Scubaddict

I have to resist the urge to walk out onto the icy lake.  It still seems very frozen but the temperatures have been climbing up to the mid 30’s the last few nights. 

Our frozen little lake

I had some fun today shooting with my AF Fisheye 10.5mm lens today…

The Jackson Compound

Our Master Bathroom

 

Our cat Squeak

Something that I really LOVE about our property is that we have so many great trees.  It’s like our own little private forest.  And talk about low maintanence!  The ground is covered with needles and cones from the Douglas Fir and Cedar trees.  There are no weeds to pull, just a few stone steps to sweep from time to time.

Just a couple of the Cedar Trees in our mini forest

Sure it’s messy, is almost impossible to completely vacuum off of a flat surface and will really dry out your hands if you don’t wear gloves. But I’ve been looking forward to this day since we broke ground in 2008! There is something so WONDERFUL about seeing walls in our new home. Rooms start to take shape and my mind starts to race with visions of what pictures I will hang and what colors I will paint in each room.

So I don’t mind coming home from the office to spend a couple of hours with my trusty Shop Vac cleaning up the drywall debris from today. That “light at the end of the tunnel” is getting brighter!

The Wall is filled with blessings and warm wishes

Our Christmas party season is coming to an abrupt end which has been great for my insomnia.  The last two mornings I’ve actually slept in until 7:00 am ~ I KNOW… Shocking, Huh?  We’ve been insulating The Shop loft in preparation for drywall this week.  Now that we have permission to occupy the shop, our goal is to finish the loft and move all of belongings that are in our offsight storage units into the loft.  I think it’s going to be a long week…

I love the Puget Sound area because of the moderate temperatures and lush, green landscapes from all of our rain.  So I’m sure you can understand why Ben and I are really tired of this arctic weather we’ve been having this week.  

It was warmer this morning when I left for work ~ 17 degrees.   Ben took a shower last night only to find that the plumbing system under the motor home is frozen solid when the water wouldn’t drain out of the shower.  There’s nothing worse than standing in your own dirty water! Yuck!!  He put one of the space heaters under the coach to thaw out the line but I didn’t stay up long enough to see if this solved the issue.  I think I’ll be taking my shower today at LA Fitness…

In hind sight, I guess I should have cleaned these brushes last weekend!

I’ve got two more days to wrap up several big projects at work so that I can spend most of next week with my Mom.  She and Nathan arrive on Monday night from Raleigh, NC.  It’s been 4 years since they’ve been home  ~ WAY too long.  But I guess time flies when you’re retired and have so many places to go and see.  This weather better warm up for them next week or I may not get them home again for a really long time!

12/09/09 Living Room windows

It was 11 degrees when I left for the office this morning!  Bbbrrrrrrr…. Ben spent most of the day yesterday re-wrapping our motorhome and wood shop water lines with insulation and a heating coil.   I had running water this morning to make my coffee so Ben did good!

I just got a call this morning from a good friend who needs my help later this week shopping for something very important.  Can’t say more than that yet, but I’m very excited!  I should have BIG news to share soon once the “secret” is revealed :0)

2009 Christmas Cards

I spent the last few evenings addressing 175 Christmas cards.   If you didn’t get one it’s only because I don’t have your current address (so email me your address!).  

In retrospect, I should have unwrapped and fired up the gas fireplace while I was writting.  My propane heater was soon out of fuel, leaving my fingers too cold to continue writing.  

We have a neighborhood party coming up this Saturday night called “The Walk Around The Lake”.  We will walk around the lake with 25 of our neighbors visiting 7 different houses, including ours, for snacks and beverages.  It should be a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to getting to know a few more of our Lake People.   I’m still trying to decide on what to serve… definitely Cheryle’s Smoked Salmon dip and maybe Bailey’s & hot chocolate.  The weather forecast says SNOW for Saturday but when do “they” ever forecast snow correctly in Seattle?

It looks like it’s going to be another cold Winter in the motor home.  Our water line to the coach froze up last night as the temperature dipped down to 22 degrees… Brrrr… 

11/12/2009 - the new shop door

11/20/2009 testing out the new boiler system