Kaksikaksipistepirkko.

Yes, our Finnish is coming along.




...I think he lives under our stairs.
(Music and lyrics? 22-Pistepirkko)

Green renovation

This week was dusty as the polystyrene, lambs wool and blown insulation layers were removed from the attic. One of the first tools purchased for the renovation was a good vacuum. We purchased an Nilfisk Alto Attix RFDF 12 gallon industrial vacuum. This a heavy but worthy vacuum. It is also wet/dry. This vacuum gets used house cleaning and for jobs like the insulation removal almost daily.

XC.

Forever searching for alternate modes of transportation... I set my bicycle aside for a day and set out on my xc skis... destination: "work."

Attaching my "pants" to the outside of my "satchel," I set out on the adventure-of-a-lifetime within the city limits of Ashland, Wisconsin.

...Well... That was a pretty big build up... there really isn't all that much to this story... other than the fact that I fell more than three times, potentially destroyed my bases by skiing over roads, arrived ten minutes late, and lost my pants in the process.

So, here I sit in spandex pants and xc boots, drawing maps in the county courthouse.

Moral of the story?

Music notes

Some thoughts on music. Computers kick a@#! Have you ever doubted the utility of all the technology that is part of our everyday life? The best purchase of two thousand and nine..........
The Amazing Slowdowner. It truly is amazing. A simple download online and presto you have one of the coolest, and perhaps arguably, one of the most utilitarian mathematical algorithms available period!
This product allows you to slow down any song (provided its on a cd) to the speed you need to figure out note for note what people like Chris Thile and his little lightening fast fingers are playing. Check out track 14 on "How to Grow a Women from the Ground (Sugar Hill, 2006) " and see if you can pick out those notes with out slowing it down!
Also, find Ronnie Bowman, he has some great cover songs and also Alecia Nugent(thanks ma!)

Ashland Ice Box

Whoa! long time since we have updated, sorry followers. Too much going on as usual.... Trip to Florida to see Grandma better. Michigan and Detroit for the holidays. Now, we are finally home, back to this Wisconsin life. Latest books in our clutches: Bridget is reading The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. And I am on my fifth Aldo book (the best one yet!): For the Health of the Land by Aldo Leopold edited by J. Baird Callicot and Eric T. Freyfogle.

Oprah ought to be recommending these both like they were a top priority in this nation! Other recent additions to our life include our much awaited (3 years of research) la cocotte 8 quart hand crafted in France enameled cast iron pot (to piss in). Silly as it may sound, these are the best pots on the planet. They cook evenly, they are not made in China (like most cookware of today) and they will last forever. They are made by: Staub. Other recent additions include our Eliot Coleman books, both of which most Americans consider to be the bible of organic gardening: The New Organic Grower and: Four Season Harvest. He is featured in The Omnivore's Dilemma, and B went to one of his presentations last year in Port Townsend. We start our Master Gardener course in two weeks. Talking about the weather is rather drab, blogging about it seems worse, however, -22F affects your brain such that you must talk or at least complain about it (a little). Today we are struck with a heat wave:22 F !!!!!!!!!
Now, the house......... Our drains are currently frozen, so no showers or bathroom sink (till spring?) but current projects include removing old wiring and adding new. ZAPPPP!
and, the first steps to the largest of projects: vaulting our ceiling. So I have isolated a room upstairs (containing the inevitable dust and blown polystyrene) from the rest of the house. i think we have to move downstairs to safely escape the demo that is about to occur. First all the insulation most be removed to access the frame work. Thats right, powder turns in Wisconsin!