Christmas at the house

The house is done enough that social events aren't deadly! We went to the neighbor's caroling party and they came over and sang in the living room.  It has great acoustics! 

 My tiny Christmas tree

 And another pretty lake view

Merry Christmas everyone

Project Runway

Seth Aaron from Project Runway happens to be from Vancouver.  He has been hosting viewing parties at a local pizza place all season.  For most of the term, I had classes Thursday night, but for the past few weeks we have been able to go.  Turns out he is exactly who he appears to be on tv.  When we ran into him as we were leaving, he sat and chatted for a while, with a fun conversation even though he was obviously freezing.  I officially like him.  

Light project

Eric and I have been working on making the lights for over the bar.  I love the veneer lights but they are always super expensive, and often not that nice.  I found one I loved, but the website was in Japanese and ordering it wasn't really possible.  So, we made them.  

Poplar veneer

 with a flashlight

 I fell in love with them because you can do this

 and hung over the bar.  Pretty aren't they?

Snow in Vancouver

Cold, oh so cold.

At my house, the hot water pipe froze.  Yes, the hot one.  We had running water but no hot water for a week in this crazy cold weather.  

Then it got colder.  Vancouver lake froze over.  Eric's well even froze.  I made Christmas candy at the house because my kitchen really is too small and well, I'm impatient.  but it was record breaking cold,  there was no water (at first), the emergency heat system couldn't keep up (why no real heat system? bureaucracy my dears). My candy on the induction stove was boiling at the bottom and cold at top.  Makes for some odd consistency candy let me tell you.  It was an interesting experience.

 But, it was really pretty.  I guess that makes up for it.  A little bit.

Fall 2013 classes

I only had 3 classes this fall.  Some really great kids though

Friday night biology 112.  Friday night.

 Environmental Science 171.  

We had some really great field trips for this one.  Man Im glad I don't have to plan any more for a while though.

Biology 101

This group asked so many great questions that I never finished on time.  and I talk fast!

Little house updates

Before it got too cold, I went crazy putting plants in the ground.  I'm nesting so bad.  And who can pass up 50% off perennials just because they are ugly for winter? spring makes things pretty!

 Another sunset picture, I can't help myself

 Lights are going in and finally getting hooked up.  Sputnik is enabled!

Hike with the girls

Katherine's sister Becky and her husband Mike were in town.  We all went for a lovely hike on the beach.  Some of the best weather I've every seen on the Oregon coast, and it was the end of November!

 the girls were great hikers, and Isabella is already a naturalist.

Gampy's 89th birthday

Eric and I took a quick trip down to Eureka for his grandfather's 89th birthday party.  

Three generations of Hales

On the way back we took it slow along the coast and explored.

Moonstone Beach 

 Patricks Point

 Fern Canyon

 We asked a nice lady to take our picture, you can see how well that turned out.  Oh well.

 And on one of the last stops before the light left us, up the Smith River Canyon... Darlingtonia!

 Gotta love carnivorous plants!

Sam is getting...um fill in the blank?

Halloween

For some reason, my students had a hard time concentrating last Thursday.  

Mushrooms and razor clams

Katherine and John and the girls joined us up at Eric's Parent's place for a weekend of playing on the beach and digging clams.  It was a ton of fun.  Also, group naps

Chanterelles have been amazing this year.  Here is my harvest from one solitary hour of picking.  and I left behind most of what I found.  

September house

I took most of these pictures so we could figure out where lights needed to go, but they are pretty so I thought I would post them

Looking from the living room into the dining room

 Dining room into the living room

 Down from the office into the living room

 Master bedroom

 Stairs.  You would never believe it looking at this, but those silly glass panels have been redone 5-6 times due to cutting them wrong.  These aren't even the final ones.  templates anyone?

 Finally, my table.  Putting epoxy on has been a disaster and needs to be redone.  ugh.  But you can see how pretty the colors turned out.  

Evil is beautiful

Purple Loosestrife in Milwaukie

Summer of the fleas

This summer has been difficult for many reasons, but I think the crowning joy was the fleas.  Two winters without a good freeze, a neighborhood full of stray cats, and a tiny house filled with 3 cats of our own and a dog = fleas fleas fleas.

Every time we left this summer, for a weekend or longer (and we left a lot), we came home to a house full of fleas.  So bad that your socks would be covered in seconds.  This is after having everyone on the flea drops, spraying the house (I hated to do it), vacuuming every time we could, flea shampooing everyone (not a happy day for anyone)...

When this wasn't working, we flea bombed, twice (I really hated to do that).  It usually went like this.  We get home in the evening from a trip, the house is full of fleas.  We bundle all the cats into the garage, which is of course ludicrously full of junk for the move (someday), set up the tent in the garden, and bomb the house.  In the morning, air everything out, bundle everyone back in and take off for the next destination.  

To come home and do it again.

Poor Gus and Mirabel had horrible reactions to the fleas too and we lived for over a month with kitty 'flowers'

Let's just say it wasn't fun

August progress

Fun things happening at the house

Lights are starting to go up

 Cabinets are getting further along

 This will eventually be the headboard for our bed.  It was a painful process to get the bark off all those little nubs.

 Hall closet has doors!

 The bedroom you will stay in when you visit.

 Master bath with the prettiest countertop ever.  Its recycled sky vodka bottles.

 This was ten foot high weeds and I couldn't take it any more.  That will someday be a lawn.

 Patios

 From the lake