Saturday afternoon in the back yard.

This past Saturday was far different than the previous one, although I can report the close to two feet of snow we got over the weekend effectively dealt with all the goat manure stuck to my wellies from the adventures of that day. So there’s that.

We had  a lovely snowstorm – Edie’s BFF came over to be snowed in with us, there were plenty of neighborly drop-ins with much joy and merriment, which is of course is par for the course in this neck of the woods.  It’s definitely one of my most favorite things about this neighborhood – we are a social bunch.  I finished a book and started another one. When I finished that one, I started another. I finished a sewing project (to be another post) and made a big breakfast (fried apples, scrapple, biscuits and chocolate waffles for the girls, the batter being leftover from Edie’s birthday a few days earlier).  Edie and Soph made dinner Saturday – a nice pot of soup – totally winging it.  It was fantastic.

Sunday, when it had finally stopped snowing and the sun came out, we all busted out. Within walking distance of course. After shoveling out my car for a few hours (the downside of not having a driveway or garage means leaving your car on the street to get plowed in, which is an absolute bitch to dig out with this much snow and frigid temps, but at least I don’t have a driveway to shovel. Trade offs?), I grabbed my camera and took a walk through the woods behind the park. Someone had cut a path through thankfully, so I was able to trudge through enjoying the snow, sun and shadows before coming out down by the big hill at Walker.

Finally, after two solid days of powdery snow accumulating, the hill was packed down enough to make for some decent sledding. The girls stayed out most of the afternoon  and when they showed back up at our house, I had just enough tomato soup left from Friday night’s dinner to give them something hot before wrapping them back up and sending them back out.

We’re on Day Four of being snowed in, with school already cancelled for tomorrow. I don’t mind. I love a good snow break – my pantry is stocked especially for days like this and who doesn’t love mother nature telling you to just take a break and chill.  I cleaned out both the junk drawer in the kitchen as well as the bottom of the closet in the dining room.  Baking has happened, but thanks to the troops of growing girls passing through my house, nothing has lasted long (Saturday afternoon’s snack was leftover breakfast biscuits with cheddar cheese and apple pie jam. They may have fought over the last one.)  I came up with the revolutionary idea of making the garage door in the basement the main thoroughfare, which I’m still patting myself on the back over. I did have to shovel it out Saturday morning, but everything needed shoveling out Saturday morning (I measured 11″ of snow falling between Pat’s dusk shoveling and my getting up at 8 am). But with the indoor clothesline down there, all the wet things could get hung up to dry right there instead of crowding around the front door and covering every radiator and shower rod in the house, while keeping the puddles to the concrete floor in the basement. With 6 teen and tween girls collectively running in and out because you’re the closest snack house to the slopes, not to mention various adults clearing snow, this is key. This is our take-away from this storm.

That and that emergency pack of toilet paper turned out to be necessary.  #truth.