Scarborough

Apparently, our neighborhood was settled by the English in the 1600s. In 1690 the Indians burned the town and all the villagers fled. Pretty interesting, huh?
So today is my birthday and I actually have the day off, just by coincidence. I've done some cooking, shopping (nothing fun), and I got a slight haircut. Have decided to let it grow, though I don't know what I plan to do with it. It seems like another marker to indicate change right now though.
We drove to Boston yesterday to go to Ikea, and, missing one sliver of a turn, ended up circling The Commons! While not what we had planned, it turned out to be less of a nightmare than we expected. Even during the 3 months I lived there I never drove downtown! We got to Ikea and got a chest of drawers for the guest room, a coffee table, and a rug for the dining room for less than what it cost today to have our heating tank filled! And we do need a place for Matt to put his clothes while he stays here with us (which we still don't have dates on.)
I think I'll enjoy what snow is out on the marsh still. From the comfort of the chair in front of the window, while knitting a baby blanket. And drinking tea. Aah.

Snowy Saturday morning

Sitting in the living room enjoying the snow coming down. Third day this week! We had 4 inches last snow, but this is supposed to be just a sprinkling. Doesn't look like a sprinkling! We don't usually get to sit and watch, so this is delightful. You can see the tide is on the higher side today, though not as high as it can get.
I'm loving having a vehicle with 4wd.  The car was a little more than I needed in Athens, but it's absolutely perfect here. Our neighborhood (especially our road) doesn't get totally cleared, so there is ice and snow build up.  The Crosstour hasn't slid an inch! I am being careful, and I can actually feel when the wheels act independently. Pretty cool. The main roads are usually much better, unless it's 6am and the snow has just started. It's a good thing we know the roads somewhat! They kind of disappear under new snow.
Keeping warm and happy here.

We love our (not-so) little house

The kitchen (during our little house-warming). Top photo: Background is the actual kitchen and foreground is the "eat-in" part. Notice the fireplace. Odd placement, huh? We just had the chimney guy inspect it and it's good to go, so we will probably be cranking it up soon. The doorway on the left goes to the laundry/mud room off the garage.
Bottom photo: We love the long countertop. Don't know why they didn't leave an overhang for the barstools, but maybe we can do that. It's laminate so won't be expensive to just change that. Though it's a bit on the small side, it's more counter space than we had in Athens by far and we're enjoying eating in almost every night. The crockpot has gotten lots of use with our chowder experiments, each one delicious so far.

The white stuff

There must be at least 8in of snow on the deck, maybe more. It's been coming down all day without let-up and the plows have been plowing and replowing, but still the roads are white. Had to dig my car out in the parking lot at work with drifts coming up above my boots. Think I'll rethink the work essentials on snow days: better gloves, snow pants. The coat was perfect. When I got home I shoveled 2ft wide (on the 25ft long deck) beside the house. The snow is powdery but it's still very heavy. And now the rain/sleet is starting. But it's 4:30 pm and there is light outside! Amazing how a few minutes lengthening of each day makes such a difference.
Oddly, schools and such closed today. I don't know if it was because of ice predicted for the afternoon, but I didn't expect it.
Had a delightful week end in NC with the Beall clan. Had me some grits too! I may have to make a pot of them to take to work as everyone thinks they must be disgusting, even though they haven't tried them.