(I said I’d only post thrice weekly, but I didn’t say which days those would be. Did I?) So we have this Stir Crazy popcorn machine that you dump the oil and popcorn into and it heats up and stirs the kernels with two wire thingies, only we’ve had it for several years and the …

With the help of some visiting family members we doubled the size of the wood shed on Saturday. I’ve nailed in some additional framing (it needs some more, plus a roof) but it’s good enough to start putting in the firewood. So on Monday morning we tossed down a bunch of bark to keep the …

Jess found strawberries for six bucks a flat the other day, and brought home four flats. Yes, they’re from a factory farm somewhere in the western hemisphere; yes, they were probably genetically designed to withstand nuclear bombs while still retaining a remote taste of strawberries. But our strawberry bed is not up to this level …

Well, yesterday we went to the local theme park. It was approximately 40,000 degrees outside, but we lived to tell the tale. My kids, like myself, have an abhorrence of any ride with a circular trajectory, when that trajectory is more violent than a Ferris wheel. Jess insisted that Emma ride a roller coaster this …

I cheerfully acknowledge that mine is not Approved Behavior for men my age. Men my age are supposed to have a boat and cruise around on the lake, wearing sunglasses and radiating superiority. They bear the required goatee and mandatory debt. They do NOT dive into the lake with the dog. They do NOT swim …

It’s been pretty warm around here. If you live in Tucson or Manhattan you have my condolences, but “pretty warm” for us is above 90 degrees, with 70% humidity or higher. Our SIP house stays delightfully cool, and when it’s hot I’d rather be inside. We leave all the windows wide open all night, and …

I had prepared a tirade against television yesterday, but a) I saw that it was too abrasive (someone might conceivably have found some use for television, somehow, perhaps) and b) I’ve already tiraded against it, in a somewhat more equanimous tone. But I did want to post this image, which I created with help from …

Maybe I should start marketing pictures of our Romaine lettuce (I think that’s what it is) to seed catalogs this year as champions of Romaine-ness. And if you steal a copy of this picture to represent as your own lettuce, I wouldn’t blame you. I don’t think anything we’ve ever grown has looked that healthy. …

Okay, a few more pictures of our hike. Here’s Becca on the tippity-top of Chicago Peak, shooting the opposite direction of the image I posted yesterday. This one gives a better sense of altitude. Here we are on the trail, heading out. The ridge above leads to Chicago Peak, so named (I assume) because the …

Well it doesn’t look like it here, but it was quite a climb to get on top of this peak in Montana’s Cabinet Mountains Wilderness. This is the only way I could situate the camera to take a picture of all of us while still giving a sense of the terrain. From the left it’s …