Spring is in the Air

It seems that every February we get a few days of sun and warmer temperatures. We just had those days. It makes such a difference. The daffodils are peeking through the soil, John started on the annual chore of pressure washing the decks, I got out and pruned the apple trees and rose bushes, the 100+ fern on the property are getting cut back, and we even got the roof cleaned. This morning, we are back to our usual rain, but our little taste of spring was fun while it lasted. We have often had snow and wind storms in March, but hopefully, this year, we'll be spared.

Drew is over on our side of the mountains this week-end, so we're meetimg him for dinner later today. He's our family tax whiz, so we are going to pick his brain, since we are not at all happy with out potential tax bill.

Winter Sunset and a Grease Pot

This is an odd pairing of topics, but it's just what came up today.
To start....John took the sunset picture at our house a few days ago. In the winter, the sun sets behind our house - in the summer it sets more to the side (west) of our house. This time of year, the setting sun rays stream though the back windows and flood the house with sunshine. The picture turned out great, so we thought we'd post it. Today it is snowing again, but the sun was nice was it lasted.

As for the grease pot......Anyone remember grease pots that were kept next to the stove in years gone by? When I was growing up in the 1950's, my mother kept one next to the stove. After cooking bacon for breakfast, she would pour the residual grease in the pot. Then the next time she was frying eggs or cooking green beans, the grease was used in the place of butter. As we became more aware of health issues, the grease pot was packed away.....never to be used again. My sister found it and recently gave it to me as a gift, since I had the matching salt and pepper shakers that completed the set. The threesome now are displayed - but not used - in our kitchen. I thought it might bring back memories to others, too.

Grandkids' New Pix

I do know that everyone thinks they have the best-looking, smartest, nicest, most wonderful grandkids and we are no exception. Here are some new pictures of our grandchildren that we received as Christmas gifts. I just had to share them!
JJ is 8 years old and Hannah is 5.

January Celebrations

January is a month full of one celebration after another in our family.
Both my sisters have their wedding anniversaries this month. My nephew and brother-in-law both have birthdays this month, as did my mother. She would have been 85 on the 25th. All the celebrating takes place in California, so we rarely attend, but it does make for a busy time just trying to remember and acknowledge all these events.
So here goes....
Happy Anniversary Tara and Richard!
Happy Anniversary Ava and Steve!
Happy Birthday, Richard!
Happy Birthday, Derek!
Also a happy birthday to my childhood friend, Colleen.
And....Mom, we all still remember your birthday, too.
February won't bring much relief....we have two more birthdays then, too, but they can wait a while.

The New Year

The old year 2008 went out with record cold and snow and now the new year 2009 has greeted us with record rain and flooding. What happened to normal? Is this global warming, el nino, la nina or just an abnormal weather pattern? That is for greater minds than mine to determine.

At least part of our lives is back to normal. Mark returned to college on Sunday. Drew and his family returned to their home on the other side of the state a few days before that, so our homelife is back to its usual routine. As I get older, I find I like our usual mundane routine. We love having the 'kids' visit and miss them when they leave, but there is something comforting in our usual, uneventful, daily routine. So, now it if off to Starbuck's.......

A Christmas to Remember

This was certainly a Christmas we won't ever forget. We have had record snowfall for the past two weeks and what's more, from 5:30am on Christmas morning to 7pm that evening we were without power and heat. Drew and his family managed to make it here on Christmas - thanks to his heavy duty Dodge Durango. However, when they arrived the house was cold due to no heat and there was no dinner cooked because of no power. Inovative as we are, we fired up both fireplaces and lit all the candles in the house. Dinner ended up being hotdogs cooked in our wood burning fireplace and eaten by candlelight. It was definitely an unusual Christmas for us. I heated some rocks by the fireplace to put in the beds, so we could at least get into a warm bed, but the heat came back on at 7 pm, so we didn't need them. It continued to snow every day Drew and family were here and so we didn't get out much. We totaled about 30 inches (75 cm) of snow before it started to melt yesterday. We spent our days sledding on the steep hills around here, playing board games and enjoying the time together. It is rare that the 7 of us are together any more, so it made for a great Christmas.
We are definitely ready for the new year!!

Record Snow and Cold

This is unlike any year we have had in the 32 years we've lived here. The snow just won't seem to quit and the temps haven't even gotten to 30 degrees Fahrenheit (-2 degrees Celcius)in quite a while so nothing is melting.
Our local lake, which is great for swimming in summer, is partially frozen - we've never seen it like that. The ducks are still there, though.
We also have more icicles than ever before. We've measured one at more than 47 inches (1.3 meter) and it is still growing! Some are about 2 -3 inches (5 cm)in diameter.
We did make an interesting discovery with all the snow. We found out that a raccoon is living under our deck. We saw the footprints and the secret was out.
Our neighbor discovered that the little Oregon squirrels we have here actually dig tunnels to get around in the snow. He also has some hummingbirds that come and feed is his feeder. He is hard pressed to keep it thawed enough for them to feed when the temps stay in the 20's all day.
We are so thankful Mark got home when he did - the news recently referred to the Seattle airport as "Camp Sea-Tac" because of all the stranded people. There are very few flights going out or coming in.
This, too, shall pass.