Bears in the Birdfeeder?

our tipped feeder

Opening the drapes this morning, we found our birdfeeder pole tipped over.  Now it's got a 30 pound block at it's base and it DOES NOT tip over by itself or in 50 knot winds.  What happened?
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Maybe a bored teen came into our yard and tipped it over?  Not likely as the other feeder pole wasn't tipped, the feeder wasn't broken, the gate was closed and no graffiti.
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Maybe a bear?  Something big had to do this!  Can they climb the fence?
They do like birdseed.  ..

not our feeder

But here on the peninsula our biggest mammal (except humans) is deer.  They too like bird seed but they are pretty small and probably couldn't do much more than ruin the little individual feeders.  Can they jump the fence?
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Hmm!
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We had noticed a gang of 3 raccoons climbing a neighbors tree last week.  They like bird seed too.....  

not our feeder either

These are grown raccoons but shouldn't weigh much more than 20 lbs.....but 3 20lb raccoons hanging off one of the arms of the birdfeeder pole might upset it? 
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It's a stretch but our best guess.  Probably scared them!

Boxing Up

Okay we have a builder, okay we have plans, okay we better start thinking about moving out of here. 
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And we are.
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Looks like a mess?  It is.  Guaranteed to get worse. 

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Does it look like we have plenty of boxes?  Not sure.  Every day we come up with something else that won't fit in any box on hand.

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Good news: still room in the garage for all of this! (we think - we hope)
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Another project to keep us out of the bars and off the streets.
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Stay tuned!  

This is getting to be fun

With the magic of computers our new builder has created elevation views

 and a floor plan that has allowed us to see the layout as if we were there. 

Our new front door - don't know who these people are

Very exciting to us are these plans showed up at our house 

within 48 hours of giving him the Go Ahead!

Kitchen

Any changes we thought were necessary were cheerfully made

almost instantly into a new drawing.

This is getting to be fun! 

   

Stay Tuned!

Beginning "Phase II Waiting"

After a couple of weeks of sitting on our hands, 

we got a preliminary bid today that we accepted!

 Proposal accepted = $ deposit down 
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This proposal is from the contractor that has emerged as our favorite.   The proposal is about $$$k above what we first thought we wanted to spend, but our original "guesstimate" to get a house built has jumped up several times as we began to see we just weren't going to get what we wanted for what we originally hoped to spend.
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As time went on in this process, we had decided we were going too far in trying to modify existing plans from other builders, and we ultimately worked up a plan of our own which is somewhat an overgrown version of our mobile plan, with a bunch of features of the house we built in the '70's thrown in. This plan fits the property better, has windows and doors where we want them, and a bit of a bay window to let us view the birds, squirrels and landscaping.

We realized that many of the changes we were trying to incorporate into other plans were things that we had built into the other house, and decided  "What the heck – we loved most everything about that house, so why not incorporate some of the stuff we loved?"   (Knew we were adding more dollars with those features.)
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Bottom line:  We think we're going to like the house. The mobile interior layout is kinda neat, but as noted, we've missed some of the "quality" features of our previous home.  It will be nice to have doors go "clunk" when closing, instead of "tink".  It will be nice to have wood cabinets.  It will be nice to have lots of lights, and in logical places.
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We're now getting prepared for "Phase II waiting".  Our contractor thinks it will be near Christmas before he will get the engineered drawings done and the county hoops jumped through, in order to have a building permit.  We're guessing May as a completion date.
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So, here we go.  Lots of things to accomplish before a shovel hits the earth, but the wheels are turning!  We know there will be (as Dean sometimes says) "a few turds in the punch bowl" as we go along, but we're looking forward to the challenge. You'll probably read of some of the turds – er – challenges – in future blogs.
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Stay tuned.

To Turn 100! Wonderful!

 A dear friend of ours, Caroline, is turning 100 on December 20th.  All her friends are helping her celebrate this year.  

Last weekend a number of our boating friends from the Houseboat Yacht Club gathered to give Caroline hugs and congratulations.  For some of these folks, they may have have not seen Caroline for 15 years.  The time gap disappeared instantly. 

She has seen so much history, progress, and change in her lifetime.  Her attitude is enthusiastic and bright.  She's interested in everything happening around her and carries a positive attitude everywhere.  Definitely not an "old lady".

Everybody hopes that in their 100th year that they are as "with it" as the gracious Caroline.

A good time was had by all.

Yawn

No, Virginia, we won't be in a new house by Christmas!
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Ah, there is so much hurry-up-and-wait in this process of building a new house.  

This NW fall has been great to get the plants dug up and out from around the mobile.  Sometimes we have had to use the truck and a come-along to pull the plants from their current beds.  

We are using the "waiting" time to clean out and clean up the mobile and the garage, gathering boxes, donating to charity, packing the side rooms in the mobile, and have tentatively picked out lighting and appliances.  

 But mostly we are waiting for action.  

Stay tuned.

Business must be great

Think we should have thought about building a new house during the leaner years of the recession. 
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We've heard that a number of people in the building trades retired during that time or found another occupation.  It's been tough finding a builder who wants a project of this size - 1 home - or is not too busy to contemplate more work. 
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Here are some of our experiences with builders today:

• Contractor 1:  kept changing dollars in the bid – never answered questions
• Contractor 2:  wanted a contract and dollars to develop a bid
• Contractor 3:  said pay me money, when I'm done I'll hand you a key, go away until then

So as a consequence, this whole process is taking much longer than we anticipated. 
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Stay tuned.

#1 on the list - Dispose of mobile home

Good news!  We found someone to take the mobile home off our property.  Cool!  Let's do it! 

 

But he said "Don't do it until you have a building permit in your hand."  We didn't care but we took his advice under consideration. 

 

Then builder #1 said "Don't get rid of the mobile until you have a building permit in hand."  Hmm.  Where have we heard that before? 

 

Builder #4 said "Don't get rid of the mobile until you have a building permit in hand."  Ok, got it! 

 

Why?  Because with a previous structure (the mobile) on the property, a lot of the fees are waived.  There is no chance that somehow the land would become deemed unbuildable (e.g., a duck was seen walking there in 1954, which might qualify the land as a wildlife refuge).  Wouldn't that be a pea-cutter!

 

Between making decisions, making choices, making plans, we are starting to get the mobile ready to move.  Decks, deck covers, and fencing have to be removed. 

Much of the landscaping has got to go or be run over as the mobile departs. 

So in good weather we are tearing out plants and stuffing them in plastic sacks to assist in living through the winter.  (Note: Horticulturists are shuddering, I can tell.)  

There is nothing valuable there and I can probably replace all for $3.99 each in the spring.

 But it will be very satisfying if they all make it!

Stay tuned.

Building a new home? Options - Choices - Decisions - So Many, Oh My!

A new home, huh?  What do we want?  What do we need?  What are our choices?. 

 

Lindal Cedar Homes, Armstrong, Kit, or "buiild on your own lot "builders like HiLine, True Built, Lexar, and Reality Homes, modular, do-it-ourselves or hire a general contractor. 

Egad!  What are we in for?

Plans Plans Plans

we've looked at so many plans

 

What do we like about this one? 

What don't we like? 

What do we have to change?

  How many changes?

Many of the companies have their own plans but will they work with our "entry" and "view" on the same side?  Most plans expect them to be on opposite sides Can we drop off the garage?  We already have 3---or 7, depending on how you count.  Will it fit our lot and leave room for our septic tank and our raised garden and an entry porch?   

 Decisions:

How many plugs do we need and where?

What size windows?

What kind of siding? cabinets? woodwork? joists?

Energy efficient or Energy Star? 

What is the roof pitch? 

Is the master bath closed off? 

Are the extra bedrooms large enough for office work and crafts?   

Is there a utility sink in the laundry?   

Choices!  Choices! 

Ah, we are lucky people to have such choices. 

Stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

The Fist That Started It All

I was just trying to show Dean the flex in the siding.  I didn't think it was a good sign.  Guess what? I was right! 

Pushed a little and got a big hole.  Oops!  Dean said "Now you've done it!" 
Made a big project. 

So he got to spend Labor Day weekend replacing the siding on that end of the house. 

He didn't like the looks at the interior wood.  Signs things have been wet.   

 

 

Then we discussed it.  We've always said we eventually wanted to move this mobile off the property and put in a real house ... sometime.  Maybe this is the time. 

 

So we've started exploring our options.  Stay tuned.

Combat Fishing Washington State Style

On our RV trek to Alaska, we got a kick out of watching "combat fishing" on the Kenai River where many fishermen meet in too little space. 

 

Like this from Google Images: 

 

Never would have imagined this in our home waters what with the publicized overfishing here.  But for 2013 that is not the case.  Over 6 million "humpies" (pink salmon) are passing thru Puget Sound right now and up the rivers.  The Puyallup River, where we are now, expects 1.2 million fish running upstream.   

This week's fishing report:
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That report is so good even I almost got out a pole.

But then I looked at these folks and decided I might have an even chance to fall on my butt, be swept away by the current,  

 

(All these "poles" in the distance inthe water are fisherfolk)

- or - 

 

get in a fight! 

 

 

We talked to a couple of fishermen carrying 3 fish apiece and they were smiling. 



Catching one - see a couple others in the top right corner



 

BTW, the Puyallup River IS often muddy; but late in the summer it is milky from the runoff from the glaciers on Mt Rainier.

Puyallup: Count on the river being packed this weekend, so get out there early to get in on some of the hottest fishing in the area. Pinks and kings are biting. Using corkies and a small pierce of yarn with a half-ounce weight and long leader is working for most anglers.

 

 

Hot Air Ballooning!

What a wonderful treat to get to float over our beautiful green Northwest (thank you, friend Caroline). 

 

It did take a wee bit of effort to get up at 4 AM(!) to meet the balloon van but this early we got to enjoy the sunshine coming up over the Cascade Mountains.  Terrific!

Dean helped with the balloon inflation - 20 minutes from trailer to fully inflated. 

 

 

Nice quiet ride except when the air in the balloon cooled and we needed to ascend.

Phoosh as the gas turned on and up we went. We heard the dogs barking at us and saw a horse shy when the pilot turned on the gas.  

Thought about dropping pennies along the way but Dean never calculated the velocity and I didn't want to harm anybody below!

The haze and the clouds kept the mountains from being clear shots.
 

Wonderful views of McMansions and their pools and tennis courts AND pickleball courts.

We traveled up to 2000' high and managed 15 mph. 

As an aficionado of Google Earth, I realized very soon that the shots I'm taking from the balloon were similar to what you can see on Google Earth – check it out.

Colorful nursery



This maze is made of sunflowers - nice!

The pilot stated that hot air balloons typically last about 500 hours for him to use commercially and amateurs may use them up to 650 hours but seams and lines may be causing problems after that time.  

 

Toward the end of the ride the pilot was really earning his money making sure the recovery crew got to where we were landing before we did (and they did). And making sure the surface winds weren't going to move him toward the trees.

We landed on a massive soccer fields complex. Plenty of room.

 

And the pilot did a good job avoiding the sprinkler – we all thought we were going to get wet!

 

He put the recovery crew to work as workhorses pulling the balloon and the basket hovering just off the ground to the corner of the field out of the way of the soccer grounds crews.

 

While the recovery crew folded up the balloon, the pilot and all us riders enjoyed mimosas and toasted to this Irish Prayer.

 

The winds have welcomed you with softness
The sun has blessed you with it's warm rays
You have flown so high and so well
That God has joined you in laughter
And set you gently back again
Into the loving arms of Mother Earth

Happy fliers!

 

Fantastic!