Cabin Pics

We saw lots of mushrooms. It was cool, wet and quiet in the woods.


Tamzin made lots of exciting discoveries.
One of Tamzin's photos.

Let It Snow

I came across this great pic of Troy and Chloe out for a snowmobile ride.

Does this look like fun or what?!!

Back to the Cabin

We haven't been to the cabin all summer. It's funny, but when it wasn't ours, we spent all our time wishing it was. Now that it is ours, I haven't been able to feel excited about going.

Is is because I know I have to clean out every %#&$ cupboard in order to clean the place of mouse droppings? Or is it because nothing in it is really mine, so I have to clean, organize and keep order for stuff I don't necessarily even like (but can't afford to ...and don't have the energy to...replace). Or is it because I have been so overworked and stressed for so long that I'm unable to even contemplate going to a place where I will end up spending the majority of my time cooking, reading, and wandering in the woods?

Well, we went last weekend because Clint was worried that if we didn't get up there to shut off the main rooms and turn on the heater that the pipes would freeze. It's a real possibility once it starts to get cold up there. With the heat off, the cabin is no more than 10 degrees warmer than outside. If the pipes freeze, we'd be in big trouble, since it won't be warming up there again any time soon.

We had another reason to go, too. We still have several felled trees decorating our lot here at home, and there is a log splitter at the cabin that could make the job of cutting those trees for use in our wood stove this winter a whole lot easier. We even figured we could cut some wood up there in the forest while we were at it. We are required to keep the area around the cabin clear of debris, and there are always a few fallen trees around.

So, off we went. And, we had an awesome time. I finished the book I was reading, Dragons of Eden by Carl Sagan. I spent more time reading there at the cabin than I think I have in the last three months combined. Scary thought.

Tamzin was really into going for walks. She had a hard time waiting for everyone else. Finally the two of us went off on our own. She's actually a great explorer. She really notices the little things. I had my camera with me, and she insisted we stop and take photos of the mushrooms, lichens, mosses, and even the deer droppings. After first resisting taking a photo of deer droppings, I started to really get into it, taking photos of all kinds of little things.

Later, Tamzin took the camera and snapped some photos of her own. I think she has a natural eye for the lens. She snaps shots of things no one else would even consider. They aren't people, but hey, whoever said people were the only thing interesting out there to look at?!

I'm so glad we went. It was rejuvenating. I even enjoyed cleaning out those dropping infested drawers. I'm thinking I will go on a hunt for a few gently used quilts and prints at the thrift stores, and see if I can infuse a little of my own personality into the place next time we go.

What Life's Been Like Until Lately

Life in the Slow Lane

I'm loving this life! I'm a hermit, hardly going anywhere at all. I'm watching lots of TV, wearing my "around the house scuzzy" clothes, and doing lots of low priortiy tasks in a relaxed, laid back fashion. I'm in "hermit heaven"! I feel like I could go on like this forever!

I moved all my photo and jpeg files from the old computer to the new. They are so much easier to view, edit, and play around with on the new computer! It's amazing what a difference a faster processor makes.

I hooked my CD-RW drive back up to the old computer. I'm going to spend a few days backing up my important files. That task is way overdue.

I've had more dealings with Verizon and DLink(manufacturers of my wireless network hardware) tech support. DSL went down again, and after we got it running again, the router wouldn't interact with the old computer. After several hours of tech support, we finally figured out that my ethernet cable has gone bad. So now we're back to one computer with internet until I reject hermit status and go to the store for an ethernet cable. The tech was surprised I didn't have an extra just laying around. Hmm. Maybe I should.

Now I'm on the hunt for a Windows 98 SE startup or system disk. My computer didn't come with one, and I think reinstalling may be the only way to fix my problem, which is that the OS has a fatal exception error when I try to open Windows Explorer. Checked with Microsoft, and they charge even for email support, so I'm not going to email them to ask if they can send me a disk.

I cleaned my massive closet. I've loved my new closet so much, that after I moved in I was regularly spiffing it up to keep it looking as cool as it did when we first put up the closet system. But the last couple months of craziness killed that plan, and my closet had so much crap in it I could hardly get to my clothes. It didn't take nearly as long to get it back in shape again as I thought it would. Now that I can see my stuff again, I am feeling the urge to use it...scrapbook stuff, sewing stuff, beading stuff, workout gear...

I installed Sims Making Magic on the new computer for the kids. I bought it with Sims Deluxe about 6 months ago, then(wisely) decided it wasn't going to fit on the old computer. So I'm just now getting it onto the new one. It's pretty cool. It does so many cool new things. I'm going to have a hard time getting on the new computer for a while.

That's OK. Maybe I'll just go read a book.

Housebound

I have no idea why blogger recorded the title of my entry, but not the text. Now I can't even remember what I had to say!

Oh, that's right...I was stuck at home with no car. Clint took it in to have the heater and brakes repaired. Now I don't have to spend the winter bundled up and shivering every time I drive anywhere, like we did last year! Ahhh, the luxuries of a heated vehicle!

Getting Connected

All our Internet problems appear to be over.

Our Verizon DSL started working again last Friday. Apparently Verizon oversold their service, and they need to upgrade their lines. The rumour is we may be having problems like this off and on for the next few months. I ran into a number of other Benton City-ites while I was haunting the library to use their internet who were having the same problem. One person said she heard the issue was statewide. So, this might not be a good time to sign on with Verizon, if you were considering it.

The next order of business was to hook up the wireless network. Clint managed to get the adapter card into the old computer with little difficulty, but whenever we hooked up the router, neither computer could access the internet. Tonight he decided to take one last stab at it, and got it up and running, with a little help from DLink's 24 hour tech support line.

So now we have two computers with access to the internet, plus the capability to have a future laptop computer in the bedroom or some other remote location in the house, also hooked up to the net. Isn't technology grand?

Clint is the man of the hour. He knows nothing about computers, but he's so patient, he was able to make it work!