Wow, it's been a while!

So I noticed the date of my last post... I guess I didn't realize it had been THAT long! We, as you might have guessed, have been busy here! We had Thanksgiving at our house, which meant that the house needed an overhaul, cleaning-wise, before we had people over. So that took an immense amount of time. I built liners for my wire racks in the kitchen out of hardboard (my new favorite project material), so I could use them for more than just cooling racks and large items, they can now collect all kinds of junk! My dh and I also ripped out the living room carpet (after Thanksgiving of course!), see my post here to read about that! We have gotten SNOW, but we were somewhat prepared and have put up some snow fences! The driveway is not impassable thanks to those nifty orange bits of plastic! And so winter is here again. So far we have'nt been snowed in. We have gotten about 8 inches (maybe) total so far, and most of that has been washed away by all the rain we have gotten in the past couple of days, but we are expecting some more tonite, so we will see how that goes. Stay safe out there, whereever you are this winter!

Another burst of Autumn!

Last weekend we were supposed to get cold and rainy...just in time for Halloween. It didn't. After planning costumes for cold weather, it stayed warm. Halloween night it was about 60 degrees outside for the kids to go trick or treating. Such a nice change from other years where it has actually been spitting snow on some occasions. All this week we kept waiting for it to get cold and it has been in the mid 70's every day! SO nice! We were able to get out and enjoy Fall for yet another week. Today the forecast says about 70. Tomorrow? Not so much...try cold and rainy. Friday? Try cold and rainy...turning to snow Friday night and snow called for on Saturday and Sunday. ICK! So, I suppose if I am going to do anything outdoors, I had better get to it today. But, I do have to say, this is one of the things I do enjoy about the midwest. I like the changing of seasons. I like to be able to see the changing color of the leaves and freshly fallen snow and budding, flowering trees. It is all a part of God's beautiful creation. So I will try not to complain too much about it.

Cold Days in the Country

Late Fall has arrived here at our country house. The mouse problem is under control. It is COLD outside. It has been getting down into the 30's at night, and tonite it is supposed to be dipping down into the 20's. We had to turn the furnace on to keep the kids from getting sick (okay , daddy was cold). The wind has been whipping and Sunday I even saw snow. Yes, I said snow. Not a lot and if you weren't outside you would have missed it. But it was definately there. The wind was blowing us away and I saw what I saw what I thought was hail, but it was soft, much too soft for hail. Yes, it was indeed the white fluffy stuff. But it didn't last long, and it left cold windiness in its wake. I don't think I am ready for winter just yet. I want to enjoy a bit more Indian summer. A little more brisk Fall. Certainlly not frigid winter. Here is a picture at our house about 18 hours after closing on it in 2006...
It is kinda hard to tell from this pic, but there is 19 inches of snow there. Nineteen inches. Yes this is the definition of being snowed in. We could not get out of our driveway and no one could get in. And like I said this was about 18 hours after closing on the house. I made sure that we had some furniture and TV and food and blankets and some clothing moved over the night before, but for the most part we had most of our belongings at the rental house yet. My dad got his drive cleared and around 5 pm drove over to our place and called me from the road in front of the house to say "You guys are snowed in". Well, yes we are...thanks for noticing! He took me over to our rental house about a mile away so that I could get a few more essentials moved over until we could get plowed. We live in wide open spaces. Which in the Fall and Spring is great! You can see for MILES. I love the wide openness for the most part, but when it snows and blows in the winter, we get snowed in. Thats all there is to it. With all that wide open space it has no where to go but to us. The buildings here stop it from blowing away. Here we are again about 2 1/2 months later...

I think that this time we actually didn't get quite as much, even though it looks like more. The wind was just blowing more and piling it up. So, no, I am not looking forward to the cold snowy days of winter. I think what I am going to have to do is find something good about the cold season and create a post about it here each week. I'll think of a cute creative name for it and let you know.