Perfect winter hike

Both of my conditions for a perfect winter hike were met today.

- Not windy or bitterly cold, but cold enough that I'm fairly sure to be the only human out there.

- Fresh snowfall so I can see the animal tracks and the trees are gorgeous and it's perfectly quiet and still.

I couldn't really find the trails that I usually hike.

So I made the questionable decision to follow a set of bunny tracks.

They led me over this bridge with a fallen branch,

and deep into the woods.

I found a cute squirrel, who chattered angrily at my intrusion into his woods.

There are my nice boots that I bought last year to hike in Yellowstone and Montana.  Today I tested their waterproofness. In this picture, they're trying to decide if they want to go down these slippery stairs with a layer of ice under the snow.

My boots and I decided to go down the stairs (carefully).

At the bottom of the stairs I saw this cut tree that I imagined was laughing at me.  Can you see it?

Something bad must have happened here.  I'm glad I don't know what.

More stairs.  I had to crawl through and over fallen limbs to get to them.

Made it.  These boots really are waterproof.

I watched a squirrel dig up a nut here.  After he scampered up a tree with it, I went over to investigate.  How did he know there was a nut under there?

Debating if this branch is going to fall on my head as I walk under it.  It didn't.

How spectacular to see bright red berries in a colorless landscape!

These are the kind of pictures that I will cherish all summer long. 

 They will sustain me until next winter.

A welcome sight after getting (slightly) lost in the woods.  I didn't pop out where I expected to, but I met my goal, which is always to arrive back at my car unharmed before dark.

Pandemic play changes

Sarah earned a part in Morton High School's fall play, "The Man Who Came to Dinner", but it's very different because of COVID. All the actors wear masks during rehearsals, and even during the show.  The show will be online only, with no live audience.  I feel bad for Sarah and all the others, especially for the seniors, but I am thankful (as I bet they are too) that at least they get to have the experience of putting on a play, such as it is.  

Sarah was originally cast as a radio tech person and a prisoner/luncheon guest with no lines, but one of the other minor actors has COVID so Sarah absorbed his lines and had to memorize them in two days.  

The play was being streamed online and available to watch one day only.  For all the other plays that Sarah has been in, parents were allowed to attend dress rehearsal and take pictures.  I always enjoyed doing that.  These pictures were taken by the parent that was allowed to be there.  Thankfully she's a better photographer than I am. The last few are screenshots I took while I was watching it.

New carpet

Noah's new carpet was installed yesterday, so we helped him get his bedroom set up.  Mike assembled his bed frame and hung shelves, Noah moved his computer stuff to the loft, and I helped him make up his bed and move clothes into his closet.  At the end are some before and after collage pics.

Shoe shelf and new nightlight in the mud room.

Noah silhouetted behind the flag in his garage.

His little tiny Christmas tree on the kitchen counter. He put it up just so people would stop nagging him about not decorating for Christmas.

Our old washer and dryer seem happy in their new home.  

His new room is so cool! 

 Instead of smelling like dirty old dog, it now smells like new carpet and paint. 

Sheldon and Sally

When I flippantly said, "We can give Noah our old washer and dryer and just get new ones," it seemed like an easy thing.  It's a big project that will involve at least 4 days. Day 1 was making the purchase.  Day 2 was hauling out the old and preparing for the new. Day 3 is today: delivery and installation.  Day 4 will be installing the old ones at Noah's house.  

The shiny new ones arrived at 10:00 this morning.  I was going to try to get the delivery guys to bring them into the house by using my sex appeal.  But after a look in the mirror, I realize I don't possess that, so I decided to use my "I'm just a weak, middle-aged woman and it sure would help me a lot if you big strong guys could just bring them inside" womanly wiles instead.  I also bribed them with cookies. The nice delivery guys very kindly did and didn't even take the cookies!  

That was a big help, but we still had to move them into the laundry area and install them. Fortunately, we had Marty to help with that.  I think she would like to be a Sherman's showroom cat.  She is so curious about all the new stuff and especially the packaging.  

My job was basically holding and pushing and following orders, in addition to picking up all the trash.  I loaded it all into a big bag and hauled it out while singing "Here Comes Santa Claus".

We got the washer (named Sheldon) into place and discovered that the hose connections are far side of the washer so the hoses wouldn't reach the water valves.  We had a discussion and difference of opinion about what to do about that.  Mike was right, so I relinquished my stance.  He is now at Menards buying an extension hose and a steam kit (for HALF the price of what Sherman's wanted to charge), and I am registering the products online. 

This is what our house currently looks like:

The other 2 cats have been cowering under the bed all day, terrified of all this.  Shadow finally emerged and cautiously investigated everything.

Shiloh came slinking out and made a beeline for my lap, where she quivered  for a long time.

Noah arrived to help with the installation and take home his booty.  He and Mike got into all kinds of contortions.

That's an unhappy camper right there after he dropped something vital deep down inside the bowels of the dryer mechanism.

As of 6:00 p.m., I'm still not able to do a load of laundry.  It's very complicated.  I don't need it to launch a rocket or cure cancer.  I just need it to wash my sheets.  Ironically, I might have to take my laundry to Noah's house to wash it.  Starting to think that $100 delivery/installation thing might have been worth it.

P.S.--The dryer's name is Sally. 

Update: It's a few days later, and I have since done some loads of laundry.  Sheldon makes strange sounds while he's washing.  Sometimes he makes  low wolf-like growl, sometimes he makes whale noises, a couple times he hisses like a snake, sometimes he sounds like an airplane trying (but failing) to take off. Sally is pretty quiet.  She's going to take some getting used to, but she does play a nice little song when she's finished with her cycle.  She only plays it once, quietly, and she doesn't bother you again.  It's much more pleasant than the incessant beeping of our previous dryer, but it's also very easy to forget about the laundry, which the old machine would never allow.