Before and After

My wife came through the ankle surgery with flying colors. What was needed? I'm glad you asked.

Before

After - two plates and 9 screws

I told her it looked like a high school shop class project. Strangely, she didn't think it was quite that funny. :)

Winter Weather, Part 3

AccuHunch predicted "Higher elevations may see up to 12 inches." They were right, for a change.

We had 7 inches of the white stuff when I left the house this morning at 0815. This afternoon at 1415, we had 11.5".

It's still snowing lightly, but unlikely to add any additional accumulation. A couple miles farther back in to the mountains, folks are reporting 13 to 14 inches.

Driving with the summer tires (in four-wheel-drive) was a little iffy this morning, but all is now well. Winter tires are installed, the driveway is freshly plowed, and I have the next three days off.

Life is good, y'all.

The Morning After

Good morning, everyone, and happy Sunday!

We're a little stiff and sore this morning, from yesterday's unaccustomed activity. But nothing that ibuprofen can't handle. I think.

Now that we've had a couple of rain-free days, the back yard is finally dry enough to mow. And there's a fairly substantial carpet of leaves on the driveway which will require the services of a leaf-blower. Have I mentioned the driveway is roughly 270 feet long?

The newly rocked-in area looks nice, and has changed the appearance of the front yard from "barely reclaimed from the forest" to "somebody lives here and is taking care of the place." I'll get a picture of it today, to show before-and-after shots in a later post.

Anyway, it's time for another cup of coffee. We've only just now gotten both eyes open and focused at the same time.

Have a wonderful day, my friends; thanks for stopping by.

First Night: AAR

So yesterday after work, it turned into a 9 1/2-hour marathon of carrying beds up and down multiple flights of stairs, moving a ton of brass and lead, and the assorted hardware associated with that weight. And there were several dozen boxes of varying sizes and weights.

75 miles of driving, three round trips, and lots and LOTS of boxes.

We got the last bed assembled at 23:30 last night. And I tell you what: pushing all those beds up two flights of stairs got old long before the task was done. Of course, the furniture won't be delivered to the new place until tomorrow, so we've no place to sit except the hearth. By midnight, even that stone ledge felt better than standing around the kitchen.

And boy, did that bed feel good by the time we were able to unwind and fall into it, at 00:30.

So, the after-action report? No traffic noise, no barking downs, no loud neighbors. Just chirping birds right before the alarm went off at 04:30.

This morning, I hurt in places I'd forgotten I had. I'm tired enough that the first two cups of coffee left me a bit nauseous. But I'm going to have another anyway.

It Was a Struggle, But

Older Daughter and I took the morning off, and went to the range. I'd say "bright and early", but the sun hadn't come up when we left at 08:00.

The range had sent an e-mail to all its members, warning that ice cleats on footwear is mandatory. When we arrived, we could see why: all the precip had melted and refrozen several times, so that the entire grounds - roads, walkways, and ranges - was covered under two inches of nearly-transparent ice.

The view from the target line, back to the firing line shelter.

It was 10° F. when we arrived at 08:40, and didn't get much warmer over the next two hours. Daughter had her new .357 Ruger revolver to try out, but I went old-school.

There's no school like the old school. :)

She had her Garand, too, and I brought along my 1911 to complete the "old school" theme, but that's getting ahead of myself.

The range has floodlights, since we have more hours of darkness than daylight for several months during winter.  We set up our targets, laid our gear on the frost-covered benches, and turned on the other creature comfort.

Infrared heaters are quite welcome.

She started out prone, and since sitting on a hoarfrost-covered wooden stool didn't seem like much fun, I began off-hand, with a "hasty" sling. (You Appleseed shooters will know what I mean.)

My first group of eight is shown above. That's a 3.5" spread at 35 yards, which didn't seem too bad after not shooting since last summer. I know, I know: that's too long, but sometimes life gets in the way.

The pistol shooting didn't go nearly as well, and every month of my non-practice was right there on the target for all to see. Much work is needed.

By 10:30, the temperature had only warmed to 15°, and we noticed that cold-and-stiff feeling settling in, so we called it a good session and headed home.

But before wrapping this up, I'll share the scenery which surrounds the range.

Thanks for stopping by, friends. I'm going to get something warm to drink.