Month: December 2017

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Today was a bright and beautiful day. Cold this morning, but not as cold as was predicted. Interestingly, it was 6 degrees colder down in the valley, when we dropped off the mountain going to church. Unfortunately, the heat was not working in our worship center. The rest of the church was warm. We got a message just before leaving to come dressed warmly and bring blankets. When everyone arrived it really wasn’t that cold and we still had a wonderful service and message from Barry. We could have moved the service to the sanctuary but the choir was practicing for the 11:00 Christmas musical.

After Sunday School we returned to the mountain and went to Lee’s Chapel’s 11:00 service. Max’s Mom really wanted us and Marsha (Max’s sister) to come there today and stay for their combination Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinner. We all attended Lee’s Chapel in the past. They changed pastors last June and we had not met the new pastor. We enjoyed meeting him and his family and worshiping with Juno and Helen again. And the food was of course very good. It was still pretty cool this afternoon but we were determined to do some walking and ended with about 3 miles today.

Wild life sightings: The usual deer on the pond dam. They were pretty skittish today and didn’t take time to pose for pictures. Maybe they know they really stand out on the white snow. Much harder to see in our usual pine straw and leaves. Still haven’t seen the otter again and the ducks have not returned.

Thanks for the nice birthday wishes from everyone. Love you all. Have a good week.

Saturday, December 9, 2017

We still have snow. It was cold last night but only 28, not the 24 that was was predicted. The sun was out bright and shinny this morning, the first sun we have seen for several days. The snow was gorgeous with the bright sun. Definitely needed sunglasses. The temperature rose into the 40s by early afternoon and a lot of the snow melted. Tonight we still have 3 inches on the deck but the deck doesn’t get much sun. Tonight’s low is predicted to be 22.

Our day started with the camera and more pictures of the snow. Then Max prepared a wonderful birthday breakfast for Anne. We had sausage and cheese omelets. After breakfast Barry and Donna picked us up and we headed to Guntersville for a hike on the Honeycomb Trail from the TVA recreation area at the dam. There were geocaches along the trail so we got a little caching in today too. It’s been too long since the four of us have had time hiking and caching together. We found 14 caches.

It was a wonderful day that was topped off by dinner at The Top O’ The River restaurant in Guntersville. We were so hungry by the time we got there. They serve you cold slaw and cornbread while waiting on your entree. It was the best. We have always enjoyed their slaw and corn bread but today it was especially good. Our shrimp and catfish were also excellent. The hike the company, the food. All made for a really fun birthday.

Friday, December 8, 2017

So we usually start with something about the weather but today that’s about all there is. It started snowing before 3:00am because when we looked out we had about ½ inch of snow. Hmm. That’s about what was predicted so we went back to sleep. It was still snowing at 5:00 and 7:00 and continued to snow until around 3:00pm. We had 5 inches here on Pine Mountain. Much more than was predicted but other places got upwards of 10 inches. Totally not what was predicted and way more snow than we usually see this far south. It was the first time in over 23 years that we both could stay home and enjoy the snow. Max just smiled because he didn’t have to worry about the safety of all the Blount County citizens. It was so pretty and 31-32 degrees with very little wind, so not too cold to be out taking pictures.

Our work plan for today was to empty Juno’s storage building. NOT! What’s that about God laughing when we make plans. I know all our northern friends laugh but we couldn’t get out our driveway – well we could if we had to get out. The pine trees and privet hedge were so weighted down with snow they blocked the drive. Barry and Donna walked over and we all walked out the drive together. It was nice to have some unexpected time with them. The drive was very pretty but glad we didn’t need to go anywhere. We just relaxed and enjoyed our quiet day. It was an unexpected blessing. Another huge blessing is our uninterrupted power. There have been many outages throughout the state but so far we are fine. Of course we can always go to FRED and turn up the furnaces and stay toasty warm. Another blessing. The storm is continuing north east so hope our family and friends in Georgia, South Carolina and on up the east coast are all warm and safe. Everybody be careful out there.

Thursday, December 7, 2017

We are still stuck in gray, cloudy days. It was another cool, damp feeling day but we did get to see four deer crossing our dam this morning a another three in the field when we were coming in this evening.

But we are headed much colder. The low tonight is forecast to be 32, with high tomorrow of 36 and ½ inch of snow. But we aren’t expecting any problems because the ground temperature is too high. Then we will be in the twenties for a few nights. That is below average for our area. We will have to bring out the heavy coats. YUK!

Today we both had dental appointments for cleanings so we went into Trussville this morning. When we finished at the dentist we did some shopping and went out for an early birthday lunch and then on to more shopping. We didn’t get home until after 4:00. We checked the weather forecast again and decided we had to give in and winterize FRED. We really didn’t want to do it but today was the warmest day we will have for the next week or so. The 23 degree forecast for tomorrow night is a little below our comfort level. Of course, since this is our first winter in FRED 2, the process was a little more challenging than the last few years. But we remember the first time we winterized FRED 1 and this was easier than that. It’s all done so now it probably won’t get very cold. Hopefully we didn’t forget anything and now we won’t be checking the forecast every five minutes and will hopefully sleep better tomorrow night.

Tonight we watched a History Channel special on Pearl Harbor an it reminded us of our visit there in 2012. A very sobering experience. Thank you to all our service men and women!