Last post of 2025

 

Happy New Year, everyone.

 

Happy New Year

 The wind was pretty awful yesterday, whipping the fine snow so wildly that it was like a fog. Some places had zero visibility. Multicar pile ups. A tree came down across our lease road. 

We stayed home. We had no reason to go out. 

Amazingly, we did not lose power. We were snug inside. Tim wandered out to work on his tractor a few times because he can't sit still. I cleaned house, did laundry, talked to my youngest on the phone. 

Last night, something unexpected happened. We lost gas. That was a surprise because that has not happened since we put the new regulator on and so Tim really fretted about that. We do not have the back up woodstove in yet. It was 70° in the house, and there really wasn't anything we could do about it. The regulator is supposed to start itself. It was about 10, so we just went to bed. 

Tim woke up at 3ish, and came out. The gas had reset itself just as it was supposed to. He went down and turned the stove and the water tank back on. The house had dropped 8 degrees, but 62 is a livable temperature. By the time we got up, we had our cozy warm house and plenty of hot water.

I woke up to the very strangest sight. I had a jar of canned beans that had lost its seal, so they were poured out for the crows. I watched a bald eagle circle lower and lower, finally landing and having a snack with the murder of crows. 

Today was breezy and snowy but not horrible. We took my sister and her husband out for lunch for their birthdays. 

My sister messaged me that she wanted to drive separately so that she could go to the Goodwill, and would we mind bringing her husband back home with us.

"I want to go to the Goodwill!" I said. She cautioned me that she was going to be in there a while. I am not sure why she thought this was a bad thing. So today we shopped 'til we dropped. 

I found a ceramic coated cast iron Dutch oven for $14.99. I was more than a little excited about that. I found a very cool paper weight that I knew someone would love, and it will be put away for next Christmas. I got a music box from the Thomas Kinkade collection. It is not to my tastes, but I knew where it needed to go. Two very fancy dresses for the grands, both of them 50% off. They love 'fancy' and when you can give the gift of 'fancy' for $3.50 each, well...a grandma's got to do what a grandma's got to do. I bought myself a nice gray pullover, a sweatshirt, a tee shirt, a pair of jeans and a glittery scarf for my night sky project. A fancy bayberry hand soap and hand lotion from a big box store that we don't even have here in podunk Pennsylvania. New in box with the antitheft sticker on it. I also found a picture that tickled me: "I smile because you're my sister. I laugh because there is nothing you can do about it." That went home with my sister. 

Walked out of there feeling as if every single penny of that $75 had been well spent. Every single minute well spent. 

Tomorrow the weather is going to turn bad again. Anywhere from 6-10 inches. We have some errands that have to be done. We will need to get an early start, and get ourselves home before the storm hits. 

Happy New Year, everyone. It will be spent close to home here.

Not again.....

Our ice storm was bad, but not catastrophic. We did not lose power, although it flickered enough to make it seem likely. 

The following morning, the sleet had stopped, but it was quite icy. The main roads were clear, salted and gritted. We had to go into town. One of the rentals had a kitchen faucet problem.

We also were due at Tim's daughter's to celebrate with his kids and the grandsons and we were worried about being late, but luckily, the repair was small and required just one trip to Lowe's. Nobody fell on the ice, which almost seemed worse in town. We got where we needed to be at the time we were supposed to be there. His son was late. His truck was iced over. 

It was a nice afternoon. The visiting was easy. The meal was nice. Everyone seemed to enjoy their gifts. But we didn't dare to stay long. The temperature was starting to drop once again. 

We did one last quick stop and took advantage of the post Christmas sales. I bought a half dozen rolls of wrapping. I bought 3 boxes of Christmss cards for next year. I bought replacement gift boxes, 25 of them, for the ones that invariably wind up going out the door or getting damaged during the great unwrap. I picked up the mega pack of scotch tape. I spent about $40, but I was picking up about half of that wrap for my sister. What did not occur to me is that she is retired now and was able to do her own post Christmas shopping. I have just bought myself nearly 700 feet of wrapping paper. I told Tim that I probably will not need to buy wrapping paper for 2 or 3 years.

We got home safely and skated the things into the house. It was 31 degrees, but overnight, the temps were supposed to rise. It was supposed to begin raining, 3 inches during the day, the temperatures reaching a startling 55 degrees. 

So far they've been right. The rain has been torrential. Tim's church was canceled due to the ice under all that standing water. 

I am about to head for bed. While we are sleeping. the wind is supposed to pick up considerably, with 65 mph gusts. The winds will last through untul Tuesday night. Coming with that is a 15° temperature drop and a for day snow event event is predicted on top of everything else.

I am grateful for our snug little house and the fact that the regulator Tim installed on the gas seems to have done the trick. We haven't lost heat for nearly 2 weeks. (Andrew, our heating stove works like a radiator. The gas warms ceramic plates which hold the heat and radiate it. It has a thermostat so that the temperature can be adjusted. Once the ambient air reaches the desired temperature, the flames that heats the plates switch off. The pilot will automatically telight them when the house cools down. No electricity is needed, so even if the power goes out, the house stays warm. The stove is in the basement, so the heat radiates through the floor and up the basement stairwell.)

Now, we are just settled in to see what mother nature serves up. It looks like another baddy. I am grateful that our freezer and pantry are well stocked and that we have no place we need to be.

 

Ready

 It has been quite a day. Freezing rain, on and off all day, at times pretty heavy. We noticed that the huge white pine's branches were hanging low with the weight of the ice. Inevitably a large branch snapped off and is laying across an out building, 

I spent the day wrapping for the last Christmas celebration tomorrow. I packed away the extra wrapping paper, boxes, gift bags and tissue paper for next year. I sat down and polished the silver.

The power did not go off during the day. The soup was good and filling. Poor Tim was bored out of his mind.

The long day has finally ended. This is when the power began flickering. I got out my collection of jarred candles out and lit them to be prepared. The power hasn't blinked since.

Merry Christmas.

 It was a nice Christmas. Quiet. Tim and I had the morning to ourselves. We opened our gifts to each other and the gifts from our son and daughter in law. 

My oldest granddaughter was a great secret agent. She got the wrapped gifts from their hiding place in the guest room downstairs and under their tree with no reminders needed. 

It was a good Christmas morning. We spoke briefly but the girls were far too wound up to talk long. 

My daughter and son in law came with William. They brought a beautiful greenery arrangement and gifts, and opened their gifts from us. William was pleased. He had mentioned something he really wanted, probably back in mid-October. He doesn't appear to have given it a second thought. He was a happy kiddo when he opened it.

Our daughter across the pond gave us a five day vacation to Niagara Falls on the Canadian side. She swears she had travel points and coupons. I hope so. It was an extravagant gift. Tim and I haven't taken a real vacation in years. We are talking about perhaps adding a week to the trip and touring the upper peninsula of Michigan.  So that was a happy conversation.

We had our quiet ham supper. 

Tomorrow they are calling for a catastrophic ice storm predicted to last 17 hours. Tim had pretty big plans for the day, but I think I convinced him that we need to stay close to home. Downed trees and widespread power outages on top of the dangerous roads. 

I chopped up some ham and made a small pot of bean soup in the crock pot. It the power does go out, we have plenty of candles for light. The heat is gas, and we haven't had any problem with that since Tim replaced the regulator. I think the best place to weather this storm is right from our own warm house. If we lose power, I can just take the crock of soup and sit it on top of the heating stove in the basement.

I hope everyone had a good Christmas at your house. It was a memorable one here.

People

 People are funny animals, aren't they?

We have got an uncomfortable situation going on in one of  our buildings. 

We became aware of it when the guy made a very pointed remark about another tenant. 

Startled me a bit. I said, 'is there a problem?'

He snapped, 'I ain't saying anything. I need a place to live.'

I was shocked. I said, 'We have no reason to evict you. You have been a good tenant, but she has too.'

He snapped in a disgusted voice, 'I see that he couldn't even be honest about who he was...'

Ah. That is the problem, I thought to myself. It surprised me. I met him at his nephew's wedding. His nephew is gay. 

I leaned my arms on the side of his truck and said it plainly, "listen, we are aware that she is transgendered. I saw no need to check what is in her pants. Didn't look in yours, either."

He laughed disgustedly and shook his head.

About the same time, the other tenant came down. 

I thought the situation had been made clear, but it has not. It may have even escalated a little bit. During the last snowstorm, she offered to help shovel. That set him off.

The thing is, he has a temper. We know this. But they live in the same building, and we can't have him terrorizing another tenant either. 

I made a point of talking to his brother. I said, 'I am just going to ask the question. Is your brother dangerous?"

The answer was careful. "Why?"

I gave the briefest of answers, but almost immediately, he figured it out. His brother had vented evidently.

He said that his brother did have a temper, but did not feel it would cross over to violence. He suggested that our tenant just avoid making eye contact. Mind her own business. Don't try to speak to him.

I said, 'That is fair enough. Our advice will be the same to him as well." 

His brother agreed but hesitated. "It is the history, mostly."

"Your brother alluded to that. I know you all grew up together..."

He said, "yeah..." and related a prank that had gone awry with tragic consequences. From the thumbnail sketch, it happened in junior high school. 12 or 13 years old.

I said, "you know, I kind of think that she has paid a heavy price for this. It sounds like she has had a lot of counseling. She has always been good and helpful to us

 I think of all the dumb things I did as a kid that could have had consequences just as devastating.

He agreed. 

Strange isn't it? A fifty-something year old man feels justified to mete out punishment 45 years later for something that was not considered criminal.

Hopefully he will settle down, but he called this morning. One of his complaints was about the Christmas cards we left for each of our tenants. We had a gift card in each one. He would rather we just apply the money to his rent from now on. 

Sometimes, people just say 'thanks' when they get a gift. 

People story number 2:

Tim goes to a new church now that we have moved. He is comfortable there. His father preached there years back.. One of the elders recognized the name. "You are practically royalty!' Made Tim laugh. But I think it makes him feel the church is familiar and comfortable. He is a shy person, quiet by nature.

He brought home a few Christmas cards he had been given. "Could you make out some cards for me?" 

As I was doing it, one of the names caught my eye immediately. I made a little noise and he looked at me. "What?"

The man had graduated from high school with my parents. 2 months later, he was best man at their wedding. It was a surprise to see the name pop up all over again. 

I made out the card. "Invite him and his wife to dinner sometime.."

So Sunday, he went back to church with his handful of cards. As he was talking to the old gentleman and his wife, another woman was surprised to learn that Tim had a wife, and had a few questions about why I did not attend. 

It would have been interesting to hear how Tim answered the questions. Like I said, he is pretty quiet and not given to lengthy explanations.

The woman said, "well, just tell her you've got a girlfriend at church! That will get her here."

Tim said, "No. She is not like that."

I am not like that either, mostly because he isn't like that. We laughed when he told me about it. "Quite a church you have found there, Mister. Married men going there to find girlfriends..." 

People are strange.

The Celebration

 Last night was our Christmas with Levi and Mattie. To that end, I spent the day making food. The sloppy joes took 4 pounds of ground meat. 

Apache Doug asked for the recipe. I quadrupled my regular recipe, but here is what I use for Tim and me.

1 lb ground beef (you can use mix ground turkey and beef if you are cutting costs).

1/2 cup diced onion

1/2 cup chopped pepper

3 cloves of garlic 

1 cup ketchup

1 tbls brown sugar

1 tsp yellow mustard 

Brown the meat, drain grease. Sautee the onion, garlic, and peppers. Add the meat, mix. Add the ketchup  mustard and brown sugar and let it simmer (I dump it in a crock pot and let it simmer for an afternoon.) Salt and pepper to taste. 

Let me know what you think, Doug.

I made a loaf of Bovey Belle's date bread to take, finally finishing off a two pound box of dates that has been troubling me. 

I also made an ice cream cake. 

As I worked inside, the wind picked up outside and it was snowing hard. After a day of rain, it made the roads pretty slushy. As the temperatures continued to drop, things began to freeze. The winds got quite strong. 

It was quite a job getting the car loaded in the wind. It was icy and slippery. Once we set off, we had a bit of an issue with the wind. Roads were drifting and there were whiteouts. It took us 20 minutes longer than usual before we were pulling into their drive way.

The kids were beginning to believe we were not coming. I knew they would be worried. Reuben had run down to the neighbor's house to use their phone to call. Unfortunately, I had walked out of the house without my phone, which made them even more worried.

Levi said "The weather is bad..."

I said, "We would hate to disappoint these kids."

Once inside, dinner was served up very quickly. Mattie had made potatoes with sausage, and had set out some of their 'traveler's sausage' to try. (It was very good). 

We did not gather around the big table like usual. It was cold, and so we filled our plates and we all ate in the toasty livingroom around the brand new woodstove. 

There was hunting news to share. The three oldest boys had all taken nice bucks. Levi got a big doe. Tales were swapped on that topic. It had gotten so cold that the ice was thick enough to cut and fill their ice house before Christmas. Not unheard of, but an uncommon thing all the same. 

The kids ate very quickly and sat staring at the presents. The adults were still eating. I suggested that they look through the tote of books while they waited. I love how excited they get about books. The boys were pleased with the Patrick McManus books. They do love a laugh. They had never heard of the Island of the Blue Dolphins, and were amazed to hear that it was based on an actual event. Mattie said "I want to read that, myself!" Levi asked a question I thought was quite interesting: "after 18 years, did she even remember how to talk?" I had to admit that it had been 55 years since I read the book. So I did not know. The topic of books went on for a while. Little David stood in the middle of the floor 'reading' a book to himself. He got quite excited when he found a book about bears. 

Eventually presents were opened. It was a lively event as always. They loved 'Uncle Wiggily'. I told them that I had played it as a child more than sixty years ago, and that the game had originally been my mother's. Levi remembered playing it from his own childhood. There was a wagon full of blocks and they played and played with the tin carousel. The doll house was a hit. So was Noah's ark. Popping Pirate. Puzzles. Reuben worked the hanayama metal puzzle determinedly. I finally took pity on him and showed him the solution video. Someone in the house needed to know how to do it.

 That set them off. They have lots of tricks. An outhouse that explodes. Wooden puzzles which defy solution. Druscilla took great delight in using her hands to hide what she was doing when she solved one of them.

It was a fun night. Rudy fell asleep with a book in his hand. Lissy fell asleep by her father's chair. It was clearly time to go. 

We made our way back down the hill, quiet and happy. It really is just the nicest way to celebrate Christmas.

...and so this is Christmas

We have set it up. Our Amish Christmas will be Friday night. I will make sloppy joes and take buns. Mattie will make the 'sides'. 

I collect things for this all year long. The tote is filled with books. I have never seen people so pleased with a box of books. So every time, I see a book that I think they'd enjoy, I pick it up and toss it in the tote. Since there are all ages, the books vary widely from children to adult. 

Practically everything is thrifted. I don't feel bad about that...it is how they do it, so I do the same. The doll house was a dollar. It comes with furniture and two little dolls. The Noah's ark was a happy find. They love wooden toys. I have a brain teaser game in there. Games. puzzles, a tin carousel, play dough... To be honest, because I wrap them a few at a time, I don't remember what some of the things are. That's part of the excitement for me. 

(There are some advantages to having a brain like mine.)

As I collect these things, they get put away. If DJT has been particularly outrageous, I retreat to the bedroom and wrap a couple Christmas gifts (cue Julie Andrews) "...and then I don't feeeeeeeel so baaaaaaaaaaaad..." 

I have gifts stacked by family. One pile of gifts went out the door to my son and daughter-in-law's house. They are stashed away in the dresser in the guest room. My oldest granddaughter knows they are there and has been assigned a 'secret mission' to sneak everything under the tree on Christmas eve after her sister goes to bed. She loves being a spy, and is surprisingly good at it. Her parents know about the secret mission and will helpfully be otherwise occupied, I am sure.

Friday night, another pile of gifts will go  the pile of gifts pictured. Little by little, we are getting the guest room back. 

It will be another fun night. This is probably our 4th or 5th year celebrating with our friends. I need to go back in the blog and see. It is a beloved tradition for us. I hope it is for them, as well.

After our snow 'event', the temperature is 42. Tomorrow we will be in the fifties. Snow and rain mix through 'til Christmas, temperatures in the thirties. We woke last night to the sound of snow sliding off the roof. The wind was picking up. 

Tim laughed in the darkness. "Spring is here!"

I answered back from my side of the bed. "Winter may have been short, but it was a tough one. I am glad to see it go."

New day

Big news of the day: Red has posted from Hiawatha House. It made me glad to see his post.

Other big news of the day. Our snow event was supposed to end this morning. 

(Samuel L. Jackson voiceover) "But the snow event did not end this morning...)

We have 18 inches of snow on the ground, The tractor is stuck. Tim and I got our aerobic workout, for sure. We shoveled our three hundred foot driveway. Tim dug out the mailbox. 

Yesterday was a day of aggravation. Tim went to church. I was bustling around getting the house straight. We had Ray coming for lunch. Nothing fancy. It has been a busy stretch of days. 

When I went to use the stove, the burner did not light. Stupid gas was out. It had gone out twice the previous day. Tim suspected a faulty regulator and had bought a new one, but hadn't gotten it installed. He had a funeral. So dinner was a little late but that was okay.

Today the gas was off when we woke up. Tim did his magic. And then we went out to shovel. When we came back in, the gas was off. He turned it back on. He ran to Titusville to return a tool he had a $450 deposit on. While he was gone the gas went out again. Ready or not, today was the day to install the new regulator. Which required more shoveling.

I'd rearrange furniture but I am too tired.

Happier yet.

 I tried to take a video, but I can't upload it. I am tired. There are so great ones out there, so I am sure I figure a way to get it done at some point. Tonight is just not going to be that night. 

Cutting to the chase, we had 133 families come to shop for 395 kids. It was beautiful.

Has anyone heard from Red at Hiawatha House? He hasn't posted in 3 weeks.

Happy

there were 4 rows of tables. Everything was completely covered. There are toys underneath the tables. Probably 500 stuffed animals. 70 or 80 dolls

Books. DVDs. Puzzles. Stocking staffers. Just anything you could imagine. What was truly amazing was that probably 20% of this stuff was brand new. There are things for boys and girls of all ages.

There was a wonderful video, but I don't know own how to post in from facebook. It shows those amazing dolls and stuffed animals.

Our community did itself proud. So proud. 

A mess tonight.

Today. 

Yet another snow event.it seems like no where is escaping it.

When I stopped at the Mennonite store on my way homeand was pleased at their cheese collection. I picked up over 7 pounds of cheese, different varieties, enough to last us for the winter. Foreign cheese as well. One caught my eye.

I took a moment to remember Weaver. I miss her 'voice' in blogland telling the stories of her days. 

 

Does gz have superpowers? Seems like it sometimes. She is everywhere. She does everything.

I am kind of a mess tonight. Tomorrow is donation day for the toy giveaway. I am excited and nervous all mixed together. It seems positive, but tomorrow we will know for sure. 

The snow is not making me feel better. I just want things to go well.

Catching Up

 It has been a long busy time. This is the week of the toy giveaway. From all signs, it will be a great thing. Someone sent me 3 sleds. People are volunteering. We made front page of the paper. That attracted even more attention. Two people are donating entire doll collections. A woman who owned a book store is donating 3 totes of brand new childrens' books. Bus drivers are collecting. Churches. It seems impossible that it is coming together so perfectly, but it is. 

I screwed up. A woman stepped up and offered to make an eye-catching poster. She did, and it was a fine poster. With a typo that became a Very. Big. Deal. 

She overstepped. She did not want to be a team player. She portrayed this as a 'her and I' project. It isn't. This is the work of so many different hands. By the time I realized what was happening, there were really upset people. A very low blow had been taken on Facebook. The post was removed, but it was a slap.

So, for a time I was standing in the middle of two angry camps. I felt pretty badly. In the end, the woman who overstepped stepped away, angrily raging that she was done. I tried talking it through with everyone. Both sides like me just fine, but they refuse to work with each other. 

A more experienced person would have seen what was happening before all the mad. I learned a valuable lesson.

I went to my son's family for four days. The Nutcracker was so sweet. I loved it. The girls were so proud of their hard work, and rightly so.

The next day was the Christmas pageant. The oldest was Mary. The youngest was part of the angelic host, but she opted out at the last minute. She'd had enough of the big stage. 

One moment that stands out: I got my son and daughter out of the house for a date. They've been going full steam for weeks now, plus they are getting over a two week bout of virus. Total burn out. 

So the girls and I were having a cozy evening at home. Square in the middle of The Santa Clause, the youngest began screaming. It scared the wits out of me. She had her face buried in the sofa, screaming hysterically, but finally she raised her face to me and THE CHILD HAD CLIPPED A BLUEY HAIRCLIP TO HER UPPER LIP!

I was expecting blood. I was braced for the very worst. This sight was so unexpected that I burst out laughing. Which hurt her feelings terribly. I unclipped her lip and cuddled her while murmuring apologies. She got over it, thankfully.

I headed home Monday. I stopped at their Mennonite discount grocery. That place is huge. I stocked up on good cheese. It will last for the winter. A product that Tim uses sells for $6.99 there. To buy it here, it is $29.99. I got 4 boxes of that. Ground pork for $1.75 a pound. We use it to mix with the ground venison, which is too lean otherwise. My Bel Vitas. 6 boxes, 99 cents each. Smoked ham slices for soup. Before it was done, I had $174. and a very full cooler in the back. Tim was very impressed with my haul. 

Today we mailed out our daughter's package to the UK. I think it will be a nice thing to open on Christmas morning. 

We grabbed the few things we needed in town, got our flu, covid and shingles vaccines and headed back home where we ground 25 lbs of hamburger, packaged it. Vacuum sealed it and got it in the freezer. 

It was a full on day. I made a quick stir fry for supper, and as I was cooking  Tim stood up suddenly and said "Aunt Anna has died." She is the last of his mother's siblings to go. The end of a generation. She died a few days short of her 99th birthday. Sad news. 

It was below zero here this morning.

We are watching the American Revolution (Ken Burns) on PBS. So excellent. It rips any romantic notions of either side away, to be sure. 

Late night

 Well, I had expected to be in bed by now, but a curious thing happened. Tiger-kitten came to the sliding door. They all do, and they are fed each time they show up. There are only 4 ferals left of the original clowder of 12. I am not sure what became of Sigh and Tiger Cat (who is different from Tiger Kitty) but I have not seen them for some weeks now. 

Anyways, now that winter has well and truly settled in, it makes me sad to see them outside the glass. They are always invited in, but if they come in, they dart back out before the door can be closed. 

I got up to go to bed, and there was Tiger Kitty looking in the door at me. He meowed. So I got some food and opened the door. To my surprise he walked right in. 

He seems to have made himself comfortable. 

Now I am afraid to go to bed. 

What if Freddie begins to try to assert alpha cat status? He can be a bit of a stinker. I think he may be the reason Feliway Diffusers were invented. 

Or what if he decides changes his mind and wants to go back out? Or what if he needs the litter box?

Probably just grab a pillow and sleep on the couch tonight. 

Today was cutting up the first deer day. Roasts, steaks, chops.  All packaged, vacuum sealed and in the freezer. 

I cooked the rib cage and will take the meat off the bones and grind it up to supplement the ferals' cat food. I was surprised at the quantity of meat of that. It will make a nice treat for them. 

We have more dicey weather in the future and I am keeping a close eye on that. Friday morning, I am off. My granddaughters are both in The Nutcracker. The youngest is a mouse and she is adorable in her little costume. The oldest is in two scenes. She will be an angel and a lemon drop. They are both so excited about this.

I found them nutcracker ornaments for the tree. I also got an angel charm for the oldest's charm necklace. For the youngest I got the sweetest little silver mouse on a chain. I wrapped them today.

It will be a short trip. Next week is as busy week here, getting ready for the toy giveaway. Send out your best thoughts for this project, won't you? 

Well, I will be sleeping in my bed tonight after all. 

Tiger Kitty just asked to go outside. He spent two hours inside. I wonder what he will decide tomorrow.