Molly also took lots of photos of Max and Truman.  They were having a great day - until Maxx discovered the truth about leeches!   Enjoy!


Catching Crawdads.  This is a BIG one! 















A good splashing place:  


















Two handsome boys










How I love this grin!















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Molly took some great photos on Saturday while I was away teaching a jewelry class in Potsdam.  














There's a dramatic shot of the old barn against a stormy bright sky:
















Some fun shots of the Cow Slips that she and Bryan transplanted a few weeks ago.










More dramatic foliage:   

















Blossoming trees













Interesting textures:



















And here's a silly shot of the lovely photographer herself against that same dramatic sky.  (taken from down in the stream bed.  We need to get a goat to keep that area well mowed so we can enjoy it during the summer.)














.....

Bry is eager to have his photos at work but we forgot to put them on the jump drive last night so here are a few for him to share with everyone.













I wish I could make Blogger line these all up - Maybe Bry can edit this post and tell you what all of the peaks are.





















I think this one is my favorite. 













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We've all been a bit under the weather lately.  I'm not sure what's up with Molly and I but I'm pretty sure that THIS is what is bothering Maxx and Bry.  Pesky pollinating trees!









Bry went out to grb a couple of peaks last weekend with Jonathan and Cameron.  The weather was perfect.  That means that the temperatures were below thaw in the Adirondacks - so no mud, no floods, no avalanches.  Good for them, too bad for all of the rest of us.  It's a bit chillier than I would like around here today.








Some scoff at the Adirondacks because the elevation isn't as high as Western mountains.  Granted, there are plenty of trails tame enough for me to wander around on but the terrain is pretty rugged off the beaten path and the weather can be pretty unforgiving if you aren't prepared.  Bry and his brothers have been taking a winter trip since Molly was very little.  Derek hasn't been able to make it the last couple of years but Cam has been filling in.  I always feel better when Bry is out with more than one other adult.
Molly was sad about not being able to go this year but her broken arm would have made the hike a bit too rough for her.  She stayed home and watched '80's chick flicks with me instead. 

Next year she'll get to go again.   

We're making progress in the bathroom!


Before


The tub corner with framing, tile backer board and the beginnings of plumbing.
After.

Wall board, tile and tub set in frame.  The plumbing is done now and we've all had a chance to take a real bath but I don't have photos yet. 










Before

The upstairs hallway - messy angles for wall board.
After.

Still a little messy - but much better than open insulation.  Bry says this is what mud is for.












Before - laundry nook -  open insulation

We didn't get much done this break.  We had been looking forward to being very productive and having lots of fun with family but - well - things were really just pretty subdued.

Bryan spent most of his work hours during break trying to fix the upstairs shower.  To avoid spending another hundred dollars for shower bits, he took the downstairs shower out and re-used the practically new fixtures.  It was proving to be a freeze risk anyway, that far out from the main part of the cellar and on the very outer wall of this poorly insulated section of the house.  So he finally got the plumbing done, moved some wiring that was in an inappropriate spot related to said plumbing and replaced some of the small plastic bits inside the fixtures which were causing lots of dripping.  We have a shower upstairs now and we are all excited about how awesome the bathroom is going to be when we are done but it was very frustrating to spend so much time fussing with something that should have been fairly quick and easy instead of making progress in other areas of the room and the house.  We keep discovering more and more areas where the cold sneaks through and the warmth escapes.  We're generally cold just about everywhere in the house except the upstairs bathroom, right in front of the woodstove or in the LR when the fireplace is running.  Propane is expensive, though. 

We did get to play with lots of friends and family over break and we did a lot of much needed relaxing but we still didn't see everyone that we really wanted to see.  We didn't spend much time with my mom (but she did get to visit my sister in Rochester for the first Christmas any of us has been able to spend with her in many years - which is great!)  and I missed my dad's unexpected visit before Christmas because I was at work.  We didn't get over to my brother's house at all.  I still have three undelivered gifts under the tree.  

We did enjoy having people over for Christmas day and we discovered that the pool table - excuse me - billiards table make an excellent banquet table when covered with plywood and a nice table cloth.  Lots of elbow room for 12 people!  The kitchen was functional and lots of good food was enjoyed in spite of not having a dishwasher, kitchen cupboards or a counter top.  The South Studio was sealed off with plastic and made an excellent walk-in-fridge for all the leftovers.

If anything, Christmas break showed us just how over extended we are in general.  We're trying to re-organize our priorities a bit but that is hard when the thing that takes up the biggest chunk of our free time is Bryan's commute. 

We'll work it out.  It's January with February at the door.  Things always feel bleaker than they really are in this part of Winter territory.

Maxx took an immediate liking to the Nativity set again this year.  I had to scold him several times for taking the nice set off the window sill and playing with it with his action figures.

Then one day I walked into the living room to find this.  Apparently he thought Baby Jesus needed a bodyguard.

Here are the kids hanging their socks by the new fireplace.  I was hoping to get a photo of Ziggy enjoying it but ummm... well, it has a thermostat and turns itself on and off so one day he was lying there enjoying the residual warmth when it came back on.  Now getting him to relax near it is hard.  He looks at me as if to say  "No way, Crazy Lady.  I'll just get nicely to sleep and it will make that big 'FWOOFH!" noise with the flames and everything.  It might eat me."

He likes his new squeaky bone, though.















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