Please don't be offended by this title. I am a Christian and celebrate Christmas with my family and friends. I hope you are able to celebrate your religion with your family and friends. This is a special time of year and in keeping with the spirit of the season I wish everyone peace and happiness now and throughout 2015.
Was 2014 a good year for you? For me and my family yes it was. No one is sick, no one is in danger of losing their job, and no one is without a warm place to live. We had a great Thanksgiving with 10 family members sharing the feast prepared by my wonderful wife. She is most definitely in her element when in the kitchen and derives great joy in preparing such nice meals for the family. Even the dog enjoys her cooking as she gets some of the left overs and of course the droppings.
The day was very busy with all the company and the carving, my task, and although it was fun it was nice once it was over. We just dropped and crashed. But after a good night’s sleep we were back at in on Friday - Black Friday. I am not sure why they call it Black Friday but we go out of our way to avoid shopping on that day. I can't say the same for one daughter - she gets exceptionally excited over the idea of 'getting a bargain' - no matter what the cost or the toll it takes on her psyche.
But that day is over and now we are making arrangements for the big Christmas feast. My wife is planning prime rib and ham for the main course and a slew of sides meant to please everyone’s tastes. Sorry but all the seats are full. I hope you also are planning on a joyous celebration. Here are some Christmas images for you to enjoy.
Winter is a daunting time for all of us.
Travel times go through the roof after every snow fall and we spend hours in the cold removing snow firm our driveways, parking spaces and sidewalks. For those of you who don't get to enjoy the snow it can be major work to clear it. Two winters ago we awoke one am to find drifts up to 5 feet deep outside our door. Of the three doors we have to exit our house only one was able to open. And by that door we did not have a shovel or any other implement to help with snow removal.
So we donned our cold gear and grabbed a couple of cookie sheet pans and went to work cutting a path from the front door to the drive way and down the drive way to the backyard gate and then to the porch where the snow shovels were stored. This picture shows what can happen if a window is partially left open in a blizzard like snowfall.
This took almost two hours and we were frozen. So we went in warmed up and then began again. This time we shoveled a path to the garage where the mighty snow blower was waiting. Only one issue remained - the snow was so deep the blower was almost useless. So one of us would move the top of the snow next to the path we cut with cookie sheets into the path where the blower could then move it out of the way. This continued until we finally got a path wide enough to get the car to the street. We were pooped to say the least. It took the next three days to move the snow off the entire driveway.
I am so thankful that this kind of snow fall doesn't happen very often but when it does it is a massive deal to get things back to almost normal. The real normal comes in the April time frame when the snow starts to melt. So know you know how much fun it can be to live where it snows.
I really want to wish you a happy and safe holiday and winter. Visit my web site at https://www.jdevtech.com and enjoy more blog entries. Take care - till next entry.
