house update for September

I've been busy with house stuff. the pile of branches in the yard is gone, and I'm expanding the garden bed in front of the shed. It gets good south sun and will be prime veggie territory next year.  I'm thinking asparagus in the middle, some climbing peas and cukes up a trellis in the back and still undecided about what gets to go in front. 

We bought and assembled a ikea bed frame. I'm glad to have the mattress off the floor!  The headboard was actually chipped, and I called ikea and they sent me a new one that arrived two days later! Ikea is amazing. I've turned the chipped headboard into a desk, so yay bonus!! 

We've been enjoying the last of the summer warmth, hanging out by the water. Nights are colder and days are getting a chill too.  

Julia enjoyed coloring on the ikea boxes. 

we discovered a new playground in Hood River! Huge!!

We've been exploring some new corners of Mosier too. 

the old highway 

"The Ruins," a concrete walled in open space featuring a pizza oven, live music, beer and childcare every tuesday in the summer. Love!

I've started taking a 4 mile walk up the twin tunnel trail pretty much daily. I bring books and apples and crackers for Julia and she generally complies with the idea though she gets antsy with the stroller after awhile.  I don't get tired of the view. I live here!

our daily "eggie" discovery. scroll quickly for a stop-action experience

a neighbor gave me a bunch of green tomatoes, and I'm going to store them somewhere and let them ripen!

I've been scrubbing the moss and dirt off the deck, getting ready to stain it with a waterproofing deck stain. Totally new homecare territory for me, but it's way easier than learning how to build a new deck. 

Julia is a huge fan of her baby stroller and we often take one or more babies and animals to the post office and back. It is 4 blocks away and it takes forever. 

I got a new textbook! Why? I'm going to become an EMT! The volunteer fire dept here in Mosier asked me if I'd be  interested in taking the class, and all tangents have worked out. It's in the evenings, two days a week and some Saturdays, so childcare is covered!  Once I'm done with the class in March, I am part of a group of about 10 responders for the community. Anyone who is available responds to calls, which average about one a week and tend toward the less dramatic. This schedule works very well for my family obligations, and so far has worked very well for the community. I'm glad for the opportunity to gain some pretty awesome skills, to feel widely useful while maintaining my primary career as a mom, and I feel that this will be a great way for me to truly test my mettle under pressure and if I don't care for being an EMT, then perhaps midwifery won't be my cup of tea either. Classes start on Monday, and I'm excited! 

Can you find the man in the tree? Our property shares a tree with the neighbors, and the trunk is splitting in half right down the property line. they were more concerned than we were since it overhangs their house much more than ours, so they offered to pay to have it trimmed. 

can you see him now?

Julia was fascinated by the process (so was I) and thought they were firefighters ("firefirefiter") since they had helmets on. 

The enormous pile of trimmed branches ended up as this neat little pile of wood chips. Amazing! 

The light inside looks all different now with less branches. Hopefully now that the load is lighter and the wind can pass through more easily, the tree will stay strong for many years. As much as I don't want to be crushed by a tree, I do hope we still get good shade next summer!