The sun finally came out yesterday. I shoveled and Don worked the snowblower. Even though the snow was relatively dry and fluffy, there was about 14 inches of it. And the driveway slopes downward to the street, which means the amount of snow down there is much higher. Since the county plows had been up and down our road several times, the mound of snow at the bottom of our driveway was huge. I don’t know how he does it. Our snowblower is really hard to push (I can’t do it on my own.) If we had to do it over again, we’d have purchased something lighter that I could manipulate as well. At one point, a stone got in the blades and the snowblower stopped. Don wasn’t sure if he needed to replace something, so he had to push it back up the drive (with no power). Impossible! So I went down there and we each took a handle and pushed it up the drive together.

Today, I’ll dig the car out. We were both exhausted after all of the cleanup and I can’t say enough about the work Don put in. At some point, we’ll have to hire someone to do this kind of thing and it can’t be a plow because the plows destroy all the gravel on the driveway as they push up (and down) the driveway. It would have to be someone with a snowblower.

Today, we take it easy – except for shoveling around the car.

In the meantime, both of us are waiting for packages that seem to have disappeared within the postal system. Everything with a tracking number has this message: “In transit, arriving late. Your package will arrive later than expected, but is still on its way. It is currently in transit to the next facility.”

In some cases, it’s been “in transit to the next facility” for well over a week. I’m now worried that presents won’t arrive in time for Christmas. I mentioned this on IG yesterday and so many people responded saying they were dealing with the same thing. I’m not blaming the USPS at all, I’m blaming Louis DeJoy, who did his best to hobble the entire system so that Trump could win. Add in a pandemic in which more people are ordering online than ever and you have a big mess.

Forgot to include a photo of the tree in the modern dollhouse. The only houses that don’t have Christmas trees are the vintage houses. They’ll get them eventually.

Okay. Have to go. I asked Don to hold off on recording a song until I finished this post. He asked me to join in on the chorus with some harmony, so I’m going to do a little singing today.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

The good news: we never lost power, thank goodness!

The kind-of-good news: it looks like we got under 20 inches, more likely 16 or 17. It’s not always easy to tell on our property because we are on a hilly plot and the winds tend to pile up more snow in certain areas and less in others. But looking at the birdbath, I’d say 15 or 16 inches. I’ll measure when we get out there later today.

It was snowing when we got up and it finally stopped about an hour ago. It started around 7 pm yesterday. It was windy during the night and every time one of us woke up we listened to make sure our white noise machine was still running. It was.

Don will wait a while to use the snowblower as the wind chill is in the single digits. It’s very, very cold here which makes it difficult to be outside for too long but also made the snow light and fluffy and that’s a good thing.

While we were waiting for the onslaught, I worked on the dollhouse bedroom, cutting the acrylic windows (after several tries, I finally got them right) and painting the window trim, then gluing the trim pieces in. Using pieces from another kit in a house that’s already been constructed can make for frustration!

When I do this kind of thing again, I’ll probably use something a bit less thick than the acrylic – something that I can place against the wallpaper, rather than in the window opening. Having to fit the acrylic inside of the opening in a house that’s already been built is not easy. The only thing I have left to do construction-wise in this room is the baseboards – both in this room and the downstairs. I have to order them.

I’m already thinking about another house. I really want a Beacon Hill but I read all sorts of threads on how difficult it is to build (Greenleaf’s instructions leave a great deal to be desired) and how much sanding, etc. needs to happen. None of this surprises me, as I ran into the same problem with adding missing pieces to this house. Building it myself would be a huge commitment. I’d rather run into one that’s already been built and needs some work. I’ve been looking at other possibilities, as well, but the nooks and crannies and many rooms in the Beacon Hill are what excites me.

We’ll see where I am led.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

This will be on the shortish side as we have to drive to Don’s eye doctor this morning for his shot. We’re supposed to get some snow, so we were debating whether to go or not, but it looks like it will be a rain/snow mix and nothing to worry about. I have to drive Don because we never know what temporary side effects there will be and let’s face it, he doesn’t need to be worrying about driving after getting a shot in the eye.

We’re still seeing 8 – 12 inches of snow on Wednesday/Thursday’s forecast. But I follow some local Hudson Valley guys who really research their forecasts. They consider every model and talk about it in detail – if you’re a weather geek, believe me, these guys are great. They’ve got a huge following. And since the Hudson Valley includes many microclimates, including mountains and valleys, their forecasts are pretty detailed. Anyway, I listened to them yesterday and the fact is – we just don’t know yet. It could veer off to the south of us and head off to the ocean and our area would have much less snow. Or, it could not do that and we’ll be pummelled. There are about three different models and the forecast won’t be firmed up until, most likely, tomorrow. We have a bit of work to do tomorrow in prep, work that would have to be done anyway.

But today is about Don’s appointment and me trying to drink coffee early enough so that I don’t have to pee while waiting outside for him in the car. I’m being honest here. Everything we do involves that calculation nowadays! Last time we went, I was allowed to go inside and take care of business and that office may be the safest place to use the facilities! Every precaution is taken.

Just looked outside and it’s started snowing. Hmmmm. Checking forecast once again.

When I was young, I thought nothing of driving in snow. I wasn’t exactly fearless, but I was relatively unfazed by large amounts of snow coming down and low visibility. I once drove across the state of Michigan with three passengers in my car in the middle of a blizzard in order to go to the wedding of one of our friends. All the way across the state. I once spun out on an on ramp to a major highway in Detroit and ended up facing an oncoming semi. Thankfully, he was driving very slowly – it was snowing heavily – and patiently waited for me to turn the car around.  (That time I was scared.) Don and I drove in one of the worst blizzards in recent memory while staying in Calgary. We were on our way to an inn. As we drove on and on during that endless trip, we saw car after car off on the side of the road, having skidded off the slippery highway. We could barely see. We considered turning back, but would have had the same problem, so we just kept going. Very, very slowly. It took hours. But we made it.

However, we just wouldn’t do that nowadays. We’re much more cautious. It’s not worth it!

Okay, my friends. I hope you’re doing well. I’m just about to drink that second cup of coffee and then it’s off to the eye doctor.

Happy Birthday to my dear cousin, Eileen!

UPDATE: We decided to reschedule the appointment. They were great and understood and it’s now next Tuesday. We just feel better not having to navigate all the winding roads that lead to the bridge crossing the Hudson River.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.