Hello and Good-bye

Gabe made his long awaited appearance, on the heels of his summer job as an adventure camp counselor. We are VERY happy to have his muscle around and looking forward to introducing him to the wonders of life here on the homestead.


He actually arrived Monday, and we have had a FULL week.


Gina had used our van so that she could bring another load from "The Coast" as everyone here refers to anything West of the Cascades. I was left in charge of her zippy little Camry, and fulfilled my obligation by losing her ONLY key the first time I drove it. Knowing that 1) she probably had a spare and 2) it had to be here...I wasn't all that concerned until I found out that item 1 was incorrect. I looked a little more diligently, but failed to find it before she returned.


With Paula's departure imminent, it became more important to have the second vehicle and I retraced my steps from the day I drove it and still came up empty. 3 acres is a lot of area to search, and fortunately Gina did have a code that she received when she bought the car that was supposed to guarantee her a matching key from a locksmith. The closest locksmith we could find was in Chelan, so yesterday she and I zipped on down and picked up a replacement. A replacement that didn't work.


I had put off the one one place I was afraid the key had ended up...the trash. The day I had driven it, I had checked the mail and sorted a pile on the table. The majority ended up in the circular file and that was where I figured the phantom key had settled. After the replacement key failed to work, I steeled myself and headed for the garbage can.


Now, for some, that may not seem an impossible task. I however, am cursed with an incredibly weak tummy and just the THOUGHT of opening the trash can had already sent me running for the porcelain god several times. I reminded myself that we do not put very much food in the trash can (thanks to composting and hungry teenagers) and the likelihood of spoiled food was minimal. The good news is, I learned that mind over matter is something I am capable of. The bad news was, someone hadn't listened to the 'no food in the trash rule' . The worse news is that after 30 minutes of delicate scrounging, no keys were found.


After another 30 minutes of scrubbing myself clean, I stood in the kitchen trying to think of where...in this tiny house...the keys could hide. I looked on a couple of the newly arranged shelves with no results.


About an hour later, while Gina was shopping, Hugh asked for the location of the Orange Spark (a powdered caffeinated beverage that you add to water). Although I had had several servings of it over the week, I suddenly remembered that when the drawers and cabinets had been getting painted, a bunch of items had been deposited in the same drawer and I dove into the drawer with wild abandon and discovered the keys.


On a sadder note, we said goodbye to Paula and Raine yesterday. We loved having them here. Wednesday we went with some of the friends we met in the congregation to Deep Bay to swim and BBQ. It was a formal occasion, as you can see.