Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Year's End

Well, it's finally here. The last day of 2008. What a year. For the second time in my life, I've gotten very involved with politics and actually campaigned for a candidate. It's not really that fun, but apparently.........it gets the job done. I've just finished a three day work week. I could really get used to that. Now I have another four days off. Take down the tree. Take down the lights. Get ready to start another year. There will always be disappointments and momentary crisis, but I'm expecting good things from 2009. Bring it on.......!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Rain, rain, go away...

Funny how quickly things can return to normal. It's been raining pretty heavily the last couple of days. The snow is now black, mushy hills, piled up alongside the roads and sidewalks. The parking lots are all clear, until you turn down a lane that is completely blocked by the snow cleared from the rest of the lot. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to be able to move freely about the city. Two weeks of "house arrest" is a bit more than I care to take. Now I know how Martha Stewart must have felt. We went out with our friends last night which was a treat in so many ways. Tomorrow I'll be back to work after working from home for the last two weeks. That means I'll have to brush my hair and wash my face.
I'm just finishing up the turkey soup I made while in exile and waiting for the next adventure to begin.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Morning After

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We were able to get out of the neighborhood in the afternoon to go over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house. Amazingly, the family just keeps getting bigger. I guess that's how the world works. This morning when we got up it had already warmed up to 30 degrees, that's about as warm as it's been for weeks. I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, or should I say, the pavement beneath the ice. Yippee!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Another day in paradise!



The Christmas miracle came early to our little neighborhood. I don't know who organized it, but apparently, some of my neighbors got together and rented 4 snowplows and dug us out yesterday. They worked until about 6pm. What a great idea. Maybe that's why I pay homeowners association dues every year. The four of us hiked up to the main road last night so my dad could collect us and take us shopping. We had to be careful how much we bought since we had to hand carry it all back to the house. The most surefooted of us carried the dozen eggs to insure they got back in one piece. Now that we have enough food to last another few days..........bring it on! The next storm is expected around noon. We are planning on going to my sister's for the evening festivities.
We will have to dig out the car.......................

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Christmas Eve Eve

The snow is still coming down. I made arrangements to get "rescued" this afternoon, but it started to snow and I'm not sure that would be such a good idea. Bill's car is virtually buried up at the top of the hill. We were debating whether to try and dig it out. Gresham is in a state of emergency and I am right on the boundary of Gresham and Portland. I need to get some groceries, although the 20lb turkey has just finished cooking. Yummers! I may not make it for Christmas dinner, but I will have a turkey dinner. Hopefully not for the next 5 days though.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Magnificent

Day 8





Well, now that the novelty has worn off, I'm ready to get out of this house. I don't know how the pioneers made it through a winter without losing their minds. I am enjoying my camera, so here are some photos I've taken. I tried to show the change over a mere 24 hours. My house is at about 850 feet above sea level. Wonderful 11 months out of the year. Unfortunately, I had a strong desire for a cute, sporty little car about 3 years ago and got rid of, not one, but two SUV's. How I've longed for the good old days of studded snow tires and four wheel drive.
Since we are running out of fresh food, I just pulled a 20lb turkey out of the freezer. When that thaws in a day or two, we'll have some good food again. Good news!
We just opened a bottle of our home brew (not much to do around here) and it finally developed some carbonation. We used the recipe for Dead Guy Ale and it's pretty good.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Ice Storm



Arctic blast has become an ice storm. No Newspaper!! My delivery guy has made it every single day--except today. My walk outside resulted in snow in my boots. It's deep and crunchy out there. I thought I had enough larder to get me through but now I see I'm down to my last lb of coffee. Unbeknown to my family, I've mixed in some decaf beans to make sure we don't run out before Christmas. Since I haven't been able to go shopping, I guess you could say I'm simplifying this Christmas. The news is saying there are many power outages throughout the city. I'm thankful that hasn't hit our area.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

First casualty of Arctic Blast


Last Saturday, prior to the blast, I labored all day to prepare cookies for the cookie exchange and a desert for a party being held on Sunday. By Sunday, my world was a winter wonderland and the party became an unattainable goal. Our good friends hold a Christmas ship party every year when the boats go by their houseboat. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating. My desert turned out to be incredibly good. Definitely something I will make again. The fresh bananas turned brown by the third day, but the flavor held to the last bite. Here's the recipe.

Friday, December 19, 2008


Here's what you see at my house.
Those white spots you see falling from the sky are snow

Welcome!

Here it is day 6 of Portland's Arctic Blast 2008. I'm starting this blog as a way of communicating with the outside world. I have been snowbound since Tuesday night. I have a lot of Christmas shopping left to do, but doubt if it will get done before Thursday. C'est la Vie!