Home and Hearth

I made a list of all the houses I could remember living in, from the house where I was born, right up to the house I live in today. That gave me a list 24 items long.





Because I have a healthy curiosity (am nosy) I had to use the internet to see just how many of them are still standing, and what they look like now. Some places don't look that much different, some look so much smaller than I remember and another looks much larger.





I was delighted to see that a wrought iron gate, which I had designed, is still doing service at one house (I'm easily pleased) and tut-tutted at the places some people leave their wheelie bins out, instead of taking them round to the back garden, out of sight.





It was fascinating and surprisingly speedy. My journey took me from a terraced house in Grimsby, to Hong Kong, back to Stamford in Lincolnshire, over to Cheshire, up to the Hebrides, to Hartford near Huntingdon,via Banham Zoo, Felling near Newcastle, Basingstoke, Dubai, Abu Dhabi...and on...and on.





Some places spoke to my heart and I found many memories suddenly flooding into my mind.





We all know how amazing the human mind is, how much we have stored in our brains - okay, the little filing clerks may play games and hide the files, spoiling our recall, but the memories are there.





Just visiting these places on Google Earth I suddenly 'saw' snapshots of people and places, snapshots of my life, and my emotions, snapshots which triggered yet deeper memories. My whistle-stop tour encompassed so many more places than the just the houses.





I realise that this is pure self-indulgence, so for that I apologise, but I hope to take you on a tour of some of these houses, places, memories.





Relax. I haven't got time today!

MEET THE FAMILY

I had great fun playing around with the camera today - I spent a great deal of time trying to photograph the cats, the dogs and the hens - not altogether successfully!











Toby - top photo - was certainly not amused and Pip wasn't exactly thrilled to see me with a camera either.





So, I moved on to the cats:











Bennie - tabby and white - agreed to sit still briefly, but Sparky muttered something and stalked off to terrorise the mice.





I decided to find the hens, they spend their day pecking around in the wood so they are not always easy to find.









I found them easily enough but they beat a hasty retreat.

Autumn Sunset, Grand Portage Bay

A recent sunset over Lake Superior. The clouds lately for our sunsets have been spectacular. Nice variety in the clouds and some amazing colors. Definitely better than August's sunsets, which most of the time didn't have a single cloud in the sky!

Susie Island Sunsets

For the past couple of nights the lake has been so calm I couldn't resist taking the boat out to the Susie Islands to do some shooting despite having clear, "boring" skies. On days where there aren't any clouds I find the most interesting light to be either the hour before the sun comes up or the hour after the sun goes down. Cloudless days can produce a rather beautiful glow in the sky during these times.

(Above and below: Sunset from Lucille Island)

(Above: Sunlit trees on Long Island)

(Above: Twisted tree on Big Susie Island)

(Above: Evening light on Big Susie Island)

(Above: Lichen on Lucille Island)

(Above: Small rock island off the western tip of Lucille Island)

Speyside spring

The first trees to blossom on Speyside are the geans, or wild cherries. This one by the banks of the River Spey was like a beacon of spring when we were there two weeks ago. The ridge behind the tallest trees is Ben Rinnes. There's just the tiniest speck of snow left on the hill, under one of the branches in the centre of the photo.
By this time the trees round about will have come into leaf, and I wish I was there to see spring unfold there. I haven't spent a whole year on Speyside since I was 18, and each time we return I long to see the next step in the season, and then the next, instead of a snapshot. Edinburgh is a beautiful city, but it isn't where my heart lies.

New Additions to my Library

These are the books that I bought last week at our local library's 'Friends of the Library' sale. I've been wanting to join this organization for a few years but haven't had the time for anything extra.
One of the perks of membership is being able to come to this sale first before the general public. I stayed about two hours and came home with these stacks. I spent $37.00 for 25+ books. Not a bad deal at all!
Where I'm going to put them I don't know. I think I'll go through my 600+ collection of fiction and weed out what I know I won't ever want to read again and replace those with the new books.

Berry Cabinetry Mods

Camp Tiffin — Red Bay, Alabama

If you want cabinetry work done while in Red Bay, there are two options that we know of … both come highly recommended on the TRVN forum. TJ Allison works for Tiffin, and does custom cabinetry work on his own time. Chris Berry is a former Tiffin craftsman who has branched off on his own now. With both equally well recommended, our decision came down to who could fit us in. Turns out, that was Chris Berry.

He came by one evening to look at our list and give us a bid; came by the next evening to do a partial install, and finished everything up the following evening. In addition to the cabinetry work pictured below, he replaced the door catches on my desk pedestals with stronger ones and came up with a 10-pound catch mechanism for the sliding door on our laundry cabinet. Seeing as how Chris already had his tools out, Mui also asked him to mount the cherry-wood cup holder he bought from the camp store.

Entry Door Cabinet

We had an empty niche under the dash that was begging for a storage solution. The cabinet, which has a flip-down door, is free-standing, held in place by a snug fit. It’s a good catch-all for small stuff, especially a few tools that Mui needs to do minor maintenance.

Dashboard Drawer/Laptop Tray

The drawer/tray came pre-installed when we bought the coach. The problem, however, was that the design dated back to when these coaches had smaller doors (or doors behind the co-pilot seat), so it didn’t pull out far enough to be useful. Cutting down the drawer portion to accommodate a second set of slides now brings the drawer/tray all the way out so that I can actually use it while we’re rolling down the road.

Before and After

Pilot & Co-Pilot utility trays

The wood trays have a shallow lip (at Mui’s request, deeper on the pilot’s tray) to keep things from falling off. We’re going to line them with some non-skid stuff to keep things from sliding around. Now we won’t be looking around for a place to put glasses, phones, pens, notepads, etc.

Trim for under-cabinet task lighting

This was a project Mui was going to do himself, but decided to ask Chris to build them instead. A simple u-shaped trim hides the fluorescent task lights and blends them into the cabinetry.

Linen Cabinet

There’s plenty of storage in the Phaeton, but we wanted to make use of the empty wall in the lavatory to add a cabinet to store things like extra rolls of TP and towels. Although the cabinet is only 7 inches deep, it holds a lot — or will when I finish putting stuff in it. The one shelf inside is adjustable.

Hamper Conversion

The coach came with a hamper in the bedroom vanity. Since we can use the washer as a hamper, we decided to have the hamper converted to more storage. Initially, I wanted two shelves installed, but Mui convinced me that drawers would be better. These deep drawers are good for bulky items; we use them to store rain jackets, fleece tops, and the like.

Before and After

Chris matched the stain color for the new work with our existing cabinets. The drawers in the hamper conversion turned out to be a little lighter, but I have been assured by Chris — and several others as well — that the color will darken over time. We might pull them out when we’re in a campground somewhere and set them out in the sun for a few days to hasten the darkening process.

Overall, we’re very pleased with these mods, and look forward to making good use of them.

The things you think of later on...

Today I had been tidying in my apartment and throwing out. One of the things I came across was a collection of those caps that go on inner tube valves. As had been my reaction so many times this afternoon, I was wondering why on Earth I had kept it -- why had I accumulated this collection? I promptly threw the lot out. It was later when I was doing my traditional "check the spares" routine, that I realised, a quick look at my old bike showed that I had something of a shortage of these things. I had thrown out the solution to a long-standing problem without thinking about it. Ridiculous! Not a major catastrophe of course, but a little annoying nonetheless.
Still, I got a nice Austinville ride this morning. There are some unique trees in the rainforest, such as this one. It's secrets like these that makes the rainforest such a special place, it's the mysteries of how a trunk could take on such an appearance over so many years that adds to the mystique.

Hoppin' To See Ya!

Hi Pals! It's been raining quite a bit this week and Mom's been attending to neglected duties, so we are sorry we haven't been around to comment and see what's going on for the most part. We're headed your way on Blog Hop Saturday! Hope you've had a great week!

Luna luna

The moon is no door. It is a face in its own right,
White as a knuckle and terribly upset.
-Sylvia Plath

The moon's an arrant thief,
and her pale fire she snatches from the sun...
-Shakespeare

I see the moon
and the moon sees me.
-Nursery rhyme
-----
It was cloudy most of the time, but every now and then we got a few nice glimpses of the lunar eclipse last night. Or as one of my friends calls it, the Moonar Clipse.
Clouds were ok though, since it meant that we got lots of rain, lovely rain, today.

Not on-message

Last week I posted a shot of someone's heartfelt exclamation that the Edinburgh Festival was over for another year. Now I see that it was thought not to be 'on-message' in the week when innocent, impressionable students return to the campus.

A Hike Up Cataract Trail

I's incredibly happy that the county we live in is more than 75% dedicated and undeveloped Open Space, with trails for pups, horsies, cyclists and hikers. I've made several posts about these amazing lands throughout Marin. But unbelievably, I can romp on other undeveloped lands here too. Our water district (its sign, above) manages 20,000 acres with 160 miles of unpaved roads and trails. We have 7 state parks (14,000 acres), and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (45,000 acres) and finally, in western Marin, the Point Reyes National Seashore with 150 miles of trails and fireroads (33,000 acres), but I can't hike most places there. Still, I'm spoiled rotten with all the options I have and yesterday, since it's been raining so much, we decided to check out any waterfall activity happening on Mt. Tamalpais. Humans make pilgrimages to Tam in spring, when the falls are roiling and banks dotted with showy wildflowers. We didn't spot any posies, but the falls were a torrent!
The approach eventually takes us out to Alpine Lake, around which we meander. It's about 4:30 pm, and we'd like to get to the trailhead, as the canopy is dark on the brightest of summer days in the thick conifer forest everywhere here.
The trail starts at the end of the bay to the left in this above photo.
Mom hadn't been here for about six years. While Cataract Falls was full and rushing, and the wildflowers were splendid, today's experience was radically different.
C'mon Ma, stop with that box thing! Lots to investigate here... a ton of smells!
Such as something I like in these grasses.
Love this place - it's beautiful, the woods smell incredibly yumzers, but that water is very LOUD. I decide to bark at it when it comes into view.
This little side rivulet (there are many falls that are coming down from the steep canyon walls on either side of the "river") is about to empty into the main Falls. I can handle this little stream!
A nice old bridge crosses yet another side falls.
It's a very steep trail that goes for about 2 miles - lots of stone and wooden stairs - I like the old stone steps. They are treachurously slippery, we find, on the way down.
Here's a little side river that I examine - some excellent smells here and I thought I might have spied a tree rat above. Mom was too slow to get a picture!

Very loud!And very beautiful. Mom seems meditative - there are only one or two others here today - on a typical weekend, the trail is packed.
Time to head back to the car as the woods are really starting to get dark. Pretty Alpine Lake views on the way back by trailside.
On the road home, we see several of these - some in fields, some on the chi chi Meadow Club golf course!
Eyes practically glazed over, I stare intently at these furry creatures as I know them. And like the way they move. If I could, I'd try to play with them, but they are too fast for me. I sleep all the way home, which is about 20 minutes away. I feel very lucky to have all these great places to investigate.