the game

10.30.2014


Just because ~ a few more pictures from our trip over Lolo Pass a couple of weekends back.


We've done a bit of work around the house lately.  It's been a game for us to see how much we can do without buying anything and just using what we find around the house.  We are a frugal family, so this has worked out well for us.  For this reason, as well as the color growing on me, I decided not to spend money repainting my office.  My husband mixed paint from multiple partially-used paint cans we found to make a lovely soft gray for the guest room.  (I was amazed by this...he's a wizard!)  Curtain rods found in the attic and basement are up in my office and the guest room.  Rather than replace the carpet upstairs, my husband ripped it off the staircase and we are just going to repaint the wood stairs - I think we'll like that better, anyway.  We found a light fixture in the basement that we'll clean up and use for one of the lights that for some reason has no shade anymore.  My husband unearthed some cinderblocks in the front yard that he made a fire pit with out back, put together a shelving system that had been discarded that now holds tools in the garage, found chopped wood buried on the side of the garage that we are drying out, and there's so much more.  

My husband also cleaned out the basement shelves/laundry area and set up a folding table for me, fixed up the old clothesline that's down there, covered the tops of some shelves with our old Marmoleum remnant that was still hanging around, and hung a piece of pipe he found to make a hanging rod I can keep stocked with hangers (to be rotated from closets to basement and back again) for clothes just out of the dryer, perhaps to await ironing on the old ironing board I found in the garage and put a fresh cover on.  I'm one of those weirdos who enjoys doing laundry, and an organized space makes it even more enjoyable. 

These things may not bowl you over with excitement or style, but they look just fine to us and it feels really good to save where we can.  Do you play this game?

siren song

10.28.2014



Early Saturday morning before the light of day, we started some coffee and snuggled beneath warm quilts while the house warmed up, talking about where to go that day.  We heard the forecast was for high winds on the Oregon coast, and that siren song was one we could not resist.  We were soon on our way, traveling the magical winding road through the woods that leads to the sea.  Raindrops sprinkled and twinkled on the windshield like nature's glitter.  Fog and mist clung to the treetops.  I knew it was going to be a good day.  We stopped first in Seaside, where the wind was just starting to really pick up.  We decided to drive up toward Fort Stevens to see the wreck of the Peter Iredale in the storm, but by the time we got there trees were coming down, the sand was blowing sideways, and I could hardly stand up in the wind.  We got out of the car for only a minute and I couldn't see anything, much less try and take my camera out.  But it was thrilling.  Nature was alive ~ earth, sea, and sky dancing together with wild abandon.  I'm so glad we heeded the call....I'll be listening for that siren song again.

wander + wonder

10.21.2014


My husband knows me well.  Driving out Lolo Pass Saturday, at a particularly beautiful wooded spot he pulled over and looked at me, smiled, and simply said "go."  I got out of the car, peered over the edge of the road, and then started making my way down the embankment to the creek below.  I watched and listened and wandered and wondered at the magic all around me.  For this awkward introvert, this is the place I feel a sense of true belonging and peace ~ in the trees with the other quiet creatures of the forest.

Saturday we headed toward Mt. Hood with no real plan of where to go.  This is often how our best adventure days begin.  We ended up taking Lolo Pass Road at Welches.  The sky was full of attitude ~ dark and moody, occasionally weeping the song of fall I love so much.

this

10.17.2014


Wednesday morning was dark and rainy, just how I like them these days.  My husband had the day off and we stole away together for conversation and steaming drinks at a coffee shop - cappuccino for him, chai for me - and then a slow and quiet walk around Mt. Tabor Park.  My heart overflowed with happiness and love for this day, this season, this place we call home, this life, and this love of mine. 
by mlekoshi