Tuesday's Series of Unfortunate Events!

Well, it started out like any 'ol winter day on Ruckle...left the house for work with 6 inches of new snow that appeared overnight, it was snowing hard, and the forecast was for a lot more snow during the day. Typical...and no I'm not bragging!

We wondered how the drive home would be all day since the County had not made it out yet to plow the 6 inches of new plus the 3 inches from the day before. It snowed and rained in town all day...which made me a bit nervous as to whether we would make it back up the driveway.

I decided to pick up some dinner in town since we'd be busy moving snow...which in hind sight was an excellent idea! =-) Then I set out for Summerville. Half way home I noticed OTEC was out working...as I got closer I realized that the powerpole they were working on was at almost a 45 degree angle. I figured that couldn't be good! Then I noticed that several sections of powerline were drooping on the ground. Again, can't be good. As I look north towards home, it was absolutely dark. No power for miles. This is where picking up dinner in town came in handy....

We both got home about the same time. And we both made it up the driveway through the 12 inches of slush/snow. I was home first and was pushing snow with my bumper, but the UPS truck had broken track for me. I had a little time before Steve got home to round up candles, matches, and some oil lamps. And we ate a nice 'romantic' dinner by candlelight. =-)

After dinner, we went out to start moving snow. Steve was going to try to blow the wet slush/snow with the snow blower on the tractor and I was going to try to shovel the sidewalk, decks and down around the barn and pumphouse. Steve attempted to fire up the tractor, but the battery was dead (again). However, we had no power, so he couldn't hook up the charger/starter. So he thought he might be able to jump the tractor with the pickup. This is about the time I went to shovel...things were getting a little to tense.

Steve pulled the pickup over to the tractor and I went to shoveling. He was working on the pickup/tractor situation for a while. I had enough time to just about finish shoveling out down at the barn and pumphouse when I noticed the tractor wasn't running and the pickup was stuck. Perfect! I kept shoveling!

Steve 'played' with the tractor a bit more and then decided either something major was wrong or he just wasn't getting enough juice from the pickup to jump it. Either way, it wasn't going to get fixed that night. So Steve started digging the pickup out. After a lot of digging, he was able to drive the pickup out and park it up towards the house. We finished shoveling off the sidewalk and decks together. We finished about 8 pm and then went back in the house to relax.

We got our power back on about 2 am this morning...

Isn't the snow pretty!

Let It Snow, let it snow, let it snow...

...as if we have a choice! This time of year I am reminded of an email that went around a while ago about diary entries from a guy who lived where it snowed a lot. When he first starts out in early winter he refers to the snow as beautiful, lovely, and other nice descriptors. As winter progresses, he begins to change his mind about the snow and how 'lovely' it is. By the end of the winter refers to it as 'that white shit.' I can relate! I've noticed that the longer we live on Ruckle, the quicker our snow turns into that white shit! =-)

I think the dogs are still loving it though...

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

It's Baaacck...

Well, sounds like our feline visitor is back. Earlier this summer Dot chased it out of our driveway, but it sounds like it may be back and has been cruising the 'neighborhood.' I got a phone call yesterday from my neighbor saying her husband had talked with the government trapper and that the trapper had spent six hours looking for a cat that had been reported. However, one of my other neighbors asked the trapper to leave his property, so the little kitty is still roaming around.

I always figured we have cougars around the house from time to time because of where we live. Knowing there is one around makes me even more cautious after dark! The good news is...thanks to my husband's handy man skills, we have a 'cougar-proof' kennel (although the name hasn't been tested yet!) for Alli and Kita. However, Dot still sleeps in a travel kennel on the front porch. And as for the cats...well, let's just say if Gizzy doesn't come home at night, I won't lose much sleep over it. =-) And hopefully the cougar doesn't go after the horses...'cause then the fight will be on!

Burning my turkey

A friend of mine convinced me to attend the annual 'Turkey Burn' at the local athletic club. It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We went and participated...30 minutes of spin class, 30 minutes of body buff, 30 minutes of kick boxing and 30 minutes of yoga. I must admit that the spin class was way harder and more intense than I anticipated. I think it was cruel and unusual punishment to start out with that one at 0900! So by the time kick boxing came around, I was dead, so I sat it out. By the end of the four sessions, I truly felt like I had burned my turkey and I didn't feel bad for eating all that great food at Thanksgiving!

P.S. I am not nearly as sore as I thought I might be!

Blessings...

I am constantly reminded of the blessings in my life. There are many things that I am thankful for...family, friends, faith and good health. Today on my way into work I was blessed with another beautiful sunrise. I couldn't resist, so I took some pictures to share...yes, I did stop the pickup first! =-)

I'm hooked!

My husband took me steelhead fishing yesterday at the Glory Hole. I'd never been, but he invited me to go. So I went. The weather cooperated fairly well, it was pretty warm and only drizzled on us. We had a great day!

So there we was...my husband was explaining some of the finer techniques to fishing for steelhead. I threw out my first cast and worked on those very techniques he had just talked about. That's when I realized there is more to it than I first thought and at the rate I was headed, I'd be lucky to even get a bite. But I was okay with that...or at least I thought I'd be!

We had been fishing for a half hour or so, when I got my first bite. I set the hook, and before I knew it, I had a fight on the other end of the line. I yelled at my husband to let him know I thought I had a fish on. He came over and helped me bring it up on the bank. It was a 26 inch hatchery steelhead. That's when I knew I was hooked on steelhead fishing! We took some photos, took care of the fish, and went back to fishing. I put my next cast close to the same spot as the previous one and hooked a 23 inch hatchery fish. I figured I'd limit out in a hurry if I kept bringing them in like this!

However, it didn't work quite like that. It slowed a bit for me, but my husband starting bringing them in. He landed a nice 30ish inch wild steelhead first. I say 30ish because I got carried away and broke the line for him and the fish got away before we could actually measure it. Oops! Then he brought in 2 more wild fish, both smaller than the first. He was able to land a 23 inch hatchery fish finally. Made him a little happier that he was able to finally keep one.

By the time we left, my husband had caught 4 wild fish, 1 hatchery fish and lost his hook/line on another fish before he could bring it on the bank. I had caught 3 hatchery fish, 1 wild fish, and lost a hook/line on one, and lost my entire leader on another before I could get them on the bank. We were able to bring 4 home!

It was an awesome day! I'd go again if he'll have me!! =-)