Five Shadows

Greetings faithful readers! And Belated Christmas Wishes to all! I’m still behind on things due to the ice storm that hit here last week. Our power was out for four and a half days. We could still communicate to the world by our cell phones. On the second day we went to my husband’s office to warm up, but then power went out there too! What a surprise to suddenly be sitting in total darkness. We had flashlights with us, as we would be returning to a dark house. So we packed up and headed out. A generator did power a light at the end of the hallway as we headed to the door.

Back at home, my husband was able to hook up a small generator, (Thanks Denny!) lent to us by a friend, to power our gas furnace. For the next three days, we would warm up the house a bit in the morning, cook breakfast on the gas range, and then turn off the generator and head to some warm public place – like the library or mall. Then in the evening we would return home and once again heat up the house, light the antique oil lamps, and play games and drink hot chocolate. Then turn the furnace/generator off again and head to bed with extra blankets and quilts. It would be in the 40s by morning and we started the whole routine over again. By day five, the kids got home around 8 p.m. and sent a text message saying, “Power!”. What a wonderful word! It was so nice to drive home and see the Christmas tree lights on and to step into a warm house!

Even with the inconvenience of no power for a few days, the ice on the trees was beautiful. My daughter took the pic.

I’m looking through pictures my son took while in Sweden this summer. And they have me thinking of the next swap, Shades of Sunshine, I must get busy on as it is due later this month.

I just had my first lesson on importing photos to iPhoto. DH showed me how to enhance and then save them in their proper folder. So here is a test run – with the photos out of order. I’ll have to work on that… The first photo is of two of the guys digging post holes. The second shows the pickets being screwed in place. Third,  the first picket going up. And the last photo is of a vertical post taken out while the post hole is dug deeper. The young man is acting as the “post.” We are such a funny group! The privacy fence is being built around an equipment yard at a camp for inner city children. My daughter wrote and won a grant through Youth as Resources. She used the grant money to purchase the materials for the fence. Each step through the grant process has been a wonderful learning experience for her. She is the young lady in the blue hoodie.