Blog Blog Blog

For those avid readers of my blog, I apologize for my tardiness as of late. I know a lot of you have been emailing me and asking for intricate details of all the goings on in Deulen-land (currently the Northeast). Well, your wait is up. Now--what? Yes, of course people email me. Who? Lot's of inquiring minds. Now, as I was saying--What? No, I'm not going to give you names...I don't care if you don't believe me...No, I'm not embarrassed by the size. It's a fair size. Some would even say sizable...Ok fine! Scott Riley asked, alright! Scott Riley!...No, he's not the only one...His mother asked too. No, she didn't write; why does that matter?! She asked through him in the email...Yes, I do think that counts as two! Alright, you know what, I'm just gonna write the blog and when thousands of people start writing me, I'm not gonna even remember your name, so there! Huh? What do you think about that??? Nice. Real nice. Of course I know your name. What a stupid question. Alright, this conversation is over.

As I was saying, a lot has happened. We've been here for nearly 3 months. I've been doing minor repairs on the truck here and there. It's nearly veggie worthy. Speaking of veggie, I noticed that I was missing something vital to convert my truck to run on waste vegetable oil, namely the kit I ordered 8 weeks ago and dropped nearly 3 grand on. After politely complaining to the company, Frybrid, about their lack of communication with me on the kit being almost 4 weeks late, and not offering a discount, they promptly finished it up and put it in the mail. According to FedEx, it's currently en route from the other Portland. I should have it on the truck by the end of June. I'll try to post pictures if I remember.

In other news, Ada celebrated her first birthday last Tuesday. We decided she doesn't really like to be dirty.
"Guys, come on. Spoon first please?"

A new polka dot hat!

A new dress!

Never has a child been so enthralled with baby accoutrement. Maybe it was the yellow packaging.

Also, we're on Skype with a web cam now, so you if you would like to see Ada snap her fingers, pee in a bowl, say any one of the dozens of words she now knows, or look at my ugly mug, give us a ring. Our email is thedeulens@gmail.com.

Ok, moving on. Not sure if I said it last time or not, but I'm no longer working for DirecTV. Further proof to me that there is a God. I am now working for Unum. I know I probably would have kicked my ass years ago for saying this, but this corporation is pretty cool. They actually care about people. One of the few to use common sense, if you ask me. I am currently in training as an (get ready) Associate Short Term Disability Benefits Specialist Trainee. They have a kettlebell program, need I say more?
Next, I've been climbing a lot lately. I guess that's not really anything new. However, so far, I've been to Rumney, Cathedral Ledge, Pawtuckaway, Shagg Crag, and, last weekend, Sundown Ledge. They call their crags "ledges" in New Hampshire. I'm getting ready to send 5.13c this weekend, for anyone that cares. It will be my second at the grade. I ordered a hangboard online per Julie's request, and we're going to start doing workouts once a week on it. Presumably she'll start climbing soon, but I'm not even sure if she knows when this will be, much like the 2nd coming. Not really. Here's a guy falling on a route I climbed this past weekend (Memorial Day weekend, 2009) :


Now, what do lasagna and gardening have in common? Not much you say? Ha! Shows how perm you are (wikipedia permaculture if you're not in the know). You take a piece of grass, cut it out, flip it over, scatter kitchen scraps on it, cover that with newspaper, cover that with compost, then hay, then leaves, then more compost. Viola, you have a ready-to-plant garden. Here's proof that we actually did it:






So, we might have a bit of garden goods this season after all.

Piggy backing on that topic, we've been preparing here and there for getting chickens. South Portland recently passed a law allowing up to 6 chickens on a person's property. We had 5 baby chicks delivered today from Connecticut. We also built that shed back up which we deconstructed from next door.














Jeff (Julie and Sarah's younger brother) has been doing most of the work of late, making sure it's structurally sound and waterproof, etc. It's starting to look pretty good. Right now, the chicks (Australorps) are in a rubbermaid tub with food, water, a heating lamp, and hay for bedding. They are almost as cute as kittens and they squeak a lot.






























So there you have it. That ought to keep all you avid readers at bay, for now. Scott Riley, I hope you're reading this. You never do write back anymore. How's your mother anyway...