Picnic Table (II)

My first blog about this was the unstained version.  Staining it was another ordeal.  I am pleased with how it and glad I don't have to re-stain it for a couple years.

 

Now you see it, now you don't

Our refrigerator spoiled 2 milk containers and the repair man told us to say our 'good byes' so we started shopping around for a replacement.  We have yet to purchase it, but we did decide on an upgraded model with a bottom freezer.  Like all older-style kitchens, it was not designed to accomodate it.  The newer styles are a little too tall for the current space.

Our solution: rip out the offending cabnet.

It was surprisingly easy.  I intentionally destroyed the cabnet (whtie-painted pressed board) and painted over the previously hidden area. 

This gives me hope when it comes time to rip out the remaining cabnets....

Backpacking Eagle Creek

Last weekend, a buddy and I went to Eagle Creek on a 2-night backpacking trip.  Eagle Creek is ideal and unusual because it is just outside Portland past the falls but so vast as to offer multi-day hiking trips.  For example, we just finished our first mile when we ran into a boy scout troup finishing up their 7-day backing trip.  They started at Timberline near Mt. Hood and hiked all the way here.

The trail is lined with waterfalls, but this is one of the more impressive falls.  The trail takes you behind the falls via a tunnel. 

Just past the falls above, is one of the my favorite falls because it splits.

Below is the obligatory, yet awesome views of Mt. Hood.

We hiked a 20-mile loop in 3-days.  The first night was alongside Eagle Creek.  The next night was at Dublin Lake.  To get to Dublin Lake, we had to hike out of the valley of Eagle Creek and then along a ridge.  Though level, the ridge was my least-favorite part of the hike because the trail was so crowded with grass tuffs that my trekking poles were useless (plus it was exposed to the hot mid-afternoon sun). 

Harvesting our Garden!

We have a lot of green tomatos but they seem stuborn and reluctant to turn red.  At long last, we were finally able to enjoy a fresh tomato from our garden.  Sandi celebrated by cutting it up with mozzarela cheese, basil, and balsalmic vinegar.  Even better, we were able to share them with friends over dinner.

Sandi received a water melon start from a friend at OHSU.  We were both a little skeptical about it's viability, but we had nothing to loose.  One day, we saw a little bud that turned into a little melon.  That grew to be a big melon.  We decided to harvest it earlier this week.  The little white thing next to it is a golf ball for scale.

Turns out, we picked it a little un-ripe.  It could have turned a little redder and sweeter, but it's not bad.  We were afraid to let it go too long only to spoil.  Oh well, we might have a few more chances before the season is over.

Joy over for dinner

Sandi's sister, Joy, came over for dinner last week.  Sandi made wonderful encheladas.  It was fum seeing her and we really enjoyed sitting outside on our picnic table.

Pellet rack: before and after

So I've wanted to make a better place to store the pellets in the bone yard (north side of the house) for a couple years. This year, we even lost 3 bags of pellets due to water damage. You can see why.

This is the old way I stored pellets

The bone yard has seen it's better days

The first step was to clean out the weeds and junk and make space for the new rack.

Part of the goal was to use all the 'construction' lumber in my wood rack.  I've accumulated scrap wood from various sources like window sills and the old work bench before I replaced it.

Building the rack was a different experience than most of my wood working endeavors.  In this project, precision was too time-consuming and counter-productive.  I also used hammer and nail, which is very unusual in my projects.

After a few hours cutting and nailing, out popped a pellet rack.

A side benefit is that my garage wood rack is so clean (and probably more useful) without all the lumber. 

This is how we roll

I came home after work on Tuesday to find Sandi chopping fresh cucumbers (from our garden) for dinner.  In the oven was a home-made pepperoni pizza with olives and green peppers.  It was so good.