Xanga

Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh! Keep me from stupid sins, from thinking I can take over your work.

Psalm 19:12-13 (The Message)

Eighteen Inches of Snow in Maine

Sunday, January 3

When I woke up Sunday morning and looked out the window near the kitchen table, I noticed there was more snow, and several busy snow plows.

We heard that the area had an accumulated total of eighteen inches during the past few days.

Because of the melting and freezing there were lots of icicles.

A scene from the Myers’ parking area – with my back to the vehicles

Because church was canceled, and the weather was supposed to get above freezing later in the day, I decided to go for a walk and photograph some of the beauty.

Now the previous photo is behind me.

Snow is making Nathaniel smile, because later in the day (Sunday) he was meeting several friends from Pennsylvania, and traveling north another few hours to go snowmobiling. He has two sleds in the trailer behind his truck.

I turned left at the end of their driveway.

They live near the entrance of a dead end road, which was beautiful on Sunday morning.

Looking back toward their house from the railroad tracks.

The railroad tracks were somewhere under the snow.

The tracks from the other side of the bridge.

A neighbor’s unplowed driveway.

It’s a good thing the mailman didn’t have to deliver mail on Sunday.

This old building in the neighborhood looked pretty in the snow.

Back at the Myers’, Hezekiah was shoveling at the end of their driveway.

It was cold, but I could not resist crossing Route 1 and walking east. The first neighbor on the right was creating a pretty scene with his snowblower.

~~~

Tomorrow night: More Sunday Morning Snow Scenes

~~~

May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior give you grace and peace.

Titus 1:4 (New Living Translation)

Snow ~ Food

…and games

Saturday, January 2

By Saturday morning we had eight to ten inches of beautiful snow.

Mark received a last-minute call from Custom Coach and Limousine to take a hockey team from Yarmouth to Kents Hill for a game, and was gone most of the day.

Nathaniel’s red truck and the neighbor lady’s yellow car looked pretty against the white background.

Focusing on the snow in the foreground

Josiah opening the driveway with his truck and plow

Hezekiah removing snow from cars

Josiah checking out the situation

Breakfast juice

Pancakes

After breakfast we played Number Chase.

Josiah watching a video on Elizabeth’s laptop

Hannah sewing a jumper

Playing Hand and Foot

Diane keeping score

Lydia shuffling cards

 By afternoon we were ready for a game that created some adrenalin, so Nathaniel and Abigail suggested Dutch Blitz. That will wake up a body that is getting lethargic! There is not even time to take pictures. We played in teams, and Lydia and I won!

 Abigail and Nathaniel were in charge of making pizza for supper.

 There was pepperoni, barbecue chicken/bacon, hamburger/pepper/onion. Yum!

 After supper some watched a video on the computer, others read, and I blogged.

God is keeping careful watch over us and the future.

1 Peter 1:5 (The Message)

Xanga Friend ~ Snow ~ Stew

…plus Diane’s Birthday and Scum

Friday, January 1

It was great to visit with Michelle (coolmomofeight on Xanga and Michelle Gordon McDougal on Facebook) again on this visit, and catch up on each others lives.

I enjoyed showing her the online scrapbook I made for Lydia ~ from her summer at our house. It was a gift to Lydia during this visit.

We talked about photography, cameras, family, and many other things during her almost two-hour visit.

This snowman looks pretty inside the window as snow begins to accumulate outside.

It was the perfect day to make venison stew, for which I had brought the ingredients. The venison must have settled on the bottom, because none of it shows on this picture. I should have stirred it before taking a photo.  

It was a cold, snowy, New Year’s Day. Snow accumulation, maybe four to six inches.

Elizabeth went to a lot of work to make her mother’s birthday cake. She even made homemade marshmallows.

She baked the cake and made the marshmallow mixture a day or two earlier, then cut the marshmallow into squares after getting home from her job in the photo lab department at Wal-Mart.

Rolling them in confectioners sugar

The finished product was a delicious, rich, chocolate cake.

Diane with her cake

Opening a box of presents from her sister, Deb

Anytime there was a lull in activity on Friday, we played Scum. Scum is a great game to play with a lot of people, with some coming and going, because there is no score.

After each set, you just change positions at the table according to when you got rid of your cards. In this set Mark is the “president” and Diane to his left is “scum.” Diane had to give her best two cards to Mark and Mark had to give his worst two to Diane.

Cerwin is “vice president” and Hezekiah is “assistant scum.” They had to exchange one card ~ best to Cerwin and worst to Hezekiah. The rest of us were just ordinary players, not having to exchange any cards.

You play the game for chair position, having to remember the order in which people get rid of their cards. In this set Mark is president, Nathaniel is vice president, Hezekiah is the first ordinary player, and Abigail is scum. There were probably four or five other players not pictured.

We use Rook cards, but the basic rules can be found here: http://www.brucegourley.com/scumparty/rules.htm

~~~

Next entry: Saturday’s activities and the snowstorm

~~~

So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life.

God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!

Romans 8:12-14 (The Message)

New Year’s Eve in Maine

Thursday, December 31

Everyone was on their own for breakfast, with the exception of Mark, who went to work midmorning to take a busload of people to Connecticut for New Year’s eve.

Cerwin, Diane, Nathaniel, and I met Abigail for lunch at the quaint, little restaurant where she works each morning. The building used to be a barn – thusThe Barn Door Cafe.

Good coffee!

I had a cup of cabbage soup and half a tuna and apple sandwich.

Cerwin had turkey on wheat.

Nathaniel’s sandwich. I think he also had turkey.

Diane had a grilled pineapple, pepper jack cheese, and ham.

We timed our visit to Abigail’s quitting time, so she could join us.

It was just beginning to snow when we left the restaurant.

A view of the snow from the Myers’ enclosed porch.

Cerwin and Hezekiah replaced the carpet at the bottom of the steps.

Lydia made tiny cupcakes and iced them with this delicious chocolate mixture. The cupcakes were to take to a friends house for a New Year’s Eve party.

Someone gave Diane a box of tomatoes that needed to be cooked, so I asked if she would like chunky tomato soup for supper.

The young people only wanted a light meal before going away for the evening, so this soup was perfect, and it was a great way to use about half of the tomatoes.

While the soup simmered, Nathaniel, Abigail, Diane, and I played Blokus.

Nathaniel and Abigail are way too good at this, and left Diane and me in the “dust.” Abigail was the winner of the series of games we played, but only by a small margin.

Diane, Cerwin, and I were the only ones at home for the evening, so we brought in the New Year by playing Hand and Foot.

~~~

Happy New Year

~~~

Jesus said ~ “Come with me. I’ll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I’ll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass.”

Matthew 4:19 (The Message)

Happy Birthday to Our Favorite Diane

Our Oldest Daughter

We Love You!