Oh my gosh. I've known times like that with power outages. It was a blessing the work crew got your meter up and running again - and in a decent time frame too. Glad you fared well.

I found some Yorkshire Gold tea yesterday. Hadn't had any for a long while. When I got home I made a pot with just one tea bag. I had forgotten how strong YG tea is! It has a coffee-like strength and somewhat strong flavor. I admit I wasn't thrilled with it but drank the pot. The box says to steep for 4.5 minutes but next time I'll not do that, maybe 2.5. And it didn't have the golden color I remember either, perhaps another indication it was steeped too long.

Today I had Harneys Cranberry Autumn.

Back in for another cup of tea. First leg of shoveling , the back patio and dog house and kitty house roof, here is done.And a poop trail for the dog to get to his favorite corner. Took me 50 minutes this time. It is about 5 inches of new snow. Still have to shovel path down to garage and another in front of the house and across the front of the house and then pray the plow will start. Battery was dead last night. I put the trickle charger on it. If it does not start I will be in for another marathon shoveling job. I also have to pull the snow down around the one big vent on the house roof. Making more to shovel off my steps. This is going to be a long day or two. Another three inches predicted today. Hoping they are wrong this time. If I waited to shovel until after all snow falls it will be too much for me so I need to keep working on it.

Tea tastes great.

Schoolhouse I usually re-run my tea bags with added water to keep the strength down. So short steep sounds like a good idea.

I have sun and above zero. It might get to 30ish this week but that's a few days off so I'm not holding my breath.

My insurance guy was stopping here on his way past today so I tried a recipe out of the newspaper. I rarely do that because I never like them. Spaghetti Pie. It was OK. I might make it again and he's going to make it for his supper.

I've been looking on all the genealogy web sites for a document I saw a couple of weeks ago but discovered it was the wrong person so I didn't keep it. I should have. I know better. It's always better to keep it when you find it and throw it later. I KNOW that. Why didn't I?

On a shoveling break. Drinking more tea. Trying to get my new top snow over to where backhoe will push it out for me when he comes as promised. I do hope he remembers that promise. I think he will . There is no way I can move the 6 foot + tall pile he has left me at the edge. It is over 30 foot long. I might be ambitious but not THAT ambitious. I have moved a little more than half of it in front of the 42 foot wide carport and garage. And 35 foot out to the road.

Hahahah I want my body to hurry up and feel rested so I can get back out there. I think the snow is going to my brain.

Imhappy sorry the document has gone missing and needs to be brought back to light. I hope you find it soon. Can you go back that far in your internet history?

It would be impossible to find it. I look at a couple hundred documents a day and sometimes the site just bookmarks the site, not all the pages you looked at there. What really makes me crazy is that I know better. I saved everything else I found for her. I thought using that information I could find that Maria's death. I can't even remember where I saw it.

Such a bummer ImHappy. I bet it turns up. But on the internet I have had this happen to me too. I did save the one and only sighting of a page that reunited a young man with his family. Was such a stroke of luck and I did copy paste the whole thing to a document and sent it to him and neither of us were ever able to locate that same page again. Even saving the URL for it at the top of the document.

I am done shoveling for this day. I am afraid if I do more I will not be able to move tomorrow. I pulled the snow away from the house roof vent and cleared that mess. so now all I have to do is in front of the house. It is still a lot to get done. But I am kind of hoping I will be able to use the plow on it. This winter has barely started and so far it is the heaviest snow winter we have had in years. At least it has warmed up some for now. Warm kitty sleeping up against my cold legs. Hot tea in my cup. Not even sure if I will bother with dinner. I could just fall asleep right now.

I hope he remembers too, shades... for your sake!

Wow, you ladies have been very busy! I just discovered it was Tuesday and now it's almost over. Waaaaa. I also lost power but it was at 1:00 this morning. I heard either two or three transformers blowing with a loud explosion and flashes of light. And then it was very dark. I was under a large pile of covers and decided that getting up would not accomplish anything so I said a little prayer that the power would come back on (along with the furnace) and went back to sleep. Eventually I heard it come back on, thank God, but still didn't get out of bed. It was off for about 2-1/2 hours and that was long enough for the house to get cold. I think it was about 14º last night. Not as cold as yours, Shades, and no snow, so now I feel very fortunate. The animals all came in and we snuggled and kept each other warm enough.

I had to go around and reset the clocks. I didn't have my iPhone in my room last night or I would have heard the alerts I got from the power company. But really it wouldn't have made a difference so sleeping through it was much more useful.

Today I went to get the dogs new licenses for next year. I go to the SPCA to get them. It is the closest place. While I was there, I realized that the phone number I have on their identification tags is the number of the home phone I no longer have. I will need to get them new ones soon. They are never out without me, but you never know.

The rest of the day I have been tired. I did make a loaf of banana nut bread. I have a new Pampered Chef stoneware bread pan and the bread stuck to it even though I greased it. Grrrr. Luckily it tasted good no matter what it looks like.

Then for dinner I made chicken thighs and broccoli and cauliflower. It tasted really good and I have leftover chicken. I just took a little nap awhile ago and was hoping to feel less tired, but I do not.

Things are beginning to warm up now which is wonderful. I really hate the cold and the very deep cold even frightens me at times. It can do so much damage. At least the days will start being longer after tonight!! That's a plus!

Murraysmom you also had a busy day. Banana bread sounds so good. Even if not perfectly sliced. Sorry your power went out to. I never heard a noise when my power went out as I was asleep. But maybe it did make noise and wake me. It only clicked when it went off the second third fourth times.

I am finally winding down and getting warm. Time for bed.

Murraysmom, this is the 2nd most appreciated day of the year. June 20 to 21 being the first. I hadn't noticed the dark so much this year. Probably because I started doing chores later in the morning and earlier in the evening. Still a little in the dark but not pitch black.

Yes, my power coop is the most expensive source of electricity but I'll pay it! Since they upgraded our sub station a few years ago it's been much better and lots fewer outages.

They did a big upgrade a few years ago with miles of new lines closer to the highway so there was easier access. Also some re-routing of the transmission so if one area goes out it can be fed by another. I am not at all upset by what happened because we were actually the third house put in. BUT probably at that time the electric company should have upgraded the transformer and the weather would have been nice and warm in the summer. LOL. I am still working on putting away extra window blankets. Not taking all down until I get the sheet curtains sewed and put up behind the pretty curtains. I might get a trip to town tomorrow to get conduit to make rods. YES I am cheep that way and they look great and are strong.

With all the surges of power and extra heat to being the house back up to temp my electric bill for Sunday was 9 dollars. I was afraid it would be much more. It should level out again now. The furnace has not come back on in two days and the house is keeping warm again.

Shoveled some more snow in the drive this morning but they the frost started dropping out of the tree I was shoveling under and it was like I was in a blizzard so I came in to eat some thing and work on cleaning up the house. The sun is trying to come out. Not really shining with blue sky but it is brighter. YES the plow man remembered to push my snow back. A bonus for all my hand shoveling yesterday was to get 6 more inches piled up on that big snow pile and pushed out of my way. And he did not pack in my driveway pushing the big pile because I had already moved the snow over to the pile. All is good. I think i will just finish with the shovel. It is good exercise. I can feel my body toning up. Always a good thing after my big weight loss.

I also noticed the early darkness last night when I was still out clearing snow at 6PM. I would say it was almost totally dark by then. It got me to thinking about the date and now how the days will be getting longer by fractions. Time is flying by so fast.

Guess I best get my breakfast dish washed and me dressed up to go back out for some more shoveling. Feeling pretty good today. not as sore as I expected to be.

Neighbor decided to bring his snow blower by to finish off my shoveling. I told him I was so close to being done. He said he promised his wife. Sooooooo This last storm is cleaned up. This is what I hand shoveled. and you can also see the big pile the backhoe pushed back for me. It was much taller when I got done shoveling yesterday. Sure is pretty out even though it is only 10 degrees. So nice to see the sun.

Now maybe I can get some sewing done today.

That's a lot of shoveling Shades. Be careful. Good that you are taking breaks.

it's very pretty... in your pic. maybe IRL too - if I didn't have to walk in it, drive in it or shovel it... or be cold.

I refuse to shovel that much any more. And it always snows over night so that in the morning there's a foot or more. I don't like coming up with the money at the end of the season but at least I'm still alive at the end of the season!

Well I am hoping I am in better shape for the shoveling effort. Snow removal is not in my budget right now. Hoping the battery takes a charge after being so dead. The trickle charger takes a coupe of days so I was done before it charged. Will get another go of it on Friday. More snow predicted. I might hope they are wrong. Let it snow on the mountain not down here. hoping I will not be needing a new battery. Shoveling was not all that bad.

That is a lot of snow you moved around, Shades! Your positive attitude will stand you well. And it sounds like you get a lot of practice during the season. I am happy that when it snows here, 2" is a big deal. I can't imagine getting large amounts on a regular basis as you do.

Accidents 3 at a time for the past hour. And now they won't let wreckers out to pull them out of the ditch until visibility and road conditions improve.

LL we are getting it here again too. I herd on the scanner even the tow truck was stuck. Darn just heard another slide off on the highway above us about 9 miles. They are squirting off here like there. the snow has let up a little bit so I am heading out to do a round of shoveling on my pathways before they get too deep. OH no just said the last slide off is a delivery truck.

Oh my. Stay safe, ladies!! We are just getting a light rain and will have a pretty warm Christmas. I am not complaining for sure!! I love seeing your pictures, but don't wish for snow any time soon. Travel all across the country is a nightmare. I'm so happy I am home and going nowhere. Be careful out there.

my mechanic took my car on Thurs and replaced the door handle on the driver's side - so no more crawling thru from the passenger side to open it from the inside... he also replaced the motor for the window. so, now I have 1 window that works! awesome! next time he has it in shop he said he'd fix the back window that is stuck half way down...

I went out yesterday to the bank and grocery so I wouldn't have to go out in today's 'day before Christmas' mad house! and it was wonderful to just walk out and open the car door from the outside - like normal people do!

Ha Steph it is the little things some times that give us the most pleasure. So glad your door is fixed. It has been this way a long time.

All is good here. Maybe another 6 inches yesterday and over night. Still shoveling. The plow did start this time with charger on it. That helped a lot. I shoveled in front of the garage last night in the dark but another inch or so fell since then. right now I am leaving that part for last . The wind is blowing pretty hard today. But it is a warm wind at 35 degrees. We have not seen 35 degrees in a long time. Feels almost balmy. LOL

Back to shoveling and dragging snow down off the roof. Roof is engineered for 120 pounds per SQ FT but I still worry and would rather be safe than have the house cave in on me. No one else is clearing their roofs so I guess I am just too cautious.

"it is the little things some times that give us the most pleasure. So glad your door is fixed. It has been this way a long time."

yes shades, it is so often those little things... like a door handle that works! it stopped working back in the summer - I came out of CFA with a sandwich and it wouldn't open! there I was in the AZ heat! until now, when I went in somewhere, I left the door ajar enough that it didn't 'catch' and lock me out. I always wondered if someone would come by and think 'oh, look someone didn't get their door shut... I'd better shut it tight for them...' I always moved the front seat back all the way so that if they did I 'd have room to crawl over that seat again and open from the inside.

yesterday was thrilling - no crawling over the seat, no moving the seat back when I left the car or leaving the door a bit open... it certainly makes doing an errand, going to the grocery a lot easier.

having a door that opens with a handle sure can spoil a person - lol!

be careful out there with all that snow! I bet your roof would be just fine without you getting the snow off - but, I'd be like you too and worry it'd cave in. it's not something I could physically do - part of the reason I moved to AZ years ago was to get away from the snow - I needed the warmer (and dry) weather too.

it's good that you do a little at a time and then rest a spell and get warm before doing more of it.

The wind!! Temp is above freezing but the wind is just awful! If this was snow instead of rain it would be the worst blizzard in history. Tomorrow sounds a little better.

Checked craigslist for treasurers. Must be too soon. Maybe all the gift exchanges aren't over yet.

no, probably too soon for that. some time this week there'll probably be some blankets or sheets or even towels at the Goodwill tho. comforters etc that people didn't like and didn't know where they were bought/have a receipt for.

I didn't even go out today for any candy /Christmas sales. I went out yesterday for batteries. I needed AAA and had AA and 9V.