Friday, July 1, 2016

A day off.

Didn't get much done today and that was by design. The rebuild is going to be a long haul. In order to maintain our sanity, we need to take the occasional day off.  Besides, Mom is in town.

The one place we have always wanted to take her was Multnomah Falls and the Columbia River Gorge.

So we went.

Oh yeah, this place.

We remembered to bring Mom.


We drove down and took the scenic highway. Our first stop, well, after the produce stand... and the overlook to take that picture, was Vista House. Yeah, that little place in the picture.

Pretty
Insert random picture here.
But then it was on to the main attraction: Waterfalls.


The hike down to Latourell was still lush and green

The flow wasn't super awesome, but we kind of expected that

And we remembered to bring Mom...again.


Still beautiful though.
The low flow of water and really warm day presented us with an opportunity we hadn't seen before.

Going behind the falls
So many new photograph opportunities.

And textures


Mom decided to stay out in the sunshine.



Max, on the other hand, decided to get as close to the falls as he could.





He paid the price of getting soaked.

 Then it was down the road a piece to get to the one Mom had wanted to see for a long time.

Multnomah.

Yes, we still had Mom... And Sarah.


And the kids, it was a banner day for remembering people.

 Of course, I had to do it.

Wait for it.

Waaaaiiitttt for it...


BAM! Long exposure shot.  Feels so good.


 We finished our tour of the waterfalls and headed into Portland for a stop at Powell's Books.  What an amazing store. 

IT has about 600 Billion books, rough estimate.


And it has this...so awesome!
I dunno...Looks kinky

The Grimoire of the Mages...How cool does that sound?

By William Penn!

Holy Cow!  The book is from 1480!


This would be such a cool book to read. 
Then it was time to head back home to rescue our poor lonely puppy.  Tomorrow, back to work.

Oh yeah, and a job interview for our new potential employee.





 

Thursday, June 30, 2016

We have roof!

Wohooo!

There was a ceremonial signing of the check and it was all ours.

Purty ain't she.


Of course, there still isn't a floor in the utility room.

I had to reinforce everything.

  Hey, I'm working a full-time job too.  Now if I could find someone to pay me to rebuild my own house... I don't think I'm fit for reality TV though.

And I built this thing.

Doing a little jig!

I found the idea on the internet. It helps me cut 2x4's and 2x6's nice and even without anyone there to held the boards for me. Dead simple too, just line up the marks and follow the guides.  

But it hasn't all been work.

Really Dad? Could have fooled me.

Nope, the huckleberries are in full fruit as well as the thimble berries. Life is sweet.



We had the electrician out to replace the main power panel.  Turns out melty wires aren't good. Who knew?  I suppose that's why I hired a professional.  But we are up to full power now.

I thought the heat meant it was working.

Things are progressing. I'm trying to keep the blog updated because fun and interesting things are happening. However, it is freaking busy! Oh yeah, and I'm trying to finish the edits on the Adventure Nickel book.  I think we have a cover! 

We are getting things back into shape, rescuing things where we are able and trying to bring things back to life. But we are also trying to find places to make improvements.

Like everything else though, it is unfinished.
Can you see the potential?

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Where were we?