BUILDING A TREE HOUSE

The sun finally came out on one of the boys days and we were primed to do something outside.  Ryder suggested we work on the tree house we had envisioned in a the Japanese Lilac tree which is in our landscaping on the south side of our property.

I helped with the project by cutting the boards on my chop saw, but the boys did all the building.

They even got Omy up the ladder to check out the finished product.  We've since added a rope so they can climb up or down two ways.  When the leaves come out, this will be well hidden.

NEW PRIUS

Just a few shots showing the new Prius Plug-in Hybrid.

It was totally charged and ready to go.

We drove the old one to the dealer to pick up the new one.  Marlene drove the old one home and I got to drive the new one.

Here's where you plug it in.

So far we have driven 267 miles, 32% in all electric mode and 68% in regular hybrid mode.  Our combined mileage is 67 mpg.   With gas at over $4.00 in the Canby area, we're very happy with our decision to go ahead with this purchase.   Ours is the first one delivered to Oregon.

SNOW IN MARCH

It snowed last night.  Enough that the golf course is covered and with frost underneath there is a frost delay until 11:00 am.  This made a good day for roasting coffee. 






I have a new bread machine now which I use as my primary roaster.  The old one finally broke down after a year of roasting and I found another at a garage sale for $10.  This one has a nifty setting which agitates the coffee continuously for 15 minutes and then can be restarted immediately for another 15 minute cycle.



Using this new machine with my old heat gun, I can now roast a full pound of green beans in 20 minutes.
Here's the results.  

NEW CAR COMING

On November 17, last year, we ordered a new Prius Plug in Hybrid, a PIP.  This is something we have thought about for maybe the last 5 years from the time I first heard about the concept of plug in electric cars combined with hybrid technology.  At the time we were driving a regular Prius, a 2001 model.  I said at the time, "Let's drive this car till the new plug in hybrid comes out and then trade it in."  Well, it didn't work out that way.  Our first Prius was hit in the left front corner while I was taking our grandson home from swimming lessons.

The insurance company totaled the car and we replaced it with a used 2005 model.  In November, Toyota Company opened a window to pre-order a PIP with delivery to be sometime in the spring of 2012.  From then till now, we have been kept updated with progress from assembly to loading on a ship in Japan.  I have been tracking the ship, the Continental Highway, from it's port in Japan to it's entrance into the Columbia River at Astoria.  These photos are screen shots my computer screen showing progress of the ship.  The ship should arrive in Portland around midnight tonight and hopefully we can take delivery of our new car next week.




The new model is predicted to achieve 87 mpg on average.  Timely in this period of declining supplies and rising prices of gasoline.  I'll keep you posted on how this works out.  It will basically perform as an electric car for our short trips into Canby and surrounding neighborhoods. It charges in 3 hours from a regular 110 volt receptacle in our garage. Then, if we decide to take a trip to Seattle, it will revert to a regular Prius and automatically shift from electric to gasoline motor.