Another snowstorm yesterday with several more inches of snow. We've been told that this is the 2nd coldest February since Grant was president! So, as you can see by the early morning pictures, The Land (and pond) are sleeping quietly underneath all the snow. It really is a beautiful place when the snow is so fresh and undisturbed as it was this morning. All the new little trees are resting before their next season of growth, so there isn't much to see at this time of the year.
Linda came to visit to help me go through Mom's home in Davenport. She was here more than a week, and stayed an extra day because the flights were cancelled on Feb 1 for her trip back to Arizona. We had a lot of snow in Illinois and Iowa. We both were stuck in Iowa, but cousin Bob rescued us. We had dinner with Bob and Libbet, his girfriend, which turned out to be absolutely wonderful. The pictures are of Linda and me with the snowman I made in her honor after the big snowstorm back at Mom's home. The other pictures are of Mom's home cleaned up and ready to put on the market.
I took Linda to see the new farm south of Ottumwa. The next pictures are of Linda visiting the Iowa farm and standing in front of the barn with my friend, Kim Tomash. Kim's husband, Jim, with Russ and Steve, are re-siding the barn. I can't wait to see it done. More pictures show the newly finished porch (still needing paint in this picture).
The book I have written for Katie, Chloe and Jack is almost done. Stephanie, the fantastic illustrator of my book, and I met with Mike Schafer and Tom in Lee, IL a couple of weeks ago. Tom and Mike will be setting the book up so it can be printed. I hope it will be ready for the triplet's 4th birthday in June. It's been over two years of work!
And speaking of the triplets, I couldn't resist adding in some pictures of Chloe, Katie and Jack from my December visit. They are the cutest!
So, both farms continue to be restored - although it isn't apparent at this time of the year. (Except for the re-siding of the barn!) Sometimes, even the ground under our very feet needs to rest, and what better time than now - under heavy, deliciously white snow!
I hope you, too, dear Reader, are finding some time to rest. There will be more than enough work to do when the snows melt and the grasses grow and the soil begs for some lovely flowers and vegetables to be planted! Although it seems this is so far away, it will be here soon enough! Stay warm, dear Reader!