Thursday, January 31, 2019

-39

Well, we have another very cold morning, but it promises to get "up" to -8 or so later today. That sounds pretty tropical at the moment. Maybe I can even start my car and drive into Nevis for some coffee creamer!
Micah sounds like she's growing weary of rambunctious children on this third day of no school. Maybe when it gets warmer I'll bring Audrey and Hazel over here to play. We'll have to see how things pan out.

My washer doesn't seem to want to work. I'm hoping it's just something Adam can figure out later. Micah's washer and dryer aren't operational yet. They need to have the electricians come back and check out some wiring and they haven't come yet because of the extreme temps. We'll survive!

That's all for now. Just hibernating and enjoying the view!
Shalom, all!

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

A frosty morning.

We awoke to a frosty world for the second day in a row. Tomorrow should be "warmer". Only -4 or so. By the weekend it will be up in the 20's and 30's, so we can finish up our moving!

Here's how the world  looked this morning. We're nice and warm indoors, and nobody ventured out other than Adam to cut up some wood and stoke up the wood stove.




 I put up these feeders a few days before the extreme cold hit, but I haven't seen any birds. Are they all hiding from the cold? I'm not much of an expert on bird feeding, but we do have some birds that winter over here. Recently all I've seen are crows.

 This is where I'm hanging out! I still have the kids old leather furniture (and some toys) in my living room, so I threw a quilt over the couch to make it cozier. I found this quilt at the thrift store. The batting has separated and it's thin in places, but it makes a great couch throw. It's sort of a homely quilt, but some of the squares are pretty, and I like the overall effect. The colors don't look very vibrant in this picture, but it really is a cheerful quilt. I'll get my furniture moved in over the weekend when it warms up.
 This square is one of my favorites. It's like a denim material. I'd love a whole quilt made of this!


Jordan and Josh both texted this morning to check up on us. They live in warmer climes these days. Good to hear from them!

Got my taxes finished this morning. I was kind of dreading it. Don't know why. Mine are pretty simple. I just like to worry, I guess. DUMB!

Day before yesterday I painted my small bedroom. It was Pepto Bismol pink because it started out as a girls' room. I painted it a pale green. So pale it's almost white. I'll show pics when I get it more finished. It needs another coat and then I'll paint the trim. I was so sore and tired yesterday! It was more work than I realized!

Well, it's 2 p.m. and my stomach is telling me I haven't had lunch yet. Better go rustle up some grub!

God bless you all! Thanks for visiting!
Shalom!

Sunday, January 27, 2019

Moving and frigid weather!

Adam just ran to the grocery store to stock up before the cold front gets here. You mean it's going to get COLDER?

We're mostly moved, so it's time to hunker down until this cold spell ends. But Adam gets the brunt of the outside chores and there's no way around that. On his grocery run he's going to pick up what he needs to repair a breech in the insulation in the floor of my trailer. My bathtub pipes have been freezing up. He'll have to squeeze in under the trailer to do this. My trailer is on a slope and that end is very close to the ground. He'll get that done today and that will be one item off of his endless to-do list.

We were excited by the arrival of a good supply of wood yesterday! Adam and his dad usually cut their own, but we opted to buy a large batch for now since he has plenty of other things to get done. We were all watching out the window as this guy did his thing. Pretty awesome, and he doesn't look like he's dressed very warmly. Guys! (He had already off-loaded quite a bit of the wood before it occurred to me to take some pictures.)



Cold work.

 He was an awesome driver, too! He had to back this thing down our long driveway and onto the road.
A thing of beauty!

This is a drawing Adam made of the fireplace  he plans to build in their new house. He decided to wait until after they moved in because it will take a while to finish.


I guess we need to be praying for the safety of everyone during this crazy cold weather! You all stay warm!
Shalom.

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

I'm heeeeere!

Meaning, in my new home! I spent last night here...sleeping on Sully's bed, lol. Some would say I haven't really moved yet. After all, most of my stuff is still at my old place, and lots of Micah and Adam's stuff is still here. But, we decided to begin moving as we can.

Micah and family took their mattresses and bedding, food, some clothes and bathroom items and spent their first night in their new home. Here is a very bad nighttime photo out of my window. See how close we are? They still have only Tyvek on the outside, but Adam still works methodically on his long "to-do" list. (Curtains are on the agenda, lol.) (Adam's step-dad is an electrician, and he's got that house lit up like a blinkin' beacon!)
Kind of hard to see the house with all the reflections on the inside of my window!
Of course, the week we chose to begin moving has been very sub-zero. Today was much "warmer" at about 18 degrees above, but that only brought lots of snow. About 6-7 inches last night. This has added another level of challenge, but we're soldiering on.

Here's another night shot out my front door and my window facing away from "the neighbors", as I shall call them henceforth.


Out the window. You can see the TV reflection, whoops. I'm watching A Wrinkle in Time.
"The kids" (Micah and Adam) have left their big TV for the time being, so I'm enjoying some Netflix while it lasts. I may still get it (Netflix) later. We have to figure that out.

I drove over to my old place today, after bringing Audrey and Hazel home from school. My old landlord hadn't plowed at all, so it was thrilling trying to get up their very steep driveway, through deep, rutted snow, and then parking in my old parking spot. AKA a snowdrift. I packed as much into my car as I could, and now I have everything I need to keep me until the weekend, when we'll probably move the rest of my things. I'm using Sully's bed because they just took three mattresses over for the four kids. They figured when they layed (sp?) them all out on the floor the kids would just sleep wherever they felt like it anyway. I won't have my bed moved here until the weekend, I don't think. Anyway, we're all sort of camping out, and I've been having fun organizing "the neighbors" stuff to make it easier for them to move when the time comes. Oh, and I got to do some shoveling around my car to get out of my old parking spot. I was praising the Lord after getting safely out!

This is what my apartment looked like a few days ago. Sort of like a storage locker. But it should all be moved shortly. Yay!

The desk, chair and side table are thrift store finds. The chair needs refinishing, but I'll wait til summer to tackle that!
I was glad to get my box of "important papers", my journal and Bible, and some of my reading books. It's feeling a lot more like home! I hope the grands are feeling excited about their move. I think they are. :) It's so much fun to talk to Micah on the phone about something and then look out the window and there she is walking through the snow to my front door. May I borrow a cup of sugar? (She didn't really borrow sugar. It just has that neighborly feel.) ;)

Here are two of my most recent books.
The Swedish Death Cleaning book was good, but I felt sorry for the author. She admits she has no belief in an afterlife. That boggles my mind.

A friend at the ATC site asked for some inchies with little tools on them. She works at Lowe's, and wanted to display them in her clear smartphone case.
Have any of you seen the movie "Risen"? I rented it before and really liked it. They take liberties with the gospel account, but I think it really points to the truth that Jesus is risen indeed! This copy I got for free at the library.
Here's another library find. As I was checking it out the library lady asked me if I was aware that the movie is in Swedish! Hmmm. I'm not a fan of reading subtitles, but it sounded like an interesting story, so I'm going to give it a shot.
Well, the saga will continue as Micah and I move small stuff, and Adam and his dad will move larger items as they have a chance. My good son-in-law is outside Bobcatting the snow away, so getting the kids to school should be easier tomorrow morning. I'm blessed to have such a great s-i-l, and a great family!

That's it for now. God bless y'all!
Shalom!

Saturday, January 5, 2019

Another thrift store surprise!

I've been shopping the thrift stores to find things for my new home. I saw two little pieces of needlework in very nice old carved frames. It was the frames I wanted to use for watercolors.



But when I removed the needlework from the frames, I found surprises underneath!

The needlework looks pretty ancient, but it's not the type I would want to keep.
 Look how the back is done. They are a combination of needlepoint and cross-stitch. If anyone wants them let me know in the comments. Otherwise,  I may give them back to the lady at the thrift store. I don't want to throw them out!
After removing the nails in the back of the frame there was a piece of paper behind the needlework. This is what was on the two pieces of paper...
After dusting off the frames and cleaning the glass this is how they look. Pretty!
I also bought most, if not all, of the paint and curtains I'll need for the trailer. I'll be having lots of decorating fun shortly! I also found a comforter and blanket, plus two end tables. I prefer lamplight to overhead light, so you need end tables to set lamps on, right? I'll move in with the furniture I have now, and then see what I need to fill in. :)

The grandkids have all gone to their other grandparents' for the night, and Micah, Adam and Thatcher have gone grocery shopping and out to supper, so I'm going to relax and use their Netflix to watch a movie! So, I'm outta here! :)

Shalom, friends and family!