Snow study

This is the latest study. I thought I had better get the snow one out of the way since I knew I wouldn't be able to make myself paint snow during the spring or summer. I included 2 photos this time because whenever I do a close-up, the colors look odd.

Looking for a picture

I'm looking for a picture of Grandma and Grandpa Strong's old house. I've been though all my photos and surprisingly, I don't have one. Any shot will do, but ones where you can see at least some of the front side would be best. Also ones that have some of the garden or yard in it too would be nice, but I'll take whatever you've got. You can email them to me if you're able to find anything at misstrong@gmail.com. Thank you to anyone who can help!

The last 4 days

Removing the plaster and lathe...no child labor laws here. We like to call it 'character development'

A before picture. I'd like to draw your attention to the lovely mustard yellow trim bequeathed to us by the previous owners.

Plaster and lathe, kitchen cabinets, and ceiling joists now gone.

New ceiling joists in place.

You may be wondering how we are managing with our kitchen torn apart. Well, we've been cooking in the crockpot on the table, the oven when it isn't covered in rubble, and storing our dishes in a plastic tote that we keep under the high chair, and at times we rinse the dishes in the bathroom sink. It's interesting.

Bedroom before and after

We installed a new window, fitted the closet with new shelves, and put a door on the closet. We're not going to put in new carpet until we're all through remodeling. Now on to the kitchen!

Unbelievable, but true

David's boss just called to tell us the funniest story yet from the ER. Apparently a car pulled up to the ER entrance, honking wildly. One of the staff ran out to find that it contained a family, with the wife driving and the husband in the passenger seat. The husband had the window down with his arm hanging out, and in a panic said that he didn't have a pulse, and to check his arm. The staff, trying not to laugh, checked and not surprisingly, found a pulse. The man then replied that he must have saved himself because he had been doing CPR on himself in the car the whole way over.

You'll be interested to know that the man was not drunk.

I love rural America.

Visits

We had a visit from Mom White and Holly on Tuesday...

...and a visit from Dad, Mom, and Erik on Wednesday.


Are we really that boring?

Winter Fun

It was really cold last week, with highs between 14 and 18 degrees. Finally it warmed up to 30, and we went outside as fast as we could. We miss summer.


Our Christmas tree had an unfortunate accident. The stand had a crack in it, and leaked water every time we watered the tree. The water soaked through the carpet and saturated the old hardwood floor underneath, causing the boards to swell and slowly buckle upwards. We thought the tree was leaning because the kids kept pulling on the ornaments. Luckily, no one was under the tree when it fell.