Clean Sheets

I washed the flowered sheets and put clean sheets - the purple ones - on the bed. That was my major task today.  It's been a beautiful day.  Forry said it was 60 degrees earlier this afternoon. There are more and more patches of green grass showing out there. I had several windows opened for a while this afternoon.

Since it's beginning to get warm, we are seeing fewer and fewer birds at the feeder. When you go outside, however, you can hear birds singing all over the place. I think, the birds think, Spring is actually coming. We still have mounds of snow piled along the edges of the grass that the maintenance crew piled up there when they cleared the roads.

A couple of weeks ago, I bought some smoked pork hocks and put them in the freezer. I got them out today and made a bean soup for supper. I made some corn muffins to go with them. It actually turned out pretty well, though a bit salty.

Happiness is....

Happiness is not being stuck on the other side of the mountains. I am so glad we resisted the impulse to stay another night! The highways and Snoqualmie Pass are a mess today! I-5 was closed because of a propane/butane tanker rollover. 1-90 was closed both ways at the Pass due to multiple collisions and even 405 was shut down. We had seriously considered staying over, but the roads were so good, we just kept going. Thank goodness!

We started off the day delightfully with a Skype video call from Granddaughter Havela and Greatgranddaughter Kahlyn. Kahlyn was having her lunch while we were having breakfast. She is getting to be a big girl and is definitely not a baby anymore. Havela seems to be enjoying her CNA classes and looks great.

Other than refilling the bird feeder and scattering wheat, I didn't go outside all day. I did a load of laundry and washed the dishes and that was about it.

I had recorded Nashville last Thursday night while we were at the Sun Desert dinner at Mike's Place. Unfortunately, I've read a couple of spoilers, so have put off watching it, knowing Rayna was going to die. I finally got brave enough to watch it this morning. Sure enough, it was a tear jerker. Forry kept asking me why I was letting "just a soap opera" get to me...

Home Again

We looked out of the window at Daughter MM's this morning and saw white! There wasn't a whole lot, sort of a skiff on the ground, with some fat white flakes still coming down. By the time we all got ourselves organized and headed out for brunch, it had pretty much stopped. We went back to CSquare where we had eaten last night.

Grandson Varick is quite enamored with their chicken and biscuits and gravy and talked Grandpa into trying it as well. Scott and Granddaughter Claire decided on French toast while MM and I tried the pork belly hash. It was all good. Before heading home, we stopped at their bakery and cured meat section and purchased some bacon, some pancetta, a loaf of bread and some duck fat. Such a fun shop to find in Mount Vernon!

We had been checking the DOT's website all morning, checking out the conditions over Snoqualmie Pass. By the time we finished brunch, it was showing clear sailing all the way. After lots of hugs, we headed out. You could see that it had snowed earlier, but the highway was clear and mostly dry. We caught up with the snowstorm on the other side of the Pass. We drove through light, non-sticking snow all the way to Ellensburg.

We arrived back at Sun Desert a bit after five o'clock. I filled the bird feeder and scattered some wheat; then we went inside to watch the Academy Awards.

King John

Oh my, it is difficult to do any better than breakfast at Portage Bay in Seattle. We had eaten there the last time we were in Seattle and definitely wanted to go again. Last time I had Dungeness Crab Eggs Benedict, this time one of the specials was an orange crepe served with chopped apples and pears with tarragon dressing served on top. Forry had some banana bread pancakes that were bigger than the plate! Their food is incredibly good. After breakfast with Leslie and Bill, we went our separate ways.

It was a beautiful day in Seattle, but the closer we got to Mount Vernon, the cloudier it got. By the time we turned into Daughter Mary Mae and Scott's Lane, we even had a few drops of rain. After some visiting and catching up, it was time to get organized. We went out for an early dinner as Granddaughter Claire had a 6 PM call at the theatre. We've found another great place to eat, CSquare in downtown Mount Vernon. Forry had his usual hamburger, but I had an incredible shrimp linguine.

Skagit Community College presented King John  in their theatre in the round. It's an intimate setting only three rows deep, so you are almost part of the action. There is a great deal of pretty wild sword-fighting. Granddaughter Claire plays Arthur, a youth whose claim to the English throne, causes much of the warfare. Claire did an incredible job. A couple of her scenes brought me to tears. It's been fun to watch her mature as an actor over the past several years. Leslie and Bill actually drove up this evening in time to watch her performance (They had seen her in Our Town a couple of months ago.)

Grandson Varick's girlfriend Sabrina joined us at dinner. We've heard a great deal about her, so it was fun to meet her. She's a neat young women.

Over the Mountains

We had reservations for the night at the Extended Stay in Bothell. Knowing check in time wasn't until three o'clock, we left just before eleven. What a beautiful day for a drive over the mountains. The sun  was shining on the snowy hillsides of the Saddle Mountains as we drove via Royal City. We joined Interstate 90 at the bridge where it crosses the Columbia River.

We stopped in Ellensburg long enough to get a couple of ice cream sandwiches at Dairy Queen, then continued on our way. The road - and Snoqualmie Pass - was bare and dry. We made good time until just past the summit, where traffic was restricted to one lane. They were breaking up and clearing some of the piled up snow on the edge of the road. There was just no more room for any more.

Our room was ready when checked into the motel, so we had time for a short nap before Leslie and Bill arrived to go out to dinner with us. Leslie was hungry for steak so we decided to go to the Keg. The parking lot was packed. When we couldn't find a spot, we decided to try the Black Angus. Leslie made a reservation on her app, so we only had a few minutes wait. We both ordered rib eyes to split with our spouses. So good.

Good friends and good food equal a very good day!

People Day

The day started with coffee at the Clubhouse. The sun was shining, so I decided to walk. It had frozen during the night, so the puddles in the road were covered with sheets of ice. But the ruts were frozen as well, so it was easy walking. There was about a ten foot strip of icy crusty snow between the road and the clear grass by the Clubhouse. There were big footprints across the snow. As long as I stepped in them, I didn't break through the crust.

I was early, so started the coffee. We ended up with a pretty good crowd of ladies. I think everyone was ready to be out and about on a nice sunny morning.

The Sun Desert crew got together again this evening complete with spouses. The fourth Thursday is potluck day for the park. This month we had decided to go to Mike's Place for dinner instead of a potluck, then adjourn to the Clubhouse for dessert. A good share of the folks that came are the permanent residents of the park, some of which we've gotten to know.

FOG!

We could not see across the road this morning, the fog was so thick. Finally, the sun came out and burned it off. It was actually quite warm by noon. The snow is gradually disappearing. There are large circles of grass beginning to show. We saw a couple of the maintenance crew actually out with rakes this afternoon. They were raking up piles of branches and leaves from under the willow trees where the grass was exposed.

It looked sort of funny when we headed for town this afternoon. There is all of the snow and ice, then clear areas of grass with piles of debris. I guess the maintenance crew is anxious to get a start on all the spring cleanup that they are going to have to do.

We headed into town to drop the tax prep stuff off at our accountant's office; picked up some butter and cream cheese; stopped for hamburgers; then went over to Monroe House for Bible Study. Afterwards, we stopped at Dairy Queen for ice cream sandwiches as we headed home. We passed through layers of low clouds on the way. I suppose by morning we'll be fogged in again.

SNOW? Again?

I was up at 4 am, looked out the window, and saw a skiff of new snow on the patio and on the car! It had been raining when we went to bed and it was raining again when we got up later this morning. By ten, all trace of the early snow was gone. We are seeing more and more of the patio and even a bit of the grass over by the little tree as the snow gradually melts.

I finished up putting together the information and reports needed for our taxes. I think I have all of the forms that need to go to the CPA. I packed it all up along with a thumb drive., so I'll be able to drop it off at the office tomorrow.

With that done, the bird feeder filled, and wheat scattered for the quail, I had no other excuse left. I finally got my little pail of soapy water and a wash cloth and started on the refrigerator. It has been "smelly" for a couple of days. Seems there was something that got knocked over in the very back...

Rainy Monday Morning

The morning started with a monkey wrench thrown into our plans for a potluck after church when our possible Interim Pastors visit the weekend of the 12th. Turns out there was already a bowling party and taco luncheon planned for that Sunday. But, to me, it wasn't that big a deal. Instead of having a potluck, we'll just take them with us for the Bowling Party. Some of the people coming aren't bowlers, so there will be plenty of opportunities for casual visiting.

After some phone calls and texts, we got everything back on track. So far, almost everyone I've talked to has been super cooperative about pitching in to help. I think it will be a good visit.

It rained off and on again throughout the night. It tapered off in the early afternoon and we actually had sunshine for a while. The snow level is gradually going down. There is still a lot of it, the icy layers seem to be keeping it from melting too fast.

We have had more flocks of doves and male redwing blackbirds coming in for feed. We think we may have spotted a female blackbird in the flock. The males seem to arrive first, then the females. If we're beginning to see females, can Spring be coming also?

A Fruitful Sunday

Another early morning, more so since I wanted to be at church early this morning. Plus, we weren't sure which way we were going to go. I have been reading about road closures south of the church due   to the snow melt and the rain. We went out via Wheeler Road and stayed on the paved roads all the way.

I was Worship Leader for the service this morning. It went well until I lost the Song Leader! Gordie had sat on the other side of the church from where he usually sits and I didn't see him! Other than that, it was a good service with an excellent guest speaker.

We drove up to take a look at the winter wheat at the ranch after church. The run off has done a great deal of damage to the portion of Batum Road that goes through the coulee. But, the wheat looks good! A good share of the fields in the area of the church are now bare of snow. The closer you get to Moses Lake and out to where we are, the more snow there still is.

Late this afternoon, Dennis and I had a conference call with a couple in Idaho who are interested in becoming Interim Pastors at Menno. They will be coming for a weekend visit in early March. I spent part of this evening arranging details for their visit - and hopefully dividing up responsibilities among the Search Committee members.

Another Rainy Day

It rained during the night and it was still raining when we got up. In fact, it rained almost all day. It never rained hard, just steadily. The snow cover is gradually shrinking. I can now see the top of our metal javelina who's been buried under the snow on the edge of the patio. It's quite a bit warmer than it has been - I don't think it dropped below freezing last night.

We didn't do a lot today. I fed the birds after a flock of male redwinged blackbirds came through and emptied the feeder. I had bought a Dungeness crab at Safeway yesterday that we had for supper along with fresh jicama and red peppers and a loaf of French bread. Never thought I would ever see the day when one crab would be more then enough for the two of us to share!

Fog, then Sun

We were fogged in this morning. It was so thick we couldn't see Zola's rig on the other side of the road. I was tired - even after a good night's sleep - and actually took a morning nap. I am still tired this evening. I sure hope I'm not coming down with something.

The sun came out right after lunch and burned off the last of the fog. We got ourselves organized and headed for town and a very overdue shopping trip. (We had only one pod left for the Keurig coffee-maker. Forry was a sweetie and made the last cup of coffee for me.) We didn't have any other chores in town, so grocery shopping didn't take long. We made two stops on the way home. The first was at DQ for ice cream sandwiches and the second at Starbucks to get Forry a venti mocha.

It's been interesting to drive along O'Sullivan Dam the last couple of days. Sullivan Lake has been pretty solidly frozen for the last two months with a layer of snow over the ice. Between the warm days and rain lately, the top layer of snow has melted off. It looks like there is now a layer of water on the top of the ice that looks blue in the sunlight. Moses Lake has had some open water all winter long - probably where the springs are. The rest of the lake is pretty frozen and has the same look. It will be fun to watch as the ice on the lakes continues to melt and break up. Too bad it's not safe to walk out and see how mushy it's getting.

We have had three doves eating the feed spilled on the ground under the feeder all winter. Yesterday, suddenly there were almost thirty of them helping themselves to the quail's wheat. I'm assuming they had gone further south for the winter and are now returning. I think I have also heard some returning Sandhill Cranes. They were too high for positive identification, but I think Spring is on its way!

Another Happy Day

The sun actually came out for a short time this morning while I was over at the Clubhouse for this morning's Koffee Klatch. But it didn't last! We were quickly back to another gray overcast day. It was slick after it froze during the night on yesterday's rain. Louie, from the Maintenance Crew, met each of the ladies at their car as we drove up; then gave us an arm as we walked across the ice he was breaking up with a shovel. Sure glad he was there!

I split the rest of the day between working on Search Committee stuff and adding three more months to Quicken. That means I am 3/4 done and I should be able to finish up tomorrow. The sink drain was "gurgling," so Forry went out and drained the tanks.

Today was our Niece Ashley's 30th birthday. This evening, we joined Brother Pat and Cindy; Ashley and her husband Kyle and their kids, Jackson and Peyton; Niece Becky and David and their kids, Carter, Case and Kiera; and Nephew Nick at Rock Top in Moses Lake to celebrate. Rock Top is noted for their hamburgers, which is what we enjoyed. Though we have seen Pat and Cindy's grandchildren often this winter, it is amazing how quickly they are growing up and changing.

It was foggy coming out of Moses Lake tonight, but it cleared up the closer we got to Sun Desert. We were watching for the deer all the ladies at Koffee said they'd been seeing, but didn't spot any. I traded Pat an empty bucket for another full one of wheat. Keeping the quail - and the doves - happy too.

Rainy Day

It may have rained earlier in the night. If so, I didn't hear it. But when it started raining just after five am, the sound on the roof definitely woke me up. It was quite cold, so when I looked out the window, I could see ice on the car and the little tree. The forecast had said there would be freezing rain during the night...

It rained almost all day. I went out for a bit to fill the bird feeder and scatter wheat for the quail. I got quite wet. It was coming down steadily, but not very hard. The temperature came up a bit above freezing, but not enough to melt the ice that was hanging from the trees from the morning's freeze.

Sunday's speaker had called me back last night with his scripture choice, so I was able to put the bulletin together for Sunday morning (except for the hymns). I emailed it to the secretary so she can get it printed tomorrow. So I checked that task off my to-do list. Next I went on-line and submitted a "Pastor Wanted" ad to the Classified Ad section of The Mennonite. One more task checked off.

I went back on-line to our credit union and got three more more months of bank statements put into Quicken. That pretty much took the rest of my day. In between I got a couple of loads of clothes washed as well as yesterday's dishes. Forry went out in the rain to take the garbage over to the cans and check the mail. A day late, but his Valentine card and licorice showed up.

Tonight's Bible Study was cancelled as everyone was concerned about how slick the roads were going to be with the freezing rain. Many kids were out of school again today - some went late and went home early while other schools didn't have school at all. It's been a heck of a winter. And it looks like it's not over yet.

An AHA Moment

I woke up this morning and thought I knew what to do. And I was right

I used to chuckle at the IT guy at Washington State University in Spokane when he would do that. We would have a computer issue that would have him puzzled, then he would come in the next morning "knowing" how to to fix it. He credited his subconscious with figuring it out.

I had been using the "mobile" app for our credit union on my iPad. The Help Desk had verified with me that you could not access bank statements from the mobile app. What I realized this morning was that I could use Safari on the iPad and go to the regular credit union website accessing our account from there. And the regular website has the bank statements on it!

So I spent the rest of the morning preparing our personal account for our taxes. I got the first three months done anyway.

It was a very different day today. Instead of the beautiful sunshine we have been blessed with the last few days, we were back to a grey, overcast foggy day. And it was cold again this morning. I think it only heated up to 37 degrees this afternoon. We again have a Winter Storm Warning in place, this time for freezing rain tonight and tomorrow. The red-wing blackbirds are back. There were forty or more at a time raiding the bird feeder.

I found myself on the phone and email a good share of the day, working on both Search Committee business and the service for this coming Sunday as well as conferring with Diane about March's Lenten Soup Supper. It was another good day.

Another Monday

I had very good intentions today of getting the bank statements for our personal account today and finishing up - or at least getting a very good start - on the Quicken account. The way the bank has their online accounts set up, you can only see statements from a laptop, not from the mobile app on my iPad. Something has gotten messed up on my ASUS laptop. I absolutely cannot connect to the internet with it. I even hooked up Forry's old computer and was able to connect with his, but I can't print with his, it doesn't have the proper drivers. So I tried looking at the statements on his computer while entering the data on mine. It might have worked, but the bank site kept saying I had been on long enough and kicking me off. Then I couldn't get back on at all. I got so frustrated, I just gave up!

I have a couple of ideas I can try tomorrow. It's sure to be a better day!

It was another gorgeous sunshiny day today. When I went out to fill the bird feeder, the ice on the path across the patio was actually breaking up and rotten. Forry took some letters up to the mailbox to be sent (our school ballots had to be postmarked by tomorrow) and he said the ice on the park roads was breaking up as well.

Nap Day?

Once we left the still icy roads in the RV park, the roads were dry and bare. Except of course on the curves where the snow alongside was melting and running across the road. (I suppose those will be icy spots when it freezes again tonight...) The fields are really white again after all the snow that fell last week.

Eric Askren was our guest speaker this morning. He's the chaplain at the Correctional Center near Connell. He's a good speaker that I would like to see visit with our Adult SS class about his work. His sermon about Christians being salt and light fit very well with our SS discussions about the ways of peace.

It was another warm sunny day with just a bit of clouds floating around. When we got back home I actually saw some gravel on the road where the ice was starting to break up!

I had recorded the 15/15 Bucking Battle in Kansas City before we left the house this morning (it was broadcast at 9 AM), so we watched it when we got home. It was definitely a day for the bulls - there was only ONE qualified ride! The 15/15s pit the 15 top-ranked bulls against the current top 15 riders. The winners get lots of extra points in the standings, but so far this year, they've been a showcase for the bovine athletes! (Though under the new rules, the bulls are also collecting points all year long for the Bull of the Year competition.)

Enjoying the sun, we both napped until it was time to watch the regular PBR show from Kansas City. I fixed cheese, crackers and some pickles for faspa, then settled in to watch the Grammys. It's been a good day.

End of the Week

It was another lovely sunshiny day. Forry said it almost got up to fifty degrees this afternoon. I had the window by my chair open and I could hear the water from the melting snow as it dripped off the roof. The melting has a long way to go as the roads in the park are still sheets of glassy ice. The only place you can can even see gravel is where the tractor driver scraped as he loaded the snow he had cleared.

It was a good afternoon for checking in with family. First we chatted with Daughter MM in Mount Vernon and got caught up with the goings-on there. Then I tried to Skype with Granddaughter Havelita in Illinois. The connection was not good - we haven't had much luck lately - so we ended up just talking on the phone. GGranddaughter Kahlyn was not in the mood to visit, we just got a glimpse of her little butt disappearing up the stairs as she went looking for her Uncle Cam. Havela is taking local CNA classes and it sounds like she is enjoying her studies.

Next I got a video call over Messenger from Granddaughter Kyra in Virginia. She is a freshman at Eastern Mennonite University. This was the first time we had tried a video chat. We didn't have sound at first, so hung up and retried it and it worked beautifully. I even got to "meet" one of her roommates.

I had just spent an hour or so sending off Valentine cards and gifts for all the grandkids and our great grand baby, so it was fun to talk to a couple of them. I had tried to get it done earlier this week, but the internet was just not cooperating with me.

And then Sunshine!

The sunshine was so bright this morning, I felt like I should go out to the car and get my sunglasses! It bounced off the shiny bright icy snow and reflected inside the RV. It was so nice after all of the dark gloomy days we've had. It actually got so warm in the RV, we shut both of the heaters off. It was VERY nice!

I vacuumed the bedroom and the bathroom area this afternoon while Forry was outside draining the tanks. It was so nice I actually opened the windows for a couple of hours! It was great to get some fresh air into the rig - at least it was until the neighbor fired up his wood stove...

I went out to refill the empty bird feeder and replace the Nyger seed bag in the little tree. The maintenance crew had shoveled a path to the bird feeder, but I had to wade through the snow to get over to the tree. The snow is deep under the ice crust in spite of the melting that's been going on and my feet got soaked.

The last of the snow melted off Toad II, so Forry took the garbage out (we'd saved it up while iced in) and went up to get the mail. Daughter MM had sent a box of mail over for me to sort through. Lots of stuff for the tax accountant, a few bills, and some late Christmas surprises. Among them was a copy of Grandson Varick's Data Dump, Musings of an Engineer Poet. What a delightful surprise!

Add a Little Rain...

Early last evening, it rained just before it froze. There was just enough rain to put a shiny surface on the top of the six or seven inches of new snow. We could see the reflection of the yard light on top of the very shiny snow!

This morning it was incredibly slick! We could see the birds slide along the top of snow when they flew in to eat. We were basically "stuck" inside the RV until the maintenance crew came by about noon to shovel us out. They chipped about a quarter inch of ice off of the step and the walk. It is really treacherous out there!

Forry went out later to clean off the car, which pretty much wore him out. You can lift the top layer of ice off of the snow in big chunks.  It was a gray, overcast day. It warmed up enough to melt everything in time for it to re-freeze after sunset. I went out about seven to scatter wheat for the birds in the morning. Once again, there is a fine layer of ice over everything. The wheat just bounced when I tossed it out.

And It Snowed...

It was snowing when we got up this morning. And it snowed. And it snowed. Sometimes it was light and sometimes it was heavy. Sometimes it was big fat flakes, sometimes it was fine almost rainlike, but it just kept coming down.

I went out to fill the bird feeder. I swept about four inches of snow off the steps. By the time I had gone out and retrieved the feeder, filled it and returned it to the hook, there was a 1/4 inch of new snow on the step again. It looks like there is now a good seven inches of new snow outside. And is supposed to snow again tonight!

I got a bit ambitious today and cleaned the bathroom and the sink area. I have neglected both while I was waiting for Forry to finish working on the electrical outlet by the sink. I finally just cleaned around and under his tools and put them back.

I'm thinking it was a good thing we went into town Monday and restocked groceries. Bible Study in Moses Lake tonight was cancelled due to the weather as was tomorrow's Mission Society meeting. The wind has been blowing, so I'm assuming there are drifts on many of the roads. Both the public and private schools in Moses Lake are closed tomorrow.

Cloudy Day

It got cold again last night. It was eleven degrees when we got up. Fortunately, the heater in the basement kept things warm enough to avoid freezing up. It was overcast with low-hanging clouds. It looked and felt like snow, but we've seen none to this point. Even though there is another Winter Storm Warning up for our area.

Thankful that we had water, I went ahead and did two loads of laundry and loaded the dishwasher. I had homework to do for tomorrow's night's Bible Study, so I spent the afternoon working on that. I have to make myself avoid looking at Facebook. There is still so much political back and forth going on that you could spend all day just following the various arguments - and looking at the cartoons!

We seem to be getting a few different birds at the feeder. The colors on both the quail and the finches are getting brighter as breeding season approachs. We have had one lone Spotted Towhee for a couple of months, today there were three. The bird books say the males have a bit darker red on their flanks, but the pictures look identical to me. I don't know if we have a pair or not. We also had a Mourning Dove show up today. We've had mostly Eurasian Collared Doves this winter. The Sharp-shinned Hawk flew by a few times, but we never saw him in the tree.

Sunshine!

The sunshine was so bright this morning, shining on the new snow. It actually hurt my eyes. Louie was here early with his shovel clearing off a path to the door and over to the storage shed. The other maintenance guy had the big tractor out and was clearing the roads and adding to the big piles of snow already there.

The sharp-shinned hawk came and sat in the little tree by the patio again for a while this morning. He's been feasting on my little birds the last few weeks and he's got them all terribly jumpy. They fly off panicked at any little noise.

I did not have enough feed left to refill the bird feeder. Louie said they had plowed the road up to Highway 17, so we decided to go into Moses Lake and restock. The road was clear, but very wet. When it freezes again tonight, it's going to be very icy and slick!

We went to Lowes and purchased a couple more little bags of nyger seed and a large bag of bird seed. They were out of the smaller 20 pound bags of seed, so we got one of the 35 pound bags. It is quite awkward and heavy to handle. When I got home and opened it, I realized there was no way I was going to lift it and pour out of it. I opened it enough to get the tin can I use for the wheat in and used the little can to fill the feeder.

Aha! I had an empty five gallon bucket that had been filled with wheat that I was saving to return to Brother Pat. I poured the bag of birdseed into that. It filled it to the top! I scattered the little dab that was left along with the wheat unto the paths. Solved that problem!

We had stopped at Safeway and restocked the human supplies as well. I bought a frozen pizza and that's what we had for supper.

Snowed In -- Again!

The alarm went off early. We looked outside to see more snow! Checking with the Grant County Sheriff's Department made it pretty clear we weren't going to church this morning. So it was back to bed.

It snowed all day long. Sometimes hard, sometimes softly, but always steadily. At first it was warm enough - 35 degrees - that it didn't stick. But as the day went on, it got colder and it started to pile up. It looks like we got at least another three inches. I only went out once to feed the quail, but it was so terribly slick, I ended up just scattering what wheat I could while standing on the step.

We did watch the Super Bowl this afternoon. Or I should say that I watched the commercials. I liked the tone of many of them this year. Considering the lead time for the making of most of them, it's amazing how appropro many of them were to today's news.

It stopped snowing about six o'clock this evening, but the forecast is talking about more during the night. I wonder how long it's going to be before they get the roads cleared enough for us to get to town again?

Snow and Sunshine

Wouldn't you know, the sun was shining this morning - on the snow that had fallen during the night! The forecast said it would snow again this evening, but it hasn't started yet.  The maintenance crew came by again this morning and shoveled us out once more.

It warmed up again during the day, melting the snow off of Auntie Violet's roof and slide outs. I got a bunch of melting cold water down my back when I went out to get wheat out of the bucket to scatter for the quail. Forry cleaned off Toad II enough to take the garbage over to the can and go up to check the mail. The park roads are pretty slippery. The underlying compacted snow is now ice with the fresh wet snow on top of it.

We didn't do a lot today. Granddaughter Havela posted some darling pictures of little Kahlyn. She is getting so big already. Her Mama says she is well on her way to being a "terrible two!" But I don't believe that can possibly be right.

I baked a couple of sweet potatoes for supper, then fixed a couple of boneless pork chops with fried apples and white wine. I think I used the last of the apples I had gotten from Tonnemaker's Fruit Stand last fall.

Not a Good Day

The plan was that we would leave this morning, drive down to Keizer, Oregon and stay with Daughter Dawn and her family. Then tomorrow I would leave Forry there and drive on over to Albany to attend PNMC's Communications Council meeting, then returning to spend the rest of the weekend with Dawn and Todd and Grandson Micah. We had thought about heading down yesterday, but I had the Deacon's meeting last evening and we no longer like to drive at night, especially through the Gorge.

Unfortunately, shortly after I got up this morning, it began to snow and snow hard! This time, the weather forecast was accurate! The winter storm they had been talking about had arrived with a vengeance. After checking the reports from the Gorge, it didn't take us long to decide the trip was off. No meeting was worth driving in the mess we were hearing about.

It put down about an inch of very wet snow, there was a lull, and then it started again. It basically snowed all day! And according to the reports, there will be more tomorrow and the next day.

The bird feeder was very busy this morning. There were lots of sparrow, finches, towhees and doves. Twenty or more quail were busily scratching underneath the feeder and under the loose snow for the scattered wheat. Then the sharp-shin hawk swooped through and everyone scattered! True to its description in the bird book, the hawk followed the little birds across the road and into their sanctuary bush. It was amazing to watch that big - in comparison to the finches and sparrows - hawk twist its way through the branches of the bush and grab its prey. Then it flew off with its lunch in its claws.

Sadly, the hawk also left behind a dead quail. When it swooped through and everyone scattered, one of the panicked quail flew into the side of the RV and broke his neck. The maintenance guys were around later and disposed of the dead quail when they were here scattering more sand. We agreed that  it was the cycle of life; we not only feed the little birds, we feed the hawks as well...

Mystery Solved

Well, the mystery is solved - and it's sad. Seems our neighbor had a heart attack. His wife found him down in their shop. The park manager started CPR which was continued by the ambulance crew to no avail. One of the many vehicles which came was the coroner. One of the ambulances took the wife to the hospital as she evidently was quite distraught.

It was interesting to hear the ladies at the coffee klatch this morning. I think most of them were thinking how it could have been their spouse. No one seemed to want to leave. I think they were all finding comfort just being together.

Back home, I did a couple more loads of laundry while Forry went out and drained the tanks. There were a couple of hawks hanging around in the trees, so there was very little activity around the feeder today. The few birds that were around were extremely jumpy.

I grilled some lamb chops and we had an early dinner so that I could head into town where I joined Cleon for a ride out to Menno. Tonight was my first meeting with the Board of Deacons. I must say, it was interesting. (And yes, I keep saying that someday I am going to write a book about people's definitions of "interesting." As well as one about definitions of "fun.")

Mid-week Day

The sun was out again today! What a difference it makes to everyone's attitude and mood. It got warm in the sunshine too. At one time this afternoon the temperature read 47 degrees! There are puddles of water under the bird feeder and in front of the shed. Of course, the temperature dropped immediately when the sun went down. By the time we got home tonight, they were already icing over.

We went into Moses Lake early enough to have dinner before I went to Bible Study at Monroe House. I had one of their steak skewer skillets while Forry had another pancake dinner. He really likes his pancakes!

It was a good gathering tonight. I think the sunshine has affected us all. Marge did say they were able to walk outside yesterday, but the wind chill didn't allow for it today.