Saturday, February 19, 2011

What A Difference 10 Days Can Make!

Finally!  We can now actually park at the house!! 

It is an awesome thing....NOT to have to carry 1 laptop case, 4 bags of groceries, the sack that has my 'real' shoes in it, not to mention the bulk size toilet tissue bundle, my 'everything I just might need today' shoulder bag, and the Starbucks coffee that I stopped to get just to give me enough spizz to get down the 1/4 of a mile drive covered in snow and ice!  On FOOT!

So being able to park at the house...that's a big thing!

Recently, we had a 'warming trend'....more like a tropical blast actually....but it did the trick.  It melted 20ish inches of snow - quickly!!

So I thought I'd give you an idea of what 10 days can do. 

Out the dining room window.....before....


....and 10 days later.....


Out of the other dining room window....


.....and then 10 days later you can actually see the pond....even with the ice still covering it.



The drive right out front also had quite a change.

From this beautiful winter wonderland ~



....to.....well, normal!


Probably the most important thing that 10 days can do is provide the weary travelers a better way to get to their vehicles.

From the brave bunch headed out in the morning on foot down the drive, down the hill, around 3 curves, 1/4 of a mile to the gate....




.....to being able to DRIVE up to the house!!  Through the gate, down the 1/4 of a mile drive, around 3 curves, up the hill...to the house!



Now all we have to do is figure out what to do with all this MUD!   

Love to all,
Carla

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

My Favorite Time of Year

Here in A-Ville, we are currently in my favorite time of year.  No, it's not because of the snow.  It's not because of winter, or warm and cozy, or wonderful warm fireplaces, or hot spiced tea...  None of those things, while I love them, make this my favorite time of year.

These two things make it my favorite time of year.

Son #1   and


Son #2.

You see, right now we are experiencing what Son #2 calls 'Magic Month', and what Son #1 calls 'The Month from H E Double Hockey Sticks'!!  For 5 weeks every year, my two sons are the same age. 

No, they are not twins,
Yes, it seemed as though they were,
Yes, it's a long story,
and No, I'm not going to tell it to you.

Trust me on this.

Even though those two sweet faces have differing opinions on what to call this period we find ourselves in....  I love it.    I remember it all.   From realizing each of them was coming, to the color coded bottles in the fridge, and the color coded hangers in the closets....to watching them learn to read, write, play instruments, play with their friends, to laser tag, airsoft, computers....... and I couldn't be prouder of the men they have become.

But there are two more that are the same age as well.


Cousin #1  and


and Cousin #2.

Something very special happened to my mama about 22 years ago.....she was blessed with four grandchildren in one year...and I did two of them!!    (Son #1, Cousin #1, Son #2, Cousin #2)  



And in nine days, we start year 23!!  

I just love this time of year....

Love to all,
Carla

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The Solution

We have a unique problem here in A-Ville. 

No...I do not mean the men-in-my-life's literal NEED for terrifying movies!  Although, it could almost be catagorized as .....well....I digress.

The unique problem we have here in A-Ville is one of the things we most love.  We live down a rather long gravel road that provides us with seclusion...and we love that...until we have weather.  Snow, for the most part.  Rain isn't a whole lot of fun either, but snow is a bear!     (See post below...The Parking Lot)

What it has meant for us is that we've had to become creative in our solving this problem.  We've talked to people who have farms...and an 8 foot wide snow blower..    GREAT idea, but I haven't seen any 8 foot wide snow blowers at Home Depot.   The other solutions have been to get out there and shovel it.  Yeah....all 1/4 of a mile of it!  Uh....yeah....NO!   So, we have come up with a solution with a little help from our Texas friend...Bradley R.   Leave it up to a west Texas boy who know how take down 'stuff'!! 



A flame thrower!

Yeah....you heard it right.  A flame thrower....and man it does throw flame....and melt snow and ice.  



It also makes this loud rather scary noise like a jet engine about to take off!  


Even in the dark....pretty impressive!

The next thing we're going to check out is how well it cooks a steak!  

Love to all, and stay warm!
Carla