Sunday 29 December 2013

Pioneer Christmas 2013

We have had a very memorable Christmas this year.  On The morning of December 23rd following an ice/snow storm the power went out at our house...and almost every other house in our community.  At first it was kind of quaint so we brought lots of wood in for our wood stove and lit some candles and spent the evening playing cards and board games.  
The following day (Christmas Eve) I checked the power company website and it was estimated that our power would be restored at 10 pm that night.  We were disappointed that there would be no Christmas lights but we had pizza that I had made earlier and we cooked it in the oven of our wood stove and had our normal Christmas Eve party with relatives visiting in our house lit with candles.  Because we have our own well and our pump is electric...no power means no water.  Thankfully there is a fresh spring near our house so Scott and the boys took our truck and filled many 5 gallon pails with fresh water for drinking, heating on the stove for washing dishes etc, and additional water to fill the back of the flushes so that our bathrooms were still useable (but not the bath or shower).


We went to bed Christmas Eve hopeful that the power would be on for Christmas morning.  What we didn't know was the damage from the ice/snow was so severe that power crews working around the clock were barely making progress.  Many homes had electricity as their only source of heat so those homes were in danger of having their water pipes freeze and break, and people desperately tried to set up portable propane heaters to try to keep warm and prevent damage.  We were warm at our place with 2 wood stoves but we had to empty all food from our fridge and freezers and move it outside in coolers to prevent losing it.  Luckily my in-laws had the power restored to their house for Christmas Day so we went there for supper and showers.  
The phone lines were also down because of the ice covering all the wires so cell phones (only able to be charged in cars) were the only way to communicate.  As the third day with no power stretched on our local volunteer fire department went door to door to over 500 homes to make sure everyone was ok.  They set up warming shelters at the local fire department that had a generator for power.  It was so eerie to drive around our town and every home to be in darkness with no Christmas lights or street lights only the glow of candles or lanterns inside the houses.
By the fourth day with no power...and the power company website reporting that power could possibly not be restored for another 5 days, I was really upset.  I thought I was quite resilient but it just felt so ominous and with darkness coming at 5 pm the nights were long.  Strangely Facebook became the way people in the community kept up to date with the changing situation. People who had their power restored offered their homes to anyone who needed showers or a place to warm up.  People with wood cook stoves baked turkeys for Christmas dinners...some were even cooked on barbecues.  Finally our power came back on December 27th at 1 am.  I was so relieved I sat down and had the biggest glass of red wine ever to celebrate.  There is another storm forecast for Monday so I am crossing my fingers that we don't lose power again.  In spite of the problems the weather has caused it is so beautiful outside with all the snow and ice.  We will definitely never forget this Christmas.

Thursday 19 December 2013

Definitely a White Christmas around Here

We have had 2 storms in a week and really it couldn't get any Christmasier(is that a word)?


I can't even complain about shovelling the path as the snow was so light and fluffy.

My main problem with winter is I hate driving on snowy roads.  But I can't complain too much as I've been spending long days in my little yellow pottery studio and as you can see, it's not too far from the house.


Now with the last pottery orders sent on their way, I've closed up my studio until the New Year and am busily trying to get some last minute Christmas preparations done.  Oh and next year....I'm going to start knitting Christmas gifts much, much earlier than December (yeah right).

Wednesday 18 December 2013

Yarn Along December 18, 2013

 
Joining with Ginny today for Yarn along where you post a picture of what you are reading and what you are knitting.  These heart mittens will be tucked into a gift for my youngest son's girlfriend.  You have to be nice to these girlfriends as they just may end up as your daughter in law! It is just a basic mitten pattern with a little heart added from a free heart chart I found on Ravelry.  The book "The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison is our book club's January selection...I hear it is very suspenseful but I've just started it so we'll see!

Tuesday 10 December 2013

10 on 10 December 2013

Joining with Rebecca today for 10 on 10 where you snap 10 pictures throughout the day.

Suddenly the Christmas season is here so today was spent tidying up the house and decorating.



# 1 Our old barn
#2 My mother went to her attic today and gave me these 1960's Christmas balls...I remember putting these on the tree when I was young


#3 The last pottery order before Christmas went into the kiln today

#4 A bit of snow made the outdoor lights look festive

#5 Love this little gnome

#6 Windowsill over the kitchen sink all decorated

#7 There is an old Kmart price tag still on one of these boxes...how much...88 cents!

#8 New sock yarn

# Giant egg

#10 Yellow door




Friday 6 December 2013

Recap

So it's been awhile....I'm going to give you a quick recap of the last 2 weeks around here;
Cameron came home for the weekend to celebrate his 22nd birthday, yikes that is how old I was when he was born.

Both sons and their girlfriends spent one evening making gingerbread houses.

We played crokinole ?  Have you heard of it..or is it a Canadian thing? It's fun..and oh so competitive.

The finished gingerbread houses...they lasted one day until the dog stole two off the table and ate them while I was working in my studio.

My aunt and I and the husbands went to Freeport, Maine for a weekend of Christmas shopping.

I made some new soap to honor Movember.

This is the extent of my Christmas decorating so far.


The weather was beautiful and so warm...

Then the following day I woke up to this....which is also beautiful but not warm.

My studio looks like this as I frantically try to get the last of the ?Christmas orders shipped out.  On that note I was at an art sale last weekend at a nearby university and a woman was browsing my pottery mugs...she liked the owls, birds, and bunnies I carve into my pottery..then as she was leaving she said..."I can't believe you don't do anything with platypus"! Seriously?  Are platypus the new owl?  So funny, my sister and I cracked up.  What's happening in your part of the world