:: Trying to keep track of it all... ::

:: 10.24.2004 ::

Lazy lazy lazy...

For some reason lately I just haven't had the time or energy to post anything here.
Been working a lot. And when I'm not at work I'm here at home working on the house. Blah blah blah... Oh you know, the usual range of excuses.

So lets see, what did we do this summer.
When we weren't spending time getting settled in we got to do some exploring. Went to a bunch of neat places out here in the Pacific Northwest. Climbed some mountains/volcanoes, looked at some glaciers, went for swims in mountain ponds. It was a beautiful summer too. Never too hot, cool at night and sunny, sunny, sunny.
Lately though the rains have started for the winter. And the wind! Whoo, had a fun ferry ride the other morning. Lots of bouncing around. So I've been told, Hales Passage which is the small channel that the ferry crosses, gets quite windy in the winter. The wind blows between the island and the mainland and creates a little venturi effect. Hundred mile an hour winds are not uncommon. And apparently happen on a regular basis.
In the 40 years that the ferry has been running, they've shut down twice due to weather, and one of those times was because the dock had blown away.
Should be wild and woolly commuting this winter. Looking forward to it.

Work's been going well. It's slowed down some since labor day, and I take the odd day off here and there. But thats fine with me, (as long as its not too many odd days off) gives me time to futz around the house. So far I really like working at the boatyard and being a boat mechanic. Every day is something different. Keeps it really interesting. I've been learning a lot and the people I work with are all really great. Its a good company thats growing, and I feel like I found a comfortable niche there. I just hope it stays busy. It should though. Were getting a new travel-lift in a couple of weeks that will allow us to haul out 150 ton boats. That pretty much opens up a whole new market for us. With our old travel-lift we were limited to 35 ton boats which were mostly small pleasure boats. This big travel-lift will let us haul out the big commercial boats. Fishing boats, ferries, whale watch boats, etc. etc. And we'll be the only people in town with that capacity too.
Guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Been working some on the house. We built a small deck off the kitchen and have started to do some landscaping. We also tore down one of the out-buildings the previous owner had built. One yard conundrum is that we have a shed in an awkward part of the yard that needs to be moved about 75 feet. Not sure how to go about it though. It's a big shed. Very heavy. But its in a really dumb place.
Tabitha's started painting and we put up some finishing trim around the inside of a couple of the windows. We've got a plan started for reorganizing the kitchen, and in the spring we hope to build a front deck/entryway. I know we've only been here 4 months but were trying to not wait three years to make the house the way we want it like we did in Boston. We finally got our house there exactly how we liked it and then we sold it a few months later. Not this time 'round.
It is nice having our own place though. And this island we live on is gorgeous! We have a beautiful view out over the water towards Bellingham from our backyard, and its really quiet and dark at night.
There has been a lot of development going on here though, and it seems to be increasing. Since we both are from an area of the U.S. that we've seen get developed into oblivion (Cape Cod, MA) we fear the worst. Unfortunately it's already started to hit close to home.
There's a lot that was for sale right behind our house, kinda down a hill/cliff towards the rear of our property. And it sold just before we bought this place. Well they came and cleared it the other day. Cut down about 20 trees right behind our house. It dramatically improved our view, which is a plus I guess, but were worried about the potential construction. I just know they're going to build a 4 story tower or something and block out our view entirely. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
We're going to try and pay attention to their progress though, and check for permits and filed plans, 'cause the standard practice out here is to just run willy-nilly and do whatever you want with or without permits. We dont want to be nosy, or "those kinds of neighbors" but we need to protect our investment and our quality of life.
Thats what I'm going to keep telling myself anyway.

Ok, thats enough rambling on at the mouth (fingers?). Here are a couple of pictures to keep you happy.


We drove 14 miles up this old abandoned logging road in the North Cascades National Park, until we got to the end and then we hiked up through a heather meadow to a beautiful glacial lake on the backside fo Church Mt. It was absolutely one of the most spactacular places I have ever seen. The water in the lake was carribean blue and clear as glass. But being a glacial lake it was also COLD! Still went swimming though.


Here's Tab in the heather meadow.


The lake from a distance.


Some kind of manatee or other bizarre water creature grinning like a fool because its freezing to death.


The lake from another vantage point.


And another. Pretty isnt it?

:: Zachary 8:45:41 AM [+] ::
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