Day 806: frozen water, for a change

Day 806:

I was at the top of a cliff, eroding away its surface with very sharp tools, when it started to rain.

Normally that’s my cue to head in, but from where I was standing it was clear that nothing too extremely menacing was in the area, so I decided I’d keep going a little longer.

That’s when I noticed it was snowing, sort of. The rain/snow line here was… crisp. Like visibly crisp. One section was clearly snow and next to it was clearly rain, as if it was falling in organized columns.

Except for the fact that literally nothing here is organized unless I organize it, I’d believe it was falling that way on purpose.

Things got cold and wet pretty quickly, so the rest of my day was spent in front of a warm fire wishing for cocoa plants (or the patience to learn how to brew whiskey).

At the top of the mountain, looking straight up at the sky, where snow falls to the left and rain to the right.

Merry Christmas, a bit early, and probably a bit late

Two weeks ago I was off — between jobs, so it was the most relaxing kind of vacation for a tech worker because nobody could ping me on Slack about anything work related.

(Yes, yes, I know, I should shut off notifications on work chat boards but it’s not as easy as it sounds.)

I used the time to take pictures of the dogs in their Christmas finest and then make a card over on Shutterfly. I also ordered my brother a Christmas present.

At the end of my time off, a package from Shutterfly arrived and, assuming it was my gift for my brother, I put it away somewhere safe. And I thought, wow, Christmas cards really are running late this year as the days ticked over.

Yesterday my brother’s Christmas present arrived.

Which means somewhere in this house I have safely stored 200 pre-addressed customized Christmas cards. They’re so safely stored I have no idea where I put them. I tore parts of the house apart yesterday looking and, well, no luck.

So, working off the assumption that the cards will surface sometime around February, please enjoy these pictures of the terror trio and accept our warm wishes for the holidays.

View from the floor of Kaylee in a red cape, Chance in a collar and tie, and Myka in a shiny hat all looking up to a point off-camera (where my husband is holding a treat)

Photo from above, looking down on Kaylee in a red cape that's hanging sideways, Chance in his collar and tie (barely visible) and Myka in her shiny new year's hat looking up hoping for a treat. At the top of the photo my hand holding a treat

Day 805: seriously this place is soaked

Day 805:

Found another pond, under an overhang at the foot of a mountain.

At least this one I can work around without having to go into or through it.

I really should take a day off soon so I don’t lose my mind when I see water. I vaguely remember a time when I thought fresh water here might be an issue. That time is gone.

A small pond surrounded by rock and dirt, underneath a rock overhang.

Day 804: murderers are back

Day 804:

There’s another group of murderers skulking around.

I was all the way at the top of the local mountain to the south, ankle-deep in snow, when I heard one of them call out to the others. I looked down, and sure enough, there he was a little below me on the mountain aiming a cross bow at me.

I got a picture thingie of him, because some days the things I write in this journal feel unreal to me and I’m sure that if and when someone else reads them they won’t believe a word of it.

Anyway, he shot crossbow bolts at me and missed, I shot hand-made arrows at him and hit, and he’s not a problem anymore.  His crossbow was crap, so it wasn’t even worth saving. And his partners in murder ran off before I could find out if they wanted more of the same.

Looking down a steeply sloping hill at three trees. In between the trees, a small man with a crossbow can be seen.

Day 803: a change in pace – lava

Day 803:

As I mentioned before, during the day I’m trying to tame the mountains. During the night, I’m mining toward the mountains, trying to get critical supplies like coal and iron ore, and diamonds…. and of course collecting a whole bunch of granite and the like while I’m at it.

(My dreams of cornering the interplanetary granite market are growing dimmer and dimmer every day I’m out here on this rock.)

Last night, I discovered a magma chamber. Unfortunately, I discovered it from below, not above. Fortunately, I was carrying glass with me just in case this kind of thing happened.

I still have zero understanding of why the lava doesn’t melt the glass, but as it is saving my life, I’m not arguing with it either.

So since I have this fancy picture-creator thingie now, I took a picture of what it looks like to be working from underneath a magma chamber. Mostly it consists of digging, then wedging a piece of glass in place very quickly, then digging. And if  I mess up at all, running and throwing a bucket of water over my head get involved.

A roughly four meter by six meter magma chamber, as seen from below its glass bottom.