I have pictures!!!

Emma just walked me through the process of adding pictures to my blog - thanks Emma!! I know I'll need help again until I get it solid in my head. Fortunately, I'm on Emma's 'Fave Five' list, so we didn't have to hurry through the process. It's tough to teach an old dog new tricks.

I downloaded all my pictures from my camera - all 52 of them, starting with pictures from Emma's college graduation in 2007. Isn't that terrible - so few pictures and so many events in our lives!

As I looked at the pictures which I've posted here, it made me wish for warmer weather. It's in the low teens right now and snowing on and off and blowing. Very cold...anyway, these pictures were taken in November before the loggers started driving up and down the driveway with loads of timber from the woods. They're the "before" pictures, just in case the heavy trucks caused damage to the road which was just rebuilt last summer. It was amazing how many times we encountered a log truck either driving in or driving out of our driveway. Of course, they couldn't back up very well, so we had to be the one to squeeze way over or back up to a wide spot in the driveway. I hate to back up and don't do it very well but I wasn't going to argue with a huge, heavy log truck. Fortunately, they are done cutting down the trees since the snow and ice makes it impossible to squeeze over.

Don't we live in a beautiful spot? I love living in these surroundings.

Find time to read this book.

I volunteer at the local library and I gave the librarian a list of books I would like to read. I don't care if she buys them or gets them through interlibrary loan. My latest list was of new books so we couldn't get them on loan, so she ordered them. I volunteered there yesterday, and four of my book requests were there. The librarian (Jen) let me take two home even before they were put into the system and I read one of them last night and finished it today. The title (which is a big one) is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Odd title, but a great book. I laughed, cried, and pondered through the whole book. I read parts of it out loud to Chris so he could enjoy it. Now that I have finished it, I need to get him to read it. We looked up Guernsey Island and read more about the German occupation of the island during World War II, which is the background for this book.

I'll let you know if my other book is as good as this one was. I love to read and this book carried me to the places and time of the writing. Wonderful characters - it made me want to live there and have them as my friends and be a friend like they were to each other. Enjoy!!

Cat and mouse

We had a nice thaw last Friday, but the cold has returned. We woke up to 0 degrees yesterday and today it was 5 degrees at 7:00 a.m. I think this prolonged cold brought on the problem last night (or early this morning since it was 2:30 a.m. when I heard the noise).

Remember in my last entry I wrote that Otis (the cat) had received a mouse look-a-like catnip toy that he chases around upstairs. I've heard him scrambling around during the night and assumed he was playing. That is, until last night when I heard him running around again. I listened for awhile and then noticed that the sounds weren't quite the same - there was a chewing, slurpy sound (sorry if this is too graphic). I found the flashlight and shone it on Otis who was on the carpet at the foot of the bed. To my dismay, he was not playing with the catnip mouse - he was playing, (actually eating) a real, dead mouse. How disgusting!! As I'm standing on the cold floor, flashlight in hand, freezing, I hear a voice from under the warm covers, saying, "pick it up by the tail and flush it down". Thank you very much. Of course, Otis doesn't want me to take the advice from the voice under the warm quilt, so I have to pick him up with one hand, carry the flashlight in my other hand and go to the bathroom to get some toilet paper so I can pick up the mouse by his tail. I accomplish this mission, go back to the bedroom with a squirming, mewing Otis under my arm, pick up the mouse by the tail, and follow the instructions given by the voice under the warm blankets.

I think the cold weather brought the little fellow into the house but maybe all those nights when I thought Otis was playing with his Christmas toy he was really playing with the real thing. I also think Otis doesn't have to sleep so close to me at night. Two nights ago, he curled up on my pillow and started to lick my face. I wonder if he just got done playing with a mouse....

Cold, cold, cold!!!

We are experiencing a cold spell here in Pennsylvania. When I went outside this morning, I was surprised to see a reading of 4 degrees on the thermometer. If I would have known it was that cold, I probably would have stayed in bed with the heated mattress pad turned up to high. That gift from the kids last year was the best...it is so nice to climb into a warm bed at night. We enjoy it so much we decided to give some away as gifts for Christmas. Grandpa doesn't mind Grandma opening the window at night anymore - he's nice and warm in his heated bed.

With all the snow we have been getting lately, we have been feeding the birds regularly. Any old bread gets tossed out and I love to see their tracks on the snow on the porch. I held Otis (our cat) up to the window to watch the birds, but he wasn't as interested as he used to be. For Christmas, Otis received some catnip filled toys, one of which is shaped like a mouse, including a long tail. Dad and I have both stepped on them in the dark and are relieved when we realize it is only a toy. I'll see the mouse and have to look twice to make sure it is not real. Otis still has energy - he bats the toys around and chases them from room to room. He's lost them a few times but we have managed to find them. We have Grandma to thank for Otis' Christmas gifts.

Home, Home on the Farm

I'm sure you are all familiar with the song "Home on the Range", "where the deer and the antelope roam". Well, I've been thinking that song might apply well to our farm. We have seen a myriad of animals roaming in the fields and in the yard this year and all in abundance. (We have our food supply of meat!)

We have many deer running around, along with their fawns. Rabbits and chipmunks are all over the place and I scared up 18 geese yesterday when I drove the Ranger down to the creek to find some way to cool off. The killdeer are back this year, nested at the same spot - at a bend in the driveway) and had four babies. They are the cutest birds, with their long legs and speedy walk. We have to be very careful where we drive and slow down because they run right ahead of you for quite a distance before they veer off into the grass.

We had a campout here last two weekends ago for the fathers and sons from church and some of them reported seeing a bear cross the creek and go into our woods. I had just been thinking of starting to walk the paths in the woods for exercise but now I'm reconsidering that. Maybee I'll just carry some pots and pans and make a lot of noise while I walk - I was told that would scare off bears. There goes the nice peaceful walk in the woods, with time to reflect and think.

Back to the chipmunks - one day I was filling the bird feeders and left the basement door open. I had been warned by Grandma that animals (chippies in particular) would sneak in but I thought since I was only a few feet away, nothing would happen. I was wrong...one came in. I heard some scratching noises in the basement later that day and I saw the chipmunk by the freezer by the window. I tried to get him to leave with the assistance of a broom, but he ran the other direction. I opened the window and screen, hoping he would go out that way but then you run the risk of him inviting his friends in because it's nice and cool there and there's a lot of food stored in the basement (wheat, bird seed, crackers, cereal, etc) - all things they would like. So what do I do? Everytime I go downstairs, I make a lot of noise and close the door behind me - I don't need a chipmunk in the main part of the house although he could squeeze under the door to the kitchen (old farmhouse - not real tight). I'm not scared of this fellow, but I don't like to be surprised.

Now I have heard a new noise coming from the basement. I swear he's in the heat ducts - I hear claws scrabbling on metal. I stomp on the floor of the dining room (where the noise is loudest so I'm assuming he's right below) to try to scare him but where is he to go? I have no idea how he got in there, but I have taken the precaution to cover up the floor vents with books and boxes just in case he can somehow work his way up and try to escape that way and give me an unwanted surprise. Even as I type this, I am hearing noises from the ductwork...time to go stomp on the floor!!!

Sundays

I serve in a district calling and we have been holding branch conferences in March, April, and May. I traveled an hour north yesterday to attend one and it was very enjoyable. I really like meeting and seeing members that I don't know very well and I like to observe them and see how well they work together and how much they accomplish with few people. The YW there had a "light" in their eyes and seemed to be happy with life. It was so refreshing to see!

Of course, there are glitches in all well-laid plans. My counselor was scheduled to speak and by 11:00 she still hadn't arrived. I had some advance warning that she might be late because of a reaction to an allergy medicine but she said she would try to be there. During sacrament meeting, I was looking over my branch conference talk (used at another conference) and trying to adapt it to a lesson so I was partially prepared.

We met with the YM/YW and I stretched out introductions - luckily we had a big group (9 kids) and just as we finished that, in walked my counselor. Prayers were answered!!

At branch conferences, we always get fed well. Yesterday was no exception--taco salads and a nice selection of desserts. It was a chance to visit and laugh and enjoy each other's company.

After that conference, I drove back to my branch building (45 minutes) and sat in on a district council meeting, waited after that to attend part of a priesthood leadership meeting (sat in on the YM info section), and then Chris and I went to sing "happy birthday" to the oldest member of our branch (89). We got home at 8:00 so it was a long day, but a good day. I am sure many readers can relate to Sundays like this. This wasn't the first, and I'm sure it wasn't the last!

A New Skill?

I don't think the title is exactly correct because doing something once probably doesn't make it a skill and I probably won't ever do this again.

Saturday our neighbor called with the offer of a 15-inch brown trout that her daughter had caught while fishing with her grandfather. They were about to leave and didn't want the fish to sit in their refrigerator for any length of time so they offered it to us. I asked if it had been cleaned and she hesitantly replied, "no". That was when I should have said thanks, but no thanks. But I thought "Chris has probably cleaned a fish before and I have watched my dad and brother clean fish when I was young, so it should be okay". So I said we would like to have the fish.

Ten seconds later they were walking up the driveway to my kitchen door with a big brown trout hanging on a stick. I thanked them and put it on a cookie sheet We talked for awhile and then Chris came in from mowing the fields and looked at the trout and told me he had never cleaned one before. I was in trouble now. After the neighbors left, the suggestion was to throw it out because it had been out of the water for awhile and it hadn't been gutted yet - both facts causes for concern about how safe it would be to eat.

Being the frugal person I am (sometimes!), I decided we couldn't throw out a perfectly good fish, especially a trout! So I wrapped it up and put it in the refrigerator while I made some phone calls to fishermen in our branch. I finally reached one and he gave me the specifics of gutting and cleaning and preparing a fish. It was exactly as I remembered seeing my dad do it....so I got brave, put the fish in the sink and started to scrape off the scales (under running water so the scales wouldn't fly everywhere - advice from the fisherman). Then came the more difficult part, slitting open the belly and cleaning it out. There is amazingly little "innards" in a fish and, lucky for you, I don't know how to take pictures and download them or you would get visual step-by-step instructions. After cleaning the fish, the head needed to be removed with one quick slice. The fish was then wrapped in saran wrap and cooked for supper on Sunday. Chris wouldn't eat any and I had to put it back in the fry pan a few times because it wasn't quite done when I started to "flake" the meat off the bones to eat it. I guess raw fish, or partially cooked fish, is safe, but I like my fish done. It tasted fine, and I was very careful about the bones.

All in all, it was a "flashback Friday" experience if I can use Hannah's phrase. Probably won't have the chance to do it again, but at least I can say I did it!