Key Things and new Neighborhoods

Here it is an amazingly beautiful day. The snow is heavy on the trees, the sun is trying to peek through. Maybe this will be a forced dramatic pruning of our many fruit trees. The poor things have not been pruned in a while. I say that is jest, I don't want the branches to be breaking off those giants. The birds are getting fed chicken feed, since I ran out of birdseed. They don't seem to mind. It is better than bread. My house is a mess, I feel like we will never quite move-in. The garbage and recycle have not been picked up in two weeks, my garage is the waiting room for all the extra. I am such a well-trained recycler I could not even imagine throwing away a piece of paper. Neighbors and I would joke that when we went camping or traveling to somewhere that did not recycle, we would pack and take home our recycling. That is just crazy to me. But, we do it. What a strange and non-reckless life we lead here in the NW. When going against the grain is (HORROR) not recycling. I should not make light of this, our little neighborhood friend told us where the meth house used to be and what boys beat up what other boys. It has been such a long time, and I have been so citified(cityfied?) the thought of boys beating each other up seems antiquated. Where is that bully curriculum when you need it? I am thinkin' these kids missed that crucial lesson, or their parents believe otherwise. The meth house is another thing altogether. That is an issue that our society will be dealing with for a long time. It can absolutely destroy people.

Snow piles and some venting action

Pics: Snow on Wetlands, Horse Lookin' Bored, Creepy house shot at night.
















Not a usual thing for us here in the Pacific NW, snow has descended like a herd of loud white bats outta hell. We only have about 8 inches but it has paralyzed our area. Just to clarify for those smug east/mid-west/anyplace but here new residents who are used to having snow:
1. We do not have acres and acres of snow equipment sitting around worth 214 million (not including maintenance and staff) for three days of snow annually. The reason you like living here is we actually have other things to budget funds on.
2. Where you come from does not have MOUNTAINS people. Or even hills with the grades we do.
3. Ask the drivers who end in the ditches or spinning out, where they are from. It will not be from here. Before you all arrived, driving was actually an easy thing to do.
4. Welcome to the NW. I mean that sincerely. But don't bother griping about how much better "you do it in New York or (insert city name here)" You rippin' moved here so buck up and deal. At least the natives are NICE to you whilst you b(*&tch. We still love you. Until you tear down a 99 year old house to put up one ugly zero lot line behemoth of a house that looks like a cheerios box. Don't make your neighbors (whole neighborhood) hate you. Be aware of your surroundings and community and blend, baby, blend. Unless you live in Bellevue or Kirkland. Then you can do what ya want, because you Earned it, you Deserve it. You are so worth it, and it IS all about you. Community be damned.
Gawd. I feel so much better, I am off for another cup of coffee.

Twilight

OK. All you T'lighters or T'hards: This one is for you.
How truly could the Cullen kids ever go through high school over and over and over and over .etc etc etc.
Would they not want to contribute to the world in some way? By the time they got through that many times, you would think they would be ready to solve some big global issue, perhaps Edward could do some science oriented solutions for the world? So all you really need as a vampire is to suck blood and find your lifemate and then... boom. That is it? BORING. Could we please put a little thought into this? I am very concerned about their lack of global thinking. What is wrong with their educational experience that they could just look bored and beautiful and then at times hungry?
And, what DID Bella tell her Dad in Phoenix after hurting his feelings by leaving Forks so suddenly.
AND, what was wrong with filming in Forks and giving them the money? Because it is not as picturesque as the Columbia River and other Oregon locales. Let's be realistic. It is Forks afterall. Bella is not exactly supposed to be happy to be there originally.
I must say, however, that I highly recommend googling Jasper, Laurent, and James. Shirtless pics are popular for young heartthrobs. And, I was looking them up for Rose, BTW, not me. I barely noticed, since I could have probably given birth to any of them had I gotten pregnant at a young age.

Hi from the Web Masters

Hello world! My name's Rose and I am with my friend Nelly. I was bored today so I decided that I should make a post on my mom's blog. I have been (believe it or not) reading my own mom's blog that I technically made. >:3 (that little... thing is from Nelly). Moving on, the only blog I have is a school blog where I can post absolutely nothing and I'm to lazy to make another one. If you haven't noticed my mom is a whole lot better at writing than I am and I was not even aware of that until she made this blog. She work at a museum and she does write articles every months and grants and all that jazz. I suppose that I should have figured out that she was a decent writer but it never even occurred to me that she could even write (not that I can do any better...). Whatever, not important. So as she told you before I made her whole blog. You probably know that making a blog is pretty easy, but when your making one for her it gets pretty hard. She was half asleep so she was changing her mind every five seconds, it was ridiculous/funny. Well I shouldn't take up to much space (it's her blog, not mine). Bye bye!

Houses, traffic, and progress

Or, an alternate title: Shopping for that discount. Since I now have this old place, I am loathe to update it with current trends in housing fashions. That could be akin to having a post-war box house and turning it into a craftsman. That is not the house's origins, so it can look a bit funky. I am therefore driven to re-use or renew type stores. The ones that get called in to strip a classic home built like a tank so that thin walled condos can be built. Ah, I am showing my opinions. If you are going to call it progress, can you at least construct the new structures as well as the one you tore down?
Back to topic. So going to used house part stores in Seattle, and they charge more than if I bought it new. Which, I don't understand. BUT I found the habitat for humanity store in bremerton, and that has some old, some new, alot of wood and leftover paint and brass fixtures, etc etc for very reasonable prices. I have been back several times. I shall take out the previous owners walmart updates and at least get it back within 30 years of when it was built. I have no issues with updating the things you can't see.... water lines, electrical. plumbing, it is when the whole house is converted into whatever housing trend is suiting middle America at that exact moment that it irks me. You ask : why care? And I am sure I would not if I had not grown up in this area, and seen the drastic changes in housing, landscape and amount of green our city no longer has. That, and the layer of pollution that hangs over our heads. Gee... what do all those trees do? Suck up water so there is less flooding? Suck crap out of the air? What is it that happens when you develop large tracks of farmland way the bum%$# out from the cities where people work? With no infrastructure to handle that amount of traffic? People drive and drive and drive. The asthma level in our city has skyrocketed. No one talks of this, but everyone knows. My doctor told me to move if I wanted my asthmatic daughter to be able to breathe. Good philosophy, and I did, but not everyone has that option.

Daily Life

I am realizing this can be the news that all my friends and family always gripe that they never hear from me. I endlessly have to say "have I told you?" since it seems I am always talking and telling stories but invariably the person I am asking does not know.

Just who am I telling all these stories to if no one is saying they have heard them???

Now they can be all in one pat location.

Pic: Bella Bella Totem Pole Detail - Bear.

Blue Shoe Farm and lucky days... what??

And a bit about why blue shoe, about why lucky day.
So, recently changed homes. Moved from the city to the country (well sort of... three acres) Moved from schools where peace songs were sung in choir happily and joyfully, to an area where church songs are sung quietly in public elementary school. From a place of abundant Obama supporter bumper stickers everywhere, to sporadic Obama's and quite a few American flags and support our troops bumper stickers. All fine and dandy, but need to get used to some changes. You may hear a few of these in the next couple months.
Bought a 1904 house. And it truly is a 1904 house, this puppy is not a granite countered, recessed lighting, stainless steel applianced home. It is old and old and old. I have a bit of a tilt to my dining room, and whole tree trunks holding up the joists. It is a trip, and I love it to bits. But it is a lot of work. Like yesterday, I just found not one, not two, but three friggin' appliances dumped in the back acreage blackberries. You would not believe how often I curse out previous owners of this home. It somehow makes me feel better. I also bless them for not changing the house much. And I bought it because they raised their family in it, already had a horse barn, bmx track, and chicken coop... so it is perfectly in tune for kids and animals. I just wish I had to do less of their clean-up since I have plenty on my to-do list already.
So that is topic # 1. Hearing of the house and property.
2. You may get reports of my kids. Truly amazing... and truly children. My daughter would like to be called a teenager instead, but when ya birth 'em, you somehow always think of them as children. That being said, she will be taller than me (oh how I will rue that day) and I am one tall gal. Our son is always moving and noticing things. Dragged me outdoors the other morning at 6 something in my bare feet to see the fingers of red sunrise stretching up from the wetlands next to us. He has a keen eye and is very empathetic. And then has about 317 pounds of legos in his room that blow each other up.
3. Why Blue Shoe? As part of the property clean-up, I have found enough saws to supply a small sawmill, scales, stoves, burn piles of aluminum cans, electronic parts, glass bottles (huh??) and horse shoes. We also have a muffler dog that we painted blue. I will have to include a pic at some point, since it truly is a dog made of muffler parts. The leftover paint went to some of the found horseshoes, hence Blue Shoe Farm. Or, B.S. Farm. Rose thinks it is enormously tacky that we have a name for the farm, but much prefers the above name to my first choice... which was the Funny Farm. Technically, for the record, it is not a working farm, YET. My kids won't let me grow any animals (YET) that we end up eating. And the three acres cannot sustain feed for more than our chickens, a horse, and another as yet undetermined farm beast.
4. Why Lucky Day? After unpacking the stereo, I found some nifty new radio stations. Besides quite a few interesting talk radio programs (we shall discuss this later, but remember... lust = sin = death... this has to be my favorite talk radio program to date)(I guess since you do not know me I am totally kidding here... although that station is a blast to listen and comprehend that this is very real stuff to some radio listeners) there are stations that play music that is not played on the big city stations.
One song that played while I was doing who knows what around the house was by a wispy voiced woman singing "It is a Lucky Day", plus whatever else was in the song. There is something that has clicked for me since moving over here... I thought DANG, it is a lucky day, wrote it on my door (to the endless consternation of Rose) and have taken it to heart.
I am now listening to Rose commenting "couldn't you have just written it on a piece of paper and framed it or something?" she thinks what I do sometimes has no logic to it and is ridiculous. That is why I am the mom, and she is the teenager. I need to keep her on her toes. Can you tell she is sitting next to me?

Technologically-oriented offspring

Pic-Shipwreck near Astoria, OR
So, we shall see how far this family gets on this blog. Considering I was informed I would be creating a blog about two hours ago, as I was trying to sleep. My daughter was throwing questions "what do you want your url to be" " what should your user name be" with the helpful contributions as I mumble answers... "that doesn't make sense" and here we are.
This is definitely the divide between the younger set, Rose (just rolled into teenager-hood) and Wilder, (elementary school) and the older set, me, (wickedly roaring toward a feisty menopause) of this family. This time consuming, impersonal, two-dimensional realm of computers and mass communication will be fascinating to try out. I am intrigued by the concept of my strange one-sided communications to a world that can remain anonymous.