We miss you Andrew

It is with tears in my eyes I write this.  But I also smile when I think of Andrew.  He was such a good sport in working with his father-in-law on one of his many projects.    Today would have been his 31st birthday.

We love you and miss you.

Two day project completed

My desk in my office faces a window.  So when ever I try to use the computer, the light is wrong.  It is wrong even for just working at the desk. I had been thinking of making a change and mentioned it to G as he was working at the other desk.  So we did it.  My part was to remove all the books from two bookshelves, so we could move the desk to where the bookshelves had been and move the bookshelves to another wall.  It was a mess for a day or two, but now I have a great office again.

 This is a dormer space which ended up being used as a storage space.  

 Desk with window facing South.  One of two bookshelves.

What floor looked like after books were removed from shelves.

 Bookshelves moved and organized.

Desk moved to where shelves had been.  Filing cabinets turned. 

View from window.

Snow rollers

A few days ago we experienced a rare phenomenon - snow rollers.  The conditions need to be very specific for them to occur.  The ground needs a coat of ice, followed by snow and wind.  It cannot be too cold.  The wind rolls the snow like you would when making a snowman.

The first picture is the yard between us and our neighbors.  The second is a closeup of the snow roller.

It is back to 0 degrees at night.  I have been taking my four mile walks in 10-15 degree weather.  It is not bad unless there is a wind.  

Snowy days

As I see this house on my walk, I an curious about it's history.  Who lived there?  Why is it now abandoned? It has been like this for the six years we have lived out here.  The only living thing I have seen is a healthy looking white cat.  I am sure it belongs to a neighbor.  If only walls could talk. 

In the first picture snow was falling.  This is how our place looked as I approached it.  I love hazy pictures like this. Since Ada is no longer here, having moved back with RM in Maryland, I have vowed to continue walking each day.  It is a challenge I will admit.

Dinner Party

I am tempted to not post on the blog if I don't have pictures. I was so busy that I don't think to take pictures. Last night I (we) hosted the FFF (Fabulous Friday Feast) at our house.  Three other couples are in the group and we meet once a month at different homes.  It was a busy day for me.  Since I do not have a cleaning lady like a couple of them do, I recruited G to do the vacuuming and wash the kitchen floor.  I spent the day cooking.  The menu was:  Cream of Broccoli soup, Chicken Marsala, Rice Pilaf, and Bourbon Carrots. Dessert was a chocolate cake roll.   The soup was a keeper.  After cooking the broccoli with a few other vegetables, I used the immersion blender. What a great invention.  A couple other skills I learned in preparing this meal were how to toast almonds with and without butter, and how to make almond praline. This was used in the filling of the cake. I had many different roles during the day:  Sous Chef, Chef, Hostess, and clean up lady.  I enjoyed the whole day and evening.  In the past I would have been more stressed out.  But not yesterday.  That feels great.

Decorating

Our house has three dormer windows in the front.  Two are in bedrooms, but one is on an area above our front door.  I have struggled to figure out what to put there.  If I were to put something back by the window, it could not be seen from the inside.  After I got this dried flower arrangement, a friend suggested that it looked "Tuscan" which called for a bicycle, which Gerry just happened to have collected. The vase was given to me by Stacey before she moved to CA.  

Walking at 10 degrees in Ohio

When Ada I took our walk this morning, we both were very happy.  She is sure that there are critters in every bunch of tall grass.  The snow and 10 degree temperature did not slow her down.

As we were walking, a young Amish man came by on the road with a horse on a cart.  It appeared that he was training the horse.  Whenever a horse comes past us, Ada has been trained to sit and wait for a treat.  At first she would bark and pull hard on the leash.  Now when she hears the clop, clop, she just sits and waits.  The horse was quite spooked by Ada, but with her sitting calmly it was not a big incident. I was very proud of her. 

I was able to get pictures of what I see when walking her.  There is no picture of me, but I did have on my warmest winter coat, scarf, and gloves (as well as long underwear).