Snow, Ice, and the Prisoner of Bobcat Ridge

It seemed like a pretty romantic notion...a little soft white stuff that made the environment look like a Christmas card.  True, there were a couple of problems...nobody to be romantic with, placement on a high ridge (increasing the chance of not so nice stuff), and Christmas.  So, on Friday morning the snow previously forcast began in earnest.  It started as ice...laying down a layer of slippery solid that has not yet melted.  So, yours truly is up here by herself.  The plan was for Mary (my sister) to come to the hills on Monday.  She was going to take care of the animals while we went to Austin for Christmas.  I have heard that if you want to make God laugh, just make some plans.  I can attest to the veracity of this statement.

It was, indeed,  pretty.  However, the prettiness has worn off.  The first couple of days were fine, but after that I entered a state that I can only compare to that of a hostage.  Fortunately, the phone, tv, electricity worked so I didn't have to "rough" it.  I do have alternative heat and cooking capabilities, so that was a plus...I think it was the only one.

One of the charming characteristics of this place is its location...high on a ridge with limited accessibility.  I am now reassessing the charm.  The ice and the elevation have conspired to keep me captive.  Although the temperature has risen, the damn ice is still on the trees.  I think it got up to 35 today.  There is a pretty solid sheet of ice under the snow (though it seems to have ameloriated somewhat), and I can't get down the mountain and nobody else can get up.

Which brings me to Christmas.  There will be no trip to Austin.  I have cried all day.  I hope JR can get up tomorrow, but if he can't then there is another storm coming on Thursday.  Mary is going to try to come, but there is the same issue with her.  Hopefully, I won't have to spend Christmas alone with the animals and their hair.  I'm pretty tired of them underfoot all the time.

However, I am well, have plenty to eat (though it really isn't what I like), am warm, have plenty of books and have been able to watch really interesting things on tv.  I hope to be able to get off this mountain tomorrow.  If not, I will be grateful for the gifts in my life and will consider that the alternatives could be worse.  Perhaps I could start a mini-monastery!

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, hope your Hannukah was good.  Love to all.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Tommy (top) and Ben (a really cute kid) installing the cabinets in the kitchen and the mudroom.

The good news is...my kitchen cabinets are here and they are beautiful!  The are rustic hickory and really do add a dimension to the kitchen that I didn't expect.  Tommy and Ben installed them last week.  It took them 4 days to do so, but the effect is stunning...well, almost.  I'll get to that in a little bit.

The bad news is that I don't have any appliances, except the old refrigerator.  I have no stove, no sink (which means no water in the kitchen,) no oven, and no dishwasher.  Well, I didn't have a dishwasher before so that is no big deal.  It is rather difficult to cook without the necessary appliances.  I don't think they're going to come any time soon, either, because, as I write, we are two inches into a forcast 10 inches of snow.  Getting up this drive is sometimes difficult even under the best of conditions, and deep snow isn't one of those.  In addition, we have run into a glitch with the granite fabricator.  It does appear that it will be awhile before the countertops are on.

The ugly is that I've figured out how to make do.  I got the builder to get the plywood that we had used on the old cabinets and I put that on the cabinets.  I went to the shed, got an old Coleman camping stove that uses those little bottles of propane.  It has two burners and works great as a small stove.  I have a George Foreman thingy that will roast or grill, I have a tabletop microwave, and I put dirty dishes in a dishpan and cart them down to the doggy bath to wash them.  Then I dry them and cart them back upstairs!  Other than the inconvenience of running to the bathroom for water when needed in the kitchen, and of dragging dirty and clean dishes upstairs, it works pretty well.  I have waited so long for this beautiful house that I'm not going to let these little set backs upset me.  Now I'm off to play in the snow.  I think it's going to keep JR in Charlotte today, but maybe he will be able to come tomorrow.  Merry Christmas!!!  (Or if you'd rather that I be more PC)...Happy Holidays!!!

This is the makeshift kitchen...not bad, huh?

FINALLY...THE MOVE!!!

It seemed like it would never happen, but we have finally made it...the big move!  Most of our stuff is up in the mountains and we are here more or less full time.  The house has turned into a thing of beauty without the red paper on the floor, the dust cleaned off the windows (I hired that done.), our familiar furniture placed in the new spaces, and the arrival of our family for the Thanksgiving holidays.

It was everything I wanted it to be.  My cousin, Chuck, and his wife came from Texas; my mother from Greensboro; my sisters, Judy and Mary, and their families from Winston and Charlotte; my son, Jon, and his family,also from Charlotte.  We did miss Adam and his family who spent the holiday in their new home in Austin, TX; and my brother, Charlie and his family.  Charlie had knee replacement surgery on the Monday before so we forgave him for being unable to travel.  He had a rough couple of days, but he is doing much better now.

We had 13 people spending the night on Thanksgiving night.  It's nice to have enough room for most everybody!  The grandchildren decorated our new nine foot Christmas tree on Thanksgiving afternoon and a more beautiful tree I have not seen!

The children were so funny.  My nephews built this great big bonfire and the more they drank the bigger it got.  Most of us made our way to the fire at some point during the day, but the evening was the most fun!  There were a few snow flurries and it was almost magical to sit by the fire while snow drifted down around us.  Jon, Jr. asked me for a "fashyight" and the three of them entertained themselves by running around the rather large yard (to the dismay of their mother) shining it onto unfamiliar objects.  Patti was afraid that they would get hurt or lost, but they managed to keep themselves in one piece and had a great time doing it!

The house is beautiful and Jim and I are very happy here.  I'll put a few pics of some rooms up so you can see what they look like.  I'm not a very good photographer so this won't look like Southern Living.

If I get all the mailing addresses changed I will consider myself lucky!  We have not yet sold our Charlotte house, and will have to make some decisions about it after the first of the year.

Hope all of you have a wonderful holiday season.

The kitchen cabinets will be delivered on Thursday and the installer will be here on Monday.  The appliances will be here at the end of next week and then it will be about 2 weeks for the granite to get measured, cut and installed.  The house should then be perfect!  I'll send a picture as I am very proud of our choices for the kitchen.

I am going to change the name of the blog to "The Hillbilly Chronicles", but you will be able to acess it the same way as always:  thecontinuing press.blogspot.com   Love to all!