lazy days of summer

Wish I could say more, but not much to say. Until we can come up with a lot more cash, the flooring project is on hold. The 4th of July was quiet around here - we stopped at a BBQ hosted by some friends, but didn't hold out for the fireworks. Something about glorifying war really bothered me this year ("the bombs bursting in air...") - I'm just not feeling so patriotic lately.

So G and I keep working, coming home to enjoy the sunset from the deck and our grill, still amazed that it stays light out until 9:40pm. We are finally having real summer weather with blue skies and temperatures in the low (low) eighties. This is why I love Seattle. I have to travel to Los Angeles, just in time for the heat wave - 100+!, for the last couple days of this week. Brunch is on Sunday, so we may have pictures to share from that.

work in progress

I have a feeling the house is going to be in a permanent state of "work in progress" for many many months to come. As soon as we get one project done, another rears its head. So many dreams, so little cash. So one project at a time is how it moves forward... 

The bathroom is finished, officially. Look how well it came out! Well, here is what was there before, nasty brown cabinet with low sink, standard toilet, awful linoleum.  

Then enter my amazing G. He removed all offending fixtures, painted the walls a nice green, installed a new Marmoleum floor, put in a new sink and cabinet (at the right height for us tall folk) and installed a new low flow dual flush toilet. That toilet uses .9 gallons of water to flush. Outrageous!! 

In other exciting house news, we have decided to install hardwood floors. And of course, because we're us, we are doing it ourselves. We're using Tigerwood, a South American hardwood that is FSC certified. We tried to buy the pneumatic nailer at Home Despot, but they didn't have the right kind of nails for it (!?!?!?!?!?!?!) so instead of buying the expensive nailer and the compressor and the bits n pieces for the compressor, we bought a manual hardwood nailer. We saved a ton of money, and it can't be that hard, right?? 

Ha. This is an interesting lesson. So if you don't hit the nailer with the exact right amount of force, the nail doesn't go in all the way. If you hit it too hard, it will split the tongue of the board. Sounds fun, eh?? Well, here are D. and G. trying to figure it out: 

                

After a long Saturday evening of trying to sort it out... we three decided to return said manual nailer and go for the pneumatic one. We didn't make it back to the store on Sunday due to a Rebreather class... and for some reason, by Tuesday afternoon, G. decided to give the manual version a try again. He seemed to get in the swing of things... look how awesome the floor looks at this point!! 

(This is the second spare room, not the guest room, but the Other guest room - we painted it yellow after we ripped out the carpet and found 50 year old cork floors that simply couldn't be refinished. Sally- it's the room you stayed in... )

And I just came across this photo - I had to post it because I love the look on C.'s face. This was an impromptu BBQ we had a couple months ago - We ate ribs and shrimp and crab and scallops and corn. Well, I take that back. That is what the boys ate. I just ate corn. :)

Actually, I did try a scallop (still think they're gross) and a shrimp (I could probably eat these again) and a bite of ribs (tasty!) and a bite of crab (no thank you, even when coated in butter). See, I am working on being a good little omnivore! 

Ah, glorious life! 

summer is almost not here

Time for pictures!  A couple of pictures from our kayaking adventure.... S. and I. and myself in this photos:  

A. and her friend C. from back East:B., very excited about being out on the water... G., the day before - what you are not seeing are the two pods of Orcas underwater, every time they surfaced I couldn't get a good shot, so frustrating... 

Sorry it took two weeks to get those posted... sheesh. Last weekend was Solstice, and A. had her annual party. We had an absolute blast - hanging out with the chickens, making pizzas in the cobb oven, shucking oysters on the lawn, making s'mores around the campfire. I wish the weather had been better - I was in my winter down jacket! Oh well. Life is what it is in the Pacific Northwest. At least now we are officially in summer!! 

time travel

The days are going by so quickly. I remember my uncle explaining to me that the passage of time could be measured with a mathematical equation - when you are five years old, a year is 1/5th of your life; hence summer seems never-ending. When you are 10 years old, a year is 1/10th of your life; summer is still delightfully long, measured in meandering months. When you are 20, and a year is 1/20th of your life, summer starts to become shorter and shorter, measured in weeks. And now that I am in my thirties (eek!) and a year is 1/33rd of my life... well, summer seems to be fleeting.

Especially here in Seattle, where we have grey skies and sixty degree weather in the middle of June.

We did manage to capture a true summer weekend though, as last weekend we went up to the San Juan Islands with some friends for a couple days of camping and kayaking. We saw blue skies, a pod of Orca whales, and a sunset at 9pm. And we ate s'mores, because A. thinks of everything.

In true summer fashion, we are measuring the days in terms of 'days off". I had to work on Monday but G had some time to spare, so he went out and procured some new paint AND repainted the master bath a more relaxed shade of green (our first choice was a bit too limey - now its more avacadoey). He is the best ever. Floor goes in next!!

more life photos

So here we are on the top of the pinnacle. That would be G, me, A and C.



Wait, what pinnacle, you ask? When I said rock climbing, I should have said small mountain climbing. Here is the "rock" we climbed... and yes, that's our hybrid SUV sitting at the bottom of the "rock".






To be fair, we started the climb at the first bump on the right side of the image. It was a quick hike up to that point.



Speaking of hiking, G and I went up to Wallace Falls to stretch the legs and get some air. It was the first really pleasant day of spring....
We even got a rainbow out of the deal. The falls were raging. It was fantastic.


I think it's the adventure that drives G; it's the "get-away-from-it-all" that drives me to explore our natural surroundings. Living in the Pacific Northwest helps tremendously. Mountains, oceans, lakes, rivers, valleys, plains... I don't mean to brag, but we got it all. Being outside, in the natural world, rain or shine - the journey truly is the destination.

life update, with photos

So in the last couple months, we've been rock climbing, hiking, scuba diving (on rebreathers) and sailing. We've had a couple lovely Sunday brunches too. And worked on the house. No wonder I like the idea of napping but rarely indulge...

Here are a few photos. Work first, then play...



Above is a picture through the kitchen, facing the dining and living rooms. Windows face East. Why would someone build such bizarre cabinetry that blocks the view of happy guests eating dinner? We couldn't figure it out either... so...


Away it went. We made it G&E height, slapped a wooden counter top on, called it good. First major-major house renovation, I love it!


Then we went to play in Leavenworth. We went rockclimbing with A and K. These ladies know what the dirt they are doing. Me, not so much. G, somewhat. We all agreed on a lovely 3 pitch 5.5 to 5.7 route, should have been (relatively) easy, handholds and all... which it was, but there were also some burley spots that you had to get creative to get through. Not so bad for my 4th climb ever. I see more of this in our future.


Awesome climbing photo of A...













(Yeah, she is way up there. And we followed her up. She is great for leading. K made excellent back-up/support. We had an absolute blast.)

Blogger won't let me add more photos. Meanie.



To be continued......

why here, why now?

Many things going on this time around the planet: G and I bought a house. I just had my birthday. We are coming up on our three year wedding anniversary. Last month, we got from a scuba diving adventure in Indonesia. All these happens made me want to create a space to share the stories of these adventures - and show off the photos to prove it! So here we are. An interesting process, to decide what gets posted and what doesn't. It has kept me from even starting - and everything has to start somewhere. And so, we begin.

We bought a house in a Northern suburb of Seattle. The house was listed with cork floors, something that appealed to the environmentalist in both of us. The previous owners decided to carpet over the cork (the entire upstairs!) to get a quick sale. Their choice of carpet became our heartache - nasty 100% polyester which sheds like an overheated Golden Retriever in a heat wave - and we are removing it. Our plan was to remove it in one room to see what condition the cork is in, and of course true to our nature we got carried away. So we removed the carpet in the spare bedroom (cork in reasonable shape for being 50+ years old) and then we tackled the master bedroom (cork mostly okay). In the process of pulling up the carpet in the bedroom, our new-ish bedframe busted. After many phone calls back to the store, there is a new bedframe on its way to our house. 

Maybe they can deliver a new floor too? The cork is in okay condition - we haven't pulled up carpet anywhere that covers a high traffic area yet, but I believe that we will find a not-so-happy floor when we get to that point. Of course, the floor that we have been drooling over is $18/sqft! (Of course it is!!)

Ah, the saga unfolds.