Freakishly Happy

Hi All!

We've taken the last few days off. We had a lot of sunshine all last week and were able to get a lot of work done, but we became pretty exhausted. We've been checking the National Weather Service's website religiously the last few weeks (mostly searching for sunshine and warm weather- thanks Jim for delivering!) so when it said that we were supposed to have a weekend of rain and wintery mixed we were a little excited for a few days off.
On Saturday we went up to Rutland to our weekly "trip into town." There is a fabulous winter's farmer's market there that we've really enjoyed this winter. The market’s access is through a little hallway in the back of the food co-op and walk through a door into this huge room with expansive tinned ceilings. The whole room is filled with life; there are several booths selling yarned goods, several more selling local artisanal cheeses, booths with hydroponic tomatoes (something completely ____ to see this time of year), tables filled with last fall’s root vegetables, stacks of delicious homemade pies, and usually someone playing music over the sound system. Everyone in the room is moving to the beat of the music: discussing the freshness of the pies, whether or not the eggs are cage-free, or bouncing a baby on their hip. Everyone’s favorite vendor though, is the samosa guy. Samosas are an Indian pastry, generally filled with a spicy mix of potatoes and chickpeas. The samosa guy at the market has branched out from that and usually has six different varieties. My favorites are the broccoli-cheddar filled ones, or the ones with a tangy asian sauce; John likes to switch it up every week. We were able to exercise restraint this week and only get one samosa apiece- a very difficult feat!

We came home and I took a power hose to most of the dog poo in the yard searching for my wedding ring, (still no luck) while John did some vacuuming on the bus.

On Sunday we helped Juli and Tim put the rest of this year’s firewood into the basement, while they stacked up next year’s wood outside. By the time we got finished it was late morning to early afternoon. Our friend Jody popped over to help us with the bus. Unfortunately there was not enough work to go around, and we weren’t really in the mood to go looking for more work. We decided instead to go to Glens Falls, New York (about 45 minutes away) to go pick up a tool and catch dinner and a movie.
We had a great time at the industrial box hardware store. It’s tremendously fun to go to these types of places when you look like dirty hippies- which we did! Jody and I danced around the aisles, while John found an appropriate looking power tool. Who knows, maybe someday if you go to youtube.com and type in “girl’s dancing in aisles at Lowe’s” you’ll see footage of the security cameras… it wouldn’t surprise me. : P

Monday and Tuesday were kind of off days and we didn’t get much done even though the sun was shining. : /

Today was good though. I had a great time working in the store this morning and early afternoon covering for Juli, while John did some work vacuuming (we are always vacuuming!) and trying to finish de-rusting the floor. The weather here is absolutely gorgeous. I can hardly believe that it’s so nice- it seems like a big practical joke that Mother Nature is playing on us, and it could begin snowing again any moment. John continued to grind down the floor while I painted above the windows and repainted the window sills. Fortunately, I remembered to wear deli gloves, so my hands don’t look like creepy corpse hands like they did last time I painted.

We’ve still got a ways to go on the floor, but the end is in sight, although we’ve been saying that for two weeks now, I believe it’s finally true.

We’re trying to make decisions on subflooring and insulation now. I think we’re going to go with Advantech brand subflooring. It supposedly has lower formaldehyde and nasty chemical content than most particle boards, and it has a 50 year warranty to boot. We’re really trying to build “green” and make a living space that is healthy for us and for the environment.

Well, I should be hitting the pillow soon; it’s been a long day. I believe the webcam is up and running again; please let us know of any glitches that you experience!