It has been a long time since I have got to do some major people watching, but here I am, sitting in the Seattle airport waiting to board a plane to Israel. I forget living in a small area how big the world is and how diverse the human race is. Gotta go....

Ok, so I know it has been a long time since I have posted anything here, but I have some new incentive. I'm going to Israel in a couple days and want to leave a record of it here for friends and family to follow. and maybe, just maybe, I'll get back into regular posting after I'm back. That's my goal.So here I'll have some pictures and talk a bit about the travels. If your interested in more of the religious aspect of the journey then I encourage you to follow my other blog at www.waysofthelord.blogspot.com

Changes

  Well, there is going to be a bit of a change here at the Mountain Life. A couple years ago I rededicated myself to Christ and ever since I have been struggling with whether or not to let this part of my life into my blog. Its original intention was to be about family, hiking, foraging, identifying, and things we are doing to (slowly) achieve self-sufficiency. But my life became so much more than that. So much so that I have found it hard to write about those things without bringing some of our spiritual life into it.

  This has been a long hard decision for me, and is part of the reason (along with quite a bit of laziness,) that I haven't had a real posting in so long. I do intend to start a new blog on just spiritual issues in the near future, but never fear, I will keep this one going with its originally stated intentions. And believe me, I have a lot of catching up to do on it.

  But first I need to spend a bit more time on this subject. First off, I have no desire to alienate anyone who follows this blog. I don’t want to cause any division with any friends or family through this, but the hard fact of this is that it can and quite possibly will. But it does not have to be this way. You are more than welcome to accept me as I am and glean what you will from the postings, or, and this is my prayer, that you might be caused to honestly question some things about me or yourself. Indeed, I am more than willing to answer anything through comments, calls, or e-mails.

  And second, I am not doing this out of being in a religion where you are commanded to act a certain way. I have actually found that if you are truly devoted to something (and this can be anything, not just to Christ,) you tend to naturally talk and color your speech with these things. In other words, I am not in the business of offending anyone. I am just being myself with Christ shining though me, and if you take offense, then perhaps you should step back and see just what is being offended in you. I will be more than willing to talk to you about it.

  To close I want to say this, it is hard for me to write something so personal. But I truly feel a need to so that you know who I am. I am not a hiker, or forager. I am a follower of Christ first, then a husband and a father who just happens to enjoy hiking, foraging, cooking, books.......

Back in Action (hopefully)

My laptop is finally back in action! Now all I need is to find the discipline to get back into typing again. I have a lot of posts to finish and many more sitting in my head still. There is part 2 of Learning Leadership, 2 posts on hiking/mountain climbing, one is from Colorado, and the other is a more recent hike from here in Idaho. I have a variety of them on mushrooms that we have found this year, lobsters, chanterelles, and matsutakes to name a few. And hopefully a post or two on our life in general lately.

Still Here

Sorry folks. Been off blogger a long time now. My computer has been in the process of dying since around Thanksgiving. I finally downloaded blogger app on my phone yesterday so I could do this post for you all. I am trying to get a new computer right now so I can get back to writing again. Got lots of exciting news for you friends to come soon!

A Real Update!

Things are finally starting to come together here at the Coatney household. About three weeks ago we finally got our wood cook-stove hooked up again, after hauling it up here with us from Colorado, having it in storage for almost a year, and then taking up a huge chunk of our mudroom. Well, it is finally in place.

We also spent a good deal of the summer getting our house insulated. Through our remodeling efforts we realized that there was no insulation whatsoever, giving us a big clue as to why our heating bills were so high. So we preceded to tear out all the slat and plaster off the exterior walls, insulate them, and then Sheetrock, mud, texture, and paint them.

During this time we restored the ceilings to their original nine foot height, opening the rooms up a lot more.

I have spent the last two days cutting firewood with friends who have offered their services, really blessing us with a much needed heat supply. I simply cannot go another year without investing in a chainsaw. It is hard having to rely upon others to take care of thing for you.

Last week I had to replace the fuel pump in our suburban for the third time in fourteen months, (I am becoming quite proficient at dropping the gas tank), only to find ou that the sending unit was bad, meaning dropping the tank yet again. Fortunatly my boss, Mike, took pity on me and came by to help me change it out. (I think he actually did most of the work.) Now I just need to replace the tires when I can afford that....

our most current project, (there are actually a lot of them, this is just the most immediate), building a set of bunk beds for the girls, complete with built-in bookshelves and dresser drawers.

Another New Member of the Clan

I would like to introduce everyone to the newest member of our household, Mithrandir.

We have been discussing off and on about getting a companion for our dog Dulin, and here is the result. He is half Newfoundland and half Labrador Retriever, and fits right into our family. The dogs get along really well, especially since Dulin let it be known who was top dog, and they wrestle and play and are slowly kicking that excess weight off of each other.

All the kids love Mithrandir, indeed they have actually found a new interest in Dulin now paying him the attention that he so needs and deserves. He is very gentle and loves being around the kids as well, as can be seen from the next two photos.

In fact the only problem we have with him is that he really wants to eat Thalia's cat, going so far as to actually get her in his mouth. So she is now stuck in the girl's room and we are introducing them to each other slowly in the hopes that they at least come to an uneasy truce.

He came with the name Bowser, but being a family of Tolkien lovers we all wanted something with a bit more character to the name and after running the gamut of well known names (Frodo, Aragorn, Legolas, and the like), I started throwing out some lesser known ones, and Mithrandir was agreed upon. for those of you who don't know, Mithrandir is Gandalf's elvish name and means the grey pilgrim. And while he is not grey he does like to wander so at least part of the meaning fits, right?