We recently surpassed two months at our beautiful new home, and three months as residents of Oregon! Coming from a place such as Arizona (where temperatures are already in the triple digits and fire season is in full swing), this lush green paradise is just what we yearned for. It’s starting to feel like the norm, and like we belong. We’re putting down roots that will spread for the rest of our lives, and integrating further with the local lake community. We’ve had some good interactions with our closest neighbors, and can say that the people here are very friendly and helpful.

There’s been many things to address: getting driver’s / boating licenses, registering the car, adding various improvements to the house and boathouse, fixing a number of small things that have broken or are out of order, etc, etc. We just recently acquired the former owner’s 2004 Duckworth Pacific Navigator, and are learning the ins and outs with that as well.

Today I’m going to figure out the placement of our future garden. The back yard on the eastern and northern sides of the main house has gotten completely overgrown with brambles, rhododendron, and a runaway growth of what I think are red alder trees. Unfortunately these will need to go – we want to get things such as asparagus, herbs, strawberries, and greens going.

We’ve had at least four power outages since moving in, which underscores the need for some sort of backup power. We’d like to get solar / battery backup set up (there is a 26% rebate this year), but this is going to take some time as it is expensive and the lead times are long. A backup gasoline / propane generator that is integrated with the home is also expensive. We may get a portable gasoline generator to help us through the rough spots. I’m also working on getting firewood cut, since there is a fireplace in the home that is equipped with fans to pull air from the outdoors through pipes over the top of the fire, thus heating it.