The Kittens

Norah and Audrey got another rabbit. Only this time we didn't save it. We heard the ruckus outside but all the flashlights were dead and we couldn't(wouldn't?) find the murderers in the forest in the dark. The next day Matt found an explosion of bloody rabbit fur outside and then he found the front half of the rabbit just inside the cat door and kindly disposed of it before I stumbled upon it. He is a good husband.

So, What's Up With the House?

We were hoping to get our final inspection done last Thursday but we hit a couple of snags. (What?!? A snag? Unheard of!) The glass shower door I had ordered needed to have studs in the wall behind where it attaches and the guys who came to install it said I had 2 choices: order another type of shower door or break open the walls and add the required studs. Guess which option I chose? Hint: the new shower door will be here Wednesday. The other snag involves door handles. You know the little plates on the edges of doors where the latch is? Our doors don't have an indentation for those plates to sit in so we couldn't install the handles. My knees got wobbly at the thought of chiseling out 14 of those indentations without gouging the doors or digging too deep. The company that supplied our doors and windows lost out in this lousy economy and no longer exists (sadness) so I called another door company and they are sending someone out on Wednesday to cut out the holes for us. Some things are just WORTH paying for.

On the "Good News" side of the ledger sheet, the carpet has been installed upstairs! It is the first room to be 100% complete. We LOVE it - sooo cozy. I was varnishing the inside of the closet door and got a little light headed so I decided to take a nap on the carpet upstairs. IT. FELT. SO. NICE!
I have also done no fewer than 3 loads of dishes in the DISHWASHER! Hal-freaking-lelujah. In addition to boiling eggs my stove has been put to use wilting rhubarb in honey for a salad, baking cookies for Father's Day, Jalepeno Popper Dip (I found the recipe by following a link on Jennifer's blog - it was a big hit!) and Caramel Crack for the Gillespie's party. We are hoping to get our final inspection done this coming Thursday provided there are no more hidden snags. And on Friday our refrigerator arrives! Yay! We still haven't ordered our washer and dryer. They are the next major purchase. I can't wait!

Across the North Cascade Highway

After leaving the Methow Valley we headed west over the North Cascades Highway. It is closed during the winter between Nov & May. It was beautiful! Our destination on the other side of the mountains was Bellingham where we visted Andy. Bellingham is a really nice town (Andy is nice too :)) and we were reminded that we should get up there more often.

(This picture makes me laugh)

Winthrop, Twisp & Mazama, WA

A few weekends ago we took a little trip up north with Tom and Kathy. The idea was to visit the lumber yard from which we purchased all of our siding and interior wood. The area we went to is on the east side of the Cascades and is called the Methow Valley (FYI, it is pronounced met-how. I called it meth-ow and was corrected). This is a picture taken from our room at the Mazama Country Inn were we spent Friday night.

And this is our room. How cute is the sleeping loft? I admit this is the entire reason I picked this place after looking at a bunch on the internet.

This is NOT were we stayed although it was beautiful. It is the Sun Mountain Lodge.

A view from the SML grounds looking over the Methow Valley.

The next 2 shots were taken inside the SML wine cellar. For $150 a person can rent the room for private dinners. I'll take the seat under the polar bear.
If you don't want to add $150 to your dinner bill you can settle for eating in the dining room and this breathtaking view:
Along with the polar bear we encountered stuffed deer, javelinas, wild boar, and a bunch of other unfortunate creatures whose pictures did not make the cut.

And here is the reason for the trip:
You can get pretty much any wood you want from this place. We thought they milled the lumber on location but turns out they just source and house the lumber. When a customer calls to request something, they send it out to be milled in Tacoma. Those bays full of cedar smelled wonderful. People tell me my cedar house smells nice too but I truly can't smell it anymore!

Full Oval

The sink and stove have been put to use. I can't say it was for some grand dish. I hard boiled some eggs. As I post this I realize there is some poetry in that, considering that this blog is called Eggtown and in just 2 weeks we will be celebrating Egg Days here in Winlock. The other day on the mail route, one of my customers asked me if I wanted some eggs because her chickens had laid more than she could use. I happily said yes and she came out of the house with 2 dozen (!) eggs! I got home from the route and the propane man was just finishing installing our tank. The next day our plumber finished nearly all his tasks here so I had a working kitchen sink (heavenly choir singing) and a working stove (angel harp orchestra). And now I have 24 hard boiled eggs. Full circle.

Sometimes I Miss Los Angeles

I am 100%, absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, snowball's chance in hell certain that this will never happen in Winlock. Thanks Tengrain.

Update: I wrote about this story at the time but it bears repeating here. When we moved up here one of Matt's coworkers gave him a hammer as a gift in preparation for house building. He engraved it with Matt's initials, M C. I still laugh about having MC Hammer in da house.

Kathy Saves a Fawn

The other day I got a call from Kathy. "Bring your camera, there is a fawn by the side of the road that is less than a day old", she said. The mother was nowhere around and the fawn was so new and delicate that when it tried to stand the wind from passing cars blew it over. When I got there it had made its way from the edge of the road into some grasses. Wildlife services had not arrived by the time I left so we never found out what happened to it. Hopefully the mother returned and guided it to safety. That is the story I am sticking to.

Lord Have Mercy

File under: This is how we do things in the country.

People of the internet, you are going to need a backstory before viewing these pictures. Sigh. Here we go. A few weeks ago Tom and Kathy were having trouble with their chicks. Something was eating them in the night. It was determined that the culprit was a raccoon. The household was on guard and when Walker raised the alarm, Tom grabbed his shotgun and headed outside (3am with Kathy laughing hysterically from inside). The two of them treed the raccoon and it was dispatched forthwith, its tail blown clean off.

Tom delights in teasing me because I am a vegetarian and he is a blood thirsty hunter. Last night after dinner at their house Matt and I went to leave and what is tied to my antenna? That's right. The RACCOON tail. Matt referred to me as Davy Crockett's chauffer and laughed all the way home.