Well, it is Sunday, February 6 and we are still here! Last week, as many of you know and many of you experienced, we had a tremendous snowfall. We measured 18" in 24 hours at our house north of Columbia, Missouri. Spent the day Tuesday keeping the deck cleared for the dogs, keeping our "bridge" to Charlie's shop cleared and keeping our path to the woodpile as free of snow as we could.
In the midst of the fun, our son's house sold! All of us were amazed and pleased that it sold so quickly! I guess if your home is well-built and the right buyers come along, you are good to go. All that is left is the inspection which will take place as soon as the driveway is cleared. Amazingly, the gal who sold them their home sold over 70 homes last year even though the market was down. She's just a super competent/confident businesswoman!
My husband, Charlie & I (he is responsible for 95%) shoveled our 150-foot long driveway as the man who normally does our plowing had a problem with his hydraulic system. Suffice to say, we have a single-lane driveway now with a small turn around at the end point which is in front of the Jeep. I have a Pathfinder and Charlie has a Jeep - thank goodness fir 4-wheel drive!
What did we do to pass the time? Well, for starters we made sure our oil lamps were filled and our wood supply was dry. Although we have a conventional heating system, we knew that if the furnace went out (which can always happen in a storm like we had), we would need to rely on our trusty wood stove for heat, cooking, and hot water. Fortunately, none of this came to pass. We sure enjoyed the wood stove anyway.
Charlie worked on canoe paddles (ThetisPaddles.com). He makes and sells canoe paddles with bamboo blades. They're very popular. I read and sewed. Got a new machine a month or so ago and am taking classes to learn the digitizing software I purchased with it so I can created and digitize my own designs. My goal is to "do" a picture of Jason & Katie's new home by next Christmas. I am confident that I will be proficient enough by then to carry out the design. For those of you who sew, I got a Bernina 830. Love it and am happy to report that, just as their motto says, "nothing sews like a Bernina, nothing." The "funest" part of all was that on the day I purchased my machine I had been attending a day-long Bernina event at my dealer's store in Barnet, MO. The event was held for two days with a drawing for a Bernina 210 (entry-level machine) being the grand prize. Well, much to my surprise, I won the 210! I waited to claim it until I started digitizing software class as his shop is about an hour away and I couldn't see the point of driving all that way just to pick up the machine. My granddaughter is the recipient of her first Bernina.
The shop is Top Stitch Sewing in Barnet, Missouri. It is owned by a Mennonite man and is staffed by Mennonites as well. When you walk in his shop, you are greeted by people who are warm, patient, and so kind and very very knowledgeable about all of the machines they sell (Bernina, Tin Lizzy)! Well, Timothy is the largest Bernina dealer in the state and this man is the best salesman I have ever had the pleasure to know. That is how I ended up with an 830!
Great snowstorm! Lovin it and really enjoyed staying home last week. The University of Missouri was closed Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday - unheard of! Took good advantage of the time to do the things I like to do but never seem to have enough time to do.
Hope any of you who also weathered the storm enjoyed it as much as we!
