It is MISERABLE outside!

It's pouring outside...still.

Yesterday, Ron and Pete were out in the weather trying to divert the path of the water off the roof so it didn't collect on the new foundation. We had a slight problem yesterday with water seeping into the dining room. Once we cleaned it up, Ron and Pete were out in the HORRIBLE weather trying to fix it. Ron said Pete wondered why the photographer wasn't out taking pictures? Um, good question. (I was inside where it was warm and dry...drinking some fresh ground Starbuck's Christmas Blend coffee and eating a delicious piece of Lemon-Blueberry Bundt Cake.)

Fast forward to today. It's not quite as miserable, but Pete and Al came over to try and get the roof completely covered. My guy was out to offer assistance. Pete posed for me when he saw me out in the pouring rain with no rainjacket but ready to snap a few photos.You look good up there, Pete!Al was cutting the final piece of plywood. If you look behind Pete in the first photos, you can see the section that still needed to be covered. This made me a little nervous...something about power tools (electricity) and rain (lots of water)...seems I learned something about that NOT being a good/safe combination?There goes Al...handing the plywood to Pete.


Look how agile ole' Pete is! I told him to be careful. Ron told him he'd catch him if he fell. Pete laughed.Ah...there she is, all covered up and ready to ride out the storm.
One of the reasons for the water seeping into our dining room was because the water collecting on the foundation couldn't go anywhere. There was wood blocking it's escape. No problem. Pete got out his hefty (just kidding) chainsaw and took out a piece of wood that was going to come out anyway.In this photo below, you're looking up at the eaves. No, they're not going to stay uneven...We end today's outside workday with my guy sweeping out the water.

Now HE is enjoying a cup of Starbuck's fresh-ground Christmas Blend coffee...and it's likely he's also enjoying a slice of that Lemon-Blueberry Bundt Cake...yum!

The roof is partially on, but uh-oh, watch out for this storm!

When we came back from visiting Linz & Donnie and Gabe & Emily, Pete and crew were working on connecting the roofs and starting to cover the trusses. These were taken on January 2nd.
If you click on this photo above, it'll get larger and you can see the insulation...and the holes, the gaps, cut into the house. Remember this .... it's important to the rest of this post.You can see in this photo above how they finished on January 2nd. See that black tarp? Ron says it's "ROOFING FELT". Ok. Well, it's to keep out any potential rain since the insulation is exposed...well, I guess it's more than just insulation, there are HOLES in the house!

Yesterday there was no working to be done outside because of THE STORM. Yep, it's been rainy and windy...very rainy and windy.
Look at that sky! I was standing next to the addition looking east. You can't see the wind - obviously! But trust me, it's there.

Remember that black roofing felt... well, the wind played havoc with it. I hate the wind to play havoc... I don't do havoc well... neither did the roofing felt.

Enter Pete into the picture...poor guy. He came over and climbed up on the wet, slick roof in the wind to tack it back down. I bet he tacked it a lot better this time. This storm is suppose to be a doozy... that means a good one...a good one doesn't really mean 'good', it means 'BAD'.

I'm digressing....

Ron climbed up with Pete...I'm sure to supervise, or maybe to encourage him in this nasty weather. Good ole' Ron!Pete was yelling at the black roofing felt, "Come on you sucker!" It was playing havoc with Pete...not wanting to lay down like Pete wanted it to. Whew, I wouldn't want to be up there in this weather. I know you still can't see the wind, but you just have to trust me. Oh my gosh! Be careful, Pete! It's slippery up there. (Now I don't know this first hand, but I can only imagine. Plus, Ron told me it would be slippery.)OK, Pete. Now it's time to come down. Mission accomplished.

New Year's Day walking along the beach

New Year's Day was beautiful! Rema called earlier in the day and wanted to know if I wanted to go for a walk... I did. We took Ginger who amazed me with her love of the water AND her sweetness toward one particular duck!

First, here's a video of the Pacific Ocean...you'll see Ginger and the canine friend she played with for a while... plus some seals. Yep, there were four of them. Actually, if I hadn't just told you they were seals, you might not have known...

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

For those of you who can't see video (Mom :) here's some still shots. In this picture below, Ginger was SO excited to be in the water. Here, she's crossing a little river to get to the ocean. Rema and I had to take off our shoes and wade across this .... rather cool, frigid, foot-numbing water. Actually, it wasn't that bad.

There goes Ginger...she didn't stop!
I just love the water... the sea gulls ... it's all so beautiful ... so why don't I go to the beach more often?
That's Ginger way out there...see her head?

Now, the next trio of pictures was amazing. Rema and I just kept watching. There was this duck just swimming along in the water. Ginger went and paddled up just behind it... never bothered it, just swam along behind it. After a little bit, she swam up beside the duck and just swam with her. The duck didn't seem bothered by Ginger, and Ginger was just it's little protector.


Yep, it was a great way to start the new year...

The World's Best Loved Cat

Most of us voted for "Booker" ... Lindsey and Donnie voted for "Fluffball" ... and since he was their kitty, Fluffball it was. Usually he's called simply "Fluff."

This weekend, I was curious if Fluff was taking out his jealousy over Biscuit - who has had her photographs featured on this Johnston Chronicles a multitude of times - by the countless times he attacked his 'grandpa'... aka, my guy! I wouldn't be surprised if Ron instigated the attacks...as he tends to do sometimes.

Fluff is definitely a very well-loved critter.

Monday morning I checked my camera, knowing that Lindsey and Donnie had used it to take "a few" photos of Fluff ... well, there was probably close to 60 or 70... no kidding. Actually, I had taken some of them Sunday. This was my favorite:
This next one made me laugh...Fluffball, the vampire!
Now to be fair to all my grandpets, I want to give Fluffy his space. I decided to give him his own slideshow:

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

When life gives you oranges, make orange juice!

Oranges...

Lindsey and Donnie's orange trees are LOADED with oranges. Notice the ladders? Well, Ron and Donnie picked oranges....lots of oranges...and this picture was taken after picking 3 boxes.















So what did we do with all these oranges? We made orange juice...lots of orange juice...gallons of orange juice.

I think I need to take more photos like this...Lindsey took it. I like the way she took it at an angle.

Whoo-ee...look at that juice!
Well, this was actually a small mistake. Next time, we won't use as much of the orange. Some of the pith (is that what it's called...the white part between the orange and the peel?) was also juiced and that made it a little bitter...kind of a grapefruity taste.
Here's the results of the juicing...
and the juicer... (that's me)...
Linz wanted to toast the orange juice...but Donnie couldn't wait, he went on ahead and started to drink....
Ahhh, note the look of delight in Donnie's eyes as he consumes the juice from his orange trees...

Lindsey and Donnie have a compost pile. By the end of this day, it must have been overflowing with orange rinds and also of pulp. I would fill up glasses of pulp for Ron and Donnie to empty. Some of it was put in the compost, but the guys started drinking the pulp...not sure I liked it THAT much. No waste around here!

After all the containers Lindsey owned were filled with juice, we still had oranges sitting in the boxes. What to do? Well, we knew we'd take some to Emily... and we knew we'd bring some home.

Lindsey and her pop started juggling....





Take note of the oranges... COUNT THEM ... notice anything a little off with the actual act of juggling? You might also note Lindsey's intense concentration...and her pop's LACK of intense...well, lack of ANY concentration...

A video shows it best:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

So, now that I'm finished with this post, I guess I'll go eat... an orange!