David's Blog

The road I live on is very rural and thus has very little traffic.  The local (Bellingham, Washington) cycling club uses it for practices and on Tuesday evenings, races.  There are usually 60 to 70 bicycles involved in these races.  The do a number of laps on a large loop that is several miles lo...

This is a quick look at an intergovernmental/private money project to restore the riparian area  along sections of the Nooksack River  just outside Bellingham, Washington.  This area, which is prime wetland habitat, had been poorly used for many years.  It is home to many species of duck, overwin...

Bellingham, Washington has a long and active history of commercial fishing.  In its heyday there were a number of very large Salmon Canneries around Bellingham Bay.  Today, with the decline of Salmon runs and the major control of fishing grounds to keep the worlds oceans from becoming a desert, l...

I'm sitting here this early Sunday morning looking at a group of local independent newspapers.  These papers, in this era of only three corporate owners of news media, are the last bastion of a free press in this country.  These locals, all with a slightly different political bent than each other...

There has long been a raging argument over the best way to make oatmeal.  Stay with me now, I know that many people don't like oatmeal.  Try this way some time and maybe it'll change your mind.  I learned this way years ago and it is the only way I'll eat it.  In our busy lives, my wife and I alw...

I hate to belabor a point, but here are a few more crawlspace photos.  Where does that water in the crawlspace come from?  These photos, not all from the same house, show a few ways water can get into the cspace.  Enjoy!The above two photos show drain lines penetrating the foundation wall.  That ...

Not all WDO (wood destroying organism) damage is limited to crawl spaces.  The following pictures show a deck in need of replacement.  There are several reasons why this deck is in the shape it's in.  When it was built, the structural lumber was not pressure treated.  The joists are Douglas Fir 4...

I think a while back a colleague did  a post on chimney's and their problems.  I thought I'd show this one to illustrate why it is important to get chimneys inspected and cleaned annually.  Creosote buildup can burn your house down.  And it can happen fast.This is a chimney fire just waiting to h...

Back when our youngest was going to College, to get summer money she worked at a drive through espresso stand.  She derogatorily called them  "coffee boxes" because little boxes is what they looked like.  Since that time, the drive throughs have gotten a little more creative in their design.  Her...

On Sunday we went with friends to Vancouver, BC to take in The Taming of the Shrew at the wonderful "Bard on the Beach Series.  This series has been going on for eighteen years and regularly sells out every performance.  There are two stages, the large (520 seat) Main Stage and the smaller (240 s...