Snow storms!

We have had some wicked snow storms pass through in the last few days. At the moment we probably have a good 6-8 inches on the ground - so much, we created a toboggan run this morning to sled down! Some of us were better than others.

It was a fun day, and a good day to have before heading out on fieldwork. At 3am on New Years day (ergh) I'll be headed to Alaska, ready for our last field season in Tracy Arm fjord. It'll be a little sad to have this be the last trip out there, but i'm excited to go and see the fjord and the corals once again. I'll be sad to leave Miss Barkley here though, she's been having a tough time this Christmas, slowing down through old age and struggling a little with new medication for her seizures. But she'll be in good hands, she goes to our friends Amy and Peter (who she loves) for the weekdays, then Brandon will have her for weekends. She's such a loved dog by all, even the vet the other day said she'd take her home. Such personality wrapped up in a 70lb package....:)

Hope all had a good Christmas, and have a Happy New Year!

Miss Barkley, tucked up for some cuddle couch time after a hard day at the vets. 

Snow storm #1 - we got about 4-6 inches in this storm alone. 

The Christmas tree and the start of the storm. 

Brody wanting so desperately to go outside! 

Looking down Robinson Lane, taking Barkley for a walk to the main road to get our mail. We're the 4th house up this lane - though you can't see it back there for the snow falling.  

The house in the snow - so pretty! 

Brandon and Barkley enjoying the fireplace! 

Snow storm #2 hit last night - we got another 6 inches or so on top of what we'd had! 

Creating paths for Barkley, as the snow is up past her belly. Brody decided to 'help' with the path digging and got lost in the snow pile! 

Miss Barkley, appreciating her paths! 

Deciding we should have a second path, and create a toboggan run! 

The run is open! 

I had a hard time with steering.....

You can guess how this ended......

Bathroom Transformation!

Most of the house is painted in nice neutrals. The downstairs (main) bathroom however was a florescent (yes, florescent) pink. It had to go. Unfortunately not enough money to change out the cabinet, floor or the shower fixtures (those will just stay on the list for later), we got some paint, a new light fixture (bye bye hollywood lights!) and some new towel rails and have made quite a stunning transformation. Who knew taking a shower in the morning could be so peaceful! 

The pink. It's really not fuschia, it's florescent.....

Testing out the colour. I loved the swatch but was still nervous it was going to be too dark. With so much white in the room though (toilet, bath, white woodwork, closet etc.) we went for it. 

Even with one coat (and it too two and a bit in places!), the transformation is fantastic! 

The complete picture.....we LOVE the colour! 

We're thinking we need some artwork up on the wall - it's a large space, we don't need shelving as we have a large closet - maybe some metal artwork up there. Will keep on looking! I can't wait until we do the floor and the cabinet, but that will likely be a few years down the line, the pink just had to go sooner......

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! A wonderful day - opening presents with the dogs, going for walks in the woods and to the frozen pond, good food and movies! 

British Christmas!

It's getting so close to Christmas, and we're waiting to see if it's a white one (the weather is saying 'snow showers' right now!). Our plans for the day include a walk with the dogs, a relaxing breakfast and dinner, hopefully catching up with family and friends with Skype and movies! We're having our first Christmas together in my new house. Ahhhhhhh......:)

Every year I like to invite a few folks over for a British Christmas dinner. It's always so much fun. This year Amy, Peter and Stuart came over and shared in the food, fun and pictionary! 

Have a great Christmas everyone! 

Brody practices for pulling a sleigh! 

Part of the Christmas includes bringing a handmade ornament for the tree!  Here Amy shows hers off. 

Stuart showing his lightbulb penguin ornament! 

Carving the turkey! 

Having some food with friends! 

Lighting the pudding! 

Amy shows off her reindeer flair! 

One of my favorite handmade ornaments ever - Stuart's lightbulb penguin!  

Brandon's in front (a computer harddrive) and Peter's at the back (the day after the end of the world!). 

Amy's sugarplum romance tree! 

My googly eyed sanddollars! 

Christmas cupcakes!

Starting to feel a lot like Christmas!

Our Christmas tree! Amazingly, there have been no animal climbers, they've all left it pretty much alone. Phew! 

Barkley Bear showing her Christmas flare! 

Barkley and Brody hanging out by the Christmas tree, and on our new (to us) carpet donated by Amy and Peter. We're both in love with this carpet, not least because there are no threads to get stuck up the vacuum, but the colours are also wonderful for the room. 

And today, after a quick one day visit to Cape Cod to see friends down there, we woke up to snow! It's supposed to be snowy all week, so we're hoping to get out for our first snow shoe of the season this weekend! 

Oh Christmas tree!

Barkley approves of our 6ft tree bought from a local farm. Excited - this is my first real Christmas tree! Next step - stop the cats climbing it!

24hrs in Iceland!

And what better to do, than to relax at the Blue Lagoon for the morning before flying home!

Visit to the UK

We got back late last night from our whirlwind visit to the UK. It was fantastic to see everyone, even if only briefly. I think we truly made the most of the short time with everyone. Here's the visit, in photos....

First stop was to Wales, to see Mum, Jon, Adam, Jack and my cousins and Aunt. We went with Adam, Jack, Mum and Jon to the Dr Who Experience...all had a great time! 

Adam, Me and Jack at the Dr. Who Experience. 

Brandon and I then had a few hours to ourselves, so we went around Cardiff Castle. Locked Brandon up at the gate then went on in to look around....

It was really great to see cousins Elen and Neil, and their new (to me) brood! It's been almost ten years since I last saw them, and since then they've had three additions...Emmy and twins Jackson and Olly! 

The next stop was Cornwall to see Dad and Sanchia. We stopped at Tintagel Castle for a poke around, but it was so wet and windy it was a very brief visit! 

The weather was still wet and windy on our one day with Dad and Sanchia, so we went around the Eden Project, which is always so nice to see!  

And the last stop on our whirlwind family tour was Portsmouth to see Grant, Claire and nieces Lucy and Emily. It was a tad windy there too! 

We did get up to Stonhenge, but again the rain and the wind stopped it being a long visit....

Lucy risked being whisked away by the wind! 

So we ended up in the aquarium instead, where Emily got to say hi to some carp. 

That was the end of our whirlwind family visit! It's good to be home, but it's cold here compared to the UK. We also stopped for 24hrs in Iceland on the way home (pictures to follow!), which was a great relaxing break on the way home. The only problem, both Brandon and I have come down with colds! Today we picked up the dogs from the kennel (both were very happy to see us, but looked like they had a great holiday too), took them for a walk, then went and picked out a Christmas tree! The first Christmas tree in my own home...:)