Get Out Your Erasers

So. The last we spoke David and I had put the Astoria house on the market, we had a few lookers - and then it hit the fan. Just a heads up, there might be some bad words peppered here and there but over all it's not bad. The market here was strong but with the recent turn of events with the election and COVID our RE had told us things were cooling a bit. It was shown a few times and we knew it was going to take longer than it usually does since the house was in the upper range pricewise. You still have people looking but the pool is much smaller - still no big. We are in a good spot and can afford to hang out a bit. Then someone really interested looked at it, they were considering dividing the lots, wanted to give us a big down payment, a couple  monthly and then a big payment - we were mulling it over. We cannot be 100% certain but we are pretty sure The Shithead in an effort to encourage us to sign ran down to the local town hall and gave them a lot of false information about David doing work without a permit.

Grrr. 

David went down to speak to them and yes, there were a few things, most of it due to the fact we are not familar with things here but most of it was nonsense. The straw that broke the camel's back was when the town hall guys said to David "we understand you were doing work in the basement"(when this person was looking at the house David WAS in the basement which is why we suspect who it was). David looked at them and said " I was PAINTING the walls, do I need a permit for that too???". This whole thing plus a local rumor mill has just put us off. We've had worse Small Town HIjinks and Nonsense but honestly, we are just tired and our Bullshit tolerance is at an all time low. The deciding factor though was our accountant whom we should have called first. We still have our wonderful guy Tom Graney in  Irwin PA if you need a guy - we just love him. He ran the numbers and with the RE fees plus capital gains we were looking at a major hit. So, in the end it was actually a good thing because had we gone through with it we could have stood to lose a lot of money unnecessarily which is never our intention.

So we needed Plan B. 

The Astoria house will add about 20 minutes or so to my daily commute which is not great but given that I was commuting 3 hours a day in PA not the end of the world. To add to this is I work from home most of the time so if I can get most of my field work on two days a week and I continue working 4 - 10 hour days, hmm. That's very do-able. Kim and Steve will be half an hour closer to us, I think everyone is excited about that. We are planning on moving in January which will give David time to finish this house - there are things that we needed to finish and for us to move to the other house. We're going to use a property management company and make sure we are protected before renting this place - the rent will cover our small mortgage and taxes for both places. In two years we can sell the property in Astoria without capital gains as it will be our primary and then can either move back to Clatskanie for two years or just sell it. We are hoping to retire on the beach when all is said and done, a little place with a boat and hibachi and of course a guest room for visitors. 

 

Playing with Food

For the past few months I've  been enjoying cooking  - I've always enjoyed it but due to my long work hours in the past  was not able get too creative. I tried a little here and there but you know if you're short on time you almost always screw it up. There's nothing worse than trying to short cut your way through a complicated recipe only to end up dumping the whole sorry -and often expensive - mess in the trash. To add to it you have to either find something to replace it or just order a pizza, I had just found it too anxiety producing in the past. As we get together every week  with our friends it's a fun excuse to find something new to serve. Kim is working to control her blood sugar and we are both trying to lose weight -  that makes it challenging. It could be annoying but it's not - I've been having a ball low carb, low calorie no sugar wending my way through all sorts of different foods. And yes, I've had a few bungles - but that's to be expected. We've discovered that low carb/low calorie does not always translate into low blood sugars - we quickly discovered a lot of the rice based foods - rice crackers for instance sent the glucose readings through the roof. UGH. We both have been tweaking different foods  and researching - it's interesting to see what works and tastes good at the same time.

Recently I've been experimenting with different types of cuts of beef - since I can't eat it I have to cook blind, I use David as my tester if he's around. He's a good sport though occasionally flinches, like when I handed him a spoonful of pesto - that's one of those foods that looks horrifying but tastes great. He's gotten more adventurous and found he liked it, then went on to try the peppers. This weekend for our weekly dinner with Kim and Steve I made a Beef Roulade, Tofu Roulade, rolled stuffed roasted peppers. You might say.......

I was on a roll.😅😆😛

I had bought a flank steak that cost $23 - ON SALE so you know I was being careful. To start with you have to butterfly the meat and it is recommended this be performed by a butcher as opposed to a vegetarian  that has never seen a flank steak- despite all the cautionary articles I read  at the end it was not that difficult. I had frozen it so when it was partially defrosted I started cutting it - it was easy.  I beat it with a rolling pin to make it thin, then marinated it for 24 hours. I stuffed it with fresh mozzerella, pesto and spicy peppers - rolling it up was a whole other ball game trying to do it evenly without pressing it too hard while keeping the whole thing from sliding around as it was covered in marinade. I had boiled whole sweet peppers and peeled them, I used riced cauliflower, sauted onions and low cal whipped cream cheese and rolled that up. It was supposed to be an appetizer but they were freaking huge so they became a side dish. The tofu roulade came out way better than I thought it would, I used flax meal to stiffen it up and then used the same ingredients to fill it. 

I roasted butternut squash and teeny potatoes, we use Whisp Parmesean crackers for the cheese and crackers - not only are they low calorie/low carb but they don't wreak havoc with Kim's diabetes. Kim made sugar free brownies for dessert and we've found a lot of no sugar creamers that taste pretty decent. In the end the menu was 

Wine and Beer 

Parmesean Crackers and Brie

Caesar Salad

Roasted seasoned small potatoes

roasted and seasoned butternut squash

Stuffed peppers

Beef Roulade

Tofu Roulade

Sugar Free Brownies and coffee

And it was as much fun to make it as it was to eat it.

Bon Appetit!!

 

Vacation Days

We've been here for about a year and a half now, we've done a little exploring but nothing too major. Kim and I had discussed doing a weekend somewhere and a couple of weeks ago I had mentioned I would like to see Long Beach. We've done a few events there but it was more driving to and then home.  Kim and Steve thought this was a great idea and offered to start looking for a place to stay. They're frequent users of air bnbs and just love them - I've never done that but it sounded interesting. Kim found a lovely place within walking distance of the beach. It was a townhouse - 2 beds, 2 baths, full kitchen, living room, fenced patio, dining area. So if you've never done an air BNB it's a bit different than renting a hotel room -  the initial cost is $177.50 for two nights which is 355. But then you need to add in cleaning fees ($100), service fee ($64) and then occupancy taxes and fees - 58.67 which raises it to $577. BUT then you have to half it - $288 which comes to $144 a night which is reasonable. Plus you're only eating out if you want to so overall it ends up being cheaper - but the best part is you don't end up feeling like you've spent the weekend sitting in your bedroom. It was really a lot of fun. Kim brought thier little dog Piggles since dogs are allowed. 

We left a little early - check in was 3 but I wanted to look around and there was a yarn shop I've been dying to  visit. We arrived in around an hour and a half (not far at all!), the yarn shop was lovely and there was a great pyrenees to pet. Kim called to let us know we could check in early so off we went. The town house was beachy themed, we brought out own coffee, beer, wine, snacks and breakfast food - this I really liked because I do like to eat out, I do not like to eat out all day. We went off to explore the town as the place we were staying was right in town AND 5 minutes from the boardwalk. The stores were very touristy, fun to look in and nothing I wanted to buy. Moving around a lot you tend to lose

your taste for buying random knickknacks. Dinner was at the Lost Roo, food was great. We spent the evening playing a card game and then off to bed. David and Steve cooked breakfast, we lounged around playing with the dog and chatting, then off to the boardwalk. Everyone is distancing and a few people were wearinng masks but it wasn't really necessary, was it? The surf was full of green algae, that apparently is normal for this time of year but oh my, how yucky.  There are whale bones but they did not live up to thier hype. I had visions of Pirates of the Carribean sized bones, rising from the surf  with a house sized rib cage. Sigh. They were poking out of the grass and knee high. They were a bit sad. After that we drove to Cape Disappointment to see the light house ,  then to Oysterville. We went to Long Island, then back home to eat out again. We had a great time and it ended much too soon. David had to meet the heating guy out at the flip but not a big. We had to be out by 11am, so we started the towels and stripped the bed, took out the trash, wiped down the counters - that's the other difference. Did you know the airBNBs rate the guests? If you leave the place a shambles you get a bad rating and then good luck renting again! Since  a lot of them are privately owned it makes sense. So we said goodbye and drove home to unpack, then David left to meet the heat guy. It was fun arriving home in a little over an hour was great. Wash is started and everything is put away, it was a short vacation but it was a lot of fun. 

 

Water, Water.

A couple of weeks ago I heard David go outside at some point during the night- I briefly wondered why but then fell back asleep. FYI - I am not your Go To person for emergencies, I tend to sleep right through them. Years ago our yard was on fire during the night - the whole nine yards including firetrucks, neighbors, etc... yep. Slept right through it. But I digress. I got up a little later to get a drink of water......nothing.  

No water.

 

Here in Oregon you can have a well, city water or....a neighborhood community water system which we have never had. Water can  be quite expensive here, especially when you get inland. We had never heard of community water before. Here is how it works:

Where we live they can't build anymore houses, there are a total of 16 which are supported by one big pump house. The big benefit is the cost - $15 dollars a month for unlimited spring water - no chlorine, no chemicals - it's a clear as a bell. It's actually weirdly clear but we love it. Then there is the downside - you cannot leave your hose running as it will reduce the water pressure to the other houses, not  a big as I wouldn't do that if I had city water either. But the big drawback is if it breaks - you get a leak, the neighborhood is responsible. And did I mention it's an honor system? And not too many are honorable? From what I understand from the neighbors years ago most of the people living here were farmers so everyone was essentially home. If it broke you had a lot of hands. Later, there was a group of retired guys who considered the water system sort of a hobby. And now, now you have a small group that goes out. Unfortunately we have a much larger group of people that hide in thier houses waiting for someone else to fix it. 

David waited til the sun came up, took his shovel and headed to the neighbor's, he and two others worked for about 10 hours - then had to stop. The next day another showed up but David said two of the neighbors on thier daily walk stopped to thank them for their help(??) - I wonder if not everyone knows they are supposed to be helping too. The leak was underground so one of the neighbors called his friend who is a witcher and he came with his dousing rods. David said that was pretty neat and he found the leak pretty fast. This is only the second time it's happened (once before a cow stepped on the line) and thankfully it never goes on for a long time. And it's not all bad, David does enjoy spending time with the neighbors, everyone standing around after telling stories and laughing. I suggested to David maybe they need  a rotating roster but he said maybe when they have the yearly meeting - he said he was pretty sure the lazy neighbors would be raising the roof over that! It's not a huge deal - more of an annoyance - while it's being fixed if it goes on for longer than a few hours they turn it on for an extended period of time so you can shower, wash dishes,etc....   and we do store water just in case - glad it was over fast. 

Happy Halloween!

So, we knew it was going to be  short visit and planned accordingly. With Covid people have been trying to figure out how to the kids can celebrate carefully and still have a good time - I think we did it. Brandi and the girls arrived Saturday morning, they arrived like barnstormers - petting the cat, hugging poppop, up the stairs, down the stairs, tallying what toys they had here, bouncing on the beds, in the potty, outside, on the balcony, finally sitting down to pancakes and sausage, we love every minute. I bought pumpkins to carve which  was done with great enthusiasm, which is pretty much the way they approach everything. The trick or treat was, well, it was a bit trickier this year. People were handing out candy here and there - but they are still pretty little and the houses were too far apart. Thankfully, the town was great - all the local businesses handed out candy so we went uptown and they got to trick or treat for an hour or so. Everyone admired thier costumes, they got enough candy to make them happy but not too much. By the time we hit the last store they were ready to go home - it was perfect. 

Kim, Steve and thier chihuahua Piggles came to dinner - the girls asked about Rueben and we just told them that he was in heaven with Molly, I think they get it to a point, but they did understand he was gone. Piggles is very good with them, enduring endless pets, hugs, little kisses - Kim gently removed him when he was in danger in being over-loved but overall both the girls are very good with animals. We had appetizers and they discovered they do not like Brie - one of them stuffed a chunk in and then loudly announced they had to go brush thier teeth NOW - yuck! We ordered out, since it was a short visit plus Halloween it was easier. Kim and Steve dressed for the girls and the Piggles wore his little costume - it was just fun. We lit the pumpkins with real candles (Nana's old fashioned  - she admits it) and put them on the railing facing in so the girls could admire them. We have no neighbors except for the cows so it worked. 

This morning was just playing in the yard, collecting walnuts and leaves. The winter coats I bought are a tiny bit big which is perfect, I'm amazed at how quickly they are growing. I've been buying clothes for the past couple of months - no longer in the T's, they wear a girls small - they're real kids now. I had washed and detagged everything - ugh, that takes forever. They just need to put a sticker on it and leave it at that - before I can wash them it's a drawn out process of untangling hangers, plastic security things, tags, stickers, tape, bags, etc.... I usually end up with a pile of trash by the time I'm done and  even after all of that one of them was running around still with a tag dangling under the arm of her new coat. 

They left around 1, the beds have been stripped and the washer is running, the house is already too quiet. As much as I miss them it is such a joy to live close enough for a quick visit here and there, I love it - it's such a comfort to know it will NOT be a year before we see them again. We are getting busy, I have not said anything but we are supposed to be getting a puppy in the beginning of December - it was an unexpected and such a happy turn of events! The house is Astoria is on the market, we are making plans for Thanksgiving and Christmas and even a short vacation!!  I'm sure there will be some bumps in the road, aren't there always? But it's so wonderful that even when things go south my best friends and family are just a short car ride away.