That police light Carol of the bells is so cool! Thanks!
Eva’s Friends
- Thread starter Evadig
- Start date
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- #432
Highlights of 2025
I look forward to sharing 2026 with you all, and wish you a very happy new year!
HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVA! 
Happy New Year to you, too!View attachment 4275149
Highlights of 2025
I look forward to sharing 2026 with you all, and wish you a very happy new year!
Happy new year to Eva and Eva's Friends!
A belated Happy New Year! 2026 has gotten off to a busy start, and I haven't spent as much time on BYC as usual.
It appears I haven't written anything since before the blizzard last Sunday. Even by northern Iowa standards, it was a doozey. State patrol closed 200 miles of Interstate 35, although I can't imagine why anyone would have attempted to drive through the high winds and blowing snow.
Wind seemed to come from all directions and blew into all of the coops through the air vents and around the doors. Snow piled up inside the coops -- all the bedding had to be removed and replaced -- and drifted into the runs; latches on some were frozen shut. A couple still are, which makes caring for the birds really tough.
Dinah, my smaller dog, walked to the door but refused to go outside and managed not to relieve herself for about 24 hours. Eventually, I just picked her up and plopped her outside in the snow.
My more-than-century-old house doesn't warm up very well upstairs so I run a good space heater in my bedroom. As I came downstairs at 2:30 Monday morning (dogs seemed to hear something outside), I realized it was cold -- really cold -- on the first floor. The thermostat read 44 degrees!
I knew no one was going to be able to come out for hours; the roads hadn't been cleared. But I called the furnace repair's emergency number, plugged in more space heaters and layered on clothes. I learned that with my electrical wiring, I can't plug in space heaters in the bathroom and the west wall of the living room at the same time. I had to go the basement and figure out which switch to throw in the breaker box.
The furnace is about 20 years old, so I was preparing myself for the worst. But, it's fine. When Wes got here about 9 a.m., he found that blowing snow plugged the exterior PVC exhaust vent, and it was an inexpensive and quick fix to unclog it.
I got my snowblower started, but once again, it wouldn't keep running. Which didn't really matter because the overhead garage door was frozen shut until the next day. By then, I had shoveled out.
Because I couldn't get my car out of the garage, I had to postpone an appointment at the car dealership until Friday. I told them it would be the same part that was bad last winter, and I was right. The part is still under warranty and they will fix everything for free, probably this week, after they order the part.
One of my Easter Eggers has conjunctivitis again, and I was able to get a same-day vet appointment for her Friday afternoon. It's almost a 90-mile drive to the avian vet, but they are great. She is reluctantly getting oral meds and eye drops.
Because her appointment was later in the day, I had to drive home in the dark (yuck!) but it gave me a chance to see some cool Christmas lights. It seems quite a few people decorate with lights and leave them up at least for a bit after Christmas. From my house, I can barely see one of my neighbors' lights that seem to chase around her roof line as they change colors. Close up, her deck railing has some cool white lights that look as if they are dripping down the rails.
How's your reorganizing and purging going? I spent more than half of yesterday with my kitchen cabinets and island. I get lots of quality kitchen stuff at auctions, where the auctioneer likes to sell boxes of assorted things at once. I tend to keep everything that looks like it's good quality. However, yesterday I realized I had three 9-by-13 Pyrex baking dishes. I will NEVER need that many.
I've loaded up two big boxes to donate at the men's homeless shelter that has a thrift store where its residents work.
My sister always chooses a word of the year and has convinced me to do the same. For 2026, my word is "accomplish," and I think the kitchen purge is a good start.
Hope 2026 is going well for you!
It appears I haven't written anything since before the blizzard last Sunday. Even by northern Iowa standards, it was a doozey. State patrol closed 200 miles of Interstate 35, although I can't imagine why anyone would have attempted to drive through the high winds and blowing snow.
Wind seemed to come from all directions and blew into all of the coops through the air vents and around the doors. Snow piled up inside the coops -- all the bedding had to be removed and replaced -- and drifted into the runs; latches on some were frozen shut. A couple still are, which makes caring for the birds really tough.
Dinah, my smaller dog, walked to the door but refused to go outside and managed not to relieve herself for about 24 hours. Eventually, I just picked her up and plopped her outside in the snow.
My more-than-century-old house doesn't warm up very well upstairs so I run a good space heater in my bedroom. As I came downstairs at 2:30 Monday morning (dogs seemed to hear something outside), I realized it was cold -- really cold -- on the first floor. The thermostat read 44 degrees!
I knew no one was going to be able to come out for hours; the roads hadn't been cleared. But I called the furnace repair's emergency number, plugged in more space heaters and layered on clothes. I learned that with my electrical wiring, I can't plug in space heaters in the bathroom and the west wall of the living room at the same time. I had to go the basement and figure out which switch to throw in the breaker box.
The furnace is about 20 years old, so I was preparing myself for the worst. But, it's fine. When Wes got here about 9 a.m., he found that blowing snow plugged the exterior PVC exhaust vent, and it was an inexpensive and quick fix to unclog it.
I got my snowblower started, but once again, it wouldn't keep running. Which didn't really matter because the overhead garage door was frozen shut until the next day. By then, I had shoveled out.
Because I couldn't get my car out of the garage, I had to postpone an appointment at the car dealership until Friday. I told them it would be the same part that was bad last winter, and I was right. The part is still under warranty and they will fix everything for free, probably this week, after they order the part.
One of my Easter Eggers has conjunctivitis again, and I was able to get a same-day vet appointment for her Friday afternoon. It's almost a 90-mile drive to the avian vet, but they are great. She is reluctantly getting oral meds and eye drops.
Because her appointment was later in the day, I had to drive home in the dark (yuck!) but it gave me a chance to see some cool Christmas lights. It seems quite a few people decorate with lights and leave them up at least for a bit after Christmas. From my house, I can barely see one of my neighbors' lights that seem to chase around her roof line as they change colors. Close up, her deck railing has some cool white lights that look as if they are dripping down the rails.
How's your reorganizing and purging going? I spent more than half of yesterday with my kitchen cabinets and island. I get lots of quality kitchen stuff at auctions, where the auctioneer likes to sell boxes of assorted things at once. I tend to keep everything that looks like it's good quality. However, yesterday I realized I had three 9-by-13 Pyrex baking dishes. I will NEVER need that many.
I've loaded up two big boxes to donate at the men's homeless shelter that has a thrift store where its residents work.
My sister always chooses a word of the year and has convinced me to do the same. For 2026, my word is "accomplish," and I think the kitchen purge is a good start.
Hope 2026 is going well for you!
- Thread starter
- #438
I didn't bother to write Sunday because nothing had happened worth telling. I picked up my dad and sister from the airport on Thursday. It felt kind of odd having them home after a month but I got over it pretty quickly.
It was especially easy because my parents took themselves for a three-day trip to explore possible locations to live (they did not really find any) and so my sis and I had the house to ourselves. That was nice. We made an apple pie and a cupful of apple cider with the remaining apples. Both turned out well even though it was our first time making them.
Today we went to town and stopped at the dog park. Eva, as always, had a really good time and Annie even was a little more confident, until a snappy little dog nipped her when she tried to be friendly. Now she's afraid of dogs again...
I am not doing too well in preparing physically or academically for boot camp. I have not run for over a week and have not been memorizing the book they gave me to memorize. I have just ninety-six days and eighteen hours according to the app that I have been using to help study (it has information the book doesn't).
I need to sit myself down and do some sewing but I simply have no desire to do it. I started a skirt for my sister but gave up when I sewed a seam backwards. I also have to make another dress for myself because one shrunk but I don't want to do that either, even though I do want the dress. Maybe when the weather turns cold again I will get to it.
It has been a high of 55F - very nice weather. It almost kind of feels like spring but we'll probably get some snow late January or February. It definitely will get cold again.
It was really windy here, too, for a few days and we got a bit of snow. On New Year's Day I was going to church and there's a large hill you have to go down with a steep turn at the bottom. Well, as I began inching my way down this hill I saw a car, a pickup, and horse trailer at the bottom. I applied the brakes but the hill was so slippery I skidded all the way down, thankfully managing to stop several feet behind the pickup.
I took many pictures:
Sugar cookies from a Canadian 1940 recipe:
New Year's morning
Annie and Eva
Light from the outdoor Christmas lights through the front door
Deer in my yard
Eva
Railroad in Maryland
Antietam Battlefield
Night Sky
The cider (from Granny Smith apples)
The apple pie from a 1922 recipe (but the crust is store-bought - we rerolled the second crust to make a top)
The Christmas tree
Eva
Annie
It was especially easy because my parents took themselves for a three-day trip to explore possible locations to live (they did not really find any) and so my sis and I had the house to ourselves. That was nice. We made an apple pie and a cupful of apple cider with the remaining apples. Both turned out well even though it was our first time making them.
Today we went to town and stopped at the dog park. Eva, as always, had a really good time and Annie even was a little more confident, until a snappy little dog nipped her when she tried to be friendly. Now she's afraid of dogs again...
I am not doing too well in preparing physically or academically for boot camp. I have not run for over a week and have not been memorizing the book they gave me to memorize. I have just ninety-six days and eighteen hours
according to the app that I have been using to help study (it has information the book doesn't).I need to sit myself down and do some sewing but I simply have no desire to do it. I started a skirt for my sister but gave up when I sewed a seam backwards. I also have to make another dress for myself because one shrunk but I don't want to do that either, even though I do want the dress. Maybe when the weather turns cold again I will get to it.
It has been a high of 55F - very nice weather. It almost kind of feels like spring but we'll probably get some snow late January or February. It definitely will get cold again.
Your lovely hens! What's their names?
HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVA!
Thank you! I hope your 2026 is off to a good start!
Goodness gracious! Having a blizzard sounds awful. I'm glad the furnace was only blocked by snow, and that your car part is still covered by the warranty. Hopefully you get some of our warm weather so the snow melts and you get a break from bad weather.
It was really windy here, too, for a few days and we got a bit of snow. On New Year's Day I was going to church and there's a large hill you have to go down with a steep turn at the bottom. Well, as I began inching my way down this hill I saw a car, a pickup, and horse trailer at the bottom. I applied the brakes but the hill was so slippery I skidded all the way down, thankfully managing to stop several feet behind the pickup.
Poor EE. What's her name? That's a long drive!
Once my dad and sister came home from the airport, I stopped organizing. I did finish re-packing all the boxes I'd opened, but other than that I have been spending my time trying to clean my room. There is literally zero storage - so everything stays on the extra bed.
Thank you, and same for you!
I took many pictures:
Sugar cookies from a Canadian 1940 recipe:
New Year's morning
Annie and Eva
Light from the outdoor Christmas lights through the front door
Deer in my yard
Eva
Railroad in Maryland
Antietam Battlefield
Night Sky
The cider (from Granny Smith apples)
The apple pie from a 1922 recipe (but the crust is store-bought - we rerolled the second crust to make a top)
The Christmas tree
Eva
Annie
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