Let the cropping begin!

Conditions at 5:10 am - raining and +1'
Expected later: +3' and more rain and snow mixed      

I talked to Brenda yesterday during the day and she wasn't feeling really great but last night she was feeling a little better. So she and Caitlin came over and brought some rice and a delicious stir fry they had for supper. What a lovely treat! All we did last night was look at a few pages I had done and then at some of the tools and a little bit about how to use them. She has to get Bernie to go through the photos and pick out the best ones and have them printed. Next week we're going to spend some time learning how to use the cutters and such and then we will be on our way. Caitlin is also keen to do her pictures from her time in Korea, then she has her Asian adventures, and also Europe. She has lots of work to do! But it will be fun to share the techniques I've learned along the way. I'm really looking forward to our Tuesday nights.  Of course, if we get Sundays that are not suitable for skiing, we can also turn those into scrapping days as well.
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The mailbox dilemma continues. Just before Christmas, because we'd had SO much rain, the plow knocked the mailbox out of the ground. But realistically the length of post that was actually in the ground was quite minimal. Lloyd tried to put it back into the ground and it stayed for a few days but then two more swipes with the plow finished it off again. Only this time there was lots more snow and it was actually buried under the snowbank and I had to dig it out. I brought it up to the house and tried to figure out what to do with it. It stayed there for about a week until I came up with, what I think, is a brilliant idea. In the meantime the mailman dropped my mail in the box next door.  So, on Saturday I went down to the road with a shovel, and dug a big square hole in the snow right down to the dirt. Then I got out the Christmas tree stand I bought last year (2009) and tightly secured the mail box post into it. Then I carted the whole thing down to the road and placed it in the hole, and proceeded to fill in all around it with snow. So far it's working.  It was very cold the past two days so the snow around it froze and it was in there quite tightly. Not sure what the rain will do but if it freezes again (which we all know it will) it should be fine. My only concern is the plow might just break it off from the stand but we'll see. It was an idea that just might work until Spring.
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I received an email from on of the IAAP girls in Grand River and they are very excited about coming out here in May. I have no idea how many are coming but I'm really looking forward to it! I won't be going to the conference in Moncton this year so it will be great to have them here. Of course it will be extra special as Lobster season is open at that time so they are looking forward to a feast a la Chez Denny and we'll try to make sure it's a memorable one!

Well, better go as the power has just gone off and it's too dark to see the keyboard