What a great relief from the cold. The chinook winds blew in rapidly melting the snow and bringing warmer temperatures. The ground is almost bare again. I love those winds. When I was a kid and the chinooks came in I would run across the pastures just to feel the freshness of the wind blowing against my skin and through my hair. Droplets of cold moisture mingled with the warming wind, moisture gleamed from the snow it passed over. Always promising a new life, yet to come.
The dogs were in last night. Early this morning about 5, something woke them. The next thing I heard was the crashing of the baby gate, which we used to pen them into the front hallway. Now the sound of the pitter-patter of paws moving quickly on carpet and THEN here they come straight into my bedroom, tails awagging. With their noses in my face they got the message to me "We're up!!!" So I grabbed my robe and headed to the deck door and out they went. It was nice out, so I locked the door and there they stayed.
When I awoke the little black kitten was gone..and only him. Since it was such a beautiful night last night I wonder if he had gone hunting with MaMa Cat and got lost along the way. We will see if he is here tomorrow morning.
Tonight I had lunch at Applebee's with Andy's Mom. The time went quickly as we enjoyed our meal and caught up on what we were doing in our lives. Then we hurried and scooted out of there before falling to the temptation of those "Little Shooter" desserts that looked so very good in their pictures.
Earlier at Mom's I saw my niece, who just had laser surgery on her eyes. I didn't recognize her without her glasses and then having gotten herself a new swept-back hair style, also! Perhaps I should do something about my appearance too. Well, I guess that is what New Year's is for.
Time is running out to complete stuff for Christmas...mailing deadlines are passing by and nothing is ready for Christmas up here. Busy time ahead. So glad Mom is putting together a cookie box for us.
Christmas what a wonderful family time. How easy it is to foget to take time out to wish our Lord Happy Birthday!! And, to thank our Heavenly Father for the sacrifice he made when He gave us His son to live and die for us. When we celebrate our birthdays, we don't think of when we were little babies, we see each other in the "now" and wish each other happy birthday and see the future, not the past. But this little baby was different...this one was a miracle that would save all those who are God's children. What "Happy Birthday" present will we give our awesome King of Kings and Lord of Lords?
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Winter continues
Well, Anita, maybe we can further our education and you be an electrician ($75/hr)and I, a plumber ($85/hr)! (or vice versa) The pay looks pretty good, even with the overhead and that is probably about 40-50%, plus taxes. Decent work, with good pay, and it is work that will always be there. Well, maybe we should have thought about it when we were much younger!!
Andy and Kat are now down. Andy decided against taking out the ceiling to insulate the water line. Since the basement is unfinished on either side of the family room, you can see all the way down into the area between the floors (where the lines are), from the unfinished rooms. He showed me where the hot water line was bowed and was lying against the cement wall. It just goes to show what an effect the wind has on the extreme cold the cement is going to conduct from the wind chill. Andy is going to try to insulate between the cement wall and the lines, from the unfinished rooms.
While out in the garage with Kathleen, Andy got the idea to use their camping mat (a piece of insulation to put under the sleeping bag) to insulate the wall. So they cut it to size and then taped the pieces together with masking tape until it was the length of the space where the lines ran. Using some extension sticks borrowed from his Dad, he tried to get the mat to go behind the lines and cover the cement wall. It is not going all the way down the wall--obstructions are keeping it from going through. In addition to the obstructions, the line is tight against the wall and it is difficult to push the mat. He tried using a number of different things to get it through. Nothing worked.
Today Andy went down again, this time he took Kathleen with him and with pulling and pushing they got it to finally fit flatly against the cement wall...a perfect fit.
Today was a good day in spite of it being so cold. We had a new blanket of snow last night and the land was all very pretty and white. A good day to bake. I had gotten some dates that were on sale yesterday even though I have never had a recipe for using them. Last night I went on-line and found a recipe for date bars. Today I made them and they were delicious. (mmmmm) Date bars and a glass of ice tea....a wonderful treat. Both Kathleen and Andy said they were good too. The recipe was found at: www.tablespoon.com/recipes/date-bars-recipe/1/ As we get closer to Christmas I will bake the mincemeat bars.
Tomorrow we need to create some Christmas cards. Eleven days until Christmas Eve! The time is starting to go quickly. Kat and Andy have been busily filling the space under the tree with many beautiful presents--they are going to be ready--it will be fun!
Victoria and Nick took Madison to her meet this weekend. Victoria told me about a wheel on her car "wiggling". She said a mechanic had looked at it and said it was her tires. I just had a problem with the pickup vibrating badly, even after I got new tires. It turned out to be some very bad u-joints. I pray the Lord will keep her safe. Perhaps it IS just a need for new tires, although that is dangerous enough!
I can't tell you how many times the Lord has brought me through danger on the roads. One time, I was driving from Shelby to Cut Bank, on a winter day a number of years ago. The highway looked clear, however, as I hit the shade, from the interstate passing over it, the road was solid black ice. Before I had a chance to realize it, the Scout did a complete 360 degree spin and then with a "thunk" the wheels hit dry pavement and continued on down the road. It happened so fast, there was no time to react. If the ice had been longer and my speed slower or faster, I would have wrecked or at least gone into the ditch.
There are miracles all around us, all the time. As I walked back from the roadway today, it seemed amazing that we can breathe air that is -9 degrees and not freeze our lungs -- whether we breathe through our nose or our mouth. What about the eyes...how is it that they have enough salt in them to keep from freezing and yet not enough to burn the eye. How could anyone believe such wonders happened by chance? Not just by chance, but billions and billions of chances that turned out perfect! Our God is good!
Andy and Kat are now down. Andy decided against taking out the ceiling to insulate the water line. Since the basement is unfinished on either side of the family room, you can see all the way down into the area between the floors (where the lines are), from the unfinished rooms. He showed me where the hot water line was bowed and was lying against the cement wall. It just goes to show what an effect the wind has on the extreme cold the cement is going to conduct from the wind chill. Andy is going to try to insulate between the cement wall and the lines, from the unfinished rooms.
While out in the garage with Kathleen, Andy got the idea to use their camping mat (a piece of insulation to put under the sleeping bag) to insulate the wall. So they cut it to size and then taped the pieces together with masking tape until it was the length of the space where the lines ran. Using some extension sticks borrowed from his Dad, he tried to get the mat to go behind the lines and cover the cement wall. It is not going all the way down the wall--obstructions are keeping it from going through. In addition to the obstructions, the line is tight against the wall and it is difficult to push the mat. He tried using a number of different things to get it through. Nothing worked.
Today Andy went down again, this time he took Kathleen with him and with pulling and pushing they got it to finally fit flatly against the cement wall...a perfect fit.
Today was a good day in spite of it being so cold. We had a new blanket of snow last night and the land was all very pretty and white. A good day to bake. I had gotten some dates that were on sale yesterday even though I have never had a recipe for using them. Last night I went on-line and found a recipe for date bars. Today I made them and they were delicious. (mmmmm) Date bars and a glass of ice tea....a wonderful treat. Both Kathleen and Andy said they were good too. The recipe was found at: www.tablespoon.com/recipes/date-bars-recipe/1/ As we get closer to Christmas I will bake the mincemeat bars.
Tomorrow we need to create some Christmas cards. Eleven days until Christmas Eve! The time is starting to go quickly. Kat and Andy have been busily filling the space under the tree with many beautiful presents--they are going to be ready--it will be fun!
Victoria and Nick took Madison to her meet this weekend. Victoria told me about a wheel on her car "wiggling". She said a mechanic had looked at it and said it was her tires. I just had a problem with the pickup vibrating badly, even after I got new tires. It turned out to be some very bad u-joints. I pray the Lord will keep her safe. Perhaps it IS just a need for new tires, although that is dangerous enough!
I can't tell you how many times the Lord has brought me through danger on the roads. One time, I was driving from Shelby to Cut Bank, on a winter day a number of years ago. The highway looked clear, however, as I hit the shade, from the interstate passing over it, the road was solid black ice. Before I had a chance to realize it, the Scout did a complete 360 degree spin and then with a "thunk" the wheels hit dry pavement and continued on down the road. It happened so fast, there was no time to react. If the ice had been longer and my speed slower or faster, I would have wrecked or at least gone into the ditch.
There are miracles all around us, all the time. As I walked back from the roadway today, it seemed amazing that we can breathe air that is -9 degrees and not freeze our lungs -- whether we breathe through our nose or our mouth. What about the eyes...how is it that they have enough salt in them to keep from freezing and yet not enough to burn the eye. How could anyone believe such wonders happened by chance? Not just by chance, but billions and billions of chances that turned out perfect! Our God is good!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
A good job to have!
The water line has frozen the last two nights on the kitchen and laundry room side of the house. I called a plumber YESTERDAY morning and they were totally booked up for the day, but gave me a reference to another. I called and they said $85 an hour from the time they leave the shop, minimum one hour. Well, it is one hour just to travel back and forth so we know there is two hours at least for a visit. Not wanting burst lines, I said ok, and they said it would be in about 3 hours. Now anyone looking to go into a high paying line of business might go to school for plumbing....it pays well!!!
Having seen Dad thaw pipes a number of times, I thought I would try it. I found the hand-held hair dryer and went downstairs. Checked the line to see where the feeze spot could be. So I started blow drying the line. It wasn't too long and we had cold water. The plumber now called about coming out, so I canceled the appointment. However, it took all day to get the hot water line unthawed.
Last night the temperatures were not nearly as cold as the night before, but still TODAY there was no hot water in the kitchen or laundry room. I used a heater downstairs and the blow dryer and no results. Now I am going to try blocking some of that wind coming in under the deck by putting a tarp along the front of it to stop that bitterly cold wind. The frozen spot apparently is right below the deck, which means Andy is going to have to tear out part of the ceiling in the family room to get to it. That will be for tomorrow...I hope the pipes are good through the night. (About an hour later, after putting up the tarp...the line thawed!!)
Will be glad when it is all done! Or, this could be a long winter. Tomorrow is 17 above! The dogs can be outside all day!!!
Having seen Dad thaw pipes a number of times, I thought I would try it. I found the hand-held hair dryer and went downstairs. Checked the line to see where the feeze spot could be. So I started blow drying the line. It wasn't too long and we had cold water. The plumber now called about coming out, so I canceled the appointment. However, it took all day to get the hot water line unthawed.
Last night the temperatures were not nearly as cold as the night before, but still TODAY there was no hot water in the kitchen or laundry room. I used a heater downstairs and the blow dryer and no results. Now I am going to try blocking some of that wind coming in under the deck by putting a tarp along the front of it to stop that bitterly cold wind. The frozen spot apparently is right below the deck, which means Andy is going to have to tear out part of the ceiling in the family room to get to it. That will be for tomorrow...I hope the pipes are good through the night. (About an hour later, after putting up the tarp...the line thawed!!)
Will be glad when it is all done! Or, this could be a long winter. Tomorrow is 17 above! The dogs can be outside all day!!!
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