This is what my backyard looked like on Monday after another big storm. We lost power and I thought I was going to have to sit by the fire all day and knit. But a call from a sick employee changed that! We had power at the Shop, so off I went. I stopped to take a few pics before I headed out the door for busy work day.
Icicles abound.
It was beautiful!
I needed a Mini Break so we took off for Portland on Friday at noon. It was a splurge for us but a much needed one. We stayed at a hotel with a pool and hot tub. It felt great to swim and then relax in the hot tub. It has a surprisingly nice atmosphere for a hotel pool.
Leif loves to swim!
We picked up Cor and all went out to dinner. It was nice to see him and we had a good dinner. Then we went off to the art museum where I took this picture that I was NOT supposed to take. As usual, I whipped out my camera, I knew enough not to take pictures of the art. I just wanted to get the feel of the place. Uncle Paddy immediately says "You can't take pictures in here". I was like well just a couple and I'm not going to steal any art so it is fine. I took 2 pictures and was immediately descended upon by the 'museum nazi's'. I can't really blame them, they were just doing their jobs and there were so many people to keep track of. the funny part is that I am normally a major rule follower. I have be called a "goodie two-shoes" & and a "goodie goodie" more than once in my life. My family has given me a hard time about it in many different instances. But, apparently something different happens when I want/need to take a photo. I just gotta do it.
One of Leif's 4H leaders organized a dog sledding demonstration for us over vacation. What a blast! Here is a shot of the group from up in a tower. Leif climbed up to take some pictures.
This is a shot of Leif as he takes off. He had a fun ride.
Leif took the camera on this ride and took MANY photos of dog butts. I thought this one came out nice.
We were invited over our friends' house on Friday night for Pizza. They have a beautiful 200 year old farmhouse and their living room has a large fireplace with a bread oven on one side. It is in such good condition that I asked how old it was, and it is original. In this day & age it is hard to imagine building something in my house that would look good and still be usable 200 years later. Times have changed!
Every once in a while they get this oven going and have a pizza night. I love pizza and the company was good so I knew I would be in for a fun evening. What I didn't know was how delicious the pizza was going to be. This first picture is right after the pizza went into the oven.
You can see here that the fire has died down some but the oven temp was quite hot. The pizza was pulled out and turned periodically so it would cook evenly.
