February Events

Weekend Getaway with Mitch, Jackie, Zach and Maggie There was a whole lot of outside time, inside time and watching hockey time. Oh, and there was the "skinning the squirrel time" where Sophie held the book, Dangerous Book for Boys open to page 239 and read the directions for skinning a squirrel to Zach as he gave it a go. Meanwhile I was inside the house trying to keep my breakfast down.

Fat Tuesday Party
Our friends Michelle and Paul lived in New Orleans for quite a few years and fell in love with the city - so much so the walls of their house are painted in Mardi Gras colors... in a very rich and tasteful way. They hosted a party where the kids decorated masks, made floats and had a parade for all the adults. Our "prizes" from the party decorated the dining room table for the next few weeks.

Valentine's Day Fondue
After months of searching for a vintage fondue pot I gave up and bought a new one from Target. I would much prefer the orange or yellow or brown kind to the polished line of the stainless steel one but Valentine's Day was approaching and I wanted to start a new tradition here on Belmont Road. So I splurged and we had a wonderful fondue on Valentine's Day - complete with homemade angel food cake, big marshmallows, and bananas and strawberries. Yummy!


BRRRRRR! February here was unseasonably cold - even for us North Dakotans - and we spent A LOT of time hanging out by the fire. One night Dave called me into the family room so I could see that the girls had found the perfect mix - reading by a warm fire. After that there were often four of us reclining on the floor with books in hand - Dave still preferred the chair over the floor.

As of Sunday I think we're done with indoor fires until fall - during one of Dave's roaring fires the glass of one of the doors blew out. Luckily nobody was in front of the fire at the time and the glass blew into the fire. Then yesterday morning, while everybody was in the kitchen having breakfast, there was again the sound of shattering glass and Dave found a mess of glass all over the front of the fireplace. I called a local business, they sent a repairman over and the glass is getting fixed. But he told us one very important piece of advice I'll pass on - do not use the fire starter bricks in indoor fireplaces. Apparently they're made of wood shavings that are glued together - but the glue, when it melts, sticks all over the place and causes uneven heating that is dangerous. He suggested buying a packet of shims and using those for firestarters instead.

817 Here they are - the two guys that made it all happen. I tried to help as much as I could but I'm no match for these two. The house looks fabulous and Charlie and John deserve oh so very much of the credit. As for Charlie calling me an "old shoe" I'm still not sure how I feel about that - but he insists it was meant as a compliment. :)

Two Months of Tuesdays
Caprice, Anna and I finally finished Theresa's quilt yesterday and got it delivered. The ironic part is we delivered it to her on a day where it hit 40 degrees above zero and we were walking around without coats on. But I'm sure she'll still cuddle up in it and know how much she's loved and cared for.