End of February

Ahhh.........last weekend of February. Snow storm forecast : Snow storm starting Thursday night (Feb 24, 2011). Hubby and I left for the cabin as soon as he got home from work. We wanted to be at the cabin before the snowstorm. It was a little after 18:00 when we got in. The house was so cold 54 degrees. The heater took a while to warm the house. I was wearing my jacket inside the house. The fireplace was stated right away as well. Then here comes the snowstorm.

Friday, hubby and I shovelled the deck and our Doctor neighbor came and plowed our driveway again. He is so nice and he is good looking as well. It was snowing all day. I was sitting in front of the computer and heard pop, pop, pop. Pop corn snow hitting the glass on the garden window and popping on the wood deck. When the sun was setting down there was a clear spot in the west and it looked like the mountain was on fire.

Saturday was different. The sky was clear without a speck of clouds when I woke up. The snow on top of the house was melting and creating icicles. The house is surrounded with icicles. we need rain gutter installed.

Sunday the icicles are even bigger and longer.

Warmer ambiance



Project of the day: Sac home, took the vertical blinds in the kitchen down - too industrial and put it up for sale on craigslist. Wanted warmer feel. Changed it to "red spice" panels and I think I got what I wanted.

President's Day

Monday - President's Day hubby and I returned to the cabin. Power is on finally. The food in the ref and freezer - food that we did not take back to Sac are okay. Hubby shovelled the snow off the decks and I put together the PC in the office room. the picture above in the view of the front yard in the office. The snow is so white.

Finally!

At last! I have to thank my husband for finally purchasing the iPhone I have been asking for the last three years and Verizon.

It is a need. We do not get good phone reception at the cabin with TMobile.

Saturday - Snowstorm Part 2

Friday morning we drove back to the cabin. They have not plowed the road yet. We went up a little slower even if we have the Land cruiser with snow tires. It was sunny and you almost cannot see the areas we shoveled yesterday. Our neighbor across the street, Pete saw us shoveling and offered to plow the driveway. Met with him he is a Doctor at the local Hospital. He and his wife- Kate  have twin babies.

There is still no power. The house was too cold. Hubby started the fireplace and got the temperature in the house up a little. I spent the day hanging certificates in the office and pictures in one of the bedroom. Hubby on the other hand tried to burn the piles of branches at the side of the house but cannot get it going. There is too much snow. We have to cook or lunch on a portable propane camping stove.

The food in the refrigerator and freezer are going to be thawed so we put them in ice chest. We waited till 15:00 and decided if the power is not going to come on we are heading back to Sac.

16:00 we left and I guess there are things that we need to buy (necessities) a generator and a tractor so we do not have to shovel the driveway.

Snowstorm

There is snow storm at the foothills so Hubby and I decided we are not going to leave for the cabin till the morning. The forecast have been really bad. we did not want to travel in the dark. Cooked chicken enchilada with Spanish rice for dinner. Both came out really good although the enchilada was a little spicy for my pallete. I used mild sauce and did not use any chili powder but still too spicy. I guess it is time to switch brand .. bye "Las Palmas". This will be the last time I use you.

Friday morning about 9:00 am we left for the cabin. Stopped at Lowe's, CH. Hubby have to get lumber for the deck and I got some picture hanging nails and a fern. The snow dropped as low as 1200 ft which is Cameron Park. While going up the hill you could see it covered.

Pleasant Valley Road below was well plowed.

Puerta del Sol Road was clear at the bottom right after the gate. Hubby decided to put the chain on the truck in case there is a problem. The drive up the hill was slow.

The road to the cabin off the main road was not plowed. The truck have a hard time going up the hill because of the thick snow. We got to our gate and the truck is stucked.

The drive way was covered with about two feet of snow, fresh powder. We have to get off and shovel the driveway.

The house is too cold. Cannot turn the heater on. There is no power. According to the neighbor the power was off late last night. About 15:00 it stated to snow again. The house is too cold, and cannot cook we decided to come back to Sacramento. It was snowing hard, large clumps, and when we left the area where we shoveled is already covered. We also drove the Land Cruiser, the only 4WD we have.

♥ Valentines Day

Hubby have a business trip to Arizona on Valentines Day. He left for work in the morning as usual and made him breakfast as I had my daily morning coffee. I was not able to go to the Sunday dinner at Mom's so I decided to visit  them. I brought some of the lemons and oranges from the backyard. One of my sisters-in -law was there with my 3 youngest niece and nephews. I visited with them. the youngest one have so much energy. Came and greeted me at the door with a hug and big smile. Had the munchies and presents my sister brought from the Philippines Love them all especially the "Ilocos Calamay" I crave it and "tinubong" which is made of rice flour and cooked BBQ style in a bamboo tubing.

I left for a while to go to the mall-JCPenney. I needed a rod for my draperies in the Family room. I decided to replace the vertical blinds to real curtain. Back to Mom's and we sat in her living room and just chatted about "Stuff"till late  It was after 22:00 so I left for home. Still have a little over an hour drive.

I got home and I found this flower arrangement at the doorstep. My loving husband have not forgotten Valentines. After 10 years he still sends me flowers.

Below are the delicacies I got from my sister and some sent through her by my cousin. Corn nut BKA cornik, Polboron, coconut sweet stuff, and other things that I do not even know the name but taste really good

This is the ultimate delicacy I crave "Candon Calamay". It is this  patty  made of sticky rice flour and grated coconut. Hmmmm yummy. This is the only thing I asked my sister to bring back.

Trip to UC Santa Cruz

Saturday I spent all day blowing and raking this side of the house. This is at the side of the swimming pool. The layers of leaves is so thick that it is wet underneath. Hubby have cut off the manzanitas and was able to drive the truck to move the branches.

Hubby have moved down cutting more branches on the pine tree and brush. There is still a lot to do.

Sunday we left at about 9:30 for Santa Cruz. Hubby decided to take Grant Line a road off Scott Blvd on I-50 and connected to I-99 south bound. Below are pictures of parachuters on a skydiving place by the freeway.

I wondered why Hubby decided to take San Mateo Bridge going to Santa Cruz - We were on I-880 already. boggles my mind. - a 30 minutes drive.

University of California Santa Cruz campus entrance. The campus is huge and we had a hard time finding Hannah and Leah who are waiting for us. The campus is like forest with buildings nestled all over the place. Very shady. We had a late lunch at a Hamburger joint by Highway 1. It is very popular and very busy.

The sports field with amazing view of the Pacific Ocean - Nice!

Hubby with Hannah and her room mate Leah.

 

Dorms

Th University bookstore and the Union Hall across.

Huge campus

Superbowl Weekend

It is Superbowl week end and we did not watch the game. I personally do not even know what teams are in the game until friends in FB was posting who they are rallying for and who won. We do not have TV reception yet in the cabin so, we have not watched any sports game. Satellite disk is in the works. The picture above is the sunset picture Saturday, February 6.

Hubby was still clearing the brush in the property. He is now working on the manzanitas on the side of the house by the pool. He was able to clear so much that he was driving the truck in between the pool and the bushes to pick up the branches. He now have 6 piles of brush.

I also have my projects. This time I picked some branches of manzanitas, removed the leaves and the small twigs and wallah! a nice accent to my jars. Free and natural. I probably will paint it later either black or white.

Was also able to hang some pictures on the wall. The brick wall was a challenge. Thank goodness to superglue. I can only drill approximately 1/4 of an inch in the mortar so I have to use superglue to make the nail stay in the hole. It worked.

Endless projects. I removed the silicon grout the previous owner put between the side panel and counter top by the stove. Dirt and grease got between and it is gross. Having an experience from the old house in Alameda, I removed the silicon grout and put real grout which fortunately matches the counter top - nutmeg. I am happy about the match. Need to wait till next week for the sealant.

In between projects is FB ... of course. I love this spot. It's in my kitchen!

We had company for dinner. Hubby's old time friend Mike was over for dinner. I heard a lot about him. I have talked to him on the phone couple of times and it is very nice to finally put a face to a name. He is really a nice guy.

Hubby's Birthday

Happy Birthday Sweetheart. Today is Monte's birthday. I drove into downtown Placerville to get this ice cream cake. I was not sure if there is one in town but I found one online. Nothing fancy.. just the two of us. He also spent his day cutting brush and the lower branches of the trees on the left hand side of the house.

Last weekend of the month