Light, Tunnel, Train...

Well, I do see a light at the end of this work tunnel I have been traveling through and believe it is not a train! What a good lesson January has been. I have learned a little about what boundaries I need to set and what my life really wants. Balance!

So, back to the real purpose of this blog; to share what life is like up here. Winter is slowly making way for Spring. We are having an El Nino winter and  that means it is drier and warmer than usual. The jet stream is sending the rain further south (to California). Don't get me wrong. It rains. But not the drenching that folks seem to associate with living up here. The trees and bushes are beginning to bud and the bulbs John planted are poking their heads up just a little. Birds of several varieties have populated the bird feeders. Two species of woodpeckers, flickers, chickadees, and others we haven't yet figured out. Robins are everywhere taking advantage of the wet soil and the worms that are accessible. At times we have counted more than a dozen in the yard/meadow/jungle clearing. We even saw a large raptor fly through that was, as near as we can identify, a golden eagle. We plan to put our wellies on this weekend and trek back into the woods to see what's there now that the undergrowth is sparse.

The weekend will bring another gardening class for John and we have plans on Saturday evening. Tonight we will go to our favorite restaurant for wine tasting and dinner. The burg is actually quite lively in the evening. Last weekend we met up with a couple for dinner and had such a good time. Similar interests and good conversation. So, after 8 months I'd say we are taking root in our new place. Come to think of it, I haven't even seen a train since moving up here :-)

Missing Me...

As I suspected, this month is very full and flying by. Unfortunately, it's very full of work. Don't get me wrong. I signed on for the job, but I have this big life and work is only a part of it. When it infringes on the rest, taking up space that rightfully belongs to the "things I enjoy that are not work" then I find I am missing me a little. So, not much to write about this week because life is crowded. But this too shall pass (and bloody soon!)

John has been down in the Bay Area this week enduring the heavy rains and even a thunderstorm. Glad we live up here!! He'll return tomorrow evening. That will be nice. Watch this space...

Riding the January Wave...

This month is going to fly by! There is much going on at work and it is seeping into the weekends. Hopefully things will begin to settle down very soon as some projects get completed. John has returned from the Bay Area after one of his twice monthly junkets. I'll put him to good use while I've got him. The honey-do list is rarely complete. I managed to break one of the bi-fold doors to the laundry upstairs. It was rubbing against the trim while opening and after analyzing it carefully, I grabbed hold of the bottom edge, gave it a few good tugs (it was being stubborn, you see) and managed to tug it right out of its hardware! It came right off. The whole thing. And it doesn't appear to go back on too easily. We have ordered a little thingamajiggy that promises to be just the ticket for repairing these types of well-intentioned accidental acts of destruction. We shall see. If not, we'll be ordering some new doors.

The Christmas tree will be taken down today. It always feels like a fresh start when the tree and the decorations are removed. I like having it up and I like having it go away. I have in mind to get a sewing cabinet so I can have all the "stuff" at the ready when I have moments to move a project along. Right now there is that quilt wall-hanging that is nagging me and it requires setting up the machine (somewhere) with all the accompanying tools to be able to focus on it. The dining room table is the space that it has claimed most recently and once I clear the decorations, that's where I will set it up again. But a sewing cabinet would be nice.

John is going to take a series of day-long gardening classes from Washington State University here. There are 2 in January and 2 in February. Just in time to learn more about the conditions up here and get us primed for Spring planting! We've decided to have raised planting boxes which alleviates having to dig in this rocky soil. And we're getting some hazelnut trees/bushes to accompany the fruit tress which will go in (apples, pears, and apricots are the current thought). Thankfully, several recipients of the blackberry jam at Christmas have volunteered to take more of that off our hands when we make it again this summer. I think I gave out 30 jars. There is only one left in the pantry now. And we will start to look at gardening sheds and how to get one installed/built.

Our weather is probably some of the best in the country right now. In the 40s, occasional light rain. We're okay with that...