03.31.08
Posted in Redwood Living at 6:36 am by Lynette
Today may just be the day when we get notification when we are signing papers for our property. Call me negative, a pessimist or just a realist but until all parties have signed the papers and the money is in the bank it is not a done deal.
Thus far all we’ve ‘invested’ is time, pain and some gas to run the chain saw. If things happen as we hope they will, we’ll be spending next weekend with our new landlords for a celebration. By staying ‘up there’ I can work my men like dogs!
Here is our property as viewed from Hill House (the house on top of the hill above us)
Here is the view looking down the canyon to the ‘great outdoors’.
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03.25.08
Posted in Gardening at 8:37 am by Lynette
Even though it is overcast outside;
Even though it is chilly outside;
Even though we are still having night frosts;
My seedlings are alive, ALIVE I SAY, A L I V E!
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03.21.08
Posted in Redwood Living at 12:50 pm by Lynette
Spring, did you say yesterday was the first day of spring? Can’t tell by these photos.
The kids took ski lessons earlier in the week at Mt. Bachelor in the middle of a blizzard.
They did great! Hung in there and actually skied down the mountain twice – with help.
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03.20.08
Posted in Redwood Living at 6:25 am by Lynette
Always in the back of my mind has been the fact that my DH was previously married with a son. The last time we saw him was when we moved up here to The REAL Northern California; 20 years ago. I won’t go into the particulars of this child, previous marriage and their life together. Leave it to say it was full of drugs (on her part) alcohol (on both sides) and severe PTSD from 2 tours in Vietnam (his part.) Over these past 20 years I’ve marked time wondering what he was doing. Was he married, children? Were we Grandparents?
About 9 years ago I awoke to have the unquenchable urge to call his grandparents home. I never met them, I never even met the Dh’s ex wife. But the urge would not go away. So I called, just to give our phone # and address. How could I have known that the whole family was there because his Grandfather had passed away that week. Even more amazing was he was there. I talked briefly with him, gave our address and phone # to his Grandmother and said the ‘ball is in your court’. If you want contact, you know how to get in touch with of us.
The DH and I had the feeling one day he would ‘walk down the road’ and knock on the door. The question was would he sock the husband in the nose because he was pissed off or embrace him as a long lost dad.
Two weeks ago we received a letter with pictures. He married last year, is 33 and has ‘walked down the road’ so to speak. He has struggled his adult life with learning disabilities (I’m sure the result of the drugs and alcohol during his mom’s pregnancy). He was homeless for a while and worked with a volunteer group in Humboldt County. He tried to enlist in the Army, become a police officer and a correctional officer but due to the learning disabilities was unable to pass the tests. He is on SSI.
I read the letter with mixed feelings. Not knowing how my husband would react to the outreached hand after 20 years. The DH is a quiet man. He thinks a lot and does not express his feelings because of his own ADD. I had no idea what was going through his mind. After 2 weeks of him not replying to the letter or even talking about it I sat him down and told him what I thought. I said, “this young man has taken a step that took 20 years. He has taken a chance and written you a letter and initiated contact. You’ve spent the last 2 weeks not even talking about this. How insulting to him. You know he is waiting every day to see if you answer. It is time to either respond positively or tell him you’re not interested.” Basically Fish or Cut bait.
Finally the angst came out. “What do I say?” he asked me. “Sorry for being such an A-hole for not contacting you for 20 years? I don’t want to talk to his mother or any of that side of the family”.
“But do you want to have contact?” I asked.
“Yes, but I don’t know what to say.” he replied.
So I wrote the letter talking about our life and his half siblings. I included a brief apology about not keeping in touch and included a wedding gift card and a family picture. Once again, the ball was back in his court.
He replied and we’ve started a tentative mail relationship. Yesterday the DH said, “I guess we should write Eddie Spaghetti back”. The significance of him referring to his childhood name and taking the initiative to write him back was refreshing. We have a long way to go with this relationship reconnection. It will be an interesting next few months as we correspond with each other. My hope is to pay their way up here for a visit. In my mind’s eye I see us meeting the bus at Arcata with an embrace as he and his wife step off. It would be a wonderful thing to be able to introduce him back into the family.
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03.14.08
Posted in Redwood Living at 8:12 am by Lynette
I’m an early riser. My youngest cannot understand why someone would choose to get up at 5:45 in the morning; even on weekends. One reason is after 7 hours I’ve had enough sleep. I’ve always been a morning person. I cannot see the benefit to laying in bed and miss everything that happens early in the morning.
Sunrise only comes once a day. And here on the Pacific Coast it usually is represented by clear blue sky and a blush. At this time of year at 6:30 you can step outside and everything looks pink. It is soothing to my soul.
At 5:45 I slip on the garden clogs and pick my way through the clutter in the garage, avoid the pot holes filled with water and use the neighbor’s bathroom light to guide me to our rural newspaper box. The other morning I was caught by our Times Standard delivery guy. I was half way between the house and road when I realized he was driving toward me. Initially the idea flashed through my head to hide behind the big redwood tree; but then I thought, if he sees me that will seem just really weird. So I stood in the road with my garden clogs, snowman flannel pants, purple nightgown and blue robe as he handed me the paper. (I was pure sexy that morning!)
Another early morning chore is slug hunting. As we get closer to planting season, this becomes one of my early 
morning rituals. Walking out to the garden to ‘pick’ big, huge yellow banana slugs from the garden. So far I’ve been lucky to keep my string of purls plants slug free. Hanging helps.
Side Note: Today I read in the newspaper there is a conservation group in the Portland Oregon area who want to stop the logging of nearby forests to save the slugs. Oh my, I sure hope those 12 guys I put in the water bucket this morning are not endangered. Of course, in actuality, they are endangered, as I admit my goal is to kill them. Otherwise my garden will become extinct.
Also in the morning you’ll see this in my yard. Oregon Junco’s bathing in the fish pond. As the koi come out of their hibernation they are really interested in what those birds are doing in their pond.
Finally, the cat is waking from her night’s sleep. I think. I really don’t know whether she is waking or getting ready to go to sleep for the day. She seems to sleep all the time.
I cannot imagine sleeping in and missing the early, crisp mornings where I sit and watch the birds leave the trees, the sky blush with the morning or the Juncos bathing. Add to that a cup ‘o coffee and the morning Sodoku and I’m good to go for the day.
Finally
The DD has reached the time in her pregnancy (68 days to go) where she is ‘nesting’ and making things for baby. Here is here latest creation. The students were impressed and rightfully so, it is very cute! 
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03.05.08
Posted in Redwood Living at 1:51 pm by Lynette
I know it isn’t eye candy friday but who can resist these? My good friend Linda of Riyescott Ranch is in the middle of spring lambing.
Or maybe this one :
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03.04.08
Posted in Redwood Living at 9:07 am by Lynette
What is a good type of tired? The kind that comes from working outside, walking up hills, moving branches and trudging through a creek. What is the bad type of tired? The kind that comes from sitting in front of the life-sucking TV, napping too much, eating to excess.
I’m the good type of tired, and sore I might add. Even though we’ve not ‘officially’ signed the papers for the property, we go up one day each weekend to work. Yesterday was a bonus day because the plumber was doing the flow test. This is where he attached a pump to the cistern and pumps out all the water, or tries to. He got down to 3 feet of water and the level stayed there. When he started there was 7 feet of water. So that is great news for us. We will have no shortage of water. While sitting there watching him I was amazed to see how much water flows out of that hill. All around me there were little rivers of water seeping out of the hillside and running down to the creek. As were were getting ready to leave I decided to walk up the creek, clearing tree limbs that had fallen as a result of past logging. I got all the way up to the 4′ waterfall. It was very cool. I know the kids will love to be down there exploring.
A side effect of the good type of tired comes weirdness. Not weirdness from me but the DH. It is a ritual that every night the cat sits on his lap and they play ‘kitty feet’. This means they tussle as he tries to grab her back foot and she defends her honor. But last night degraded into the weird. It was kitty hat night. Here is the only one I could capture on film. Here is kitty the sailor. 
The history of hat nights starts with AL and went through all 4 kids. I have pictures with paper hats, diaper hats, turbans, you name it. Whatever could and can be made from a cloth diaper or a piece of newspaper the DH has made into a hat and stuck on someone’s head. Ah, it’s the memories we cherish!
No kitties were harmed so don’t worry.
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