December 4, 2011

Jesse on north ridge

As you can see in the photo, there is no snow left on the lower elevations,  however there is still a lot of ice on our road.  It was a much slower, slicker trip down on Friday due to the cycles of melting and freezing we have had.  But JB becomes one with his Jeep, and we made it down and back up quite safely. 

I learned at Costco that I had waited too long to use the cartridge they had refilled, but they gave me my money back anyway.  Talk about customer service!  So I had to buy a new color cartridge, which they don't carry.  We did some other shopping, picked up the mail, got gas and headed back home. 

This was the first we had left the dogs at home for any length of time since Jesse learned how to climb the stairs into the loft.  Really didn't think about that when we left.  When we were not home in time for their morning treat (11:00 a.m.), Jesse went upstairs and brought down two antlers that were under my crafting table.  It was so nice of him to bring one for Dinga to chew on too.  Such a gentleman!  But that was all that was amiss when we returned home and they were thrilled to see us, so I could hardly be mad at him.  Although if we leave them again, I may block the stairs. . .

And speaking of gas, JB learned that the reason he is having a problem with the spark plug getting gummed up in the snow thrower, is because small engines tend to have a problem with gas with ethanol in it.  We discovered that several places in Wenatchee sell gas without ethanol, so that is what we are buying from now on for the small engines that we have.

We spent Friday evening reading magazines and newspapers, and finished during a leisurely Saturday morning.  Then JB went out to work in his shop and I made Christmas cards.  Having finally achieved the look I wanted, I got busy printing everything and then started cutting, stamping, embossing, gluing, etc., etc.  Lots of work to do in the next couple days as I would like to have them all done by the time JB goes back Down There on Tuesday.

I am so pleased at how long potatoes and squash are keeping in our "root cellar."  I mentioned previously that we are using the crawl space for such storage and I had covered a wood crate with screen to keep out any bugs or mice that might be down there.  When I was outside the other day, I looked at the west side of the shop which is about two to three feet from a four foot dirt wall.  If we dig that out to about three to four feet wide and build up the dirt side by a foot or two, we could then build a slanted roof from the shop to the dirt and cover it with sod, like RJ did for his roof.  Then we could build a dirt filled wall against the side of the shop; close the two ends; and, viola!  A real root cellar.  For wanting to take it easy next summer, I've already got quite a list of projects.  But they are all small ones.  Not even this root cellar would be as time consuming as the shop and deck.  (Although I may end up having to add that to my list of Famous Last Words.)

Note to Chris: If you would like to e-mail any questions you have to camp.rose08@gmail.com, I can answer them for you.  Thanks for becoming a follower!

Thought for the day:  I may not be totally perfect, but parts of me are excellent.    Ashleigh Brilliant