Life at a "Swell's" pace

Vista House-Crown Point (Columbia River Gorge)

Skylar and I took a small day trip to Crown Point Scenic Corridor and through the Columbia River Gorge. We wanted to get out of the house for a bit, unfortunately Jeff was at work and it seems that most of our day trips don't include him because of his work schedule. In the middle of the pandemic there wasn't a lot of people around and we ended up at Vista House. Vista House is a overlook of the Columbia River and the view was amazing. -Even through the gray skies. (The Vista House is currently closed because of the pandemic, but the outer ring of the house is accessible to the public with respect to the area)

“It could serve as a comfort station for the tourist and the travelers of America’s greatest highway and inspire the traveler along the highway making the wonders of the gorge accessible. And, I suggest it be known as the Vista House." -Samuel Lancaster, Assistant Highway Engineer for Multnomah County in 1913. Supervisor of the Columbia River Highway project.

Five Simple Things (November 13)

Hello.

Happy Friday the Thirteenth. I'm not too superstitious, and as Michael Scott would say on "The Office," "I'm a little stitious." It's fun to think of superstitions, but some of them were based out of fear and to cause fear in people and that aspect is not fun, at all. But, it's been a nice week to relax. Skylar and I went through a lot of things in the garage this week and donated a lot of unnecessary items that we haven't used in awhile. As I've stated before, every once in awhile I like to do a purge of things to keep the clutter at bay. Which, the last few years hasn't been that bad because we make sure to purchase things with intention. Bring things into the house that aren't needed is what we've been working on the last few years and we've gotten better at it. It's a practice that has to be constant, or you will fall back on old habits. The influence of others is tough, too. It's almost like people think they NEED to buy things all the time and you really don't need to do any of that. I'm a habitual list maker and grocery shopping, there's a list. Traveling, there's a list. Clothes shopping, there's a list. I literally make a list for everything to stay on task and not bring in unnecessariness into our home. There's a lot of minimalist ideas and views at the link at the top of the blog. Slowly over the next year I will be adding to it as I make minimalist posts on the blog. If you're looking for ways to cut the clutter in your home and life, check it out. For now, here are five things this week,

1. This Sky.

The old saying goes, "Pink sky at night, sailor's delight," But, this kind of sky is what we call Meirez Sky and we love it and who it's named after. It lets us know that the next day and into the week will be calm and stress free.

2. This Moment.

The duplex across the street has a new tenant and their kitty comes to visit Eleven. We've named him "Jack."

3. This Cleaner.

Little ants are an issue here during the end of spring and first of the summer months. We would think we got them under control and the following day they would return. That was until I found a solution. These multi-surface cleaners are the best thing that I've found that safe, nontoxic, and actually keeps the ants at bay. I spray it on the counters, around the windowsills, and along the doorways and baseboards. It really does more than what it states on the bottle. You can pick up a bundle here.

4. These Pens.

Other than my Micron Pens I've taken a real liking to these Emott fine points. They are perfect for my nightly affirmations journaling. My Micron pens come in black multipoint, but these uni-balls come in multicolored fine points.

5. These Edibles.

Giving these edibles a go this month. Most of these edibles I post on my blog here are made in Oregon and are local. It's amazing how much hemp, CBD, or THC products are made in this state. I'm curious about how these are going to work for me. Hopefully, they give me the same benefit as the last ones.

Our next episode on the podcast came out yesterday, too. It's about Samuel Mason the river pirate. Check it out here.

Positive affirmations this week:

Have a nice weekend.

Five Simple Things (November 6)

Hello.

The seasons are changing here and it's not exactly the same, but at least we are out of the dangers of wildfires. All of them have been contained here and it's a nice relief. And, the Coronavirus numbers are going up drastically nationwide. Here in Oregon we are still under a mask mandate, which I'm not sure when that's going to be lifted. Here in our own county there's still people that are calling it all a hoax and it's going against our civil rights and is treason. I don't understand that. It's as if we've all stepped through the looking glass into an alternate universe, or something, and some of these people fell completely down a rabbit hole and can't climb out. We've been enjoying Sarah Cooper's TikToks on the president's speeches, too. They are quite comical. On another side we've been looking into land purchases and came across a website that only shows houses for sale in an area in British Columbia named Ucluelet. A lot of these houses are amazing and actually affordable. We love the view from some of the houses decks and porches. We've been drinking a lot of water lately. I think the heat and smoke from the summer has dehydrated us inside and out. We used to have an automatic cold/hot water dispenser, but the rental price on those is ridiculous. We have gone to five gallon containers and filling them at the local food co-op, but it would be nice to have the water cold. We are looking into getting another cold/hot dispenser, but we aren't sure what we want yet. As for now, we have gone as far as getting Fiji Water and Evian delivered straight to our door. This will work for now, but we need a cheaper and longer term solution. We'll weigh the odds and see what's better for our family. For now, here are five things this week.

1. This Rosemary.

We trimmed the rosemary bush on the side of our house this week and I took the opportunity to hang dry the stems. One of my favorite herbs is rosemary and the house twice this week smelled amazing. It's interesting to know that inhaling rosemary essential oil and just smelling rosemary increases mental clarity and stimulates brain function to be able to concentrate better.

2. This Ambience.

I was hunting one day to find some ambient restaurant sounds recently and found two great sites. They are free and offer such a great mix of sounds that you can personalize to your own liking on what you want to hear. The first one is AmbientMixer.com and the second one is MyNoise.net. Both are great for creating ambient sounds of a café, restaurant, kitchen cooking, etc.

3. This Kid.

He is just growing up way too fast. He is taller than I am now and almost taller than Jeff. It's incredible how quickly the time goes by when you don't want it to. He turned 17 in September and is going into the eleventh grade. At times we miss our little Bean, but we are so proud of who he is becoming and how awesome he is to be around.

4. This Podcast.

As mentioned in the previous Friday's post, Skylar and I started a podcast, finally. We have been toying with the idea for several years now and finally just did it. The first episode came out Thursday before Halloween. It's a topic a lot of people are discouraged about, but we are enjoying learning as we go. It's mostly about the horror side of history and season one is about serial killers of the 1800s. You can listen to episodes at the link that the top of the blog, listen to them on pretty much all platforms, our Anchor page here, or our website here. If you enjoy it, let us know! Our first episode is on H.H. Holmes, and our second is on The Harpe Brothers.