Ode to the Pacific Northwest.

How do you do it.
Rain, day in and day out.
It is dark.
It is cold.
Sun? Not even in our vocabulary any more.

What we do to keep our Sanity.

I did find this today. At least I also had something to do. Enjoy.

Winter.

It’s been warmish of late, possibly all of the rain storms that we’ve been getting. We took advantage of the warmer weather and went for a walk in the vineyard before dinner the other day. We saw 5 deer, 2 emus, an undetermined number of horses, an abandoned foxhole, poppies starting to bloom, the white castle house, and empty wine tasting lawns. Jane was only scared two times and warned us about the ‘muddles’ extensively.

Just incase you weren’t sure, a muddle is a puddle of mud.

Little House by the Vineyard.

Our slaves Lily & Jane drying and putting away dishes.

So I guess that Ma Ingalls knows how to live without. There were times in her illustrious career as a pioneer mom where she lived on brown bread alone. And no white sugar, not even for company. However, Ma’s got nothing on me. I am a living, breathing pioneer. It all started this summer when the microwave broke. Who needs a microwave anyway? We’ve been living microwave free for six months now and I haven’t missed it for even a second (actually it’s really the only way to melt butter to room temperature without actually leaving the butter out in room temperature). Ok, maybe for a second. But, let’s be honest, one can live without a microwave. Then one of the faucets on my kitchen sink went out. No biggie, you only need one faucet on a kitchen sink. After all, Ma didn’t even have a kitchen sink, let alone a faucet attached to one. Then the TV went out. Don’t panic, we went out and bought a new one the next day—even Ma would agree to that. Now, most recently we have lost our dishwasher. Ok, now I’m starting to notice.

So, I’m washing dishes by hand. You heard it, by hand. It’s been a great experience for the kids and the dishwasher makes a superb drying rack. Really, I could get used to this.

So where is my contractor husband through all of this? He’s at work, fixing other people’s microwaves/sinks/dishwashers. Someone’s got to make a living.

After I finish washing all the dishes from dinner last night, I’m going to go and watch TV.

Signing off,
Ma

My new dishwashing apron. Much cheaper than a new dishwasher.

P.S. I don't want to hear other people's sob stories about how they lived for years without a dishwasher (Brooke, Isaac), just be impressed. Ok? And feel sorry for me, a little.