WTH?

She got me hooked on Downtown Abbey and now the hot sister dies? You've got to be kidding.

Hard Labor

 I brought a second truck full of wood home today from the giant tree I cut up last weekend.

 Now I have to cart it all the way down to the wood pile and stack it.

 All this to relax in front of a fire for a few hours-if it ever gets cold enough for a fire.

Wishful Thinking

I know it has been warmer than usual again this winter.

I've been hoping for a least a night or two of cooler temperatures and maybe a few flakes.

 I've got a lot of wood to use up and even more on the way tomorrow. Whatever happened to winter?

Proof

 That's me in the Bay. Daughter had some photos on her phone, thank goodness. I went farther in than my ankles but I didn't stay in for long.

Coming out is always the hardest part. It was cold. Damn cold.

2013: In with a Bang

 I didn't think I would be spending the first of the year figuring out how not to be knocking holes in walls to unstop a clogged up drain from the washing machine. One flooded basement was enough.

 I also spent a lot of time figuring out where all these pipes go.

 My new snake came in very handy.

 It seems the drain in the back of the machine was filled with hair and lint.

 I knew I was getting somewhere when I could see water draining into the septic tank.

Now how do I keep this crud from clogging it all up again?

Taking the Plunge

This year has not been off to a great start. First, I spent New Year's morning trying to snake out the blocked drain that caused the basement flood-with no luck. Then She drops the camera and loses all the pictures of the my annual winter dip in the Bay.

She has me coming out but not going in.

She catches the last of the swimmers beating their hasty retreat but not me.

She saves the photo of Daughter and Hubby looking on as the last few people make it to shore....

 ...and a shot of random folks taking pictures. I am pretty sure their cameras worked. They probably have shots of me in the water.

Of course we have the one of me posing by the Christmas tree-but no proof that I actually got in the water. You'll have to take my word for it. I did and it was damn cold.

Ringing in the New Year

We spent New Year's in Georgetown with Daughter and Hubby.

I had been looking forward to this all day. We were to leave to go out at 4:30 and at 3:45 the washing machine decided to back up all over the basement making a giant mess that hours later, we are still in the process of cleaning up. I should have asked for a couple more of these to go.

Dinner was great. There was a guy in a tux right across from us. I should have worn mine.

After dinner the family convinced me to go skating. I didn't do too bad. I can get around in a circle with the best of them-just don't ask me to stop.

At least this time I didn't need to hang onto one of these.
Happy New Year!