Decking the Walls

I had this wall hanging done for a few weeks but I wanted to get it shipped to mom before I posted the photo - it might have spoiled the surprise.

The scene is of the North Pole, complete with Santa's house, the Toy Factory, the sleigh and a flying reindeer. The buildings and the trees come from a Piece 'O Cake pattern, the sleigh and reindeer are my own designs modified from images on the web and the Santa and elf buttons were found at JoAnn's Fabrics.

A Stoic Approach to the *%$#@& Cold

Some of us are handling the cold weather better than others. As you can see Boris has no problem sitting out in the cold (and being snowed on). For over a week now we have had temperatures about 20 degrees below average for this time of year. The snow is making it difficult to go out and rake up what is left of the leaves. On the plus side, I will be starting my holiday baking this week and spending more time next to a warm oven.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

A White Halloween?

Our second snow of the season has been much more impressive than the first (which melted the the same day). We actually had a full-blown snow storm this time around. It started as rain first thing Tuesday and by 7pm changed to snow. On Wednesday morning we had about an inch or two of slushy snow. The roads were messy and slippery. It continued to snow all day Wednesday. (But as you can see that didn't stop us from walking the dogs Wednesday afternoon). As of this morning the snow has stopped and I am guessing we have between 4 and 6 inches - its kind of hard to tell for sure since the wind drifted it around quite a bit.

On Tuesday (Damon's Birthday) we went out and he bought himself some new snow tires (along with everyone else - there was even a story on the news about how busy the tire places were that day). For his birthday I took him to lunch and bought him some storage cabinets for his brewing supplies.

We were actually pretty lucky, about 45 minutes west of us they got a foot of snow. The forecast is calling for temperatures in the 40s for Friday so we will see if it melts or if we will have a white Halloween.

First Snow of the Season!

Well mom and dad beat it out of town just in time. They were here last week, and this week we have snow.

In the photo it is a bit more difficult to see the yard, but more dramatic with the white snow in the dark - The photo was taken this morning around 6:45 am. The White flecks all over the picture is snow that is still coming down. The big bushy thing in the photo is our raspberry plants, next to the greenhouse - by the way the raspberries are just starting to ripen - we will have to see how the snow will affect the fruit. It is supposed to be even colder tonight, but no precipitation is expected.

Frost on the Pumpkin & on Everything Else

Well here it is Oct. 5th and we have not yet turned on the furnace. This is not to say it isn't cold out, its just that we are roughing it to save on heating oil. Odds are we will likely start the furnace tonight or tomorrow. The house has been at 58 degrees for about 24 hours now.

In the meantime, some tips for staying warm: 1.) Layers and lots of them - wearing a hat indoors can be the next high fashion idea. 2.) Microwave heating bags - nuke them for 2 minutes and get about 20 minutes of heat, even better if you have a blanket and can keep the warmth in. 3.) Bury yourself under a fresh load of laundry straight from the dryer. 4.) Bake - and then hang out in the kitchen all day to soak up residual warmth from the oven. 5.) Eating warm stuff - Damon made a pot of homemade chicken noodle soup this week, and we have all the fixings for chili for next week. and 6.) As much as we are in denial about it, exercising is actually a great way to keep warm, you just have to get up the courage to get out from under all those blankets to get up and get moving.

Harvest 2008

Well we are starting to see the crops come in - and about time too. The wet and cool summer didn't help the tomatoes but I am still managing to get both regular and cherry tomatoes every few days. Damon held off on harvesting the peppers and the hops until the threat of frost was upon us this week. As you can see from the photo we now have a whole tub of peppers. Damon will be trying to pickle them before heading back to Toledo for vacation. He has already frozen the hops.

Still in the works out in the garden are the raspberries which usually make their appearance at the end of September, and our 1 pumpkin is starting to turn orange.

Getting Comfortable

Well the new sofa and chair arrived yesterday. As soon as the delivery guys left I snapped this picture and then promptly covered it all up before letting the dogs out of the kitchen. The sofa is a color called 'green tea' and I believe the chair and the pillows on the sofa are 'ivy'. They even have that wonderful new furniture smell. Yes, we must savor this picture as we will never again see the new furniture again unsullied by dog fur and goobers. We officially have more bedding in the living room covering up furniture than we do up in the bedroom. The sofa and chair are a bit higher than the futon so Boris is unable to plop down on them. But Ivan has had no problems jumping up to try them out. Besides the dogs opinions of the furniture, Damon and I love it - very comfortable.