A Used Furniture Score

We spent some time in Port Angeles today where there is a nice organic foods store. I also wanted to check out a used furniture place I'd seen advertising on Craigslist. We don't want to buy new furniture after all the money we are putting out on the house, and I was picturing some sort of comfortable club chairs to put in the bay area off my kitchen. This is will be the coffee-and-newspaper spot in the morning sun, and someday there will be a rose garden out the window. Right now we'll only have the cows in the distance to watch, which isn't a bad thing at all. Anyway, the store offered some chairs on their website that interested me and I thought they'd been sold already but wanted to see what else I might find. My heart went pit-a-pat when I saw the chairs I liked were still available and we promptly snatched them up before another man who wanted them for his lounge could get them.

Here they are in their new home. They are a soft, buttery, Italian leather, made in Italy, stylish and VERY comfortable. They fit, the color works, and cost was less for the set than one chair new.

Garden Work

There was several feet of bark mulch piled up in the front planter that we've been removing hoping to save the remaining plants. I guess it was piled up thick to hide the weeds and dead stuff while the house was on the market. Now we have the work of removing it and hauling it to the back yard for another project. I bought a couple of neat rhodies and ferns for a spot at the back of the house and will distribute the bark back there.

Three foot thick pile of much and plastic, center left

Another mulch mountain

 This is the raspberry patch. The left side has been cleared out and looks very civilized. We're still working on the right side, cleared out whips piling up in front. We found a couple of blueberry plants mixed in there, too.

The dogs are adjusting well. They've started using the dog door instead of peeing in the garage at night. Tux's health keeps improving. She's been more playful than we've ever seen her. Hooper is mostly deaf now and Tag is having trouble with his eyesight and back legs. They sleep a lot and very soundly, but still pester me to throw a ball and take a walk morning and evening.

Farming

Using horses to plow the field just up the road from us.

In Sequim

It's been a busy week settling in, meeting neighbors, learning the area. Neighbors across the road raise the cutest miniature hereford cows (photo below). There are lots of horses and a couple of alpacas in the neighborhood, too. The dogs are slowly adjusting to the new place. Bob is recovering nicely from pneumonia. We've decided to rip out the existing maple floor along with the carpeting and install all new hickory floors, so we've only moved in the barest essentials of furniture. We'll do an official move when we come back next spring and all the floor work is completed. 

Mini-cow

Looking south, back of house

Looking north, front of house

Sportz Dome-To-Go Tent

The Sportz Dome-To-Go Tent

 The Jetta Sportwagon is too small to sleep me and all three dogs on my upcoming trip so I've been looking at tents. The Sportz Dome-To-Go was highly recommended in a few VW user forums. It has plenty of head room to stand up, has big doors, screened windows, and attaches to the back of the vehicle with the hatchback up. I thought it was just the ticket to allow me to sleep in the the Jetta while the dogs spread out on pads in the tent, so I ordered one from REI.

The tent arrived in four days and was a bit bigger and heavier than expected with a shipping weight of something like 28 pounds. The tent comes packed in a lightweight full zip duffle bag with poles, rainfly, stakes, straps, a net storage shelf and instructions.

Here the tent is spread out in position at the back of the wagon. There are two very long poles to pop together and insert in the tent sleeves. Bingo, bango, the thing is up.

Then you go inside the tent and slip the car sleeve around the back of the vehicle. 

Outside again, you hook the sleeve to the rack on top (there is an alternate method if you don't have a rack) and also hook to the wheel well.

Do the same thing on the other side and cinch the sleeve up snugly. 

Now you can open the hatchback and the spaces are joined. You can also use the tent by itself by using the sleeve area as a door/window or just zipping it shut. 

Here is my self-inflating pad in the back of the wagon.

The windows are zippered and screened. The half circle below the window in the picture below is a ventilation port when the tent is staked properly. There are two door options, opposite the car or to the side, and there is plenty of space inside. It comes with a rainfly that I didn't put on because tree branches in my driveway were in the way. I wasn't able to stake it out on the concrete either. 

The tent went up and came down quickly and easily. The hardest part was getting it to fit back in the storage bag. It helps to squash out all the air but it was getting hot and I didn't want to take the time. I'm very impressed with the ease of set-up. If a 63 year old woman can do it by herself, anyone can. I hope it performs as well in use.

The Sequim Chapter

Today we close on our new house in Sequim. I am waiting on delivery of Tux's medication from the UK and probably won't join Bob there until fencing is in place and the floors are finished. The carpeting must go! Here are some pictures taken during negotiations. As usual, I can't place them in any particular order. 

Front entry

Kitchen island, family room in background

Big window at kitchen sink

Ovens, pantry

Bay window nook

Greenhouse

Multi-color rose bush at front entrance

Front of house 

Front yard and view from porch

Invasion

I hate it when monsters appear in the house. This one must have come in with a dog. A scarab beetle is my guess. I don't like killing bugs this big. Captured it and put it outside. The dogs bring in all kinds of surprises clinging to their fur. One of these days one of their surprises is going to kill and eat me.

Here is the critter in action. Don't have any idea what the weird noise is. .

Valley Fever and Chagas

On Valley Fever:

Link to The Atlantic, August 8, 2014

The Mysterious Fungus Infecting the American Southwest

On Chagas:

The fucking kissing bug. Link to The Atlantic, July 24, 2014

Northern Virginia: Ground Zero for Kissing Bug Disease