Abandoned apple orchard

Husband wants to take down the giant metal triangles. I think it's art.

What do you think?

the work continues

We are, like the rest of the country, in a brutal cold snap. Daytime highs in the 20's and lows in the single digits. Meanwhile, we still don't have heat at the farm. But the work continues...

The contractor finished removing all the plaster and lath from the attic, and, aside from the 50 pounds of bat poo he found in the ceiling of one attic room, the rest of the other attic room had even more bee hives. Luckily, just abandoned bee hives and no more bees. I'm glad I wasn't there to see the mess, but kind of would have liked to see a picture. I did take these...

So much for leaving the chimney exposed. What a freaking mess. It's a kittywompus, sticky, yucky thing. Any ideas how to beautify this guy without breaking the bank? A coat of plaster? Brick veneer?

another frozen window...

Also, we are suddenly tasked with figuring out an electrical scheme.

The contractor thinks the easiest route is to leave the sub panel in one of the bedrooms. I don't like the idea, because I don't want a bed placed right next to an electrical sub panel. He suggested rerouting the wires from that sub panel to the living room of the attic, but again, there would still be electrical wires concentrated in that sleeping area. Upon closer inspection, we realized that almost the entire house is being fed wires from this panel. Why? Why would you run a wire all the way up to the attic to a sub panel and then wire everything off of that? We told him, just cut the wires to the rest of the house and have a sub panel feed just the attic. We'll figure out the rest of the house as we go on.

Then I schooled myself on EMF's. Holy cow, I guess sub panels are really evil. Now I am thinking of removing the sub panel altogether and running wire from the basement in an emf shielding pipe. I think that idea is the best. Concentrate all the breakers in the basement. He's on board with that too.

When I mentioned that I want outlets in the baseboard molding, he mentioned that a former client of his read something about the positioning of the outlets sideways causes some kind of electrical current action that is worse than if the outlets are vertical. I found it pleasing that I am not the only one out there OCD'ing on all things electrical, and am now tasked with learning about that. Luckily he gave me her number, so we can obsess together.

Look, I just want a retreat that is healthy, safe, and away from the noise, pollution, and craziness of the modern world. Does it have to be that complicated?

Before we left, I took some pictures of the orchard and pasture. So pretty in the snow.

On the way home, I convinced my husband to cruise down the Old Historic Columbia River Highway. I have always wanted to see the waterfalls in a deep freeze. Here are the pictures I took.

Multnomah Falls:

and Horsetail falls:

Stay warm out there!

A case for double hung INSULATED windows

When ice forms on the INSIDE of your single pane windows, maybe those replacement windows make more sense? Sometimes you have to learn the hard way.

Searching for heat

Our main source of heat is an old oil furnace, wrapped in asbestos tape, wrapped in old insulation, covered with many years of dust.

Once the cold weather came, we knew we were in trouble. Probably doing something about this when we moved in, say in July or August would have been a good idea, but we were so involved with the exterior, we didn't have a chance to address this very important problem.

The oil tank is in pretty good shape. The wet floor below isn't from a leaking tank, it's from rainwater pouring through the cellar door and travelling to the drain at the opposite end of the basement.

This is actually a wood fired furnace. The oil furnace is to the left. Note hairy octopus arms coming out of furnace.

And here is our lovely oil furnace. I am not sure when the last time it was serviced, but I got a call from the previous owner right before heating season, telling me I should probably have it serviced.

Last week, I had an asbestos abatement crew come to remove the duct work containing asbestos. Because it was on the interior as well as the exterior, it had to be completely removed. We didn't know the extent of the tape, because quite a bit of it was covered with insulation. But the translation was lost, so every time the crew told me they were finished, I pointed to something else they forgot. It was a frustrating experience, but I am so glad I was there for the entire 8 hour process, in the freezing cold.










































All the boots were removed as well. My beautiful registers no longer have ducts to cover, but this gives us the opportunity to open up some walls before we decide what kind of heat this house will have.

Originally, we were thinking of ground source heat. However, the price is astronomical, even with government incentives. One company quoted us $30,000, another quoted $18,000. The incentives are pretty good, 30% rebate. But it's still so high, and now we need to replace ducts as well.

Radiant heat is an option, but having the house laid out properly, and making sure we have a plan in place first is paramount. Looks like heat won't happen this season.

Downtime in Portland

We ended the weekend back in Portland. The dogs needed a thorough cleaning,

and the kids needed to release some energy. So we hit our old standby, Hollywood Bowl.

I've had some good memories here, but boy, is this place hurting. Exposed wires jutting out of walls, filthy bathrooms, and different stages of construction throughout. It's generally falling apart. But we like it. There's never a wait, and it's straight up, no frills bowling.

A chilly weekend, indeed!

Another day full of vibrant scenery in Rainbow City. 

Even at our new favorite breakfast spot.

We decided to try out a new place, called Egg River Cafe. Got some great reviews. We agree - eggs are local and organic, bacon delish and staff is friendly. We were in and out pretty quickly, too. I really, really like this place.

Time to take that nasty carpet out. The pictures don't look so bad, but the carpet is filthy, and I cringe every time the kids roll around on it. 

This time it's Jesse's turn.

Strike a pose, Jesse!

OMG, look at all that dirt underneath!

Momma got to play with her little nippers again. What a great workout. My legs are sore from crouching down to pull nails out of the floor.

I've been using a HEPA vac instead of a shop vac to get the dust out. The local vacuum store (Stark Vacuums in Portland) will completely sanitize it when the renovations are finished.

Halloween in Portland

Halloween is intense on a school day. There are the school parties, parades, after school parties, visit to dad's office, Halloween parties, trick or treating, and if you're trying to do two neighborhoods, another round of trick or treating and parties. Our kids were wiped out by the end of the day. Oh, but what fun we had.

How cute are these tinies hiding out, eating candy?

And the best line of the night, by a five year old, "this is the best day ever!"

Decorating was fun....

We dipped local orchard apples in Franz Caramel - mmmmmmmmmm!

I think the kids had the most fun handing out candy.

We pulled a double header by heading to Hood River the next afternoon and hitting the Pfriem Dia de los Muertos party that night. Boy did these kids sleep in all weekend - sweet.

Super family-friendly event. The kids got to do a cupcake walk through the restaurant (where every child won eventually), and mom got a beer sampler.

We froze that night. It was fun to get all cozy with the family in a big flannel bed, but it's time to get a working furnace and or fireplace in. The fireplace appeared to be working, but it's so old, the door broke just after Jesse put in more logs. We propped it up with a metal poker, but I'd say that's the last time we'll be using it.


And the ducts are filthy and lined with asbestos tape - on the inside as well. An asbestos removal guy suggested we not use the heating system until it is remedied.

A spectacular October!

The weather was so mild this past month, we couldn't help but indulge ourselves in water fun and ice cream. The kids were so inspired one afternoon, they jumped in the local fountain and soaked themselves.

Joy is watching a child live life with complete abandon.

Lucky for me, husband was meeting me at the fountain to take the wet kids home, as I had a very important hair appointment.



We got a ton accomplished at the farm, too. The siding was finished and a french drain installed. Jesse busted up some concrete, only to end up with a case of tendonitis. 

That back deck will come down, I promise...

Unfortunately, we just didn't have time to get it painted. As dry as it was, the days started out quite foggy, and the wood was just too wet. I had a number of painting contractors over to give bids, and the honest ones were very clear that now is not the time to paint, if I want a long lasting paint job.

The last painter at the house even said that letting the shingles weather naturally will eventually result in complete failure in this climate. That they will dry out and become completely brittle. I guess that achieving that weathered beach look is out of the question.

That's somewhat good news to us, as we can now choose a stain that will protect the wood and give it a cohesive look, and a good 5 months to pick out the best color combination. He said that the stain should keep for 15 years, at which time we can re-stain or paint.

Wow, do I hope this helps with the water seeping into the basement. It's a river down there!

The front porch, that we initially planned to remove and replace with a full 2 story balcony, was restored. Talk about a budget saver. Sometimes you end up with a better result when grand plans don't happen.

Crazy loving the south side of the house. The upper shingles are such a pretty color. Too bad we can't have it all look that way.

Scrap wood will be nice kindling for some diseased orchard trees that will soon be burned.