Another Crash? No Way!
Good grief a month has gone by. And a lot has happened - you won't even believe it. Another crash! This time someone else ran into Cord while driving Big Red - our old, F350 work truck. He was pulling a borrowed trailer and skid steer!!! Oh man, I couldn't believe it. Luckily, it was a sideswipe and of course - the neighbor lady's vehicle had it much worse - she is okay. So another episode by the side of the road while trying to get stuff done. He was bringing the skid steer here to move soil from behind our greenhouse site in preparation of starting the framing this Christmas!
The truck is injured - smashed on the driver's side and a leaf spring broken. It looks hilarious - a foot lower on one side than the other. We had to drive it until the insurance got us a rental. So now we have a big rental truck so Cord can continue working and I can do what I do plus find a car. Our dear friend Mitch's trailer is injured and the car nicked a tire on the skid steer - boy - it could have been much worse. Oh - she slid on the snow on a curve into Big Red about a mile from where I crashed the car.
Cord, of course, was unhurt. He came home and unloaded the skid steer and moved the soil in the nick of time - he reloaded it on the trailer with the headlights on. He had put on a leaky spare tire on the trailer to get it home and so he loaded the compressor to return it to Mitch and added air along the way.
So now we dance with insurance companies. I will just say it. Sigh. This kind of stuff sucks the life out of you while stealing away your day as you wait for them to return your call. It will all work out though - love continues to conquer.
Greenhouse:
Cord and Beau finally returned to Evergreen to finish the greenhouse there. He has one more trip back - and a vent or two and it is done. That will feel good. He's been working on it here - Wulfgar cuts his wood for him and stocks the pile in the shop.
Cord has worked on designs, trucks, greenhouse parts, emails, phone calls and the class we taught last month.
Denver Event:
Speaking of that - if you remember, we were prepping for our big event up at Denver Botanic Gardens. Cord built the most amazing model of our greenhouses. I told him it could teach the class by itself. It's so cool - it comes apart so they can really see how it works. It actually saved the day.
Right up until we left, Cord was busy creating sellable plans, building the model and preparing vent parts so he could build a vent in class. I was busy preparing the slideshow for the evening presentation and madly packaging new 2016 seed. We both worked and worked to get it all done in time and even got there early enough to check into the lovely Bed and Breakfast DBG put us up in. We went over early, I set up seeds, friends came to help - all was great. DBG gave us a wonderful introduction, we thanked everyone so much for everything and then we began. I was really proud of the presentation - it told the story of our greenhouses and how they evolved and how the design kept getting smarter and smarter. It showed the boys growing up in front of their eyes. It ended with the current greenhouse and where we are today. I was gonna have 'em weepin' in the aisles.
Instead, the tech system at DBG and the huge concrete walls, (or the Ghost of Gates Hall), suddenly scrambled the presentation and dumped about 200 pictures. They were just gone. The slideshow had about 30 pics left - all scrambled and out of order.
So we had to stop and save the day. I had to suddenly start looking for original pictures on my computer and while my heart was pounding in my chest, I started scrolling through my pictures, forgetting that the audience is watching the screen show ALL of our pictures, with plenty no one wants to see. Once I realized that I just started pushing buttons until I got us into another slideshow and out of that embarrassment. While this was happening, Cord grabbed the greenhouse model and started teaching principles. That prompted Q & A and once I was finally ready to show bits and pieces of things I could find - no story now - no through-line, just random pictures of greenhouses, we had 5 minutes left. Crap. My heart was in my socks. I'm sure the same was happening to our program director whose eyes looked pretty big to me at the back of the room.
I waited to cry until I was in the truck.
Everyone gave us great kudos for handling it as well as we did but I was pretty disappointed. The next day was a workshop class and we did very well that day. Of course the greenhouse model was so cool and the students put on safety glasses and helped Cord put a home-made vent together. It was cool. Our friend and program director Sarah said that this has been happening quite a bit at DBG and it keeps her up at night. We shall look forward to their new classrooms. DBG is always awesome - even with that!
It has been a busy month to be sure.
Grit Magazine:
We are thrilled to be in Grit Magazine in January. The article is already online. The writer, Bill Giebler, and his lovely son Simon, came and stayed and learned for two days - remarkable. He also got it right. It's a really hard thing to write about - and this is about the nuts and bolts of how it works. Very exciting to be in a national magazine. So as this was happening, we were approached by Mother Earth News to add a picture of one of our greenhouses to another greenhouse article they were already writing. So that was great. But then I discovered that our friend and Seed School brother Josh Thayer of Native Sun Gardens had already mentioned us in Mother. So when I discovered that 800 people had visited our website in one day, I started looking around and found that these articles had hit cyberspace.
Check out the Grit Article here;
http://www.grit.com/farm-and-garden/greenhouses/passive-solar-greenhouse-zm0z16jfzreg.aspx
The Life Vest
Okay - it is official - Cord does not like the Life Vest anymore - especially because he doesn't think he needs it. It drives him crazy, it hurts his back and mostly - it pisses him off. If he moves too much or if he doesn't move too much it is buzzing him on his spine or it starts beeping to say something is wrong - like a sensor out of place or a low battery or something - even when it's not! The problem is it beeps more and more, we try everything they tell us to do and it doesn't seem to matter. One of the sensors on his back buzzes him and he doesn't like it - it's not a zap but it is a buzz. Hard to describe. The point is - he's been wearing this thing for months against his skin, strapped on his person and putting pressure on his ribs. There are two zapper paddles on his back so when he sits back in a chair - he is leaning on those paddles and it makes his back sore. He has to wear the brain on a belt he wears over his shoulder. It is quite heavy and drags on his neck sometimes.
So these are the complaints for a device that could save his life if he has a heart attack. Since he feels so much better it's hard to take as he feels like he is fine and he doesn't need it. Not much longer. In 2 more weeks it will be 6 weeks since we saw the cardiologist and got Cord's new numbers. If he keeps improving like he is, he should be out of the danger zone by then! So we shall call and see if he can get an ECHO to prove what we already think - that very soon he can take the damn thing off. The next visit to the cardiologist is mid January. Oh - I didn't mention this - the brain sleeps in between us in the bed. I'm not complaining - I hope he never needs it - and I have been grateful for it. Easy for me to say right? I don't have to wear it!
Max returns from Scotland soon - just in time for Christmas - I can't wait to see pictures and hear stories of his adventures. Beau is finishing up his first semester in Colorado Springs and we will have him back too. It will be so good to all be together again.
So much love on the wind to all of you - and so many thanks. This will be a very special Christmas.
Happy Holidays!
Penn
Good grief a month has gone by. And a lot has happened - you won't even believe it. Another crash! This time someone else ran into Cord while driving Big Red - our old, F350 work truck. He was pulling a borrowed trailer and skid steer!!! Oh man, I couldn't believe it. Luckily, it was a sideswipe and of course - the neighbor lady's vehicle had it much worse - she is okay. So another episode by the side of the road while trying to get stuff done. He was bringing the skid steer here to move soil from behind our greenhouse site in preparation of starting the framing this Christmas!
The truck is injured - smashed on the driver's side and a leaf spring broken. It looks hilarious - a foot lower on one side than the other. We had to drive it until the insurance got us a rental. So now we have a big rental truck so Cord can continue working and I can do what I do plus find a car. Our dear friend Mitch's trailer is injured and the car nicked a tire on the skid steer - boy - it could have been much worse. Oh - she slid on the snow on a curve into Big Red about a mile from where I crashed the car.
Cord, of course, was unhurt. He came home and unloaded the skid steer and moved the soil in the nick of time - he reloaded it on the trailer with the headlights on. He had put on a leaky spare tire on the trailer to get it home and so he loaded the compressor to return it to Mitch and added air along the way.
So now we dance with insurance companies. I will just say it. Sigh. This kind of stuff sucks the life out of you while stealing away your day as you wait for them to return your call. It will all work out though - love continues to conquer.
Greenhouse:
Cord and Beau finally returned to Evergreen to finish the greenhouse there. He has one more trip back - and a vent or two and it is done. That will feel good. He's been working on it here - Wulfgar cuts his wood for him and stocks the pile in the shop.
Cord has worked on designs, trucks, greenhouse parts, emails, phone calls and the class we taught last month.
Denver Event:
Speaking of that - if you remember, we were prepping for our big event up at Denver Botanic Gardens. Cord built the most amazing model of our greenhouses. I told him it could teach the class by itself. It's so cool - it comes apart so they can really see how it works. It actually saved the day.
Right up until we left, Cord was busy creating sellable plans, building the model and preparing vent parts so he could build a vent in class. I was busy preparing the slideshow for the evening presentation and madly packaging new 2016 seed. We both worked and worked to get it all done in time and even got there early enough to check into the lovely Bed and Breakfast DBG put us up in. We went over early, I set up seeds, friends came to help - all was great. DBG gave us a wonderful introduction, we thanked everyone so much for everything and then we began. I was really proud of the presentation - it told the story of our greenhouses and how they evolved and how the design kept getting smarter and smarter. It showed the boys growing up in front of their eyes. It ended with the current greenhouse and where we are today. I was gonna have 'em weepin' in the aisles.
Instead, the tech system at DBG and the huge concrete walls, (or the Ghost of Gates Hall), suddenly scrambled the presentation and dumped about 200 pictures. They were just gone. The slideshow had about 30 pics left - all scrambled and out of order.
So we had to stop and save the day. I had to suddenly start looking for original pictures on my computer and while my heart was pounding in my chest, I started scrolling through my pictures, forgetting that the audience is watching the screen show ALL of our pictures, with plenty no one wants to see. Once I realized that I just started pushing buttons until I got us into another slideshow and out of that embarrassment. While this was happening, Cord grabbed the greenhouse model and started teaching principles. That prompted Q & A and once I was finally ready to show bits and pieces of things I could find - no story now - no through-line, just random pictures of greenhouses, we had 5 minutes left. Crap. My heart was in my socks. I'm sure the same was happening to our program director whose eyes looked pretty big to me at the back of the room.
I waited to cry until I was in the truck.
Everyone gave us great kudos for handling it as well as we did but I was pretty disappointed. The next day was a workshop class and we did very well that day. Of course the greenhouse model was so cool and the students put on safety glasses and helped Cord put a home-made vent together. It was cool. Our friend and program director Sarah said that this has been happening quite a bit at DBG and it keeps her up at night. We shall look forward to their new classrooms. DBG is always awesome - even with that!
It has been a busy month to be sure.
Grit Magazine:
We are thrilled to be in Grit Magazine in January. The article is already online. The writer, Bill Giebler, and his lovely son Simon, came and stayed and learned for two days - remarkable. He also got it right. It's a really hard thing to write about - and this is about the nuts and bolts of how it works. Very exciting to be in a national magazine. So as this was happening, we were approached by Mother Earth News to add a picture of one of our greenhouses to another greenhouse article they were already writing. So that was great. But then I discovered that our friend and Seed School brother Josh Thayer of Native Sun Gardens had already mentioned us in Mother. So when I discovered that 800 people had visited our website in one day, I started looking around and found that these articles had hit cyberspace.
Check out the Grit Article here;
http://www.grit.com/farm-and-garden/greenhouses/passive-solar-greenhouse-zm0z16jfzreg.aspx
The Life Vest
Okay - it is official - Cord does not like the Life Vest anymore - especially because he doesn't think he needs it. It drives him crazy, it hurts his back and mostly - it pisses him off. If he moves too much or if he doesn't move too much it is buzzing him on his spine or it starts beeping to say something is wrong - like a sensor out of place or a low battery or something - even when it's not! The problem is it beeps more and more, we try everything they tell us to do and it doesn't seem to matter. One of the sensors on his back buzzes him and he doesn't like it - it's not a zap but it is a buzz. Hard to describe. The point is - he's been wearing this thing for months against his skin, strapped on his person and putting pressure on his ribs. There are two zapper paddles on his back so when he sits back in a chair - he is leaning on those paddles and it makes his back sore. He has to wear the brain on a belt he wears over his shoulder. It is quite heavy and drags on his neck sometimes.
So these are the complaints for a device that could save his life if he has a heart attack. Since he feels so much better it's hard to take as he feels like he is fine and he doesn't need it. Not much longer. In 2 more weeks it will be 6 weeks since we saw the cardiologist and got Cord's new numbers. If he keeps improving like he is, he should be out of the danger zone by then! So we shall call and see if he can get an ECHO to prove what we already think - that very soon he can take the damn thing off. The next visit to the cardiologist is mid January. Oh - I didn't mention this - the brain sleeps in between us in the bed. I'm not complaining - I hope he never needs it - and I have been grateful for it. Easy for me to say right? I don't have to wear it!
Max returns from Scotland soon - just in time for Christmas - I can't wait to see pictures and hear stories of his adventures. Beau is finishing up his first semester in Colorado Springs and we will have him back too. It will be so good to all be together again.
So much love on the wind to all of you - and so many thanks. This will be a very special Christmas.
Happy Holidays!
Penn
Cord building the model - it is now finished with paint and polycarbonate.
Cord teaching the vent section of the workshop. Notice those thick concrete walls?
Cord in Mitch's Skid Steer. Progress on our greenhouse!
This is the latest pic of the Evergreen GH. Upper vents to go and it's done!
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