1.31.2026

Jim moved into the control room to sand the plaster.  He got about halfway finished before he had to stop so that we could go to church.

High 19.5/Low 3.6

1.30.2026

It's been a tough week for my mom - she fell again on Monday night, hitting her head on the bathroom sink, causing forehead swelling and bruising and later black eyes.  She seemed to do okay, but the last couple days have seen more decline.  I got a call early this morning that they thought maybe she had a stroke or the brain tumor is bleeding/swelling.  Hospice was there when I got there and Jim came a bit later.  She seemed to rally a bit, so we'll see how these next days go.

In the afternoon, Jim started sanding the outside wall.  He has the sander attached to the vacuum to hopefully eliminate dust - it really sticks tightly to the wall, so it's a workout to do the whole wall!

All done - it will be ready for painting!

Love to see all the dust in the vacuum as opposed to all over the room!

High 14.1/Low -4.1

1.29.2026

Jim finished up the skim coating in the control room and moved to the outside wall...

All done here too!

High 22/Low 1.6

1.28.2026

 Jim has started the wonderful task of taxes for us and my mom.  Ours are always complicated by my typing business.  I do my part of the paperwork and then turn it over to him to do his magic!

This afternoon, he had made a Craigslist sale.  He met the person at Stewart's so he could get diesel fuel while he was out.  Once he got home, he squeegeed all the muck that has dripped off my car lately!

Jim's 6" round steel piece came in the mail - he's going to use this to make the wine rack in the kitchen!

He's started making the first connection cuts in the pieces for the kitchen island...

Making more cuts...

He'll have to order a bit more steel to complete this island base, but he has pieces to get started on.

High 23.4/Low -0.9

1.27.2026

 Mixing up plaster for skim coating...

In such a small, tight place, this was a messy job.  Jim had plaster droppings all over his face and clothes!

But it looks great!

High 17.1/Low -0.3

1.26.2026

It continued to snow all day, but Jim headed out after lunch to plow the driveway.  We probably got about 18" of snow - the view from the man door looking out... 

Unfortunately, the snow blower was frozen and the blades wouldn't rotate at all.  Jim had to get a shovel and then the spud bar to clean out the blades well and try to get them moving...

Success!

Working down the driveway...

Kind of hard to tell, but this was Jim's view looking out at the road - you can see how high the snow is piled up...

Then working up the driveway - you can see how deep the cut is...

Walking out to uncover the generator...

That's a lot of snow behind the house and on the air conditioning unit!

Once Jim got the driveway cleaned, I went to see Mom.  I stopped at BJs Wholesale Club on my way home and it was like the apocalypse - never seen such an empty parking lot!  I was all by myself in this area.

High 18.8/Low 7.1 - storm total about 18"

1.25.2026

I'm not sure I knew that they named winter storms, but apparently this one has a name.  Our hearts go out to so many that are without power right now across the country.  

While the brutal cold temperatures remain, our snow didn't start until about 11:00 or so and right now we probably have about 7".  A picture from early afternoon...

Jim started cutting steel pieces for our new kitchen island...

Before he started exercising, Jim went out to shovel out the generator, just in case...

 

1.24 - High 11.1/Low -8.4
1.25 - High 9.1/Low -3.1

1.23.2026

Like many across the country, we're waiting for the big winter storm to come through.  It's already very windy and blustery, and the temperatures are falling.  Jim did some prep today - he went and filled up his diesel fuel cans to make sure we have enough to run the Bobcat.  Then he got out the heater for the Bobcat and plugged it in, let it warm up the engine, and then let the Bobcat run for a bit.  He'll continue to do that over these next couple days to make sure it's ready to go.  Right now they are calling for up to 18" of snow with actual temperatures of -18°.  

Everyone stay safe and warm!

High 24.7/Low 2.1

1.22.2026

We woke up to probably 4" of new snow and then we got another inch in the afternoon.  The driveway was fine for me to head out in the morning, and then Jim plowed while I was gone.

Jim wanted to get the bathroom fan all cleaned.  As a reminder, this is the before...

And the after cleaning pic - all those fins are spotless!

While it wasn't a Local night for us, I saw their burger special posted online today and it made my heart happy!  Jim always said his mom called Sloppy Joes Untidy Josephs - I had never before heard anyone else say that - until now!  One more reason why we love The Local!

High 34.1/Low 19.6 - 5" of snow

1.21.2026

This afternoon, Jim wanted to clean out the heater underneath the kitchen sink, so I moved everything out and he got everything spic and span...

The fan in the bathroom has started having some issues.  We've noticed condensation, and Jim went up into the attic a couple of weeks ago and put a pan underneath the pipes to catch any drips.  Today it was dripping again so Jim went back up to investigate.  Our catch pan had liquid in it (frozen!) but wasn't overflowing.  Jim did more checking of the fan and finally determined that the valve is not completely closing, so it's letting warm air from the bathroom up into the attic space.  We've never had this problem before this winter, so Jim is confident that's the issue.

We typically don't use the fan and just leave the bathroom door partially open to let humidity into the house in the winter as opposed to pushing it up into the attic.  So for now, he took the fan out and put up a piece of cardboard to block airflow.  

No matter how much cleaning you do, some things just need to be taken apart and really cleaned.  So this is the perfect time for that...

High 20.3/Low 2.4

1.20.2026

Jim is planning some kitchen upgrades!  He's going to be starting on our wine rack soon that will go in between cabinets, but he's also starting to design an island!  He cut a piece of cardboard to the dimensions of the top so that we could see placement and size.  I'm already getting excited! 

Doing some touchups on this wall...

High 17.9/Low 12.1 - blustery!

1.19.2026

 

Always something to remember, today on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and every other day!

Jim started getting ready to plaster...

Finishing plastering and he even started skim coating on this wall...

High 25.1/Low 20.2

1.18.2026

 It was a beautiful winter weekend on Angel.  We got probably 4" of new snow.  Jim waited until today to plow the driveway.  It was okay for us to go visit Mom yesterday and he wanted to wait until it stopped snowing before getting the snow blower out.  

1.17 - High 28.4/Low 19.5 - 3" of snow
1.18 - High 29.6/Low 25.2 - 1" of snow