Burrrr! Cold Here

I know there are many places in the nations where the cold is a lot worse than here in central Missouri, but, as hot as it gets here we should be considered as being in the south. Last summer we had 55 days with highs about 90 degrees. Thankfully it was not as hot as it was in 2012, the year we moved here, 58 days above 90 and 12 days above 100.

I think the "official" overnight low/wind chill was -4/-22. Todays high is forecast to be 8, with an overnight low of 8, at 1PM it is 5 degrees. We aren't supposed to have much wind so that is good.

I'm thankful for our outdoor boiler. It burns a LOT of wood but kept our house at 69, where we had the thermostat set, with no problem. I burned 3 of these wheelbarrow loads of wood during the last 24 hours. Almost all of it was good solid, dry oak. I can easily put an entire wheelbarrow load in it at one filling. I filled it about 8:30 last night and checked it about 6:30 this morning. There was still enough wood in it to provide heat for another couple of hours.

Our snow is gone, except for piles left by plowing. I was out helping a guy get some wood into his house yesterday afternoon and we got a light dusting of snow. Between the dry air and the sun it was gone within an hour.

Kelsey is making great progress at her Bank Building. The electrical wiring is roughed in, new windows are in and so is the furnace. She hired contractors for that work. Yesterday she ran water lines to the bathroom and stubbed a line in for the upstairs. She is a VERY talented young lady.

God is good, may He bless you and yours.

Jan Photos

Nolan's birthday cake - Jan 3rd. Birthday theme was construction. There is a wheeled in front of the cake and a backhoe dump truck on top of the cake "mountain". My old hard hat is full of rice krispy treats.

Jan 12th - We got some snow.

Nolan & Gram playing in the snow.

Finished clearing away tree top that fell across driveway.

Jan 13th - Driveway mostly cleared. Snow had compacted some but there was still 13 inches on the top of Kathy's van.

Tree top on ground and show laden branches on our woodshed. 

I finally cut the tree down and cleaned it up on the 16th.

Dec Photos

Sunday lunch at Viets Restaurant when Doug came to pick up their dogs. Kathy was their dog sitter while Doug & Anthony were on vacation.

Nolan likes his food.

Nolan - King of the Rock Pile

Kathy fixing Christmas Dinner for inmates and staff at the Moniteau County Jail. Ladies from our church small group made some sides but Kathy cooked the turkey & dressing and ham and did most of the work. She loves doing it. My contribution was helping carrying the food into the jail, for the staff to distribute to the inmates.

Christmas Dinner at out house.Kathy at the end of the table. Then on the left side Kelsey, Andy, Anthony, Doug and Art.

 On the right side; Lois, Jewel (friends from Centertown Baptist Church), Tanner (neighbor whose wife & kids were visiting relatives in Florida), and Sharon (friend from CBC)

Dec 31 - Our pond finally got full.

 And overflowed.

Some Photos Oct & Nov

Lydia and Nolan watching videos at Gram's.

Lunch at Aunti V's, Angola, IN, during our trip to MI. Clockwise from left: Kathy's sisters Nancy and Cindy, my Mom Beverly, my brother David, Cindy's husband Ed & Kathy.

 Kathy and her sister Judy having breakfast at Hamilton Lake in Indiana.

Nolan loves his ice cream.

 We have been running our Hardy outdoor boiler through a lot of Oct & Nov. It also preheats our hot water. Below is my wood supply in mid-Nov. The Hardy is quite inefficient but it sure saves us a lot of propane.

Our Hardy outdoor boiler.