Took a nap yesterday afternoon around 4:30. Fell asleep around 5:00 and didn’t wake up until 12:30 this morning. Whoops! I came out to the living room and watched the almost full moon shine down on the freshly fallen snow. It was a magical and beautiful sight.
I finally took a hot bath and went back to bed around 5:00 and slept until 7:00. It was wonderful to get a good night’s sleep.
I walked down to checked on the chickens this morning. I am grateful for my insulated overalls and knee high muck boots. I walked in snow drifts that went above my knees on the way down. The wind was blowing hard and the snow was blowing all around. I was exhausted by the time I got back up to the house when I was done.
The chickens were all huddled up together keeping each other warm. They had plenty of food. I filled their water container. I picked up seven eggs while I was down there. I will go back down later this afternoon and gather the rest of the eggs.
The wind has finally slowed down a bit and the snow isn’t blowing and drifting so badly. There is water dripping off my roof line so things are melting a bit. It will take a while to get rid of all the snow as we got almost 8 inches. I hadn’t seen this much snow for a long time. It is beautiful but I will be glad when it is gone.
I don’t have to go anywhere tomorrow. Trusting by Tuesday afternoon when I need to go to Emporia the snow will have melted enough that I can get my car out without having to shovel. We shall see how that works out. It is to be 36 tomorrow and 38 Tuesday so maybe things will melt down a bit.
I have a big batch of Chex Mix baking in the oven. My kiddos love that stuff. I got lazy and didn’t make them any for Thanksgiving this year. They will each get a gallon bag of it for Christmas. It is so nice inside today that I needed to get started making Christmas treats. It is a good day to have the oven on. I’m not hungry this afternoon so this is a good time to make Chex Mix and get it put away without me getting in to it. I love it, especially when it is warm out of the oven. Unfortunately it doesn’t like me as much as I like it. I usually don’t eat grains and that is what Chex Mix mainly is.
Wondering if the window guys will show up tomorrow. They are going to have to shovel snow out of their way to put in windows if they come. I wouldn’t mind if they didn’t show up. There is no rush to get the windows in as the EFIS guy can’t come until it warms up and stays warm for a week or so. If they delay putting the windows in this week, that will be one less week the house will be open to the elements before the EFIS guy can come.
It is to be clear again tomorrow so may try to get a batch or two of fudge made. I need a sunny day to make it and the forecast is showing lots of cloudy days ahead for this week. For some reason, the fudge turns out better when I make it on a sunny day than it does when I make it on a cloudy day. Same thing for peanut brittle. Anyone else ever notice that?
One day this week will be chocolate day. I make peanut butter balls, ritz crackers treats, and pretzels and have to dip them in chocolate. It is easy but takes lots of time and patience. Somedays I can manage that and some days not. It felt too much to take on for me today. One day this week I will get those done.
The dogs are loving this cold weather. I turned the heat lamp on that is in their box in the garage but haven’t seen either one of them come in and get under it. They also have a heated mat in their box. Roxy usually sleeps in it during the night on cold nights. She doesn’t allow Sophia in the box very often. Ellie, the cat is allowed in it and will sleep with Roxy when Ellie doesn’t come in the laundry room at night.
It feels good to have lots of empty space on my calendar for the next week or two. Christmas is less than two weeks away and I am in good shape for it. When I go to town Tuesday, I will get the last couple of things I need and once those things are wrapped I will be done with shopping. I have plenty of time to get the Christmas treats made without rushing. I don’t remember ever being this ready before. Feels nice and lots less stress for me.
I do need to go by a bank Tuesday and get the right size bills for our Christmas games. I need to get them sacked up and the games finished up so they will be ready. I have the rest of the stuff I need for the games on my grocery order I will pick up Tuesday.
I got the name of another insurance agent today so will give them a call tomorrow and get a second bid. I need to call the people that I gave information to last week and see where they are and what questions they still have. I have almost two months before I need new insurance and I want to get it nailed down soon. I anxious to see how much it is going to be.
I have gotten my property tax bills from Lyon County but I haven’t gotten the ones from Chase County yet. They should be here this week. It doesn’t feel right to have to pay them in December along with Christmas. My house insurance is due in January so I alway get a triple whammy with property taxes, Christmas and insurance back to back to back.
I will be working on a mailing for Pioneer Bluffs sometime either this week or more likely next week. When I know for sure when it will be ready I will put out a call for help. It is always more fun to do when there are more hands working on it. It never takes too long and it is good to be of service to them in this small way.
I wonder if my solar panels can generate electricity with snow on them. I have no way of getting on top of the barn to brush the snow off of them. Hoping the snow will melt quickly up there and the panels can help me save some dollars on my electric bill. Winter is the usually the only time I have to pay more than the minimum electric bill as there are lots more cloudy days in the winter time then there are in the summer time. There is lots less daylight during the winter months due to the shorter days too. The solar panels have been a great investment and I have been very pleased with them.
I was able to stay above the neutral level on the consciousness chart yesterday, even being around people for several hours. It is easy to remain high when I am home alone – it is being around lots of people that usually can pull me down. Getting organized for Christmas and eliminating stress around that helps keep my level high too.
Grateful for the beautiful sight of the moon on the fresh snow last night, grateful for lots of sleep last night, and grateful for the delightful smell in the house this afternoon from the Chex Mix cooking.