More baby pics

Here's a few more pictures from yesterday. Tomorrow I'll get some more of Keigan, and some new ones of Chloe.

New Grand-daughter

Here's the most recent addition :) Baby Keigan Marie Cline weighed 7 lbs 0 oz and was 20" long. Mom and baby are doing great!

After the snow

Once the snow starts melting, it starts to look pretty ugly.

The icicles are beginning to melt.

It's dripping so hard it sounds like rain hitting the roof.

Every once in a while, a big slab of ice falls to the second roof, making a loud thud and the dogs bark like the booger man is up there.

Tonight and tomorrow, we're supposed to get more snow, but also freezing rain. I love the snow, but hate the ice, so I hope we don't get freezing rain.

Snow Day

I love the way snow covers everything, including the junk, lol. Makes it all look so much prettier. Hides all the work needing to be done.

Garrison stayed at Cody's in anticipation of a snow day today, they had plans to go sledding and riding four-wheelers in the snow. I stayed home from work, got most of what I needed to get done yesterday and figured it's not worth the risk to get there for non-urgent business.

It's not so deep that I can't get out if I have to, though, and I'm waiting to see if Gab's going to go into labor now just because it'll take longer to get to the hospital.

Imminent Grand-daughter update

Word from the doctor this morning is that Gab is dilated 2 cm and 50% effaced. Keigan ought to be here soon :)

Lessons

Well, no. He didn't put the pipe clamp on tight enough. Yesterday the tank was overflowing. This morning, it's empty. And the plug was on the ground.

Sometimes suffering inconvenience makes learning something have a little more sticking power. He's not happy about not being able to take a shower tonight, either. I'll bet the pipe clamp is tight now.

One Small Step

Today Zack got home early and put a plug into the end of the water line. It's all frozen still, but at least by now the tank should be full (because it's been frozen from the tank down and unable to flow out the cracked end once it froze solid) and by tomorrow when hopefully the sun will warm the ground enough, it'll defrost and we'll have our water back by the time I come home from work tomorrow night.

So, I know it's not a major plumbing job, but it was a tremendously necessary one and a first step for Zack in learning to make a repair on his own. The real test will come when the water comes back in. I think there's almost 90 lbs of pressure at that point when the tank is full, so hopefully he put the pipe clamp on tight enough so it doesn't blow the plug out.

Later we'll put a valve in so we can cut off the water after the house and before the shed.

Reluctant Morning

This morning is one of those kind, upon which seeing first light the first things I think is Ugggggggh! Maybe it's just a bad dream.

A few seconds later, another peep from half-shut lids, and the truth is revealed. It's not. It's real. And I do have to get up.

It was nearly midnight when I quit working on my powerpoint presentation.

Around 3 a.m. the trickle of water I'd left running in my sink went silent. Having gone to sleep through the noise of water falling into a bowl, the sudden quiet woke me. The realization of why I woke led to checking all the faucets to see that indeed, they were all keeping mum.

At 4:30 a.m. Snippy started letting me know he'd eaten his last stem of hay and he was cold and wanting more. Horses can be very loud when they want, did you know?

It's nearly 10*F outside, but at least this time I can see better than I could at 4:30. Now I can find out if the broken and steadily draining the tank nozzle at the end of my water line is frozen solid, too.

Horses Retrieved

One part of the weekend's goals have been met. Zack got both of the horses home yesterday. But I have the wrong parts for repairing the water line, so that will have to wait. It's only leaking a little, I just wanted to get it taken care of before the weather turned so cold.

This morning, it is already so cold.

Blustery is a good word for today's weather. The wind is gusting and it's below freezing.

Cold Weather Coming

Well, it looks like we'll need to get all the outdoor work we need to have done all finished on Saturday.

That means horses retrieved, hay brought up and the leak at the end of the water line repaired pretty much all done on one day's time. Getting the horses home could take a few hours, and if things don't go right with the water line issue (we are inexperienced water line repair-ers), that could too. Especially if I don't have the right parts and need to run into town.

Zack and I are working Friday so nothing can be done until Saturday anyway. Loretta will be working Saturday, so that means either I or Zack will be taking care of Chloe... which means either Zack or I will be getting all that stuff done with Garrison to help.

Tomorrow he'll pick up propane bottles and I'll bring up a load of hay after work.

Sunday it's supposed to get fairly cold, with wind chill near or below zero by Sunday night. Or at least that's what it said last time I looked at the forecast. That changes some every time I look, so it could be better or worse now, but I'm preparing for worse.

Then it's supposed to stay that way for the main part of next week.

Gab should tell Keigan to stay put until the weather levels out again, at least!

Christmas Holidays 2010

Christmas holiday so far has yielded lots of completed projects. The kids have gone to Louisiana so I thought I'd get some things done while the house is less active.
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Before this past week, the plans were to finish the floors in the living room. But the horses ran off over the mountain again, so everything was re-arranged and containing them became the priority.
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It snowed Christmas day. The neighbor at the camp adjacent to us called to say the horses were over there by the dome houses. Retrieving them took most of the day.
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That night, after resting a little while, I went to Gab's house and we put together her playpen and bassinet.
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Sunday meant I had to go into work so that I could take more time off during the week to finish building the winter pen for Snippy. If I keep him penned, then the other two horses won't go far away.
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It's Monday and the pen is done and appears to be holding. I hope when I wake up tomorrow morning, they're still here and not back over the mountain again!
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Here are a few pics from the little snow we got. These are from the top of the mountain behind the house:

Full Lunar Eclipse

Totality begins tonight, after midnight (really Tuesday morning) at 1:41 CT. If you want to see the whole sequence you’ll have to get outside earlier, around 00:30.

This is the first time we’ve had a full lunar eclipse at winter solstice in over 300 years, and it won’t happen again for more than 90 years. The moon promises to be a reddish hue, making it all the more surreal to see.

It’s a true once in a lifetime event for most of us, and I plan to be watching if the sky is clear.

Wayward Trio

When the horses aren't by the hay or at the house every morning for their rations, I usually figure they've found a way out and have taken off for a hike. Since Thursday I haven't seen them. This morning, I went to look for them, hoping they weren't on the other mountain again.

They weren't far away. Not in the first place I looked, but at least the second, and I didn't have to make the long hike up the mountain and over the pass to get them from the other side of my world at least.

Actually, they can stay where they are for a while. They found a way into an area we usually keep fenced off for gardening and my sons have a deer food plot up there. None of that is in use during this time of year and there's still grass for them to eat, so I just took this picture and left the gate open on my way out.

Cold, Blustery day

It's a cold, blustery day here in the Ozarks. Wind is gusting and the wind chill is down to around 7*F...pretty chilly!

Last night I was battling a virus on my computer and today I got rid of InternetExplorer altogether and that seems to have been the fix. Now I'm using Avant for my browser and so far, so good.

Today I realized I forgot to leave the water running last night. It will be Wednesday before it warms enough to thaw my upstairs lines now. Someone remembered to turn it on downstairs last night, thank goodness, so at least we have water somewhere.

It's a good day to stay inside.

It's all Relative

This morning I was overly warm in bed when I woke up. I wondered if I'd accidentally left the heater on too high, but no, all was as it should have been.

The air in the room was just warmer, and it wasn't as cold in the living room as it usually is, either.

I carried out the morning duties with much less chill than usual, as lately it's been in the low-20's when I get up and the first thing I do is warm up the kitchen so it's easier to coax Garrison out of bed to get dressed.

Fed the animals, started the jeep, though I didn't think it really needed so long to warm up this morning, since it wasn't so cold.

Finally we get out of the house and down the driveway when I looked at the thermometer. Well, no wonder I was warm. It was a piping 34*F this morning, instead of the usual 20-something.

Haha, it amazes me how much difference a few degrees and levels of humidity make in how the temperature feels. I was surprised that it was still only 34 and I felt comfortable. That's a big change in attitude for a (former) south Louisiana girl.

Chilly in the Ozarks

Today's a pretty day outside, but also pretty chilly. It's around 45*F and fairly windy so I didn't stay outside long. Tomorrow's high is only the upper 30's.

Garrison and Loretta went to town to bring out the garbage and I was watching Chloe while taking a break from writing and editing an article on earthquakes in the Ozarks.

This is the view from the swing under the old white oak tree:

And this is the view of Chloe while she's in the carrier. Cute little peep eyes:

Sunrise to sunset

I had a great time visiting family and friends during the Thanksgiving weekend. Today was the long trip home.

After a few hours on the road we were greeted by a beautiful sunrise, just south of the Moorehouse parish line on Hwy 425.

Eight hours later, a less than spectacular sunset at home. Haha, sometimes it gets prettier, but today, I'm just glad to be home after a full day of driving.

Early November Color

My favorite picture from this set is the one on the title of this blog. The red leaf with light shining through it reminded me of stained glass windows.

It's Official

Zack and Loretta were married on Oct. 31, in a private ceremony at Bradshaw Mountain Church in Kingston, AR. Next fall, they're going to have a public ceremony and reception for family and friends.

Zack and Chloe

Here's a cute picture I stole from Loretta's Facebook page: