A couple of before pictures.....

Today (Thursday) was snow cleanup day.  The storm that started Wednesday late in the afternoon, was first supposed to be the in the 2 to 4 inch range.  By the time we got home from dinner at the Brewsters on Aiport Way it had become 6 to 8 inches.  By the time I went to bed, it was a full-fledged Winter Storm, complete with the appropriate warnings for up to 12 inches.

Rob had planned to clear his driveway first thing this morning with his new track driven snow blower and then he and Kate were going to come down the mountain so Kate could go to work and Rob was going to be here to give me snow blower instructions.

He got his driveway blown open in 2 hours as opposed to the all day job it would have been to do it by shoveling.  Then they battled roads that had been unplowed with only the tracks of vehicles that had gone before them.  Took them a tad longer than usual.  I found out that Rob was here when Miles, perched on his new window seat, started growling.  He was outside shoveling my steps (which I had done yesterday but the overnight snow had buried) so I booted up and started my snow blowing lesson.  I think I have everything down, but I may not have the arm strength to pull start the engine.  The electric assist no longer works so pull start is the only way to get it going.  

Rob got it started and then I took over.  It took a few turns around the driveway, but I got the hang of it and while I was blowing the snow, Rob was digging out his spare car that will be gone on Sunday.  Rob took over towards the end as I have been having periodic issues with a pain in my right hip.  Just  a growing old with arthritis thing, I think, but just about the time I think it is gone it comes back.  But I had the snowblower on slow forward and back, so it was more like a leisurely walk around the driveway fifty times.  The large driveway is impressive and very nice for turning around and parking.  But it sucks when it is covered in 5 to 8 inches of snow.  After Rob cleared some grass areas for the dogs, we shut it down and  it had taken about 2 hours here, too.

He has a standby agreement with my lawn guy to plow his driveway and mine.  Jim would charge Rob $100 to drive out to his location and plow and each time he came here to my house, it would be a $75 charge (boy do I miss my truck).  So being able to snow blow will save me tons of money.  I am all for that.  Plus I know that Rob will be here to help or do the work if I find I cannot for some reason.

I also had a chance to finally meet a neighbor.  His name is Mike.  He owns the duplex that I can see from my house.  Miles and I had slogged out to the mailbox before Rob got here and Mike came out to introduce himself.  He is the chaplain at the local hospital.  He also works with the local Neighborhood Watch group.  He was quite nice, so I am guessing that if I need help to start the snow blower and Rob is not around, I might be able to ask him if I cannot make it work.

So, some pictures.  These are before the truck arrived.  so this is the empty house, save for the few things I bought to use until the truck arrived.

This is the dining room.  More of a dining area rather than a room.   The only room with a ceiling fan.  We have been looking for a dining set.  Initially we were thinking good sized for gaming, but we have revised that to a smaller table for 4 that we can add folding tables to for gaming.  Right now it is full of boxes... not as many as before, but getting all of the stuff from the PA kitchen has been quite the task.  I did not realize how much kitchen stuff I have accumulated, especially considering I had a fully stocked kitchen at Indian Acres.

This is the view from the dining area.  All along the wall to the right on the outside is the deck.  The wood stove has come in very handy for burning the plethora of newsprint that keeps coming out of the boxes.  Again, not a large room, but we will have some comfy living room furniture that will accommodate the knitters on a Sunday afternoon.

Another view of the living room.  The shelf at the stairs once held an aquarium of Piranha. Right now a small TV is there, but it will soon be mounted on a rolling stand so it can go into any room upstairs or downstairs.  As you can see, the boys are relaxing under the table.  They do not always get to come upstairs.  Trying to keep the dog hair from being all over the house.

Miles is really mad over Kate.  He looks for her to come to the house and when it is only Rob, Miles almost pouts.  When Kate does come he squeals and wiggles and licks.  And she giggles and pets him.  It is adorable to watch.

Final picture for this blog.  Looking down the steps to the front door.  On the right is storage that is under where the aquarium was.  It is currently where excess cooking items are living.  These are the things that I do not use all the time and were either on carts in the kitchen or on shelves on the inside back porch.  It holds a surprisingly large amount of stuff.

So, off to bed.  No overnight snow.  Going to visit the sewing group tomorrow as Tammy texted that they are meeting again tomorrow.  Then shopping for the main course for Dungeons and Dragons on Saturday  Have a great Friday!!!!!!