| 12-23-01 Hello All, I have been very, very bad! Sorry I have not updated lately. I could make excuses, but they would just be excuses. Well where to start? How about our weather! Yikes it has rained! We are going for a new record. The old record was 34 days in a row of measurable precipitation, I think today will be 32 or 33 if it rains. Last winter we did not get enough rain for the creek to flow at all, this year it already has been running full for a month! On the plus side it has not been too cold. One day of snow and a couple of good hailstorms, but not much ice and slippery conditions. The wood supply is looking OK. I think we might make it through the winter. The boys and I are starting on next years supply. We have been thinning the wild Cherry trees and some Madrones. We were getting quite a nice stack going until my Dad sent us these cool books on Tree Houses. Now we have been taking any of the straight sections of logs and hauling them up to the new and improved Tree House location instead of sawing them up for firewood. We found a good deal on some used lumber and the boys and I hauled it home to be used for the Tree House. In other homestead news did I mention that it has been raining? Well it has! The pump house which is situated rather precariously, has moved slightly! The boys and I have made a make shift retaining wall to hopefully stop any further movement until the spring. The neighbor on the uphill side, who has recently logged his property, has done some extensive grading near the property line. We are watching the hillside closely! We have a leak in the shop, the mud room is soaked, and all or our tools and ranch clothes are muddy and wet! Oh yes and before I forget, it has been raining! Adam and I were out working on the Tree House last Sunday. We were setting a couple of posts, mixing some cement and chatting. It had been raining intermittently the whole afternoon, I noticed that it was getting dark. I did not think that it was getting that late yet, I asked Adam for the time, he said it was 3:30. I looked again at the darkening sky and suggested we start cleaning up our tools. By the time we got everything hauled back to the house it was pouring! Last Saturday Jon and I planted 50 Grand Fir seedlings. Jon was a great help and it only took us about an hour and a half. I would like to plant more before the end of winter. You can buy the trees here cheap. They cost from $30-$50 per 100 depending on size and type of tree. We want to plant some Redwood and some Giant Sequoias. In animal news everyone is fine. The ducks are happy as clams now that the pond is filling with water. They stay in it most of the day, they also refuse to be put in the chickens fence at night, instead opting to remain in the pond. I hope the coyotes don't notice! The chickens all stopped laying at the same time and for about three weeks we were getting zero eggs. I thought something was wrong, we tried watching to see if one or more of the hens had begun eating eggs, we put a 24 hr. light in their coop, we omitted some of the table scraps that we feed them, nothing! Then as suddenly as they stopped they started! Now we get over 4 dozen eggs a week! Officially I believe that it was a scientific combination of diet alteration, along with alternative illumination and careful observation, that caused the resumption of the egg laying process. (Unofficially I think all the hens, happen to be molting at the same time!) My Mom and her husband Floyd were here for Thanksgiving. They also brought from Nevada, my niece Brooke and her friend Nicole. We had a great visit, and oh yes if you count backwards from this date, 32 days of straight rain, you will know what the weather was like for their visit! So we have made it through most of the holiday birthdays, Jon turned 10 in November, Lorelei turned ?? at the beginning of December and Adam just turned 12 last week. Hey that only leaves me, the family is desperately trying to find a place to hide my new jetsled! I told them not to worry about wrapping it. The boys are doing great in school. Adam is straight A's, honor roll. He is doing the next grade up in most subjects. Jon is at the top of his class. His teacher this year is an acquaintance, her son plays soccer with Jon. When we went to Jon's parent teacher conference she was saying how nice it was to have Jon in her class. Now this is a teacher with at least 20 years experience teaching, and what she said next was interesting. She said that she would like to study our family. Lorelei and I looked at each other, puzzled. She continued, that normally when she has students as bright as Jon, they do not get along socially very well. She said that Jon does not lord his intelligence over the other kids, and in fact that he is a great help and a teacher to the other kids. She said that combination is very rare and that it must come in part from the home. I don't know exactly what we do, if anything, but I do know that we are very proud of all of our boys. Then of course there is Cody. He wants to go to school so bad. He has learned his ABC's and he counts very well. He is learning some spelling and math. Our farmer friend Gary has obtained a key to the middle school, and some of us dads in town have put together a makeshift basketball program. The kids show up on Saturday morning and we attempt to show them how to put the ball through the hoop. We practice for about an hour, and then whoever wants to play a game, we go for it. Last week I think we had a game of nine on nine! Lorelei is still having trouble sleeping. She has been reading about herbs and alternative medicine. We have cut milk out of our diet. We drink only rice and soy products. It really seems to have helped Adam with his sinuses and allergies. We are experimenting with other stuff also. Lorelei is still walking 4+ miles per day on her tread-mill, (boy am I glad we bought her a good one, she would have worn out two cheap ones by now!) Well that's about it for now, I probably left some cool stuff out, but that's what happens when I take so long in between times that I write. I am going to talk to myself about that, I am not sure it will do any good though! Most all the Christmas shopping is done, I have a few days off from work, and the latest weather forecast is DRY for the next few days! I did see a strange orange glow in the sky yesterday, Cody said it was the sun, but I am not so sure, Happy Holidays to all, We enjoy your e-mails and responses! Jr. |