Sauna plans, ala Paint (please don't judge my "paint" abilities...

This is an idea of at least the size, internal layout, and stove placement. Roofline is still up for debate.

I made this with that really old program "paint" so if my perspective is off, gimme a break, k?

Sauna, Veggies, and Plumbing, OH MY!

Well, we're knee deep in projects (as usual?) Since far away places might not be in our future, here is the log of what we'll be working on for the next few months.

The beginning: Here will go the sauna, behind it the veggie garden. Also joining our yard will be 3 new chickens!

poker night!

Last night Lucy and I were invited to Poker night at a Laura's New House. Neither of us have any experience playing poker, let alone Texas Hold 'em, but we figured if we dressed the part we might at least have fun. We broke out the cowboy boots and I donned my grandfather's gray fedora. Lucy placed her 2 lucky North Carolina feathers in the ribbon and we were off.

We arrived (late as usual) but in time for a pregame drink. This gave us time to write down a cheat sheet that ranked poker hands and sat down at the table before we realized there was a $5 buy in. I was stumped as I had never played poker for money before, am a complete novice and didn't even bring any cash with me. The gracious hosts allowed me to place an IOU written on a cocktail napkin with my name and phone number as collateral into the cigar box. Lucy bowed out on account of a stomach ache and decided to be my lady luck instead. Hands were played, cards fell and the pile of chips shifted.

To make a long story short we won the whole pot on an ace up the river after going all in!
We tipped our hat, thanked our hosts and high tailed it back to the SE with $45!
Lucky ace, lucky hat makes us some lucky ladies!

Icelandic wool with attitude...

We found these guys posing for all the cars headed to the Geysir....

Pingvellir...pronounced thingvellir

Day 2: we rented a car (a new white vw golf) and set of across the tundra to do the "Golden circle" tour...
first stop in our trusty golf, Pinvellir National Park...
This is where the American, European and Eurasian tetonic plates meet. They move apart 2cm per year and have created an isolated environment with a unique evolution pattern similar to the Gallapagos Islands. Home of volcanic activity and glaciers, this was also the first meeting place among European settlers in which to denote the laws of the time.
http://www.thingvellir.is/english/

more iceland pics from the ride...

The pooch Lucy almost brought home with us!

He is Part icelandic and part "that blast neighbor collie"!
He was pretty cute...