Snow Fun

Here in our corner of the North West, 40,000 customers had power out for the last couple of days due to ice storms. At 2am Sunday morning, our dog started barking, so Dh went to check things out. The power lines along the main road were arcing and the power went out. He filled up all the big jars he could find with water before the pressure went down.

Sunday morning we woke up to the whole world glittering in ice. Every leaf, every branch, every blade of grass was covered with ice. An oak tree fell across the fence into the front yard around 8 am, which is what got me out of bed. Since there are several large oak trees outside our bedroom, I decided that it was not a safe place to be, lol.

Ron, nearly 6 feet tall, next to a fallen branch off one of the big oak trees.

We were without power for 31 hours. No heat, no water (electric pump on our well). We camped out, boys in the living room and girls in the telly room. We slept in our clothes and sweaters, in sleeping bags with blankets. I'm so glad we have a gas stove! Nothing like nice hot soup in the cold! It got down to 49* in the house. Not bad for no heat. The kids started teasing me that I couldn't make coffee in my electric coffee pot, but I showed THEM! I got out my percolator stuff for my granite ware coffee pot and made a nice big pot.

We could hear the trees and branches breaking and coming down all night and all day. We lost around 20 trees. The boys said they could hear branches breaking once every 10 seconds while they were outside. They were out with the chainsaw a couple of times to clear the driveway and the fence line. Ralph Jr. said he was out there and had cleared a tree off the fence, and then decided it would be fun to run up the driveway. A big limb off a 120 ft. poplar fell right behind him, where he had been standing.


The sheep are well prepared for cold weather with their woolen sweaters.


Amazingly, our sheep and calves are safe. They are pastured in the wooded side of our property. The kids played games all day and we went to bed early. It was fun making potato latkes for the first night of Hanukkah in the dark with candles, lol.

Here is Mae going for a long trail ride on her mustang pony.

We had a package of bottled water, and Dh drained the hot water heater for washing dishes. I guess it was enough of an excuse to not wash, because the kitchen just Went To Pot after one meal. We used up all the dishes and all the spoons. Then we broke into the paper goods. Probably should have done that, first. I wasn't feeling well and stayed out of the kitchen, which was another mistake.



Dh and I and the girls went into town, today. There is about a foot of snow. Hardly any roads are plowed. None of the store workers thought of shoveling the sidewalks. It's kind of amusing how just a foot of snow really confounds NorthWesterners.

Lessons: Get a snow shovel. Get a big water cooler with a spigot. Keep natural beeswax candles on hand, the paraffin candles gave me a doozy of a headache, even though they were unscented. Keep paper goods on hand. Kick the boys out of the kitchen during emergencies.

On The Home Front

I've been pondering the metaphor of a woman and her home.

My home is as much a part of me and who I am, as a car and a job is to a man. You know, the beefy farmer type who drives around in a monstrous pickup. The slick ladies' man in sales who drives a sports car. Or the retired guy in a red Camero. Or a green, inner city musician who drives a Zap. ;)

I never felt "at home" in our McMansion. It was too impressive. My furniture looked out of place, like it was putting on airs. I liked it, but it never felt like my house, you know?

This house suits me well. It has good bones. It has enough bedrooms. It has plenty of room for the kids and our animals. Well, 10 acres would be nice, and a barn, but we're making it work. It's over 30 years old, though, and a bit dated. It needs some new paint, and some maintenance. The pipes are rotting through and need to be replaced. The kitchen is very dark. So is the entryway. Chimney needs work. The carpet really must go. There's beige carpet in the dining room and pink carpet throughout the rest of the house. We bought some laminate wood flooring at Costco on sale, but need to install it. The windows all need to be replaced. We've gotten one almost finished. The sprinklers in the yard don't work, so I can't plant anything. Keeping the garden watered was very difficult this summer. It either didn't get watered or I'd forget to turn the water off. In my mind I see a bubbling pond with gold fish, and roses and yarrow and butterfly bushes, and lots of pansies. But my eyes see a murky pond still not edged in rock, and weeds.

It depresses me to go into the kitchen and think of all the things that could be done to cheer it up and make it a happy place. The cabinets are sturdy, but so dark. The floor has a big hole in it covered with a non-matching piece of vinyl that is stapled down. It's got pink paint drips on it, and cuts and stains that won't mop out.

I don't like being in there.

It's not "me". It's not "cheerful".

(Can you tell I'm visual?)

Last night, Hubby and I were discussing whether we should tear out the old cabinets and put new ones in, and move the sink over here, and move the ovens over there, or just repaint the cupboards and call it good. We decided it would be best to just paint. I went to bed with visions of fresh white cupboards with little glass knobs dancing in my head, with walls painted sulfur yellow, and blue-and-white curtains in the window. A built-in island painted sage green, with a round sink in it and a butcher block top.

I woke up, well, cheered (more so after a cup of coffee and some yogurt).

I felt so happy just knowing that we would give the kitchen the attention that it needed to be it's best. It doesn't have to be somebody else's best, just its own.

And I realized that I need a little coat of paint here and there. I need some maintenance. I even need some renovation, but mostly I just need maintenance.

I yearn for paint in my kitchen because it feeds my soul. My soul wants to beautify where I live. Anywhere. Not just This House, but Any house I live in. It wants it's surroundings to express who I am. Maintaining my house in turn maintains my soul.

If my house is a disorganized mess, I feel disorganized and messy. If the house feels dark and cold, I feel dark and cold. If my house is neglected, I feel neglected.

I'm not saying that my house is my God. It's just a vehicle for my soul like a car or a job is a vehicle for a man's soul. A man in a dead-end, unfulfilled job is very dissatisfied. I think it's the same with a woman, only with her house. Just like our body is the vehicle for our spirit. They all need to be taken care of.

For three years I've been cooking under low cabinets. Just before Thanksgiving, Hubby and the boys installed the vent hood. What A Difference! It felt much like pain meds for a broken bone. I felt physically relieved.

How much is Creation God's vehicle? How much are We? And what kind of fuel do we need for our vehicles from God that we can't get from houses or cars? Is it really houses and cars or is it work? (My job as a woman is my home...)