It's snowing...finally

 Another exciting and interesting week here in Arkansas. The 'forecasted' snow did not materialize in this neck of the woods...until today. But we had really cold weather; in the teens at night and not getting much above freezing during the day. As I write this letter, the snow is falling; light, medium sized flakes in a lazy fashion. But it making for a beautiful white carpet out the window.

In anticipation of work commencing on the kitchen expansion project, I spent time each day cleaning out the over the countertop kitchen cabinets. Some stuff went into tubs and are now stored in the living room. Other more important items went into some of the emptied cabinets, after all, I still need to cook and eat. Now if I can just remember where I put stuff. I removed eight of the over the counter cabinets. Friday morning I backed the truck up to the back porch and loaded the already removed five cabinets and moved them to the old tack room adjacent the barn. The steps are too icy to safely navigate and will probably stay that way for a week, so I only use the downstairs entry door. Saturday evening I removed three more kitchen cabinets; they are now sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor awaiting better weather before being moved to the tack room. I did leave one corner cabinet in place just because! And who ever installed them used both screws and liquid nails.

The before picture of last week:

What the kitchen looks like today:

I needed to remove these cabinets because the ceiling is lower over them; not sure what the official term is, so I call it the 'box'. I need to remove that 'box' and sheetrock that area so the ceiling will be flat. Then I can have taller cabinets that extend to the ceiling. Which means I will need a stool to access the top shelf. That will be this week's project, assuming I can safely get to Home Depot to purchase the sheet rock.

Tuesday was my monthly visit to the chiropractor and then I met with my heat and air guy about installing a new package unit in a rental. The tenant is moving the end of the month and this antiquated unit (probably 30+ years old) has been nickel/diming me this past year. It is an ideal time to make the change.

Wednesday I turned over my tax worksheets to my accountant. We have used Vella for 20 years and our visits are never less than an hour; most of that is catching up on family and what is happening.  Now to wait to hear the damage report.

Friday my calendar was clear, and so was the weather. So I headed off to Jonathan's for a short visit. I was in need of some financial guidance that can only be achieved in person. Besides, I was able to visit with the family. And lambing season has officially started. There are 10 pregnant ewes and three have given birth.

These two are not even two days old:

These twins are less than 24 hours old. 

These twins are not even an hour old. The one on the ground hasn't yet figured out how to stand; took a few minutes to accomplish that feat.

The temperatures were in the single digit, but those mom's birthed anyway and the little guys and gals are surviving!

I left shortly after noon and headed home. Here are some photos of my drive home:

Braved the 12 degree weather to attend in person elder's quorum at 8 this morning. Then home for zoom church followed by my personal sacrament meeting. I made the mistake of taking a dozen chocolate chip cookies out of the freezer to thaw; now there are only two left!

It is 3 in the afternoon. It is 12 degrees and still snowing. The wood burning insert downstairs keeps things toasty warm. I hope that you are staying healthy and warm!