I'm still here.

Just a quick post to say that my family and I are still alive and well. :-)

Treehouse Progress!

GOAL:

False front in colors of Bryggen in Bergen. Norway. 

Will not have writing as kids don't like that idea.

Pine siding will have to be stained/painted. Windows are from the Luther College's Ylvisaker Hall .

 

Last year it was stained and ready for a Halloween photoshoot.

The Chicken Coop

This year we decided to build a chicken coop and buy three chickens to collect the eggs and experience a bit of farm living at home.

The first step to this is building the coop. We decided to build a "chicken tractor" which is a mobile chicken coop and run on wheels. The chickens get new grass, weeds and bugs every few days.

The whole thing is 7' 6" by 3' 6" and 4 feet high. It will have a simple roof. In the winter there will be a heat lamp to keep the birds comfortable. At the back of the coop there will be two nesting boxes with a top we can list up to remove the eggs. In Rochester the ordinance for keeping chickens spells out the rules, and we will meet them all.

I am not a great builder, but I decided to go ahead with no specific plan and just see what happened. I read somewhere that the worst looking chicken coops make the best eggs, so if it's not perfect, we're not gonna worry.

Cat Loves Water

Cat Loves Water

Christamas Letter 2010

In 2010, Sandy made a commitment to take one photo every day. She did it, and we combined many of the photos into a photocollage based on a picture from the Peanuts Christmas special. This was printed onto thick paper stock and cut to postcard size.

On the back, we printed our Christmas greeting and signed it. Below this is a link to Sandy's 2010 Flickr picture set. The body of the postcard is Linus' of the King James version of Luke 8-14.

Merry Christmas!

2010 so far. . .Change come

If I had to choose a word for this year so far, and the year to come, it would be: CHANGE.

For the better.

This year it seemed that we really made some headway toward long term lasting changes in our family. Amid my unfinished tree house and a garden that would not grow like we thought it would, we made some lasting changes that I think will affect us for a long time.

• We started buying organic and free range food.
• We joined a CSA (a farm co-op) that will supply us with locally grown organic fruits and vegetables for the winter. If this works I can only see us buying a larger share as the kids grow and need more food.
• Sandy continued baking all our bread.
• We refinished the guest bedroom into a dedicated homeschooling room.
• We made plans to get our own chickens next year.
• We saw a financial planner and implemented major changes into our saving and investing activity.
• The kids continue to grow tall AND wise. The boys are learning to read, Annika is reading and writing so much more than I could hope for.

These were all things that anyone could do. And yet we seemed to get into them all at the right time. It seemed pretty easy.

Of course, Sandy works extremely hard at all this, and I sometimes feel like a bystander -- just lucky to be part of it.

I have been working on some new projects for work that I hope will come to fruition, but I see myself being very stable at work, too.

It just feels like this year all of our decisions were right.

And I'm not ashamed to say I think were the happiest couple I know.

Today on our way down from the park on our scooters, I thought I noticed just a hint of...skepticism...from a neighbor.

Yes, it was a Monday. Yes your kids just got home from school and mine are riding their brand new scooters down. No we didn't screw around all day avoiding the public schools. Yes, we DID just come from chess, art, drama and Spanish class. Yes they are going on a field trip to the Minnesota Historical society tomorrow.

Yes. It was a good year. And it feels like it is only gonna get better.
Change come fast and change come slow, but change come.

And for that I say, thank you.

Last night I dreamed Peer Gynt had faded

Last night I slept very soundly and this morning I was aware that I was dreaming that I was back in my old home and looking through mementos in the upstairs attic. While looking at the inside wall where we had shelves and boxes of things, I noticed at first what seemed to be a large picture of a room, and when I moved back and forth realized that I was looking INTO a room. The room contained a small bed and on the floor was a cat that was very pale in color, looking very old but not gaunt or sick, just like he had been there for a long time. It looked like he had not moved in a long time but he was alive. I realized it was Peer Gynt, a cat I had when I was young, that had aged and faded, but who was still part of the house.

Later in the dream the house was going up for sale and we were going throughout the mostly cleaned out rooms, all very elegant, taking pictures. I wanted to stay. I realized that the home was not my home, and that it was in fact a much grander and ornate home, more southern in character, with larger open rooms and chandeliers.

I enjoyed the dream, but I worry about the cat.

Comic Sans

The Designer of Comic Sans talks about it's use.

Treefort Palette

inspiration

Space Saving Furniture

Deer vs Dog and Cat

Starting at 1:10, this mama deer shows basic self defense martial arts techniques anyone could benefit from. Once you get them down, don't let them get up until you are done.

It is also interesting to think about the emotional state of the mama deer. Right after beating up the dog she reacts calmly to the cat seems to understand the idea that Proportionality should be a guideline in war.

Tik Tok Star Trek

Building a play house for the kids - ideas

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=5167468&size=lg