"Let the Playing Begin!"

As mentioned in the last post, Christin and Andy are our "big kids". I must say, they enjoyed the new snow thoroughly.......it was great packing snow! Perfect for snow balls.....of ALL sizes! ;)


They each got as good as they gave, too........


Keeping the ever watchful eye on their opponent...........


While another younger "kid" looks on and learns defense and offense tactics.


AND form......can't forget form!


After the snowballs came the physical contact part of the sport.........Snow Wrestling!


I've no photographic documentation as to who won the contest......I think it may have been a draw (I, being male, I feel obliged to say that to save Andy's self respect). ;) Truthfully, I really do not know how the contest turned out......I was busy shoveling our driveway, thankfully, with the help of Rob and Lonny!

"Snow Day....."

With the University and most businesses closed, the neighbors were all home and out helping each other clear driveways of the heavy, wet snow.


Surprisingly, our street had already been plowed and they moved cars from driveways to clear the snow from them.


Rob clearing a path from Lonny and Charlie's house over to Christina and Christin's. I "think" he is doing that for Frank, our mailman. Our two houses have the mailbox down at street level near the end of our driveways, so we do not need to do that.


This is Benjamin's first major snowstorm. He naturally was around for last winter, but not the age of being able to go outside to play in it.


Christin taking a break......


Andy, our oldest "kid" in the neighborhood. ;)


Soon joined by his female counterpart, Christin. :)


Christina taking a break......


Lonny enjoying the time outside.......this was only the beginning of a fun filled day. ;)


And while the "kids" were having a snowball fight, I was working diligently on removing snow from our driveway.........sigh.....my work is never done. LOL I sure took my time about it and took many, many breaks, plus Lonny and Rob came to help me as well. :)

"Winter Storm....."

This 1st photo was posted yesterday, but I thought I should re-post it today as well, because I am following it with a photo taken 24 hours later, after Madison was hit by the big snow storm.

So.......Before.......


And After......


Don wanted to get the heavy, wet snow off of the hot tub cover right away.


A view from our front door....


And another......


What a style conscious shoveler, eh?


I thought this photo showed beautiful lighting. The blue glow was spectacular!


Unfortunately, the snow was so wet and heavy, that the snowblower did not have an easy time throwing it and plugged up a number of times.


Regardless of how poorly it worked, it was a big help. I did have to shovel by hand, too, but I was also fortunate enough to have Lonny and Rob help me as well.


More of our days activities tomorrow (yes, on Saturday! I have so many photos to post that I'll "need" the weekend days, too).

"Timer and Trimming....."

As you may remember, we bought 4 new chickens or "pullets", (which means they are young hens who will soon start laying eggs) about a month ago. Chickens will only lay eggs when stimulated by enough daylight, which I believe takes around 14 hours. We've not done this before (although, I had when I raised chickens years ago in Michigan), but we added a light to the coop earlier this week. Last year, we'd decided to add a heated bowl so that the chickens water wouldn't freeze, and ran a long heavy duty extension cord out to the coop for the winter. So all I had to do was add the timer and lamp to that.

This photo was taken using a flash from the back door of the house.


And this one without flash......quite the beacon of light in the dark, eh?


A close up which allows you to see how bright it is inside. Quite cozy, eh?


Weeks ago, we'd gotten a notice that the city was going to do some tree trimming in our yard. The company who was doing the trimming has been in the neighborhood for several weeks and finally got to us a few days ago. They started at the dead end of Briar Hill........


Then moved to behind Bridget and Tracie's..........


And finally to our yard. We had 2 small volunteer trees growing on our side of the fence that had to be cut, so they were lucky I was home to unlock the back gate for them. :)


I noticed so much "discussion" amongst the men.........it is a wonder they made it to our yard at all that day. ;)


As you can see, these photos were taken before we had our big snow storm. 24 hours before, to be exact. Tomorrow I will post some photos of "after". Quite a BIG difference.

"Julie's Vest...."

Here is a photo of the vest I sewed for my daughter in law, Julie. Thankfully, I had the "class vest" to look at while working on this one. Seeing what to do, plus reading the directions (which I must admit, still don't always make sense) made it much easier.


Having bought materials to also sew vests for the boys, I hope I will have time to complete them before Christmas, too. I have 1 knitted piece to finish, then I can think about sewing vests. :)

"My Finished Vest"

As you may remember, I added sewing to my fiber addiction, by buying a sewing machine about 6 weeks ago. I took a beginners sewing class, then signed up for a class on how to sew a fleece vest. This is the vest from that class. Numerous errors, but over all a sturdy, comfortable vest and a prototype to look at while following up with another. So.....with this experience somewhat "fresh", I decided to sew vests for my boys and daughter in law, buying materials for them before I had completely finished the 1st vest. I must admit that I was pleased with how much faster my daughter in laws was completed when I finally began hers. Having blocks of time and the prototype to look at while working on hers, made it much easier. I finished Julie's yesterday. Hopefully, tomorrow I will have a photo of it to post.


"Supposedly" Madison is to be getting quite a bit of snow within the next few days. I will have plenty of indoor time to work on my numerous "fiber addictions", eh? ;)

"Our Lazy Weekend Mornings......"

We do enjoy non-hectic mornings on weekends......not that any of MY mornings are really too hectic. ;) But weekend mornings seem especially enjoyable. AND, of course, Don gets photos of me looking like I just crawled out of bed, since I am always in my robe and hair tousled. :( I must say though, that Copper is way more energetic than usual.......NOT! LOL


This position doesn't even look comfortable!


Our "Chicken Ornaments", which our former neighbors (Maniphone, Jonathan, Simon, and Henry) who now live in North Dakota, gave to us.




Our mornings (and evenings) are made more enjoyable with being able to sit next to the lit decorated tree, too. I LOVE the holiday season!