This winter continues to be one of the snowiest in quite a while. The kids have loved it, since we have our very own awesome sledding hill right in our backyard. Of course, they want someone to carry them and the toboggan back up the hill, but tehy get a better appreciation for the fun if they have to earn it! We also enjoyed the snow with our friends who own a couple of snowmobiles. The upper pasture is great for some high speed runs and general horsing around with the machines.

In the priority list, we got several more items resolved. The washer and dryer were moved to the other side of the basement. This facilitated much better arrangement, better access to plumbing, and new gas lines that Jim installed. We now have propane for the dryer and the stove in the kitchen. We had our old propane units from the old house, but had been using the electric units that came with this house until Jim could get the iron piping installed for the gas company.

We spent a lot of time in the basement doing cleanup and reclamation. Two old coal bins were removed, along with lots of debris, rotted furniture, old water pumps, pressure tanks, and myriad other trash. We also have started to win the battle with the spiders. The cob webs that festooned the entire basement are now gone. We vacuumed the entire basement on every surface. Between the cleaning, rearranging and installation of a couple of dehumidifiers, it looks and feels a million percent better.

We started the large wood stove that is in the kitchen. It is not going to stay there, but it was fun to have a fire in the kitchen. The stove is on a large slab of slate, and the entire wall behind it and around the corner by our pantry is covered in red brick with black mortar. Ugh, we hate it. The brick is fine, but does not belong in our country kitchen.

We have also decided that the second floor porch has to go. It is part of the unfinished portion of the second floor, and is also where the large closet that is in our bedroom protrudes into. The closet is an ice box, since it is over the lower porch off the kitchen, and is uninsulated! Brrrrr.

The attic has been cleaned up a bit as well. Copious amounts of bat guano were vacuumed up, and we now have a tremendous amount of storage space. However, mice are living up there, so we have to keep things in mouse-proof containers. Ahh, the challenges of an old house. Gotta love it.