Sunday Drive and the Spa Dog

This weekend we needed a reason to get away from the farm and all our projects.

So Sunday we did a little driving around on a road we had never taken to see where it went.

That is one of our favorite pastimes.

Even if we get sort of "lost" it is fun to be on a road we haven't been on before.

Usually we take TomTom, but this time we went into the wild with no map.

We found places called Odd, Josephine, Coal City, Rhodell, Amigo, Corrine, and Black Eagle.

Somewhere out there we saw this wall.

Knick-Knack Wall

I made FabHub turn around so I could get a picture.

Then we found the Wyoming county border and knew where we were again.

So we went to Mullens, Alpoca, Bud, and Herndon Heights, 

which is where we went past a very familiar house.

Grandma Rotenberry's old log cabin

FabHub's grandparents moved into this house back in the 1950's. They had huge gardens, worked the fields with horses, milked cows, the whole works. Water came into the house with a pump from a cistern for a long time and then a well was hooked up. 

When I first went to Grandma's house (1992) there was no hot water in the kitchen. Only the shower and laundry had a water heater connected. Then the county ran a water line through in about 1993 or so. That got her off the well and her boys got the the hot water line fixed to the kitchen. 

The house was heated with coal and wood stoves until about 1994, which is when propane wall heaters were installed. The heaters were easier to use than the stoves, but there were so many holes in that house her annual propane bill was about $3000. 

Anyway, I bring all that up because we were honestly shocked to see that someone is living in that house.

That house had issues. Serious issues.

They put a metal roof on, but we will have to wonder about how the rest of the problems got solved.

Or if they did. The good news is, that house isn't on our project list anymore.

So, we drove down Jug Holler where it is so steep that FabHub and his Mom slide backwards one frozen winter day, only to be saved by the bumper finding a tree.

Then we headed home and appreciated everything we have even more.

In other news.

On Monday evening when we went to feed the goats Mom's dog Molly decided to have a spa.

She jumped out when we called her.

And I guess it is our fault for leaving the water out there for her.

But she really shouldn't do that right before we go in the house. 

She doesn't like being tied out while she dries off.

Not so smiley now is she?

She has been a good dog - since we fixed all the fence holes that she found for us.

She even showed us several times that the pipe under the driveway

is clear enough for her to travel from one field to another.

Now she makes her rounds to all the corners of the yard to make sure no new holes have appeared.

Then she hangs out in the front with the rest of the dogs.

Just waiting for cookies or a chance to go in the house.

The Real Meaning of MPH

FabHub wanted to share this in math class.

I hope his kids are quicker than this!

Uncle Tommy Bought a House

When Uncle Tommy and Aunt Joyce decided to move to town 

they bought a house in a nice neighborhood.

The only problem was a group of five cruddy trees 

that were between their new house and the neighbor.

The neighbor said he didn't like them either, so cut them down.

FabHub and his brothers are pretty efficient when it comes to getting rid of trees.

They started cutting at about 1030 in the morning. 

This was on the same day we had our first snow.

At our house we had white butted frogs at 730am.

Luckily at Uncle Tommy's it was just wet.

The first four trees, two crab apples and two maples, 

are already cut out in this pic leaving just the biggest problem maple for last.

Nope, the neighbor didn't move the swing set before we got there - and 

it didn't get hit by falling limbs either.

One reason is because of BIL #2.

He makes a pretty good tree monkey.

The power lines didn't have anything to worry about.

BIL #2 works with them every day in his real job, 

which keeps him healthy and limber enough to do these tree jobs.

The rest of the crew had a full day of cleaning up the mess.

That trailer and a truck load of firewood had already been hauled back to the farm.

There were three more truck loads and a full trailer of brush to finish the day.

By about 3pm lunch had been eaten and they were at this point.

One ugly tree coming down.

By 5pm they were here.

Ready to head home again.

Like I said, they are quick.

Trees down and loaded, brush cleaned up, and ready to go.

Priceless.

And no, they can't be hired.

The work is only done to help family and feed our wood stoves.

Getting paid would make it a job and take all the fun out of it!

Deacon Dave

So finally I made it back online. Things have been busy outside around here lately. There is a wood shed being built, luckily we are all good people who won't need to be taken out there for a whippin'.

Speaking of good people.

This is my brother Dave.

He was ordained as a Deacon in his Missouri church while we were there.

He has pretty much been a good guy ever since I quit being mean to him when we were kids.

Seems he turned out okay. (Smiley Face)

This is the man who mentored him for the last year or so.

Everyone we met there was really nice. 

We are glad he is happy and enjoying the chance to share his beliefs.

This is Dave and Mom.

We all wish even more happiness for Dave.

He deserves it.

Quick Pics

I have lots of stuff to post about our trip to Missouri and Iowa, but I had to start with some of my favorites.

I had so much fun playing with Garrett on this trip.

He doesn't stand still for pictures very well though.

Here is Garrett and Dad on the Elmo couch.

Yes, if you look closely he has a black eye, both of them actually, and a bump on his head. 

Garrett is 100% boy all day every day.

They are looking at a picture of Baby Reece. 

Here is Reece Allen and his Mom in the hospital.

He took the hard way into the world so he is spending his whole first week with the awesome care of the nurses. He is doing fine. She is too.

Here is Big Brother Garrett again. He is very independent. Can you tell?

By the way, the eyes are better now.

It was a wonderful trip.

I will post some other scenes from our travels later.

Illinois and Missouri Travels

 Mom and I headed to Missouri to see David ordained as a Deacon in his church and to Iowa to meet the newest Cutest Nephew in the World. Right now the original CNW is helping me with the blog. He likes the pictures of the horses and Nana. So will see how long this lasts. Okay all the pictures are loaded and he is bored so off he went.

 On Friday we were driving down the road in Illinois and saw something sticking out the side of this horse trailer. My "drive-by-shooting" companion needed some prodding, but we got organized in time to catch these pictures.

 Then we pulled along side and saw who it was.

 I call him Breezy, he is just enjoying the ride.

In Mount Vernon we took a drive down Potomac Blvd. 

This is a replica of the Washington Monument.

The lightpole and I give you some perspective to size.

Further down the street was a challenge to getting back on the interstate.

It is a sculpture. We didn't get lost.

On Saturday Dave planned for us to go to the WWI memorial.

 This is the Liberty Memorial.

The museum is underneath it.

Dave and Mom took a nice picture on the roof of the museum.

Dave and I took a ride up to the top. 

The first picture I showed here was taken from near those cars in the middle. 

The elevator operator told me to get this picture.

It shows the poppy field they have under the glass walkway with the Liberty tower reflected in the glass.

Good picture advise!

After the memorial we went to lunch. 

I asked for a local place and Dave suggested Grinders.

This place was part of a Diners, Dives, and Drive Ins episode.

This is my lunch.

The philly cheese steak and tater tots.

Pretty good to me.

They have some arty tables in the Grinder.

This was ours.

 On Sunday we were going to Dave's church for the ceremony.

Mom took a break while we waited.

More to come.

Have to go see the new baby -

And No I am not telling you the details. Not until they do.

But I am a very proud Aunt Sandy.

Morning Traffic Jam

I think I might know who has been eating my carrot tops.

They have babies somewhere, but the babies can't jump the woven wire fence.

So the does graze the driveway and take a break.

Wish they could mow that a little better and leave my garden alone.

Christmas Party 2010 + Snowy with a chance of Cloudy = Normal

Just in case you missed it.
The ManTech Christmas party started just like other years.
Snowy with expectations of more snow.

This was an accident we had to wait for along the way to Glade Springs.






The party was fun. Not too much craziness.

Then in the morning the snowmen were wearing extra hats and coats.
The roads were pretty clear all the way home.

Let's do it again next year!

This Week in Driving

So I was driving to work at about 6:30 on Tuesday morning and just as I got to the tree line past Pipestem SP there in the road appeared a whole procession of deer. They were just so calm walking along thinking about whatever it is deer think about when they cross open space like that.

I was not so calm at that moment.

I slowed down and was about to stop way to quickly when the does kept walking and the bucks stopped moving. They left just enough space for me to slide between them so I did - all the time hoping they didn't decide to run into the side of me.

Then I went to the office and drew the picture on the board so I could get it out of my head and share it with you. 

Here's wishing safe driving experiences on all of you.

Progressive Christmas Craft

The Holidays in my office aren't really decorated too much - last year I put clings on some windows in our cube space and brought in a poinsetta that I didn't really want to keep at the house.
That flower is doing pretty well, it even got some red leaves again this year. I didn't do any of the "proper" poinsetta preparations to make sure that it turned, but there must be the right mix of darkness and atmosphere in the office to make it happen a little bit naturally.

I also did a progressive holiday scene drawing on the white board last year, but didn't think about taking pictures until I was halfway through the season. This year I remembered to take the pictures, so let's see if the story makes sense to you.

I hope you enjoyed this story and had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

PS.

I really do have things to keep me busy at work, I just like to draw stories too. All of the pictures lasted at least a half day, most of them a full day or more.

Christmas and stuff

It has been a while since I was here and I figured I ought to add an update.
We haven't really been up to much. Winter is here with a freezing attitude most days.
We had visitors for Thanksgiving. My mom and brother were here for a few days. Gas prices were pretty good for that type of travel, but we still hadn't recovered too well from some recent expenses. So we didn't do much of anything, which made from a nice quiet visit. I made ham, turkey breast, corn pudding, green bean casserole, potatoes, rolls, pies... we ate well.
We went shopping on Black Friday, but not until about 9 o'clock. First we went out to breakfast, then over to Lowes where we found Mom a microwave stove hood that she has been wanting and Billy found a sale on an 18 volt drill that he has been wanting. Both were accidental finds. I guess if we had read a sale paper we might have been crazy enough to go out earlier, funny that the stuff was still there anyway.
Heard a funny story while we were at Lowes. Seems that when they opened the doors at 5am to let the early shoppers in, two guys had a plan. They ran to the display of tools right behind the registers and grabbed a couple of items and then headed out the exit door. We figure they thought they could get in and out before anyone was able to respond. The plan would have worked too since most of the staff was deeper in the store and the cashiers were still in their morning meeting. The plan failed because, wait for it... the exit doors hadn't been unlocked yet. The would be robbers ended up looking at the automatic doors wondering why they wouldn't move while the security guards walked up and collected the merchandise. LOLfunny
Wal-Mart was next, but mostly for some groceries. I think we might have picked up a couple of sale items, but still not on purpose.
After that we went home so Billy could feed the cows. You should have seen us packed in the back seat of the car! See, the stove hood didn't fit in the trunk. So the front seats were slid forward and two of us squished into the corners of the back seat. Glad we hadn't gone to shop somewhere further from home!
That afternoon we headed back out to the mall and checked out some sales there. I found a new Stephen King book and Mom found some clothes. Then we went to see the movie Australia. It was a really great movie.
The only other thing we did was to pull out the sewing machine that Mom bought me a few years ago, yes, years. I just never had a project in mind to use it. Then Bill decides we could make him a bag that he can use for a classroom project. So Mom helped me set the machine up and we made a bag. Really nice rectangle of material with a drawstring even! The project turns out to be a grab bag for Bill's advisory group at school. We picked up a bunch of dollar store stuff and he wrapped them for the kids. They should have fun with that.
Cyber Monday was a pretty good shopping day. I found us a present and a few more for others.
Last week we processed a hog into the freezer and jars. We used the vacuum sealer instead of freezer wrapping paper this year. It was pretty easy and should keep the meat fresh longer.
This weekend was my company Christmas party. We had a lot of fun this year. Lots of people showed up for food, drink, and music. We got a bunch of people out onto the dance floor and did some goofy things. It was a blast.
So that is the last month or so at our house.
Oh yeah and I have been designing more T-shirts at Cafe Press. Bill wanted some seasonal shirts to wear on Fridays so I made him some. Check out the links on the right. My store's name is SCreations.

Busy Weekend

We had a very busy weekend. Bill's actually started Thursday night when he tutored the kids in their Math Field Day lessons. Then Friday night he chaperoned a dance for the middle school. Saturday morning was Graduation Day at Concord.

Bill's sister has completed her Masters in Education. That is her walking across the stage to get hooded during the ceremony. She worked really hard for this degree. 10 years ago when she graduated with her Bachelors she said she was not interested in ever becoming a Principal, but now she is headed that way. Dean of Students to start with anyway. Of course Bill says the same thing now.

I have been baking and decorating again. Back before Thanksgiving, the teachers were having a lunch and Bill volunteered to bring cookies. Knowing that he doesn't bake at all it turned into me being volunteered to make him some cookies. I had fun with it when I found a Pillsbury recipe in the Sunday coupon section of the paper.

This is their website picture since I forgot to take one, but my cookies looked a lot like these. I used the refrigerated dough to make sugar cookies and then used frosting to "glue" the candy corn as feathers and mini M&Ms for eyes. I also got some frosting in a squeeze tube to do the feet and beak. I actually got Bill to help some. I put all the frosting on and he followed behind putting on the candy. I thought they turned out pretty cute.

Now that it is Christmas time I volunteered to make some Santa Cookies.

Look at all the Ho Hos!

This time I got my picture. I made the cookies Saturday after graduation and then Sunday I decorated them.

I bought two cans of fluffy white frosting and added color to one to make it red.

I "buttered" on the white beard and hat trim and then the red hat, added a mini marshmallow for the ball on the hat, and "glued" on the mini M&Ms for the eyes and nose.

In between the rounds with the cookies we went to my company Christmas party. It was held at Glade Springs Resort by Beckley. We had a great time. There was good food and company along with an open bar and bad weather expected over night, so rather than one of us being the driver when it might be icy out, we decided to stay overnight.

That was almost worth the money. The room was nice, but way overpriced, not like there is actually any walk in business, it is a gated community. The breakfast brunch was horrible and even more overpriced. I have had better food on continental bars at express hotels! We should have known when none of the resort residents bother to come for the food. It seems like the resort is missing a HUGE opportunity there they are wasting a lot of bad food when they could be selling a lot of good food. I might have to tell them about it.

When we got home from Beckley it was cold, but the ground was clear. By 430 this afternoon it looked like this outside. Bill went out to feed the cows under several layers of clothing. Jake goes with him, but if you notice he is nowhere in this picture. That is because as soon as Bill opened the truck door Jake zoomed over to the basement door to get let back into the house.

Then finally tonight we went to dinner with the in-laws. That is always an experience.

It has been a long weekend. I didn't even get my six mile run in, again.