Sissy's back!

Whew!  So much has happened since the snow began on December 18,2009, that I hardly know where to start.

First, the snow continued on the 19th, which was a fabulous birthday present.  In fact, the day I was born was a snowy, icy day so it seemed an appropriate gift from nature.  By the time the snow stopped, we had a foot of the heavy, white stuff.  The men in the neighborhood were frantically shoveling driveways since temps were to drop into the teens and stay there for several days.  It only took "the dear husband" four hours while I begged him to take breaks.  Not a manly thing to stop unless for a beer break with the neighbors.  The county plow didn't get to our road on Saturday, so by Monday afternoon all the plow could do was scrape the top of the frozen road.  I refuse to drive my car on ice and was starting to get antsy staying home.

On Tuesday, I "closed my eyes" and drove down our road.  It was imperative to check on Sister's house in the next town since they were coming for the holidays on Wednesday.  Their drive was ten inches of rock solid snow and the main road had some serious icy spots.  None of this fazed my brother-in-law, who would be parking in their drive, regardless.

Then the holiday fun began with a new tradition, the bountiful dinner on the Eve with sandwiches and snacks on Christmas.  We liked this so much that we plan to keep it.  It is always the best moment ever to have all four of us together and this year was no exception.  By the way, the snow had not melted but at least you could drive.

Remember I received a new saddle for my birthday?  I had ridden in it twice before the snow.  The last day anyone rode at the barn was December 17th and the next time was January 25th.  The HONEY horse has become accustomed to a life of leisure and pampering.  The barn allows all the horses to have some outside time every day unless the weather is too dangerous.  Horses love cold weather, snow, rain and mud.  As the pastures began to thaw, the mud got deeper and deeper.  At one time, Honey was standing in mud up to her knees.  Of course, as soon as the horses are returned to the barn, their legs and hooves are cleaned.  All wear blankets and that helps keep some of the mud off their bodies.  There is not much more disgusting than watching your lovely horse roll like a fat pig in a mud pit.  Honey cannot abide walking through water (yes, this is irritating on a trail.) so to avoid the soupiest, sloggiest mud pit at her pasture gate, she will jump the entire area.  This is the horse who won't jump a log on a trail.  Go figure.  I always take a photo of my horse on New Year's Day and here is The HONEY horse in her icky pasture.

January 1, 2010 and there is still snow on the ground and driveways that did not get cleared on December 19th, are still frozen.  The old saying about snow staying around is waiting for more snow seems to have lost its punch.  Now in the higher mountains, snow is falling every few days and schools are in a quandary about how to operate and where buses can drive.  We understand snow in western North Carolina but you have to know that our mountain roads are not that easy to clear and the necessary equipment is not that abundant.

January 8th, Sister flew to Orlando to participate in a half-marathon at Disneyworld. She finished in 3.24 hours despite  sleet and pouring rain.  Yep, that was in Orlando, Florida.  Her story will follow.

Around this time, I was dragging and thinking I had a mouth ulcer forming.  Unfortunately, I have had these wretched sores my entire life so I keep medicine handy.  Stress (I certainly have none of that), sun, extreme cold, even a cut from a tortilla chip can cause a sore.  When my tried and true methods were not having an impact, I went to the dentist.  His first comment was: "That is repulsive!"  Followed by..."that is not an ulcer, your bone is exposed..."  I had a infection from an upper tooth repeatedly hammering on the jaw.  Two days later, the rogue tooth was removed and I must add that this is the first tooth I have ever had extracted in my life.  Did you know that hematomas (blood clots) can form in the injection site?  That is what happened complete with chipmunk cheek and a lovely bruise. Fortunately, there is now a miracle cream for bruises, Arnica, which is found in health stores/co-ops.  Within a week, the clot was gone and the bruise had slipped under my jaw and could be covered with make-up. This is five days after the extraction.  Cute, huh?

The most annoying part was eating.  I was HUNGRY but trying to open the "good" side wide enough for a fork or spoon was difficult.  Using tiny cocktail forks and spoons did the trick and thank god, wine was still on the menu!

The last week of January, I was trying to make up for lost time with house cleaning, horse visit and generally riding the roads again.  Then, the snow started on the 29th and even though it was only five inches.  The bottom layer was ice and by the evening of the 30th, temps were in the low teens.  In an attempt to be "the good wife", I had found a person who could plow our drive and save "the husband" from that odious task.  The man arrived in a "bobcat" stating that his large 4x4 truck and trailer could not make our mountain road.  When I asked him about the price and discovered it was $210 for the driveway, I managed to control the scream and the blob of profanity that was in the back of my throat. The man thought it was amusing that I had no concept about plowing the drive and I was furious that he was price-gouging.  After stomping inside, I told "the husband" that we would be doing the drive.  Of course that was the "royal we" and meant he would be shoveling and I would be baking gingerbread and sipping hot tea.  Two hours later, the drive was clear and the road was still covered and frozen.

Okay, enough kvetching but now you have an idea of why I just couldn't get it together for the blog.  Two photos from Saturday's snow...Mr. Cardinal and cat prints.  Abbi loves snow and had fun skidding and jumping in snow that had blown into the sunporch.  Those tiny prints are hers, too.