Emily got braces on this morning. I worked last night and work again tonight so dad brought her in. Poor thing looks sore but she says it’s not bad. We’ll see how the next few days go. She had a game tonight, has a game tomorrow night, and a game the next night! So far so good though.
The Busy Brills
… just another hectic day …
25
Nov
We woke up around 4am this morning to get ready for the icy drive into Portland. We met Mindy in Gresham to pick up Jacob and Lexi, and headed on to Pendleton. Doug and I commented to each other several times on how good a time we were making. We really wanted to be to the Mountain House by 1pm. The way things were going we might have been able to arrive by 1130! We stopped for fuel in Biggs and then it happened. Someone knocked on the window to say we had a flat. Oh man! So for the next hour we tried to get the spare tire to lower. Hmmm…. turns out we needed a special “key” to attach to the end of the long jack handle and then we could lower the spare. Nope, don’t have one. Luckily there was another F350 truck in the same year in the parking lot. The owner was very generous and loaned us his key… YEA! Nope, didn’t work. So a quick phone call to Doug’s parents house, and some quick google tricks, and wala!…. There are more than 30 “keys” made for that year and model! Are you kidding me! Nope we are not. Roughly one hour later and some very helpful guys we did manage to “blast” the cable holding the spare tire apart. I say “blast” because that is what Nicolas called it. They used a flame torch and just burned that metal cable apart. It will be a spendy fix later but it did get our spare down. And later that night while tucking Nic into bed we were told it was his favorite part of the day. Not the yummy food, yummy deserts, or games with cousins… the blaster with a huge flame coming out that the man started with a lighter! Of course he really wants a lighter right now.
Anyway, we made it to Doug’s parents by 2:30pm. We had a wonderful dinner and lot’s of fun with family. Tomorrow we are off to find some new tires.
P.S. Don’t travel on holidays! It’s ridiculously expensive when things go wrong!
Comments for this post ...
You should have called me, my brother lives a half mile from Biggs. He would have LOVED to blast your cable. Nic reminds me of him sometimes!!
21
Nov
Over the last several months we have lost several chickens. About 20 to be exact. We currently have 6. We always find the carcass laying in the yard or coop somewhere. Sometimes it appears to have been eaten, sometimes it is is just laying there with a broken neck. The chickens refuse to go into their hen house and have resorted to roosting on our wood pile… ICK! We have seen the neighbors dog in the coop happily trying to play with the chickens so we thought that was the source. But our neighbor has been having trouble with raccoons so maybe that was the source. Either way, enough was enough. Doug fixed the fencing where there were obvious holes for a dog. He cleaned out the chicken coop and layed fresh hay in there. Then he blocked their holes and started bringing them down to their coop every night and letting them out in the morning. I’ve reset their light timer to stay on all night. And we set out a trap last night. This am, much to Nicolas’s excitement, we trapped a raccoon!!!
That little guy was soooo cute. Nicolas didn’t care! He was dying to shoot him. So after I got his picture, he went down. Nicolas and his dad are skinning it today. Maybe we will trap another one tonight.
20
Nov
We finished the toilet today. Hooked up the water. Connected the hose. Turned on the water and it flushes!!!
Then Doug and his dad framed in a door for the empty wall. Doug and I found the perfect 6 pocket door only 24 inches wide to use. It matches the front door. We picked up dry wall to finish the walls so people could use this porcelain throne in privacy but we ran out of time. So for now, just studded walls with good airflow.
Comments for this post ...
Oh So Very Great !! Also a *good* decision to not have a shower; that also opens the shower wall for a bit more storage space, or maybe the sink.
Big Round of Applause to the whole team !!
love ya all… Grandpa
19
Nov
Today Doug and his dad grouted the tile. Then after a few hours, set the toilet in place. I had already discovered that the tank lid was broken. Too much time sitting in a box in the cabin. I purchased a new tank/lid combo earlier in the day. What I didn’t think to purchase was a toilet seat, or a long hose to connect up the tank. Ooops. By the time the toilet was set and we discovered these two minor details it was too late and everything was closed. So here you see a toilet without a seat.
16
Nov
Yesterday nic had a rough day. He had to go to bed right after school. Today he has work to make up from yesterday and weekly homework. He is sitting at the table working very hard on it all by himself! Go Nic! I think he had a semi rough day today. But no email from teacher and he was honest about wrestling on the playground. For nic this is huge. Nothing is normally his fault!
Comments for this post ...
Nice crab Nick
12
Nov
Iv been teasing jacob for a while about putting pink ribbons and bows in his hair like his little sister McKenna. It was definetly time for a haircut! He was scared they would cut it short. I promised they wouldn’t. The hair dresser was perfect! She just cut some layers and texturized…. whatever that means!
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