House Status Update

This has been a crazy summer, and I have a lot of photos and trips to post, but right now, it feels like it's time for a house update. Because we are still not living in our new home, and that is a lot of what has made this summer a little chaotic to put it mildly.

This photo above is our septic system. The septic system that was supposed to be done months ago, but that's beside the point at this stage. We're just happy that it is now almost finished. We have an inspection scheduled for Tuesday and then I think the crew will fill everything in, and we'll be able to flush toilets! One very crucial step towards FINALLY being able to live over there.

We've also been working with a couple of friends to get more of the big junk out of way--Peanut got to use the backhoe to smash a small shed and move it to the lumber pile.

The whole middle of our property has looked like a construction zone most of the summer as the contractors have finished different projects. But everyone has been working slower than promised (I can't tell you how many weeks our septic guy has told us it will be finished the next week.)

And here's the hard part. Back in the beginning of May, our landlady asked us to sign a year lease. She'd had to do some repairs to the house (some of which we did the labor for to save her some money) and I can see why it prompted this after being month to month for 7.5 years, but knowing that our house should be ready sometime this summer (so we thought), we decided we needed to explain our situation to her. We told her we didn't have a date yet, but would give her notice, as much as possible, as soon as we knew when we'd be leaving.

Well, I think she kind of panicked at the thought of us leaving after all this time and she came back a couple of weeks asking if we thought we'd be out by mid-July. We told her probably not, but that we would for sure let her know in plenty of time to find new renters. And two days later, she told us we needed to be out by the end of June because she had new tenants moving in. We tried to offer her more money for the couple extra months that we needed, but she wouldn't budge. After 8.5 years of living there and taking care of things for her (including installing a new water heater just a couple of months before to save her $2000), she kicked us out on June 28th. 

And so, we've been technically homeless all summer. We've been incredibly lucky that two different families offered to let us housesit for them while they traveled, which meant we've only had one night in a hotel between those two offers, but our housesitting time runs out at the beginning of September and we're still working out where we will move to next. And yes, it's been as stressful as that sounds. We have things stored in so many places (a Pod, the property shed, in the new house, in the old house and patio on our new property, at work, in our big van, and with us) that it's hard to keep track of things these days and having to start the school year like this has been a challenge, not to mention that our current house is 25-30 minutes away from everything, so we are all commuting and most of us aren't used to that (Daddy-o just has an extra 15 minutes or so to his normal commute.)

So, we're just waiting. Waiting for the contractors to actually finish the job. Waiting for PG&E to decide that letting people be homeless when they literally have a house just waiting for them isn't okay when it would only take them 1 hour to cut and swing the wire from the old house to the new so we can get electrical. Waiting for the go ahead that we can move in. It's so close that it could happen in the next couple of weeks, but the way things have gone, that could also stretch until the end of the year (I REALLY hope this isn't the case.)

So, who knows where we'll be in Sept--your guess is as good as mine!

Rescue Operation

I have so much catch up to do, but I wanted to record this little adventure before it's not fresh in my mind.

When we were all getting up and getting ready Friday morning, I heard a bird chirping. I didn't think much of it because we had windows open, but then I heard a flapping sound and realized it was coming from the fireplace! We had already found a dead possum in the backyard the day before, so having back to back animal adventures was a little nuts. Daddy-o and I grabbed a bag and prepared to open the woodburning stove door to let the bird out, hopefully into the bag and not loose in the house. Only when we opened it, it was totally empty, and it didn't take long to realize that the bird wasn't actually in the stove or stove pipe, but between the brick wall of the original fireplace and the cast iron of the inset. And with that discovery, it became and lot more challenging, and Daddy-o and Peanut both had to go to work, so I reached out for reinforcements.

I feel really lucky to have a friend who I knew would be able to help me figure this out, if it was doable at all. Part of me was worried that the bird was going to die in there and that would be sad for the bird, and also stinky for us.

But we started planning how we could remove the side panel (and stove if needed), and what we could use to trap the bird. We moved all the furniture away--it's a little stressful to have to tackle a problem like this in someone else's house!

As soon as we opened the side panel on the left side, we knew we were probably in the right spot because we found two little bird skulls. Emily was incredibly excited about this because she makes gorgeous mandalas from the bones found in owl and raptor pellets, but those are often broken and only partial bones, so to find two perfectly preserved skulls was a huge find. How great is it to be able to reward your co-rescuer with bones?!

And rescue, we did! We got our old rabbit cage set up as a trap and then banged on the other side of the stove until the bird made its way toward the light. It took a few minutes to get it to go all the way into the cage, but I was ready with a piece of cardboard and trapped it. The poor thing was terrified, and had lint wrapped around both feet/legs, so we had to clean it up a little before we let it go, but as soon as we set it down in the front yard, it flew up to the tree where it found the fledgling that had been calling out there, all morning. They found each other flitted around the tree for a couple minutes, and then both took off, I'm sure very relieved to be together. It was a happy ending for all of us!

The Right Place at the Right Time

 On Saturday, we were headed home from the week at Boy's Camp when Daddy-o got a phone call from work. He tends to get a lot of calls from work, even though he has tried to help his employee understand the difference between an emergency and general business that can wait until Monday, but this time, it was an actual emergency. The chain on the gate at his outdoor lot had broken and a customer was stuck inside with the gate closed.

Daddy-o was able to give him a few instructions and between the employee and the customer, they were able to get the gate open, but the gate was now stuck open which meant we got to make a detour and 3 hours later, we were at the facility for Daddy-o to access the situation and decide what type of fix was needed. He ended up having to replace the whole chain, which took 4.5 hours in 101 degree heat and meant that we didn't get home until almost 10 p.m. 

This was following a long week of physical work and late nights and early mornings for both of us. We were exhausted and even the 4.5-hour drive home before we could take showers and collapse had felt daunting when we started the day. If only we had known how long it would really be. . .

Obviously, it would have been easiest if this hadn't happened at all. He has never had a chain break, and right now, as we're prepping for the busiest summer of our lives with a move, a house getting finished, and too many back-to-back camping trips, it feels like really bad timing. But as we were coming to grips with the serious detour our day was taking, we couldn't help recognizing how lucky we really were. This gate issue could have happened during the past week when Daddy-o would have had to try to figure out someone who could get out there to fix the gate quickly. It could have happened later that night, when we'd already made it home and a sleep-deprived Daddy-o would have tried to make the drive out there by himself, which could have been dangerous with how tired he was. Or it could have happened while we were traveling later this summer which would have been another massive challenge. When Daddy-o was working on the chain, he realized how many links had cracks in them, so it was inevitable that this was going to happen.

And, while Daddy-o was working on the gate, I went to the office. I couldn't do anything to help him, and I was barely staying awake, so I opted for waiting where there was air conditioning. It was about 4:45 and our employee leaves around 5, so I was really hoping for a nap when we could close up. Only, right after I got in there, one of the customers came in because his radiator had just burst. He was parked in front of the office and calling AAA to have it towed and had stepped inside to get out of the heat. We talked for a few minutes and then he noted that we were going to close soon. And as much as I wanted to take a nap, I knew there was no way I could ask him to wait out in the heat. So, I offered to keep the office open until his car was picked up, which ended up taking over an hour, but I got to hear Brian's stories about cruises and drag racing and workmen's comp issues and he got to stay out of the heat, which honestly might have killed him. And I once again felt lucky that if the gate had to break, it did it right then when I could be in the right place at the right time.

Now, we could really use some smooth sailing for a little while. Life is chaotic enough at the moment.

Boy's Camp for All of Us

Peanut and Daddy-o have been going to the camp for the Young Men at church for the past few years, but this year, I got to join them as the nature specialist for the hikes! The three of us spent the week camping near Lassen Volcanic NP, and while Daddy-o barely left the campground, Peanut and I went on adventures each day in the area around us.

There are beautiful hikes in the area and I was really glad that I got to go to McCloud Falls with the youngest group.

We hiked from the lower falls to the other 2 and had a fabulous day that ended with most of the kids jumping into the lowest pool.

The next day, I got to hike with Peanut's group and we climbed Lassen Peak. 

It was a little crazy with the snow (first time I've used crampons), but a fun adventure for the boys.

And even though the hike was pretty challenging, I was proud of all the boys. 

A couple of the leaders did a great job encouraging the ones who were struggling and got them all to the top.

This kid is such a great hiker these days. He did end up with a headache at the top, probably because of the altitude, but he did it.

One of the main things I was in charge of were the night hikes. We went to the lava tubes that were just outside our campground, learned a little about UV fluorescence, and enjoyed finding all the things in the area, like rocks, insect trails, scorpions, and moss. The kids had a lot of fun and two of the groups found so many scorpions!

My other job was doing some nature journaling with the youngest two groups. I wish we'd had time with the oldest group, too, but our hike took the whole day. But I loved how into it some of the kids got, and leaders, too. And I had a couple of the leaders tell me that they appreciated the reminder to not always just focus on getting to the destination, but to look around and slow down.

Along with hiking, Peanut did a 26-mile mountain bike ride one day, a ropes course, and had a few hours at waterfront where they cliff jumped at Bernie Falls, went knee boarding, and did tug-of-war in kayaks. 

I think they all had a pretty great week trying new things.

Peanut brought a friend along this year, and C said that it was the best week of his life. He even got up at the testimony meeting and bore his testimony about getting to learn about God and make new friends. It was pretty cool to be a part of that.

And then there's Daddy-o, who spends the whole week cooking for these boys.

And the boys are very appreciative of it. I don't think they can ever really understand how much work goes into the food part of camp, but they do love it and are very loud in their gratitude. 

He even planned for the couple of birthdays that happened up at camp this year, which included our guest. The boys loved getting cake the first night. They pretty much loved every meal, with the tri tip and mashed potato night finishing off a great week. I don't know if Daddy-o wants to do it again--4 years in the kitchen, and the last 2 at a camp without an actual kitchen, might be his limit, but he's given it his all while he's done it.

Wrapping Up the School Year

One final hike for the school year. This was my first hike for a private group--it's kind of nice to just show up to a group that someone else arranged and get to hike with some fun kids!

And I'm so glad that I opted to not teach my normal classes this May so this was the only work thing I had on my calendar. With prepping to move and getting our property ready, it has been really nice to take something off my plate.

But it was also fun to get outside for a hike which I haven't had time for this month.

The kids were great and, thanks to a random rainstorm last night, we saw more banana slugs and other wet-loving species than I would have expected at the end of May.

It was also Peanut's last day of his freshman year! Time just flies, but it has been a great year for him and now we're looking forward to a fun, if crazy, summer.

We Got Permits!

It only took 2 years, but we finally got permits!

And our new home was delivered a few days later! We've been doing a lot of work over there the past couple weeks, collecting dead branches, rocks, and old lumber in piles to get rid of, 

prepping to have the foundation poured for a shed that's going to give us somewhere to store things during the move, and our contractor has been getting everything ready for the house to be installed in the next couple of weeks!

We're ready to get some buildings going!

 

Graduation Weekend!

How has this girl finished 4 years of college already!

She graduated summa cum laude with a BS in Biology, emphasis in Ecology. 

She's worked hard, possibly played even harder, and learned so much. It's been fun seeing her grow more and more independent these past years. 

We might miss the days of having toddlers and everyone living under one roof, but getting to see these kids figure out what they love and how to make their own way in the world is pretty incredible. We've loved getting a glimpse into her world in San Diego.