January 27, 2018 Finally some snow to talk about

For most of the month of January, Emigrant Gap has had little snow on the ground.  The end of the month  brought us over 2 feet in one storm.  It is nice to be back to a "winter wonderland" again.  You would think we would take advantage of all that white stuff and go skiing.  But instead, we decided to finally put the insulation back in the ceiling above Katie's and our bedrooms.  It was removed some time ago to add ceiling lights and since it was blown in type and quite filthy, we threw it away with the thought that we would soon replace it with R19 batts.  2 years later and we finally laid the newer bats in place!

The attic is a wonderous place.  The ceilings are high and pitched and the room is basically the size of the entire cabin with very, very sloped sides.  We have managed to put in a type of flooring (mostly partial sheets of plywood) in almost 1/2 of the space.  We keep hoping that as we remove the old blown in  insulation, that we will find some old treasures (like an old bottle or diary or just about anything old).  But all we have found so far is chipmunk acorn stashes and mouse turds.  Alas.

This weekend, Jim had some roof work to do, so I finally replaced the last ugly downstairs bathroom vanity light.  When the previous owners remodeled the lower floor, they put in off center "Hollywood" lighting in each bathroom.  Replacing the lights, usually turns into a big cut in the drywall to add support between the 2/4s and moving the light box (J box) to the correct, centered location above the mirror, then patching the drywall and painting.  A lot of work for something aesthetic.  But well worth it when the job is complete.

And we have finally converted to LED and CFL light bulbs in all the light fixtures.  We hope to save about 75% on our energy bills (of course, we still have the portable heaters that jack the winter PG&E bills up).

No word yet about the school.  It remains closed and boarded up.  We hope to get an estimate on moving the portable 10 feet (part of it sits on the school grounds) this spring.

For the rest of January and early February, the weather is going to be quite warm.  So bye bye snow and we hope for a few more storms before the season is over.

How to Make it SNOW

This year we need all the help we can get in the Sierra - so here are some suggestions for how to make it snow.  

Wear your pajamas inside out and backwards. . . 

Drop One Ice Cube in The Toilet for Every Inch of Snow you Want. . .

Shake a Snow Globe Every Time You Walk Past One. . .

Eat Ice Cream the Night Before. ..

Drink root beer the night before with a straw. . .

Wear a colored sock on your left foot but not on your right. . .

Do a snow dance! Get your whole squad in on it for a stronger force. . .

Throw ice cubes out the window. . .

Yell “Snow Day!” into the freezer. . .

Put a penny under your pillow. . .

Sleep with a soup spoon, a wooden spoon or something silver under your pillow. . .

Throw ice cubes at a tree. . .

Put a frozen white crayon under your bed. . . 

Sleep backwards in your bed. . .

Sleep with toothpaste on your nose. . . 

Kiss a tree. . .

Run around the house 5 times. . .

Wearing pajamas, run five times around the kitchen table in each direction. . .

Wearing pajamas, spin around ten times in each direction. . .

Put a spoon in the Freezer. . .

Put a  spoon  or white crayon on your bedroom windowsill. . .

Put a white stuffed animal toy on your windowsill. . . 

Line your bedroom doorway with white chalk. . .

  

AND

Say Your Prayers. . .

Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray the Lord lays the snow down deep

Please give me a snow day before I wake

So I can have big snowmen to make

January 2018

Christmas at the lodge was not as crowded as planned.  Instead of our expected 42 family members, we had only 30.  That meant that the younger couples did not have to sleep in the screened in porch and Katie did not have to sleep in the hallway by the pump.  But it also meant that a wing of our family did not make it due to scheduling and not being able to get off work.

And of course we are facing another possible drought in the sierra with only a trace of snow on the Thursday before Christmas (and not much since).  Even with all of that we managed to have a wonder, fun-filled Christmas.

Laura, Mike and Allison flew in from Georgia.  Ann and Jeff were there.  All of Patties family were able to attend and so was ours.

We spent our time making Christmas cookies and crafts for our own version of a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.  Some of the  kids, Mike and Jim found a douglas fir tree in the back of the property that they handily cut down.  It was one of our best Christmas Trees so far.  We cut the lower branches off to allow for all the gifts to be stored under it.

Crafts included lots of glue and glitter and some of the family managed to do some wood working off the screen room (branding some wood for signs).

We had one day of sledding before all the snow was gone, so the kids went skiing at Tahoe Donner and ice skating at Northstar for excursions.  We also managed to do a bonfire out in the back yard.  And of course, they played lot of games in the game room.

Pattie and Katie set up a puzzle and then another when the first one was completed.  Laura and I got time to do a painted window and Allison made Bull Dog Coasters for her mom and dad.

We had one slight accident (it would not be a Tahoe Christmas without some mishap).  Matt had a seizure of sorts, probably from going from an over heated room to the cold of the screen room and he was not feeling well that day.  Luckily he rebounded and all is well.  

We ate way too much food (as usual) and way too many sweets.

Once the big crowd departed, we had a much smaller group for New Years.  We celebrated New York New Years at Northstar and saw some pretty impressive fireworks. Then Jim took our small group up to Tahoe for a tour of the lake the next day.

Here are a few photos I have thrown together from our event and our finished (mostly) screen room: