubbing, it looked a little better. I am confident it will one day shine with all its hidden beauty. Pictures to follow.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Today at Willow Lane
Today we went to the late service at church. It was a good message, but I wish we had two weeks for it instead of just one. there was too much good material to cover in just a half hour.
A few days ago we discovered that our little cottage has old strip fir floors. They are "distressed" from many years of use and maybe some abuse. Anyway, when we pulled up the carpet in the dining room, there it was. It was used as the drop cloth last time the room was painted, so it was a mess of blots and spots and smears of white paint. Today we stopped at Lowes and got some sanding pads that I had hoped would fit on one of my sanders. Hooray, they did fit on my little high speed sander that I had had for 15 years but never used. Wow did it work well. I sped through the spots and blots and made the floor look a lot less distressed. It looks pretty good actually. This little old house probably has lots of stories to tell, but they will not be revealed, at least to us. Yesterday we bought a piece of linoleum for the kitchen. It will be fun to see that end of the house come together. It should be really cute if the vision in our minds finally comes to pass. Carol might even want to live over there someday. We also bumped into a group of real "Old House" restoration people too. If we had the money, it would be fun to restore this place to a period beauty. But for now, a facelift will have to do. I don't think we'll be disappointed, though.
A couple of summers ago, a blacktop/asphalt guy left a 55 gallon drum here. This summer, I made it into a composter. It took a little work and pounding to get the original curves back, but once I had done that, and I could get the closure ring back on it, it should work great. Now I just happen to have an old linoleum roller from my days as a floor layer. I filled the barrel about two thirds full of remnants from my existing compost pile, sealed it, tipped it over onto the linoleum roller and gave it a turn. It worked... Well it turned, and I think it will produce good compost just like a store bought unit.
Well, the place is looking nice and those of you who haven't been here for a while, you should stop by and take a look. Carol keeps it looking mighty nice. We are thankful to be the Lord's stewards of this little plot of land.
Oh yes, my colonoscopy turned out all right. They found three polyps, but all were benign. PTL
A few days ago we discovered that our little cottage has old strip fir floors. They are "distressed" from many years of use and maybe some abuse. Anyway, when we pulled up the carpet in the dining room, there it was. It was used as the drop cloth last time the room was painted, so it was a mess of blots and spots and smears of white paint. Today we stopped at Lowes and got some sanding pads that I had hoped would fit on one of my sanders. Hooray, they did fit on my little high speed sander that I had had for 15 years but never used. Wow did it work well. I sped through the spots and blots and made the floor look a lot less distressed. It looks pretty good actually. This little old house probably has lots of stories to tell, but they will not be revealed, at least to us. Yesterday we bought a piece of linoleum for the kitchen. It will be fun to see that end of the house come together. It should be really cute if the vision in our minds finally comes to pass. Carol might even want to live over there someday. We also bumped into a group of real "Old House" restoration people too. If we had the money, it would be fun to restore this place to a period beauty. But for now, a facelift will have to do. I don't think we'll be disappointed, though.
A couple of summers ago, a blacktop/asphalt guy left a 55 gallon drum here. This summer, I made it into a composter. It took a little work and pounding to get the original curves back, but once I had done that, and I could get the closure ring back on it, it should work great. Now I just happen to have an old linoleum roller from my days as a floor layer. I filled the barrel about two thirds full of remnants from my existing compost pile, sealed it, tipped it over onto the linoleum roller and gave it a turn. It worked... Well it turned, and I think it will produce good compost just like a store bought unit.
Well, the place is looking nice and those of you who haven't been here for a while, you should stop by and take a look. Carol keeps it looking mighty nice. We are thankful to be the Lord's stewards of this little plot of land.
Oh yes, my colonoscopy turned out all right. They found three polyps, but all were benign. PTL
Monday, June 22, 2009
Uggggh!
I do not wish this on others, but for those of us who have a family history of Colon Cancer, a colonoscopy is a part of the routine. I have a colonoscopy tomorrow, so tonight I am starting the "cleansing" process. It involves a few days of regimented eating, and then today, only liquids, but nothing red, orange, or purple. Then at 5pm, I took two dulcolax pills. Then at 6pm, I drink 10oz of Magnesium Citrate. This stuff is foul, in my estimation. It tastes sort of like lemonade, but it's not. It's another layer of laxitive. Then, starting at 7pm, and every 30 minutes, I drink an 8 oz glass of Mira lax mixed in apple juice. The promise is that "stirrings" in the lower parts will begin shortly. Well, it's 8:15pm and the "stirrings" have begun. I'll drink my last glass in about 15 minutes, and I'm sure that I'll need to be going to a different room for a spell. But wait, it doesn't stop there. Tomorrowe at 8am, I begin the routine again. First, I take two more Dulcolax pills, and then every 30 minutes, I drink an 8oz glass of the Mira lax until noon. That's a half gallon of the Mira lax between today and tomorrow. Then, I can drink clear liquids up until 2 hours before the procedure, which is scheduled for 2:15.
I took today off work except for a few phone calls. Tomorrow, I'll be off too. The procedure is performed under general anesthesia, so I'll need Carol to be there to pick me up when I'm done. Last time, I felt so good after the procedure that I asked if I could do it again. HaHa. Really, though, I did feel good.
Last time I had this done, they prescribed enemas. That was brutal. I was going from both ends and it was horrible. This time, is much easier, I think.
Pray for me.
I took today off work except for a few phone calls. Tomorrow, I'll be off too. The procedure is performed under general anesthesia, so I'll need Carol to be there to pick me up when I'm done. Last time, I felt so good after the procedure that I asked if I could do it again. HaHa. Really, though, I did feel good.
Last time I had this done, they prescribed enemas. That was brutal. I was going from both ends and it was horrible. This time, is much easier, I think.
Pray for me.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Day One
It's a cold blustery day here in the Portland area. The Portland area is right at the western end of a geological wonder known as the Columbia Gorge. At certain times of the year, whether cold or warm, and when conditions are right, the wind howls out of the gorge and across the Portland area. We live about twelve miles south of Portland, so the wind is not as fierce as up at the mouth of the gorge, but we still got our share of it today. The snow and ice of a few weeks ago caused a lot of damage to the trees and now the wind has put in it's sickle to harvest its share of what was left.
Don't you find it interesting to listen to people talk about suffering when they are so unfamiliar with it. It is done with a certain sanitary distance as if probing a road kill carcass with a stick. The carcass can be described from every perspective except that of the road kill itself. We all avoid suffering when we can, but sometimes it comes upon us suddenly and without warning or apparent reason. All to often, though, it's our own foolishness that brings it upon us.
Don't you find it interesting to listen to people talk about suffering when they are so unfamiliar with it. It is done with a certain sanitary distance as if probing a road kill carcass with a stick. The carcass can be described from every perspective except that of the road kill itself. We all avoid suffering when we can, but sometimes it comes upon us suddenly and without warning or apparent reason. All to often, though, it's our own foolishness that brings it upon us.
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