Jason Lancaster

One of the most exciting things about renovating the house has been the time Emily and I have spent choosing the final “finishing” products. Picking the granite, wall, and tile colors; coordinating things, etc. Of them all, I think the most thrilling is the EcoTimber Orchard Walnut wood floors we chose. We did a lot of research and ended up concluding that FSC certified hardwoods are the only way to go if you want to make sure the wood you’re purchasing is legitimate. This floor is a pretty special floor with a really cool story and can only be purchased at certain times as the source is sensitive:

The wood used in this flooring is sourced from commercial Walnut orchards located in the Central Valley of California. Here, approximately 200,000 acres of perpetual Walnut orchards, maintained by hundreds of small growers, produce 98% of the U.S. nut production. When the Walnut orchards age, (approximately forty years), they lose nutting productivity. They are then cut down and replanted to start the orchard cycle again, with the first nuts produced in only four years.

The floors aren’t installed yet and this process won’t begin for another two weeks, as the floors need time to acclimate to my houses humidity and temperature. But I have a manufacturers picture that is absolutely beautiful. Enjoy, and look for some installation pictures soon!

After being on crutches since the 20th of November, I came off yesterday and immediately found pain in the old area, a tender spot on the bottom of my foot. The side of my foot healed up in the 9 weeks I was off it, but they’ve said I have sesamoiditis and don’t expect that crutches are going to be of much help for the rest of my pain. Resting, ice, ibuprofen, and cortisone seem to be the solution for now.

They gave me a cortisone injection and sent me off to have a MRI performed. A followup appointment will be made in early February assuming nothing odd is found in the MRI.

I had a long struggle with tendinitis in my right elbow back in high school and don’t look forward to a similar struggle with the foot. I pretty much had to stop all activity that bothered it for years until it finally healed. This has been a real bummer for me; at least when it was my arm I could easily take it easy. The feet are a much harder thing to rest.

So it looks like the early part of this year will be spent continuing my one-footed, or at least mostly one-footed climbing. Once the tenderness of the cortisone shot goes down I’ll be able to spend some much needed time at the house finishing up the final projects in order to move in March 1st.