Ice Storm flashback

Happy Wordless Wednesday (is it really only Wednesday??). If you're looking for cute on this Wednesday, hop back to yesterday's little stinker post...

Sometimes an overgrown mess can look kinda cool...

If you're a regular reader, you probably remember our 9 days of hell the ice storm we endured this past December. Here's a little flashback and current views...

Still plenty of damage left behind, but what a difference six months makes...

Ice Storm Pics - Part 3

I saved most of the pics of the dogs from our 9 days of hell the ice storm for Dogs on Thursday, but be sure to scroll back through "ice storm 08" posts if you want to see more...

Queen (Count?) Lola in all her glory, rocking her fake sherpa jacket [be sure to click linked names for more pics]...


Sophie inherited Tut's old football sweatshirt (note to self, go buy her a jacket before the next power outage)... and her Daddy thought the hood was just the funniest thing ever!

Tut's too-small-for-him sweatshirt was replaced after the last power outage with a very stylish blue jacket (maybe a bit too stylish for a rugged boy)...



There was lots of snuggling going on...

Zeus, his look face says it all (and note that he does have a rather nice, large green jacket... however he kept taking it off!)...



Wake us when the power's back...

This is one of my faves; Sophie watching

her Daddy knock ice off a tree...

The boys looking for Mr. power man...

"Winter Camping Fort Central" This is where I spent most of my time, usually with 2 or 3 dogs curled up next to me...

In other DOT news, please be sure to hop on over and read Paula & Elise's last post as Admin. Life calls and Paula has sadly had to step down, asking for Natalie, Chan, and myself to step up in running DOT. We're going to give it out best bark, along with help from

Sue and Mary. Thank you Paula for what you have started with DOT ... we hope to do well in keeping it going... and growing!

This concludes our coverage of the ice storm of '08......

Ice Storm Pics - Part 2

The "artsy" shots - perfect for a Wordless Wednesday, no? (you can click on them to enlarge)

I might need to frame one of these...

Sophie checking out the ice... (click linked names for more icey pics!)

Teutul doing the same...

Zeus wondering what's going on...

Lola checking things out from inside on day #9 when we finally saw a couple PSNH trucks outside working on our power... she kept a good eye on them!

Stay tuned for more ice storm pics... I've saved the best for last... the furbabies all cuddled up inside trying to keep warm!

Ice Storm Pics - part 1

I was finally able to find some time to download the pictures from my 9 days of hell... errr, I mean the Ice Storm of '08. Between the damage pics, my artsy shots and the dogs, there were well over 100 pictures... but I promise I won't bore you with them all. Here's some damage shots for today... (you can click on them to make them large)

My favorite maple tree, which is in the front of our yard... We lost about 1/3 of it a couple years ago (think it got hit by lightening) and I was so happy it survied, but I'm not sure how its going to do after this...

If you enlarge that second shot, you can see a lot of the ice that Matt had knocked off trying to get the branches to spring back up. He had to trim a tun off that were blocking our driveway.

Our weeping willows took some major hits... not sure if they are going to survived or not, but I hope so. We're pretty lucky they aren't closer to the house - otherwise we would've had some holes in the roof for sure!

Here's the large chunk of the maple that came down on our back porch while Matt was off waiting an hour for gas and 45 minutes for Wendy's burgers. I managed to chop most of it up myself (fearing it'd go through the sliding glass door if I didn't), thank you very much...

Think this bent over dandy is a birch... won't be sad if we have to loose it. Of course, all the gazillion apple trees in the back were all fine and dandy... those suckers will stand up to anything!

These trees go along the side of our property line... every single one is snapped about half way up. Looks like a hurricane came through...

Okay, I'll spare you more damage... tomorrow I'll bring you the pretty artistic shots and eventually you'll get some doggy photos too... stay tuned.

Ice Storm Knitting

I spent several of my non-electric hours during the long outage between December 11 and 20 knitting hats for Christmas gifts. I had wanted to knit a hat for each of my 6 younger nieces and nephews (there are 2 older ones as well) and managed to accomplish that task. (We won't talk about the IOU I had to send out to my good friend Teri for her knitted Christmas item). I used my basic go-to hat pattern from Last Minute Knitted Gifts and used mainly acrylic & wool blends in hopes that my family would not accidentally turn one into a new felted doll hat.... You'll have to check my Ravelry projects for yarn specifics since I'm too busy trying to catch up, but here are the pics...

Tabitha's in a lovely red & black to match her jacket...

Jake's with a ribbed cuff...

Benjamin's also with a ribbed cuff...

Sam's stripey little number...

Amber's purplely goodness...

Austin's black & blue...

Although they were all very simply knits, I'm happy that each is getting something handmade by Auntie to keep their nogin warm this winter!

I received our very unique custom Christmas ornament from Lynne's Little Creations. Like Chan, I found Lynne when Natalie ordered her custom cake topper (congrats to the new Mr & Mrs by the way!) and started a "I need one of those" trend.

I absolutely love it! Lynne mangaed to capture our personalities and put lots of great details in there (I would've liked my sweater to be a little less bright, but that's okay... its the sweater). You can click on the picks to enlarge them and check out the details... like the Boston Bruins logo on Matt's hat, the yarn wrapping around Lola from the WIP behind me, the checkered flag in Matt's hand, etc. She hit the nail on the head with the dogs' expressions too - Zeus & Lola's ever happy big smiles, Tut's nervous nelly curious stare and Sophie just being Sophie. Here's the rear view so you can see the WIP....

Speaking of Chan, we haven't opened the human Christmas gifts yet, but she did send the furbabies a beautiful holiday spread...

I also received my Dogs on Thursday ornament swap package. I hate to admit it and am sorry to say, but I was rather underwhelmed. The swap had no real parameters for pricing and such, but having done it last year I knew that most people seemed to include some treats & toys for both humans & the dogs. My spoiler sent a little basket with a Santa ornament and some unlabeled (what I assume are) homemade dog treats with no ingredients listed so I'm not even sure my dogs can have them.

I realized not everyone goes "above & beyond" or has a lot to spend, but I'm mostly disappointed in that the ornament is not at all doggy related.... this was the Dogs on Thurday swap and I spent a great deal of time choosing the right dog related ornament for my pal. Ah well... at least I got to spoil the awesome Sue and her pack in this swap and spoil I did! My package arrived yesterday, a few days late however it could not have arrived at any better time. Yesterday Sue had to say the tough goodbye to the wonderful Monty. The ornament I sent to her will forever be Monty's and there was a book I had included that was very fitting. I'm sure Sue will tell you about it via blog at a later date. In the meantime, hop over and give her some virtual hugs..... May you rest in peace Monty... and may you be enjoying all your friends over the Rainbow Bridge.