Wishin' and hopin' and thinkin' and prayin'

Well, I finally made it out of the driveway today and am catching up with work, and J has been back at work for a couple of days, so it's starting to feel a bit more normal at the Melton Point. I do wish I wasn't watching more snow fall outside, though!

It sounds like our friends and family in western Kentucky have taken a terrible hit, with most without power and some without phones, too. Friends on facebook have been updating via their cell phones and it sounds just terrible in the Purchase Area of Kentucky. I think it is especially rough since that part of the state took a hit from Hurricane Ike earlier this year (Hurricanes in Kentucky? Hard to believe, right?).

Keep up your wishin' and hopin' and thinkin' and prayin' that every gets their power back on soon!

Title: Wishin' and Hopin', by Dusty Springfield

Ice, Ice, Baby

About 4:00 a.m. this morning, the tree limbs started to fall and we awoke to some moderate damage. Fortunately, the falling limbs didn't hit the house, and the one that hit Jonathon's car doesn't appear to have caused damage. The gutters, which also filled with ice, have pulled away from the house on both the front and the back. We're hoping the ice hasn't damaged the roof itself, but we won't know that until it melts and we get someone up there. Enjoy the pictures I took this morning--

Don't forget to double-click on the picture if you want to make it bigger.

And finally, a picture of our street. As a through street, we usually get cleared pretty quickly. We did see a plow last night, but it obviously didn't help much!

Title: Ice, Ice Baby, by Vanilla Ice

These are a few of my favorite things

Well, we woke some to a bit of snow and a lot of ice, and I am enjoying a snow day at home (J, of course, didn't get a snow day and is at work). Since I'm enjoying a little down time, I though I would share a few pictures that have been piling up and waiting to be shared--certainly a few of my favorite things!

First up, my cousin Charlie. Charlie is my cousin L's little boy and he is adorable. In this picture, he's practicing fencing. Or maybe he'll grow up to be in the next remake of Psycho. Either way, it's a cute picture.

Next, I wanted to share pictures of the dine-in part of our kitchen. I've discussed hanging these plates over our server for a year now, and finally accomplished the job during my Christmas break. I also hung the shutters on the right. I found these at an antique shop last fall and am really pleased with the way they complete the corner. At some point, I think I'll add pictures to them with binder clips.

Finally, a couple of pictures of our back yard as it looks today. I took Zeppelin out for the express purpose of getting some pictures, but he didn't care for the ice, so I didn't get many good shots. Every other step or so, he would break through a bit, and it seemed to unnerve him.

Anyhow, enjoy and Stay Warm!!

Title: My Favorite Things, from the Sound of Music

Better call a plumber

J and I have a history of calling people to fix things around the house that normal, able-bodied, moderately handy people would tackle on their own. If you know us well, you've probably made fun of us for this habit, and we've laughed along with you, knowing that you're right--we can probably do most of this ourselves.

For the last several months, the hot water knob in our shower has not shut the water off completely. In the early days, we could turn it back on and try again with some success, but for the last couple of weeks, there has been a constant drip. This morning, J finished his shower and turned off the cold water. The hot water knob spun in his hands, and the water kept flowing.

On most days, we would have reacted in our typical way--I would call a plumber and hang out all day waiting around for the bad news. And I freely admit that for a brief moment, I pictured a process so intense it started with knocking out tiles to reach the faulty faucet and ended with a new bathroom vanity (yes, my imagination sometimes gets carried away).

Today, however, I decided it might be an easy fix, and that just maybe, calling a plumber was unneccesary. I called my dad for telephone backup and removed the inner workings of the knob to discover a very old, cracked and almost non-existent washer. One quick trip to Ace Hardware later (yes, I stopped and looked lovingly at the rain-shower faucets on the way to the washers), a little reverse engineering, and we have a fully functioning shower.

Now I need to take apart the sink faucet to figure out why it keeps dripping, too. Maybe if I wait a little longer it will break in such a spectacular fashion that I'll get my new bathroom, after all...

Title: The Plumbing Song, by Weird Al

Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls. . .

Hi all.  J. here.  JE is a bit under the weather, but she wanted to share a few photos of our recent trip to Cumberland Falls.  I'm not a good enough writer to do the pictures justice, so I'll just let you guys look at them.

And if you're wondering Dad and Lois, the pictures were taken with JE's new camera.  She loves it.

Title: Waterfalls, by TLC

Hangin' Tough

So despite the cold, I did manage to get some pictures framed and hung this week. At left, above, is the framed invitation the Girls (from Murray) gave us for our wedding. I found matching frames at Hobby Lobby and had them frame our wedding picture and the benediction from our wedding (my first anniversary "paper" gift from J) to match. Funny how framing wedding pictures made me feel more married...like the ring and paying each other's bills for the last year wasn't enough.

Putting these pictures up required moving the watercolor my Aunt gave us of the 'fairy tale' version of our wedding day, so I moved it to hang over the blanket rack in our family room. We're slowly making that room look a little more 'real'.

Finally, my Dad had one of our wedding pictures blown up to poster size at a school conference he attended last fall, so I bought a poster frame for it and put it in our stair well. My goal is to put a photographic family tree on that wall (Won't that be pretty when viewed from the living room? What, there's a wall in the way--see wood at left? Maybe you should encourage my husband to let me tear that down...), and this seems like a great way to start it! On that note, if you have pictures of J's or my parents, grandparents, great-grand... (you get the picture) and are willing to share prints or negatives, please leave me a comment!

Title: Hangin' Tough, by New Kids on the Block.