Goodbye Gramps
My grandfather died peacefully Tuesday morning in his sleep – he was 85 years old. His health has been very poor since a stroke he suffered from last May. I feel incredibly grateful to have had seven more months to be with him, always being fully aware that this visit might be the last. On...
Valiant Attempt
I made a valiant attempt this year for a nice holiday, and I think that is commendable considering the circumstances. We had all the making for a wonderful holiday: we were celebrating at home this year, dozens of Christmas cookies were on hand, plans for an intimate family gathering were all laid out. The snow...
Snowed in Chickens
Different people have different ways of dealing with cold weather and chickens. Some build coops better insulated than our old house. Others wire the coop with electricity so they can run heat lamps out there. My feeling is that their molting process in the Fall equips them well for colder temperatures, as they grow in...
Snow Delay
It’s a winter wonderland in Portland right now. Yesterday we made tremendous progress with the driveway using pavers. I had about 1/3 of the concrete blocks set into place when it just got too cold, with this biting chill in the air, for me to continue. I assume that 90% of the time when snow...
Diggin the Driveway
One big step in our future driveway project is now complete: the driveway has been fully dug out. It took a couple weekends, but we finished up right before the rains came in. Rather than feeling very satisfied though, I am feeling really annoyed. Our older neighbor Dan stopped by for a chat while we...
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