Reflections of Childhood

Today I was reading the SoutherPlate.com and I suddenly saw something that brought me right back to my childhood.  The photo below is the one that caught my eye.  These two little figures are ones just like what I have at home.  They belonged to my mother and when she passed away my sister and I inherited them.  As a child I used to play for hours with them and other Amish cast iron toys. 

Amish cast iron children

In further reading I found other photos and I was stunned to see some more of the same cast iron items that my mother collected.  Here are those photos from the SouthernPlate.com.  By the way; when you get some time go on over to SoutherPlate.com and check it out.  I really enjoy reading her posts.

I was so surprised to see the teeter totter
and the little wagon in this woman's
 collection.I have the very same ones. 
Mine are a bit scratched.

I have little cast iron desks just like
these in my small collection.

Craft Giveaway

Our fledging community library had a few craft/crochet books phamphlets donated. They're not suitable for a library but someone just might want them. So I was allowed to take them and offer them to the first interested people. Just leave a comment and I'll email you to ask your mailing address. First come; first serve. Please just pick one. If you want more or all and no one else wants any I'll send them all to you. They are old but someone might find them worthwhile. Here are pictures of them. I used my iPhone and it doesn't honestly take the best photos.













Borough Plow Comes To The Rescue

We have a lot of snow.  Yesterday was Sunday and we left in the morning to head to Kenai to church.  We opened our garage door (we're blessed to have a garage where we can park our minivan...also blessed that we have a minivan) and was shocked at the amount of snow we accumulated over night.  We left our driveway and were actually able to back up, turn around, and head down the road.  As soon as we started down the road the snow was so deep it was slamming into our car and throwing it onto the windshield.  We were totally blinded.  We went off the road but my sister, with the help of our Lord got the car back on.  We amazingly made it the mile and a half to the main road.  That road was a little better but it took us double the amount of time to get to town.  We missed church.  I called the borough road department and told them that we need plowed; not knowing if we'll make it back home.  I left our name, address, and contact information.  The borough has a rule that they will come and plow the roads when six inches of snow accrues.  We had a whole lot more then that.  We also called our snow plow guy that plows our driveway and left a message...more like a plea for help!  :^)

We decided, with the weather turning bad, we better turn around and go home.  The snow was coming down so bad that it took even longer to get home. 

We finally made it home and as we turned in for the last 1 1/2 miles we were able to keep it on the road for the first half mile and then; like an angel emerging from a cloud, right before us stood the biggest and baddest snow plow we've ever seen.  This creature was as least two stories tall with a snow plow blade that could scoop up a shed or greenhouse in one scoop!  It could probably pick up a truck or two without any trouble.  The borough had come to the rescue!  The entire carload burst into cheers and we rolled our windows down and yelled many "thank you's" to him.  He smiled and waved back as he passed us with his blade held high.  I did call the borough and Mike Moore (our snow plow guy) and thanked them profusely.

We made it the last mile to our driveway without any trouble at all and our snow plow guy had made it in and plowed us!  What a blessing!  I haven't even measured how much snow we have.  During the night the temperature dropped to minus 20 F and the snow stopped.  Usually when it gets cold it doesn't snow...warming up starts up snow showers.  All day today the weather stayed cold.  School had indoor recess.  The weather forecast is for it to warm up tonight and we are expecting a blizzard with at least another foot of snow by tomorrow morning. 

Here's some photos of big snow plows.



This is actually a train snow plow.  That is one big wall of snow!



What's Under That Mound of Snow?

This mound is our Subaru Justy. 

We started the winter with three flat tires on our Subaru Justy.  I was planning on getting them repaired so I could move the car for the winter.  Well, snow came, then rain, then ice sealed it in.  The car is now there until spring.  You can see a bit of the driver's

side-view mirror.  Our greenhouse is in the background and the kids basketball hoop is in the back.  That picture was take at noon over Christmas break.  We've had much more snow since then.

Let It Snow?

Snow is being shoveled off the roof of this home in Cordova, Alaska.  The weight of snow has been known to cave in roofs.  So far this winter, Cordova has seen about 12 ft. of snowfall!  More snow is forecasted.
(Anchorage Times, 2012)

Cordova, Alaska has declared a state of emergency and have requested help from the National Guard.  Troops have arrived in Cordova to help the citizens dig out of several avalanches.  Roofs of several buildings have collapsed and they are working to keep the snow away from heating systems because of carbon monoxide buildup.  All travel within the community is suspended...no air nor ground transportation is available as of now.  Everything is shut down.  The entire town has been declared a disaster area.  They've gotten about 12 feet of snow. 

 

Valdez, the city that was destroyed back in the '64 earthquake has had, so far this winter, 290 inches of snow which is nearing 25 feet of snow!  Valdez has more snowplowing equipment then Cordova so they haven't needed to declare a state of emergency.  They have about 4,000 citizens living in Valdez (almost double the population of Cordova). 

A snow door in Valdez, Alaska

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0101220627416.html

 

Sewing Table Disaster

I am posting a picture of my sewing table because I need to prove I can get it decluttered and cleaned.  It has things piled on it for quite some time.  My sewing machine isn't working so I've used my table as a "catch all".  I'm tired of the mess and I want to sew again.  Tuesday, hopefully, my sewing machine is going in for repairs and I want my sewing area sparkling clean when I get it back ready to work again.

Don't be shocked but here's my horrible cluttered sewing table...

What a mess!  Can you spot the cup of noodles in the front?  What about the guinea pig water bottle...what is up with that?  I'll be tackling it 15 minutes at a time until everything is put away in it's right place and I can be proud of it. 
Flylady, I need you!!!!

Taming the Laundry Monster

My new Maytag washer and dryer have arrived!  The technicians that delivered and installed them are father and son team, Paul and Chris.  They were fabulous.  They were so nice and knowledgable.  They even asked for a mop to clean the floors where snow had melted and made a mess!  Good grief that has never happened before.  I will be calling Home Depot today tell them how wonderful they were.  They also took the old machines away for but I told Paul and Chris that they may know someone that could use them for parts seeing that no one on the Kenai Peninsula likes to repair Bosch washer and dryers.  They go all over the peninsula and they know folks that can use old appliances.

Here are some photos of the new machines.  Please excuse the mess in the laundry room although it looks better then it did yesterday morning.  I had to move the machines as best I could to clean under them...not anyone to see any messes.  There were dust bunnies and lots of dirt and I'm sure glad I moved them.  Also the shelf that is holding some clean clothes on hangers is very messy and needs to be cleaned and decluttered.  You see only two hampers of overflowing laundry.  The other three had to be moved to the boys' room to make room for the washers and dryers to be moved in and out.  I had a very hard time getting these photos included.  Sorry for the sloppy placement.

Very dark picture of my laundry room

A bit brighter peek at the new washer and dryer

The dryer with the light on.

Part of the messy laundry pile!

The washer