They're Back!

Naomi and the girls had a great trip. Couldn't have gone much better. Spent time with a lot of friends and family and saw some cool stuff. Enjoyed the food too, and brought back lots of clothes and goodies. They were impressed and surprised with all the progress my parents and I made around the house. Feels good to have those boxes checked off the list!

We got some snow while they were away, so the girls have been enjoying the sledding hill. Unfortunately it is about to start melting. Not ready for spring yet! Feels like winter just arrived. Went for a really long cross country ski trip with my dad, neighbor Rick, and his friend yesterday. It was fun, but tiring. Once we got to Rick's campsite, he worked really hard to build a fire for the brats that he had been talking about for a while. Once the fire was finally ready to cook on, he went to grab those brats, and realized they weren't in his backpack. Good thing we brought other food!

On the way to pick up the girls I stopped by the ski hill for some snowboarding. The conditions were great. They had the big jumps built and it was fun to watch the teenagers go over them. Before all that fun, I had to spend about 5-6 hours just cleaning up the house. Since the girls got back they have been working hard on their reports. Luckily Grammie was able to help them out yesterday. 

Working hard to finish the wall.

Manufacturing error with the vacuum filter. They replaced it.

Finished the countertop!

Wall and some shelves.

Making progress!

Brats, anyone?

Buried truck back in the woods.

Long way back to civilization.

Fun at the ski hill.

Plugging Along

Made a lot of progress this week. Should be on track to have the surprises ready for the girls when they get back late on Thursday night. Can't wait! Got a bit more snow last night, so maybe the sledding hill will be in pretty good shape upon their return. 

They continue to have lots of fun. The girls are staying with their friend, Elin, for the weekend and they get to go to school with her tomorrow. What a great experience! They both made videos of their lives here to share with their former classmates. Very curious to see what they think about that.

Had a really nice dinner with some new friends Sarah and John who recently built an eco-house by the lake. Cool to get some ideas from them. Also enjoyed the final Friday dinner with our Lebanese friends. She cooked a special plant that you can't get here, known by some as West African Sorrel, and I hadn't had it since Mali, so it brought back memories. Special night. 

Chilly nights!

No more cheesecake. So sad.

Hempcrete Connections

It has been another busy and productive week. Made good progress on the surprises. My dad left on Wednesday and is down at a funeral in Rockford this weekend. My mom came up on Friday and she will head out this afternoon. We had a great dinner last night at Iron Bay! Beautiful snow as well. Shoveling today.

Had a really interesting meeting with Brad, my dad's former colleague, and a builder in town that he knew. We talked a lot about the possibilities for using hempcrete, and we have a zoom meeting with a couple businesses Monday night. Great new connection to have. Hopefully we can work together on some stuff. 

Also got in a bit of snowboarding with a new friend who is also renovating his house. Lots to talk about there. Can probably trade time with him. Brad came up with the idea of organizing a time bank, which I will look into. Seems like a good possibility. Looked through a book of abstract art that I borrowed from my dad. Got some ideas so I tried them out.

Delicious Mexican food right around the corner!

Quite the cut.

Camouflage.

Workshop art.

Tough to beat Iron Bay.

Fun with friends.

School reports on the train from Paris.

Adventures in Europe

Naomi and the girls made it to the Netherlands in one piece. Everything has gone well so far. They spent some time with Opa and Edith in Amsterdam and then went to stay with friends in Rotterdam. Their houses look like they came out of a magazine and Amélie was very impressed. One of them is a former client that became a friend. Last night, my parents and I had a different former client who became a friend over for dinner. Seems to be a bit of a pattern. The other (they are neighbors) are our old friends Clifton and Karmen. They are selling everything and moving to New Zealand in a couple months. What a transition! 

Been working hard around here trying to get messes cleaned up, new firewood sorted and stacked, and plugging away at some projects that never seem to go the way I would like them to. Nice to have my parents here for a couple days to help out with a few things and meet some friends. 

I got to meet a new friend in Escanaba who is an architect. He also works on his own projects. This project is so impressive. They are turning an old bank into a distillery. Really interesting to learn about how he is doing it and what it will become!

Checking in.

Sad goodbyes!

Lake Superior is making mounds of ice along the shore. No ice shanties here! The water around Escanaba is full of them.