Uncle Ken, the Architect

Ken has been by to visit quite a bit lately. I'm not sure what's been holding him back the past several years, because I think he's been here more in the past 3 months than he has in the entire 7 years that I've been with Jesse. I'm trying to convince him to move here, because it would be freaking awesome!

Jesse and Ken go way back and are man BFF's. The kids adore him and have even proposed that I go live with Ken in San Francisco so that he can be their dad. It's not that their own dad isn't a good dad. In fact, my kids pretty much hit the dad jackpot. But when they see uncle Ken, they have dance parties with strobe lights and disco balls. He's a fresh face and plays differently than mom and dad. He plays like a guy that doesn't live with kids every single day. I bet when Ken decides to settle down, the kids will dump both of us and move to San Francisco full time.

As we were heading back to Hood River, we passed the annual Fremont street festival. Bummer, because it's a lot of fun, but too miserably hot the past two years. Today is pretty cool and perfect for a street fair. Maybe next year!

I just want to say that I didn't have fun with my kids this weekend. It was all I could do to get away from them. It might have had something to do with the fact that their dad had been out of town for 4 days and I needed a break. Every once in a while I would muster up the energy to take them on some adventure, only to be reminded of why I should not have attempted it in the first place.

The first time was at The Gorge White House, right off Hwy 35 on the fruit loop. We were interested in checking out the place, because the BnB has a double decker porch that I admire and may want to replicate on our house in some way. We have never stopped here before, so we were completely in awe as we stepped out of the car and took in the scenery. Absolutely stunning and amazing. They have uPick fields and lovely flower gardens. We think we might want to try this on our land, on a smaller scale. I'm particularly interested in the sunflowers, because they are extremely good for the soil. Quite a bit of our land is historic orchard, so we are going to pay particular interest initially in growing plants that first remove toxins from the soil, then introduce nutrients. But that's another conversation.

Here is a link to the website.

http://thegorgewhitehouse.com/

When we first got out of the car, J came out of the car in a UT baseball cap, and I heard a man yell, "y'all better be from Texas if y'all are wearing a UT hat." Of course, being from Houston, I didn't take any offense to that, and went over and had a nice chat with the couple from 'somewhere near Dallas.' They were staying at the BnB and seemed to be having a really nice adult vacation.

Jesse thinks it's funny when I refer to things as adult or child, because sometimes, calling things adult just sounds raunchy. Like the other day, I told a woman at the children's bookstore I frequent that I think it's cool that they have adult books too. She asked me to please not refer to them as adult books, especially in a children's bookstore. So I'd like to clarify that by adult vacation, I mean that you get to drink a glass of wine and not constantly endure whining or numerous visits to the bathroom. Anyway, if there's another word I could use other than adult, it would be great to know. 

We kind of hit the end of blueberry picking season, and they weren't allowing anyone to pick the gigantic, delicious strawberries that were still growing, so we pretty much struck out. It didn't help that as soon as we got out to the far end of the field, J needed to go potty and M was complaining about the heat. Normally, I would just tell him to water a nearby tree, but it just didn't seem like the right thing to do at a public garden.

Apparently, I didn't learn my lesson at the last place, so, undeterred, I tried my luck at Rasmussen Farms. They were having a festival as well. A quilt show and Van Gogh festival. Once again, the complaints started as soon as we got out of the car. I'm hot, carry me, I'm hungry, it's too sunny....

I ignored the whining and carried on. 

http://www.rasmussenfarms.com/

We will definitely be back for the Pumpkin festival!

                          ***************

Back at the house, Jesse and Ken were in the midst of a measuring marathon. They started measuring from the moment they arrived and didn't stop all weekend until it was time for Ken to head to the airport, back to San Francisco. That's friendship, man. Here he is putting all the info into the computer to come up with a cool rendering of the house.

While the guys were measuring the house and the kids were playing, I decided to take the carpet I pulled out last weekend to the dump. Mrs. B was sweet enough to lend us her truck while she's in transition to her new place and while we wait to take a century's worth of chemicals to the hazardous waste collection site. 

So I head down to the dump with my truck full of carpet, and I get there, and the CUTEST guy comes up to the car, measures my load and says $24, cash or check. Of course I only have cash, and I only have $22, because the cute fireman that was collecting cash on the road minutes before just took my $2. Before you think how cheap I am, I really wanted to give more, but it was a split second decision, and I grabbed the first thing I saw.

So I asked the cute guy if he could just take $22 worth of stuff, but he said go on, and just back up to the corner and dump it over there. 

Easier said than done. My truck doesn't have a rearview window. I managed and when I got out of the truck, and even CUTER guy was unloading some stuff from his trailer. 

Hello, single ladies! All the hot guys are at the dump!!!!!!

Soooo, I start to put my mask on, and this hunky guy comes over and asks if I would like some help. He literally grabs the entire bed of carpet in two handfuls and he's done. What would have taken a good 30 minutes, took him about 45 seconds. 

So I left the dump perfectly clean and with a little skip in my step. There are still gentlemen out there (other than my husband, who is perfect) and it exists in small towns.

Here I am with my gear, post dump:

Jesse, right away, when we bought the farm, suggested we need a pickup truck, but I was not convinced. I'm convinced now. Especially if we can get one for less than $1000.

On my way back from the dump, I decided to head over to Sears to get a washer and dryer for the farm. I tried Craigs List a few times, but they don't come up too often, and go quickly. I found a decent set on sale for $1000 (don't get me started on the ridiculous pricing schemes these guys play - yes I did notice that all the prices are different from one week ago, sir)!

But what really caught my eye is this:

Check out this puppy. Either I just haven't been into a sears in a long time, or this is what the small town Sears get. This sucker has a blinking cursor and everything!

At the end of the day, we decided to walk up the hill from the house to the "picnic spot." There stands a giant tree, and views of the valley as far as the eye can see. I found an old walking stick I had purchased many years before for a future unknown moment in time, and we headed up.

I like it up here. I could see us living up here 20 years from now in a small cabin with a front porch, living off the grid.

But we have something special down the hill, waiting for us to give it some love.

Check out my neighbor's antique milk truck. I want it, and I want it bad.

Isn't it cute? Look! It has big eyes, cute little orange cheeks, and a big happy smile. 

Look what else we have - another barn! I have plans for this, but I'm not going to say what yet.

OK, good night. I would like to end this post by saying, no matter how many times I call this guy or that guy cute, it's only as a public service announcement for all the single ladies out there. I want you all to be as happy as I am.

Peace!

P.s. Uncle Ken is single and I'm taking applications.