Wow, no snow in the last 24 hours!!

My mom was complaining that the blog doesn't have pictures of me, so I had Frank take this picture to make her happy. I am leaning down quite a bit. I didn't want you to think I was barely taller than the bad pony. As usual, someone else was horning in on the picture: notice Bailey's big mug to the right.


We are able to get a little bit of a look at the damage left behind of the storms so far. Here is the gutter on the east side of the barn. You had to pretty much expect this with the amount of snow sliding off the roof. But you can see that at least the Christmas light's held on! My yardstick on the back porch that yesterday measured 21" of snow is now showing 18". I don't know if it's melting a little or compacting. Probably a little of both.


Here's the west side of the barn. All of the snow has slid off this side and luckily didn't take the gutter with it. This pile is 1/2 way up the side of the barn and definitely much taller than the mini's. The weather report is for more snow sporadically for the next three days, but hopefully not the big dumps like the last few storms. Please!!


This is the door to our shop. It used to be a garage that the previous owners enclosed and put two bedrooms on. The front bedroom is now my chicken coop (there is a door on the right you can't see in the foreground) and the other bedroom is at the back of the shop. That one is really nice (carpeted, insulated, finished wallboard, trim, full closet. We store my canned goods and a few other household items in there. Anyway, you can see how deep the snow is that Frank pushed off the roof. I am sure hoping the thaw is slow or that sucker is going to flood my coop and shop. Oh well, not much we can do about it!


Here's another picture to make my mom happy. Hi Mom!


All this inside time has kept me busy making Christmas goodies. I have yet to make the chocolate covered pretzels (white and regular), then I need to find something decent to put them on/in to take to the neighbors. We have not been able to get out to go shopping so I don't have any pretty plates or containers to put them in. Oh well, it's the cookies that count, not the plate!


We hope you and yours are experiencing warmth and peace as you prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ. I was just telling Frank that I was thinking about Mary and Joseph as they were trying to find a place to rest and deliver the Christ-child. They had no home at all and had to bed down in a barn with the animals. A very humble beginning for our savior. I feel quite foolish complaining about being snowbound in my warm home, and thankful that this forced quiet time around the holidays has me contemplating more deeply the reason behind it all, namely the greatest gift ever given: out of God's love for us, he sent his Son to earth to make us right with Him. Merry Christmas.