Construction Fatigue

After a vacation, we came back to our mostly-done house and proceeded to...go back to regular jobs, school, everyday life like other people. 

We had been working to get through construction fatigue for a long time, but we finally succumbed. 

When a fellow told me long ago "don't move in until every last thing is done or you will have bare bulbs for years," he was right. You shouldn't move in until it is all done, and I am proud to say that the only bare bulbs are in the attic and the crawl space where they ought to be. But, other things were left undone. Trim, for instance. Drawers and closet doors. At first, this was partly because lumber went up in price. That alone probably slipped us from barely hanging on to the project, to letting go of all construction.

When we got back from our little vacation, our "volun-told" builders plunged back into their schoolwork with a dedication I'd never seen before. You couldn't budge them until they graduated (and they got jobs that were NOT in construction). 

I never wanted to pick up a paintbrush again, and my husband had one big bad work deadline after another, with other non-house things that needed to be done in-between. 

Now that we had a solid roof over our heads, and a floor that did not bounce on wheels, and running water, we all wanted to do the things that we had put off during construction. Go to the events that we couldn't go to because "it was the weekend and we needed to be working."  Go on trips, have tea parties, play in the river on a Saturday, and tackle lists of personal goals and enterprises.

We did all the home-y things, such as baking,

preserving,

enjoying holidays,

 filling our stove to capacity.

We spent the weekends exploring, 

hiking, 

  

and enjoying the flavor of our area. 

Personal projects and hobbies could now be pursued by construction-worn kids who had lived through the world's longest shop class. 

Exercising in the snow is preferable to shoveling it off of construction materials. 

Who cares if there are no drawers in the kitchen, when you can obviously still make feasts in the space?

It was faster to build lego houses, and plant gardens, than to think about how the kitchen backsplash is going to work out. 

But not all construction was halted that winter of freedom. Shelves in the closet were a happy thought indeed, once they had been found, purchased, cut, and installed (the cost and installation of which was not quite a happy one for the builders, but they soon saw the value of my logic when they had a place to put their hats). And the attic access needed to be finished up so that no heat left the building out thataway.

We also took one more step to make sure there were no bare bulbs in the house. 

 But then, back to other things...

... such as enjoying spring... time to go see the migrating birds!

That long-awaited plan to float the river? Check.

No longer snowed in, we could go visiting. (No, it's not Italy. It's Oregon.)

During any one of these weeks (cough- months)  I could have gathered up the paint supplies and finished the doors. Plans were always in the back (the very far recesses) of my mind as to how to stain the stair treads now that we were moved in and using the second floor constantly. But life goes on without these luxuries, and no one seemed to notice the lack. As spring turned into summer, we were drawn out-of-doors to other projects which I will post about next time. 

I think I have more pictures of clouds in my photo account than I do people.

I'd rather watch this kind of Painting any day!

Local Scenery

 

 

I really like where we live now. It may not look "beautiful" at first glance, but it is full of interest. 

Here are some pics from a spring walk to the neighborhood reservoir. On our way we pass the rocks you see above.

Spring comes to our area a lot later than it does in the Willamette Valley. While they are luxuriating in enough green to fill Ireland, dotted with early flowering trees and violets blooming in profusion, we have to look a little harder for our early signs of spring. Usually there are small white flowers throughout the winter (1/8" or less blooms), but these early purply ones you can't miss!

The year this walk was taken, the reservoir had water in it. It's been a bit more like a mud puddle since then.

It doesn't look impressive, but there is a character to the area, something I have been seeking in Oregon for thirty years. I won't repeat my rant here about Oregon's lack of character in general (although I think I'm due to write another one), but out here, I found it. Call it cowboy culture (there are real ones here), or rural salt-of-the-earth stuff, or tough, stick-to-itiveness because of the landscape, but there sure is something out here that the rest of the state needs.

 

I was impressed that the canal system and dam built were built by the locals over a hundred years ago. I am impressed with the hard-working ranches big and small. I am impressed that the nearby City of Prineville (with a population of less than 12k) has its own railroad, warehouses and airport, which seems to me to be a sign that the can-do spirit of the settlers lives on in the area. 

 

I am impressed with how friendly and welcoming the locals are, despite the fact that they are getting invaded every year by more and more outsiders who want to change this place. They should have shut the doors after letting us in ;-)

It doesn't rain a lot, but when it does, we take note!

A Bit of Earth and Sky

During a project that seemed to consume all our time, it was nice to take walks and get away from it all. So let me take you along on a few!

When I first discovered bitterroot, I thought it was so alien-like. But then to see it when the blossoms unfurl!

It has become one of my favorite flowers.

A beautiful view from just above the neighborhood and quite aways above the valley. 

That year the lupines were in abundance. 

A pretty sunset glow

We once calculated that this is about 3600 above the sea. 

We hike to what we have dubbed "levels." First level is our house up to the flat spot where we can see the Three Sisters mountains. Second level is up a steep and slippery rocky shale slope to another flat spot, and third level is the very top of this hill where the best view awaits. It is a tiring hike though!

All kinds of interesting rocks are up that way, and once in a while a new wildflower is spotted that doesn't grow on the other "levels."

One day we saw some interesting sky-art.

It was like the opposite of sun rays...

Was it smoke? Yet it seemed to have no bottom part on the ground.

It lingered and lingered and then faded away as the sun set. 

Well I hope that was a diverting break from saws and planks of wood. Next up is TILE, oh the joy!

Wildcat

 You are in for a treat with this post. Not only is it extra long but the photos were snapped by my son who has better photography skills and equipment than I do! 

Nancy had asked us several times to visit her camp at Wildcat, but we were always too busy working on the house. Years went by, actually, before we decided to make time to go to Wildcat. The campground isn't too far away from us, and she was always camped out there for a long time,  so we really should have gone every time she asked. It's not like we saved a lot of time and made a lot of progress by staying away, was it?

I am not sure that Wildcat is more special than other places we have seen in Oregon; Oregon is just plain special everywhere you look! But this one spot was special to Nancy. We were only going there because of her, and it was fun to take a break, etc. Well, Wildcat turned out to be one really neat place! 

It was perfect for small children, but interesting enough for the big kids. The little creek was just deep enough to wade in to cool off, and there were water snakes (harmless) and minnows to watch. 

The children built a rock dam and played in the creek, stopping for sustenance at Nancy's RV (ice cream and hot dogs). They also enjoyed the old-fashioned fresh-water pump in the camp. 

Nancy was thrilled to have the baby (as usual).

(It didn't really matter who the baby was, actually.)

She was determined to show him the wonders of God's creation. 

Her enthusiasm was always contagious, and it was a perfect combination with an insatiably curious baby. 

She have to did spend some time pulling rocks out of his mouth. 

Finally someone had the idea to go and get her a chair. 

We all went on part of the hiking trail. Nancy walked all 9 or so miles of it regularly. She hoisted baby on her back to take on some of the trail with us. 

Who needs to spend a hot afternoon building a house when all this pleasant green was just a few hills away?

After our third or fourth time to visit Nancy at Wildcat that year (making up for lost time) we determined that we would go back whenever when she was camping out there.