My, how time flies ...

We were over at Matt and Kensey's the other day checking on the dogs while they are out of town. Boy, you would not recognize the those innocent little puppies ... well, they are far from puppies now.

This is a picture of Stanley when he was just a couple weeks old in Oct '07 ...

This is a picture of Hammer when he was just a couple weeks old in Feb '08 ...

This is a pic of Stanley and Hammer now ... not so little pups anymore ...

Christmas 2008 comes to an end in Ellijay

It goes by all too quickly and then the house is quiet again. We had a great time with the family this Christmas. We had Christmas eve at our house, then to Melany's new place for Christmas dinner. She has a beautiful home.  Bethany and Robb left for Tuscaloosa this morning. Friday, a bunch of us headed to Amicalola Falls to hike the trail. It was a great way to burn off some holiday pounds. 

I have begun the southern ritual of cooking collard greens and black eyed peas to welcome prosperity for the New Year. The collards greens have ham and fat back to give them flavor, the peas are soaking overnight to soften them up for cooking tomorrow.  



We made enough to share, so if you all are hungry come on down. We'll set a plate for you. Happy New Year.  We wish you a prosperous new year and good health.

A Griswold Christmas

Ok, so this is my first Christmas in my own home and of course, I couldn't have Christmas without a couple of of Griswold moments.

Sunday I was pulling down my boxes for Christmas and putting empty boxes back up in the attic and, wellllll .... so, I tripped and put my foot through the ceiling.

Today, I was in the kitchen cleaning up and all of a sudden I hear a crash .... my poor tree, all over the floor.

But it is still a great Christmas ... hehe ...

The weather outside is frightful

This has certainly been a week of weather to keep in the records book. It started with the ice storm 10 days ago. New England was hit hard with the ice that caused power outages. There are still 10,000+ residents in New Hampshire without power and in some cases, it will not be restored until well after Christmas.

A snowstorm hit on Saturday and brought 10 inches of snow in the southern part of the states and 6 inches up here in the north country. On Sunday a second storm came in that packed more snow. The winds blew, the snow fell for hours. I shoveled the front walk-way at least 10 times during the day. I just measured 16 inches in the front of the house. The dogs are jumping on and down to get from one section to another.

Mel had a very successful surgery last Wednesday. While he had trouble with pain that caused him to stay overnight, he was able to come on Thursday to recup. It is driving him nuts that he cannot do anything - but he has Broomhilda the nurse watching over him.. We go back to the doctors tomorrow (weather willing) for a checkup and additional therapy. His shoulder will have to heal for several weeks - but it will be well worth getting rid of the pain.

and the rest of the trip ...

Less than two weeks ago we bought our tickets to come to Maine. Mom bought the tickets and gave her a little grief for buying tickets into Boston instead of a straight flight to Portland (would have only been $20 buck more for each of us), but it turns out to be a good thing - when we left on Friday, flights coming into Portland were canceled and Boston was still on-time. Sure enough, we fly into Boston and there is an ice storm, I think we may have brought it with us. Power was out and trees were down everywhere.

On the way up to Maine from Boston, we took a couple stops to see the ocean - it was a bit windy out there.






And it was a bit icy once we arrived ...

A trip to New England

First we went to go visit mom's side of the family ...







Then we went to go visit dad's side of the family ...

Fun at the Orchestra

So, a group of ten of us went over to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) on Saturday to see Handel's Messiah - what an awesome show. We had a blast. For the first 30 minutes of the show we heard Bach - Gloria from Mass in B minor. For the remaining hour, we heard the Christmas portion and Hallelujah from the Messiah. I think my favorite pieces were For Unto Us a Child is Born and Hallelujah.


The trip to the concert ...


The tree at the concert, ok, so we all have to get our pics in front of the tree :-) ...









Ohhh, and then we went to Waffle House after the concert .. that was fun .. hehe .. sorry, forgot to take pictures at the Waffle House :-) ...

It's Snowing in Maine

You see it right it is snowing. Could possibly be up to 4" before the storm front moves out. We are doing pretty well here in Maine. I am almost over the flu or whatever it was. Just a little nasty and I have been trying to stay out of crowds so I did not go to the church fair yesterday. That was a hard call for me because I really wanted to be there. I just don't want this to hang on any longer. Dad went and he said when he got there people were lined up from the door back to the street behind the church, down to Beach Street and up to the Main entrance of the church.
They made almost $10,000 from the fair, there is probably a few more $$ going out and some more coming in though.
Dad, Grandpa took Oreo for a walk and he was sure happy with the snow. (The dog that is) He loves to put his nose into the snow and play snowplow. He doesn't like the really cold and windy. I try to put on his coat but he must have a bit of arthritis and it hurts so he will let me know by quietly growling, no snapping though. Just enough to let me know it hurts. I know how that hurts, when the weather gets cold and damp it's hard for me to put on my own coat. I don't growl though, at least very much.
Just a quick post to let you know that we have our first snow fall, and it is really pretty. Yeah I know that sentiment won't last too awfully long.
Have a good day and a great new week. Catch up with you later.
Love you all,
Mom, Grandma, Dad and Grandpa

December 2nd

The dogs look as surprised as the photographer. It snowed since before daybreak today. We have about an inch of accumulation, but it blew pretty hard for awhile, which reminded me it was time to get the stove fired up.

I've been experimenting trying to get the most efficient burn from each load of wood. I'm getting better, not perfect but I'm digging out less charcoal each time I clean out the firebox.

I checked on the cat this afternoon. I'm glad out didn't have to peel her out of her bed, she didn't freeze overnight. She caught her first rat this weekend. It was about a third of her size, fortunately she didn't drag it back into the barn to resuscitate it. She left it out front. Julie suspects its because she couldn't pull it through the opening of the kitty door we cut into the side of the barn.

I hope all is well with everyone. If it clears up, tonight will be a great night for stargazing.