Howdoo . . . .

Good morning and howdoo! (As in, "how DO ya do?")

My laptop's been in the shop for a couple of weeks - more due to convenience of simply leaving it there in between small jobs than any single large repair - and so I haven't been able to enjoy the convenience of writing from a comfortable, lazy spot in the house (vs. my office). Until right now! Yayy!

I'm in the sunroom with a little fire cracklin' in the stove in front of me (which needs more wood, I see), my coffee next to me (which could also stand a refill), three dogs at my feet (yes, THREE), and a light dusting of snow visible on the big deck to my left. Now, if only all our bills were paid and there was an unlimited stash acruuing interest in the savings account . . . life would be perfect! ;)

We're dog-sitting the four-legged kid (soon to be "demoted" by a two-legged baby girl arriving in December) of our dear friends for the week. Tom picked her up on his way home from work last Thursday night, and she'll probably go home Friday morning. Aside from a set-to between Tucker & her (over a bone) the first day and the hatred that Annie Blue has for this interloper, all is well. She's a pleasure to have around: SUCH a well-behaved, well-trained dog! AND she's still a puppy at just over 1 year old! I think we'll send our future dogs to her parents for training. ;)

Yesterday, being Election Day, marked the end of a fairly intense lobby by a solid group of locals to vote 'yes' in a county-wide Broadband Initiative. As the name suggests, it was an effort at bringing broadband Internet access to EVERYONE in our large county who was on the (electrical) grid. Of 3,583 registered voters (in the county), a 68% turn-out was garnered with 2,425 people voting . . . which seems pretty good to me for a non-election (president, governor, etc.) year. This is in thanks, I firmly believe, to our mail-in voting system. See, in a county of such a wide-spread physical area,

- Didja miss me? Tucker just threw up. Twice. Have you ever tried to get one dog out the front door before the heaves turn into upchucks . . . with two other dogs "helping"? Yeah. I doesn't work. But, yes, Tucker is fine. He's gotta get that gravel out somehow. Yes, he eats rocks. Fortunately, small ones. Yes, we've tried to stop him. But, as you dog owners out there know, you can't be watching them 24/7. Anyway! -

Starting where I left off . . . .

In a county of such a wide-spread physical area, voter turn-out would be V-E-R-Y low if everyone was required to drive to a polling station. Then, there would also be the added hassles of STAFFING that polling station. And, blah, blah, blah. Long story short, ballots are mailed to all citizens who live outside the city limits for all elections. And, for special elections such as this one was, they are mailed to in-city residents, too . . . to generate that higher voter response.

The broadband issue, due to some special funding attached (which is how I understand it), required 65% of the 'ayes' to pass. It received 55.9%. Doh! While the proponents were, naturally, touting all the good that such infrastructure would do, they were glossing over the reality that a) it would only benefit those folks on-grid (and there ARE a decent # of us who are off-grid) and b) the utility would be run down a, say, county road . . . but it would NOT be brought in a person's 1/4 mile driveway! And, I think a lot of people weren't aware of that.

When they heard that it would "be available to all those who live on the grid", they assumed the wiring would come right to their house . . . alongside their electricity. Nuh-uh. Nope. Sorry! Sure, it'll be out at the ROAD, at the end of your driveway (EVENTUALLY, and the farther you live from town and highest population concentration, the longer that will be), but YOU have to pay the $15,000 or so it would cost to get it run down your long driveway. And, a "long" driveway is the only kind that most folks have up here!

So, all in all and even though I did vote for it (although it would have had NO effect on us out here at Swamp River Ridge), I think it's a good thing it didn't pass. I think a lot of folks who had voted 'Yes' would have been reeeeeeally upset when they learned the reality of it. Yeah, it sounded great on paper, but, in order to benefit from it, you would have had to pay a LOT out-of-pocket . . . an expense I think few realized. So, there ya have it. Election over. Let's get back to Real Life.

Tom had an incredibly productive, successful past weekend. A couple of weeks ago, while wood-working, he accidentally ran over his best chainsaw with the 1-ton . . . something that we've since discovered MANY men have done! Anyway, after the appropriate replacement parts arrived at the local Stihl distributor's, he had an innumerable number of chainsaw parts spread across his office workbench and one HECK of a job in front of him! I really wish I had taken a picture of it all. Without the telltale chainsaw blade visible, you would have been hard-pressed to guess what all the handles, levers, chains, and screws were supposed to amount to. But, after a few evenings last week given to cleaning each of the disassembled parts, he was ready to build a chainsaw Saturday morning.

I'll admit that I had my doubts. NOT because of his skill but because he was working WITHOUT A MANUAL! He had nothing to "go by", no guide, no illustrations! But, a couple of hours later and with "only one screw left over!", the chainsaw was fully assembled . . . and RUNNING! That afternoon, after a couple of hours of wood cutting, he proclaimed that it was better than ever. (And you thought he came by his moniker of 'Chainsaw Tommy' 'cause he almost cut his left leg off with it . . . . Silly!!)

The chainsaw success wasn't Tom's only that day, though. (I tell ya, if he could only experience days like this more often . . . !)

Before he started his afternoon of wood-working, I was roused from my work at my office desk by a loud muffler and a honking horn. I looked out the window to see Tom driving the back-up plow truck, the '77 Chevy Suburban, into the front yard! The very same truck that we were going to tow the 20 miles down to our mechanic's on Sunday!

He had been up by the Trapper Cabin working away on it and finally got the frozen gas line freed up so that the truck could start after sitting all summer AS WELL AS the plow working, too! (The hydraulics have a nasty habit of refusing to lift the plow up off the ground at the most inopportune of times!) Wow! My dear husband has always had the bad luck of 'if something's gonna go wrong, it probably will'. So, two HUGE sucesses in one day was really something to celebrate! As I said earlier, if these kinda things would only happen with even just a little more frequency . . . say, once every month or so instead of once every YEAR . . . life would be SO mucher kinder to him! :)

Anyway, that's the latest. As you can tell from the new header photo, Bleak November is here. And, since turning the clocks back on Sunday, 5:30 PM now feels like 10:30 PM. UGH. But, I heard yesterday that it's something like only 55 days until Christmas, so there's no doubt that the holiday frenzy is juuuuuust around the corner. Double ugh. ;p

Slowly but Surely . . . .

Slowly but surely, I think my anxiety is moderating. But it's still there, most definitely!

So, why (or, more to the point, "how") the progress?

Well, figurative compartmentalized boxes 1 - 3 + an unscheduled #4 are complete. No, make that 5!

1. Chicken chores are done.
2. The outdoor wood furnace has been tended to, and I also burned all the remaining toilet-water-soaked boxes from the disaster that were still sitting on the front entrance.
3. See the latter in the above plus the rest of the piled-up STUFF that was out there has been taken care of (rugs to shake, towels to go into the washing machine, compost to be taken out, etc.).
4. Brushed my teeth, washed my face, got "ready" for the day.
5. And, my unscheduled 'box'? Since I was already in the bathroom, I swept the floor and put the area back together where the water had been bubbling up during the disaster. Then, I put away the nearly 96 (!!!) rolls of septic/environmentally-healthy toilet paper (Seventh Generation) that my folks donated to us! We're set for a while, now!

Now onto the next thing most stressing me out: ordering stand-by parts for our Onan generator. It's a job that I started doing over a week ago. And got side-tracked away from each time. THIS TIME, it's gettin' done! But maybe I should get another cup of coffee, first.

Anxiety

In our little family, anxiety attacks are usually left to my husband to bear. However, today it's my turn. (I didn't feel this bad when the septic tank backed up!)

I think it has a LOT to do with the low pressure. Here at Swamp River Ridge, we have pea-soup fog today. Fog you could "cut with a knife" (oh, wait, that's tension). Anyway, you get the idea. It is SO dark in the house. It's a perfect day for building a fire and then cozying up with a book or handwork . . . which is exactly what Tom recommended that I do. But, when you're suffering a mini-anxiety attack, you just CAN'T relax enough to do that!

Other than meds, about the only thing that gets me through these little bouts is tackling whatever it is that has me stressed. Today that's money (i.e. the lack thereof) and messiness in the house . . . and an unplanned trip to town to rectify the negative balance in our checking account (thank goodness for the emergency stash!). But then, having to "take" from the emergency stash also results in MORE stress because it's less money remaining there . . . and it's always so hard to replace it once it's borrowed. It's a vicious circle.

I know that when I feel like this, I just have to compartmentalize things and take one little step at a time. I WOULD be rendered useless if I let 'The All of It' come at me at once . . . which is what's threatening.

So, that said, I'll take myself outside into the gloom now to do some chores. And, that will be one little box of compartmentalized stress that I'll be able to close the lid on once it's done. And that's a good thing.

Yet Another Lesson

Today, class, we are going to discuss septic system maintenance. Lest you think that septic systems require no maintenance save the "every 3-5 years" pumping out . . . well, you are just wrong. At least regarding modern, safe, "legal" septic tanks.


Here we are, watching the system here at Swamp River Ridge being installed back in July of '06. That was only 2 months before we moved in, so I guess our theory of it not working because it sat stagnant with very little use for a couple of years is not correct!

We never had any problems with the septic tank at our first little house. Why? Because it had been installed back in the 70s when you could get away with a massive amount of polluting atrocities. Back then, there was no filter at the outlet leading to the drain field. And, there was always a good "draw" in the drain field. Why? Because it emptied right into a small stream that ran under the road and right into Lake Superior! Good for our septic system, BAAAAAAD (and really disgustingly gross) for the crown jewel of northeastern Minnesota!

Now, though, systems are located properly (AWAY from watersheds!), and the bane of the septic system installer is The Filter.


At the point where the liquid leaves the holding tank and empties into the drainfield (leaving the sludge in the tank to be pumped out at intervals), there is now a (mandatory) filter. (See above photo, taken back on Valentine's Day [nice] of '07 when the system froze due to lack of insulation, i.e. snow. Inside that vertical PVC tube is the filter.)

The reason for the filter is to ensure that no solids get into the drainfield - both for sanitary reasons & to prevent potential blockage. It's a good idea, but the technology has yet to catch up to the theory. See, these filters have two nasty drawbacks. #1, they have a tendency to refuse to lock in place, thereby popping up and causing a jam at the outflow point (which, in turns, backs up your system). #2, they clog up with solids really easily (which also backs up your system).

The latter is what we believe happened to us this time. Some people, up here in the Land of Septic Systems (vs. city sewer), don't even put toilet paper down their toilets! They've had too much experience with the paper not breaking down properly and thereby plugging the tank. One of my dear friends has a covered pail sitting next to both toilets in their 4-person house. And, each day, the contents are incinerated. Voila! No septic issues.

Besides the tales of blocked filters, we've also heard of another - perhaps the bigger - injustice done to septic systems these days. Are you ready? Dum, dum, dummmmm . . . (drumroll, please) . . . SOFT, THICK TOILET PAPER!

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that thicker TP degrades and breaks down MUCH more slowly than a thin, preferably recycled TP would.

And, if you stop and take time to think about it, toilet paper has been getting thicker and softer and "more quilted" through the years. The last batch we purchased was more like FABRIC than paper! And, while this may make sensitive-bummed folks happy, it AIN'T good for your septic system. Besides, I learned a while ago that the really thick, luxurious stuff uses a long-strand wood fiber than can be found only in OLD-GROWTH trees! So, you're doin' bad by the environment by using that stuff, too.

So, where does this leave us?

Well, about a month ago, when I started smelling sewer gas coming up the drain each time the washing machine emptied, it should have set off an alarm. When I started smelling sewer gas when I was walking near the tank a week or so ago, it should have set off an alarm. And, it did, but I passed it off with, "Oh, I must be paranoid. We just had the tank pumped last year - it CAN'T be that again!"

If I had mentioned these things to Tom, he would have told me that he smelled it just yesterday when he was outside but thought he was imagining things, too. We would have put two and two together and . . . popped the tops on the tank to see what was going on. But, we didn't.

So, our lesson learned is this: we're going to use only thinner, more biodegradable TP from now on, and we're going to make cleaning out the septic tank filter a regular, extremely unpleasant habit. (Oh, yes - you have to reach your arm DOWN INTO that PVC pipe to extract the filter!!) Hopefully, by adhering to these new Septic System Rules, we can eliminate (ha! pun not intended!) future problems. Keep your legs crossed* for us.

* Pun fully intended. ;)

Ya Know . . . .

On occasion, my dear husband has been a bit . . . well, let's just say 'bellicose' . . . about the seemingly never ending parade of small disasters that seem to befall a small homestead like ours. And, those things never bothered me like they did him. After all, that's just part of living this sort of lifestyle, right?

Yeah, well . . . .

Tonight while Tom and I were upstairs relaxing after a junky pizza dinner and watching Marilyn Monroe in 'Some Like It Hot', the septic tank was backing up into the house.

Literally bubbling and burbling up the drain in the bathroom like a happy little brook.

It was running under the bathroom wall and flooding the kitchen pantry floor . . . which was stacked with absorbent cardboard container upon container of empty bottles I was saving to make homemade pop with.

It was seeping underneath the wall between the pantry and downstairs bath into the dining room.

That septic tank has not worked properly since we moved in. This I know. At first, we thought it was because it had sat basically empty for a year or two before use.

Then we thought we were introducing too much water which was diluting the "good" bacteria. So, I stopped taking in our massage therapist's washing.

Since I, in particular, use the potty a LOT, I began subscribing to the "if it's yellow, let it mellow" theory. (Yuck.)

But, obviously, none of our above-listed possible errors were the problem.

Our system was put in by a dear friend. Someone whom I would trust with my LIFE. We would hire no one else to do our excavating, our heavy machinery contracting. Our septic system.

So, where have things gone wrong?

Suddenly, I am exhausted. I'm going to bed.

I love this life, but, ya know . . . there are times!

My Latest Creations

What did I do before crocheting? If I'm sitting down for a moment, I'm crocheting. If I'm riding in the car while Tom is driving, I'm crocheting. It's a sickness. Really.

A friend who learned that I've been crocheting hats lately asked if I might be willing to make "matching" hats for all the grandkids in her family . . . for a special Christmas gift of a photo of all the grandchildren. So, using a soft, cinnamon brown for the base color, I'm making the girls pink & brown hats, and the boys will get "seafoam" blue & brown. Five hats in all.


Here's the first of the boys': the youngest, at nearly a year old. It's not completely finished yet: I'm waiting for the measurement of the little ol' head. But, should I put a single pom-pom on the top . . . or not?


Here is the first of the little girls'. This is for the newest one, born just last month. I think I'll put a couple of tassles on this hat.


And, I've been amazed by how many people don't "get it" when I ask for their head measurement. So, with the assistance of my reluctant model, I made this image today. I'll e-mail it out to hat customers who need to learn 'How To Measure Your Head'. :)

The Last Couple of Days in Photos

This, folks, is what you call a 'revoltin' development'.

Today's schedule being what it is, I had the opportunity to sleep in. But, of course, Annie Blue meowed and meowed and meowed to be let out around 6:30 (even tho she's a cat, she goes potty outside), and I was sooooooo tired. But, I grumped and groaned out of bed and tromped downstairs and let her out. Then I flopped back in bed. And tossed and turned. Was too hot. Started thinking about this and that. Got up to go potty myself, and got a drink of water. And then? I was awake.

So, here I am. Potential lie-in morning not taken advantage of. (Well, that's a lie - I did get an extra hour compared to a normal morning.) Anyway, as I said, 'a revoltin' development'.

Anyway, here are a few pictures to illustrate life lately.


I took this first one on October 1st. I'd just walked into the kitchen to pull a junky pizza out of the oven, and the cozy scene just really struck a chord in me. What you can't see is that the four pans on the stove contain four fresh batches of cottage cheese, and there's a fire snap-cracklin' in the wood cookstove. Have I ever told you, "I LOVE my kitchen?!" :)


I took this next picture during our first-of-the-year snows. On the 10th, to be exact. With our whacky fall this year, we still had leaves on the trees (green leaves, in fact) when the snow came.


Last Friday while nannying, the weather allowed for some of the earliest sledding I can remember in years! Peanut #2 lives just about 2 miles from Peanut #1 (in order of babies I took care of), and so she and I visited little Miss O (who just turned 4) for some playtime.


And, lest you think little Miss O is not fashion-conscious with her blaze-orange hat, it IS hunting season. Here, Peanut #2 displays her own version on October 2nd (and, yes, she is very into wearing her jackets / vests backwards right now!) ;)


Speaking of hats, I've finished #4. This was a labor of love for a young, beautiful 16-year old whose birthday was a bit overshadowed on Saturday by her brother's wedding! She LOVES the KU Jayhawks (and used to live here, but now lives in Kansas which explains the interest), and it was recommended that I use those colors in the crocheting.


Buuuuut, see how bright and gaudy they are? I just couldn't do it. So, I tweaked 'em a bit . . . and explained myself once she opened the package. After all, I want the hat to actually be worn and used! (And I sure hope it will be!)

Here's a nice shot of Miss Sweet Sixteen and her "Mr. Tom" from the wedding over the weekend.


Finally, I'll leave you with this shot. It makes me laugh. I asked the youngest sibling of the wedding family to take some pictures with my camera during the reception. He's just 12 years old and . . . still short. So, here are the bride and groom . . . from his visual perspective. ;) Hee hee.