Christmas was all discombobulated by the blizzard that hit the 23rd through 25th: We'd planned to spend the 23rd with the Marttila family here at the farm, then head to St. Paul where Losures from near and far would gather. With roads treacherous and even closed in all directions, that didn't happen.
So, Plan B: We celebrated in the snowstorm with Mari's family here at the farm, then headed to St. Paul to celebrate Christmas around the New Year's holiday. It all worked out, even with the weather stress!
... The Christmas blizzard was something else. It was slower to arrive than predicted, but it came with a fury when it did arrive. We didn't get as much snow as places further south -- perhaps 10 inches, as opposed to 19 inches in Sioux Falls -- but there was plenty enough to create massive drifts on the roads.
And drifts in front of the door! We cleared this doorway at least four times during the storm; the drift kept coming back. (We'll be working on some type of snow fence for next year.)
Some of the cattle bedded down in the slough, trying to get out of the wind. Randy made several trips to our place during the storm to make sure they had feed and access to water.
And what is this, you wonder? Belle! She refused to come in to stay warm in the addition (while Blue was hard to kick out!) and just bedded down in a snowdrift. Looks cold to me, but she was fine; she was up and running around shortly after the picture was taken.... We had a grand time in St. Paul, as usual when the relatives gather. I took a little video, and (finally!) figured out how to upload it to the blog. This is so typical of a Losure Christmas: Note the variety of activities, the stuff explosion, and the toe-tapping music.
... If you like the music, Dave and Mary are professional musicians -- lessons, performances, even banjo making! Learn more about Flying Pig Fiddle and Banjo here.
... We've been enjoying life in the new house, but we keep running into little issues that show we need to keep working on it: The towels and sheets are spilling out of the linen closet, since we don't have the shelves up yet; it would be nice to have doors on the bedrooms (we noticed this especially when we had Mari's family over for Christmas -- tough to keep quiet enough when the kids went to sleep earlier than that parents did), and we can't keep Erik out of the knee wall spaces without doors on them. And much more, of course. The trick is deciding where to start!
2 comments:
The house is SO quiet now! All that remains is a few scattered chocolates, ham enough for the rest of the winter, and in the basement, Laundry Mountain.
Sigh.
The good times they have come and gone.
Wish we'd been able to be there in person, but we were there in spirit... Happy New Year!
Karen
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