Where have I been?

Wow, just checked.  I haven't blogged since November, wen we got back from Key West.  So to get caught up, I've been thinking...

I've been trying to write about all the wonderful, exciting things happening here with us.  But frankly, since we've settled into a routine, there isn't much wonderful, exciting, or even interesting (to others) to write about.  Maybe I should just do diary-type entries.  Every day or every few days, rather than long, rambling blogs might be easier for me to do.  It's not that I don't have the time, it's more that including pictures, and writing a long story is something I really don't want to get involved in most of the time.

So here goes.  Brief run-downs of what's happened since we got back from Key West.

Snowball or Snowflake?

In early November, we began to be "adopted" by a white cat, probably from next door.  For the longest while, we called her "the outside cat" as opposed to Ramses, the "inside cat."  She wouldn't come in, even in temperatures in the single degrees, so we rigged a shelter for her, with some hay, and worried.  She made it just fine.  Now, we have been officially adopted, and she goes in to the vet tomorrow to have her checked out.  I guess we ARE hers now.  And she now has a name -- "Snowball" or "Snowflake" -- cannot remember from one day to the next, so she's still unofficially "the outside cat" or just "Snow".

Gannon and Grandpa

In early December, Barry and I drove up to Maine to visit family.   The weather was quite good on the way up, and it rained some while there, but the problem was on the way home.  Through western Maryland, we ran into snow, and West Virginia, where we really anticipated problems, was actually quite fine.

Garnet and Barry

While there, I got to see Gannon and Garnet and Maureen, and Barry got to see Karen, Shirley and Bruce, as well as Carol.  We also made our pilgrimage to Ming Lee's where we enjoyed the company of Alison and Glen, as well as Brenda.  It's too bad Pushpa wasn't feeling well, because we all missed seeing her.  But next time...

Elizabeth's and Rick's snowman

Christmas was, as usual, celebrated in Paducah with Rick's family there.  Got some great photos of Rick and Elizabeth making a snowman -- a rare sight in Paducah, by the way.  It was funny watching people drive by, as though they had never seen a snowman.

Since Christmas, not much has been happening here, other than the weather.  We snow on the ground most days from about December 8 until early February.  Now that doesn't seem like much to Mainers, but many old-timers here said it has been the worst winter they remember in a long time.  Not only was it snowy, but it was cold.  In fact, much of the time, it was warmer in Maine than it was here.  So we really didn't do much except watch Kentucky basketball, movies, and a few of our favorite TV shows.  Oh, and cook.  Yup.

Farm Show, Louisville

In February, Barry and I went up to Louisville for fun and games.  We went to the largest farm equipment show in the world, stopped to get a dozen hot, fresh Krispy Kreme doughnuts, some Nova Scotia lobster ($7 per pound) and some frozen minced clams.  It was a fun day, doing some weird things, but satisfying knowing that we can get lobster any time we want right there in Louisville!

Barry wants one of these to harvest our corn!

On one of our few warm days in February, Barry did get out to prune the fruit trees, and to cut back the raspberry canes.  He had been waiting anxiously to do that.  Now he's waiting anxiously to get the peas planted.  Last year he had them in March 1.  This year, with the cold and all the rain (and flash floods and tornado watches) they MAY get in this weekend, during what may be our only day of sun in March!


Highlights in the kitchen?  Barry made home-made English muffins last week.  They were easy, quick, and TOTALLY delicious.

Well, to counter him, I just finished baking some home-made raspberry scones.  We'll see how they are once they cool off.

Back in February, I was the guest speaker at the Boyle County Genealogical Association.  My topic was "Turnpike Companies in Boyle County" -- for Mainers who are used to only the ME, NH and MA turnpikes, let's just say that nearly every road in this county was a turnpike.  Twenty-nine separate companies in an area about a third the size of Kennebec County, smaller than the Norway-South Paris school district (whatever it's called now).  Not many people there, but the talk went over very well, and I've agreed to give it again some other time.

Other projects I'm working on?

1.  Transcribing the roster of the 12th US Colored Heavy Artillery unit, organized about 12 miles from here.

2.  Transcribing the Census of 1880 for Casey County, just south of here.

3.  Putting my genealogy and Barry's up on Ancestry.com, and continuing to add to both.  Mine includes the ancestry of all four of Garnet and Gannon's grandparents, and Barry's actually includes all four of his grand-daughter, Elizabeth's grandparents.

4.  Working on a website for Rick's law firm.

5.  Planning possible trips to Memphis, Nashville, and a week's camping in Maine in August.  I had hoped to get to Arizona to visit my Aunt Val, but the cost of heating oil and plowing for my house in Maine has left me with a deficit (so far this year) of over $1000, so there's no money for a major trip like that right now.

OK, if there's anything else I think of later, I'll write it up in the next blog.  I will try to write every day or so, even if it's only just to say the weather and our day-to-day doings.