January 30, 2017 A Solution Presents Itself

A card I made for Elsie. . .

. . .and another one.

Rime crystals hanging from
the fence on Sunday.

Friday 1/27. Fog, with a high of 28.  And more fog in the forecast for all weekend.  I guess that says it all. . .

Saturday 1/28. It was 22 this morning and we were encased in fog again.  You can almost see the rime crystals growing.  They are really quite fascinating and quite beautiful.  Not nearly as sturdy as ice crystals, as they disintegrate with the slightest breath or movement of whatever surface on which they have formed.

It was another slow, sleepy day.  It feels as though the fog has begun to seep into my brain. . .

However, I did bake Toll House chocolate chip cookies for our son for his birthday.  I will give the box of them to Elsie to mail when they come up, and hopefully they will arrive in Alabama in larger pieces than crumbs.

We had expected them to come up on Sunday or Monday, but when we had our 7:00 pm radio call, Elsie said, "Don't get your jammies on.  We are leaving for your place in 25 minutes!"  They arrived just before 8:30 and had plowed most of the way up.  They brought up all our mail, Miss Kitty's spare tire, a huge box we had ordered from Emergency Essentials, and some groceries that Elsie had bought for us.  And on top of that, she brought a little bag of Ghirardelli chocolates for me!  What a friend!

We had a great visit (as usual) and while talking of our plans to buy just a small refrigerator, Larry suggested that we also buy an ice maker.  That way we would have ice for our outside "ice box."  What a great idea!  Just like so many other things in my life that have pointed to us living Up Here, there was an old ice box with the original door on it in our first apartment when we got married.  It wasn't working and was used as a cupboard, but I loved it.  So now we had one in the first place we lived, and we will have one in the last one.

Larry said in driving up our road it was obvious that a large elk had been using the road and bedding down in a few places along it.  How cool!  He had such a big smile on his face all the time they were Up Here.  He has been having problems with their SnoCat for several years, but now has it fixed and running perfectly.  He and JB drove up around the south ridge, and he planned to plow the road on their way down.  He said that two or three more trips with the plow, and we should be able to drive Miss Kitty down and back.

Sunday 1/29. Elsie's birthday began with a temp of 20 and the ever-present fog.  I had given Elsie her gift last night and had her open it.  I spent most of the month making cards for her (crafting).  Last year I took a lot of pictures around their place, so I printed out the best of them on cards in grey scale.  Then I colored them in with colored pencils and added ribbon and other decorations.  I was very pleased with the way they turned out, and she seemed to be also.

We enjoyed a lovely, lazy morning reading papers and magazines.  Pretty much got nothing else done all day.  Sometimes one can get overwhelmed with what is going on Down There, but we had lots comics and crossword puzzles, too.  Elsie had saved most of the local papers for us.

The sun finally won the competition today, and we had bright blue sky early in the afternoon with a high for the day of 34.  The low valley fog never did clear up though.

One of the items in our mail was a package containing slippers that I had ordered on line.  They were exactly what I was looking for and only $10 with no shipping charge.  I don't usually purchase footwear unless I can try it on, but the price was right.  They fit perfectly.  However, they shipped directly from China!!  I bought them from a New Chic ad on Facebook.

The moon was on its downward swing this evening as I sat in the loft and wrote my blog.  Each time I looked up, it was closer to the horizon.  Just a small slice, but I could actually see the whole outline.  Just another perk of not being in the midst of city lights.

Monday 1/30. It is 28 this morning with mostly blue skies and NO FOG!  The sun is on the mountains already.  A little earlier each day.  Prayers would be welcome for my Aunt Nene as she is having a rough time of it.

Thought for the day: Imagination is more important that knowledge.  Knowledge is limited, but imagination encircles the world.  Albert Einstein