Adventures In Randomness

In the last several weeks we have found ourselves in the midst of winter storm cycles.

Our road & lane have been drifted closed more times than we can count.

We had snow plows go down our road in tandem... which we've never

seen in the 17 years we've been in the country.

We've had frozen pipes.. thankfully they didn't burst.

We haven't done much of anything except try to stay warm!

Nolan made some rice crispy treats for us.

He did a great job.

The results of our stalactite experiment.

Technically, it worked... but it's the saddest

stalactite I've ever seen.

We've enjoyed homemade cinnamon rolls.

I tried a new recipe for falafel.

I liked it but the rest of the family decided it was "awful falafel".

Enough said.

We had another beautiful sundog.

Speaking of dogs...

Why is there a picture of a measuring cup you ask?

Well... there's a funny story that involved this measuring cup.

Dwayne wanted to show the kids how quick water would freeze

on a super cold day.  So he took this measuring cup, filled it with water, and

placed it on the porch railing.  Dwayne checked it a short time later only

to find it was in the middle of the landing by the back door.

Someone had moved it... so naturally Dwayne asked the kids.

They didn't do it... and we knew the cat didn't.  So that left Casey.

To test our theory, we placed the measuring cup back on the porch railing and

stood behind the curtains to watch.  Sure enough Casey came up and ever so gently

picked up the cup by the handle and placed it in the middle of the landing again!

And since we didn't retrieve the cup soon enough she decided to chew on it.

Goofy dog.

I have been working on a quilt... which is interesting

since i hate sewing machines.

The little boys are a companion to Sunbonnet Sue and his name is Overall Sam.

I inherited a set of 12 Sams from Dwayne's grandma.

I wanted each of our boys to have something made by their great grandma.

I decided to give each boy 6 and add the silhouette of a Labrador.

Since the Sams we got had such crazy patterns on them

I let each boy pick out their fabric.

Brave I know but it adds to the craziness of the quilt.

We added more bookshelves to our dining room/library/school room.

Brrrr!

Unless you are hibernating you know that the Midwest

has had one nasty snowstorm named Ion.

These pictures were taken before the brunt of the storm.

The wind was blowing the snow so hard at times you couldn't see this

tree line which is about 250 feet from the house.

This was before the wind kicked up and blew all the snow off the railings.

Since it was so nasty outside we decided to try a new recipe.

Homemade Oreos.

They turned out pretty good and we think we'll try making them again.

One of the cows heading to the ditch for a drink before it got real nasty.

The drifts on the porch before the wind picked up.

Even had some snow hanging over the roof in spots.

Casey's new doghouse.  Thankfully it's insulated...

and yes that's Puppy-cat's tail.

He sleeps in there with the dog.

I suppose they keep each other a little warmer.

Actually she's plenty warm with a nice think layer of straw inside...

and the kitty-cat heating blanket!

Looking east at the field behind the house.

You can barely see the old Christmas tree

patch just to the right of the downspout.

That's about half a mile.

More snow drifts before the wind blew it around.

This morning we woke to -11 and this beautiful sundog.