Did I mention it was snowing?

Yesterday the rain began...

and the wind began to howl ...

and the temperature dropped.  

By evening we had...

a very ominous looking evening.

The wind howled all night and the snow piled into drifts and by morning we had...

A heavy, wet, snowy, winter wonderland!

Oops! Can't get out the back door.

Reach around and snap this picture. There is the mighty Kia to the right, the chicken coop to the left. (Us chickens ... I think not.)

 Luckily we can get out the front door cause you wouldn't like me when I start to feel claustrophobic! 

I love how the snow just sat there and let me take its picture. No screen, it is just stuck that way.

Out the front door. 

Oh no, too cold and windy! Back inside where it is nice and warm.

Love how this tree looks. 

Almost half the country has had some wicked weather. Hope everyone is safe and warm!

Just another day...

Remember when I said if you blinked you might miss fall around here?

What did that say?

It is going to be around 30 degrees tonight. Little Companion and I saw a few short-lasting snowflakes this afternoon. We are really thankful it reads 30 degrees and not 30 below!

Although Little Companion and I are extremely citified we love the wide open feeling of the prairie too. 

Such colors!

Have a wonderful evening!

Sunflowers

Sunflowers ...

Miles and miles of sunflowers!

Thanking God for the beauty of sunflowers!

Harvey Fest 2010

Now not everyone knows this but every year,

about this time,

there is an event held in Harvey, North Dakota called ... Harvey Fest.

During this 2-day event there are numerous activities and happenings to participate in. There is a tractor show and a parade, there is drama, there is music, there is wine tasting, and there is an arts and crafts festival.

We were not able to, or chose not to, participate in everything but we did spend an early hour Friday playing in the street they had blocked off for dancing. 

Harvey has a thriving downtown.  Although not necessarily one of the prettiest downtowns I have seen, definitely one of the most viable.

Two random townspeople out for fun. 

(Okay just kidding that's son Steve and daughter Heidi.)

Look at all the little girls having fun. The boys were walking around acting cool!

Saturday we were able to get to the arts and crafts festival. 

 We found a couple of fun things. The welcome to our cottage sign and then a microwave potato bag.

Doesn't this look fun? I have never seen this before. Going to have to grab some potatoes soon and try this out!

We were also busy shuffling things about at the house this weekend. We have a wonderful neighbor that brought us over some cucumbers from her garden. Very tasty indeed! 

Sundays we head on into Minot for church. On our way home we cruised Balfour, North Dakota to see what we could see. Not much there, looks almost like a ghost town, but there is this cute church building tucked gently away in the back of town.

Sign says it was built in 1906. It looks like original stained glass. Isn't it sweet?

Wishing you a lovely peaceful week!

North Dakota

So here's the scoop...

After my daughter's husband made the decision to not be married anymore, in pursuit of other things, plans changed and it was no longer the best option to continue on in Florida.  Daughter made the decision to take a 3 month contract position in Alaska until other options could be considered. 

Well, when the hospital she had worked at in North Dakota heard the news they offered her a package that would have been unwise to refuse in exchange for returning to Minot.

So...

We loaded up the truck and we moved to ... North Dakota, again.

But we decided not to move directly to Minot and decided instead upon the little town of Harvey, North Dakota.

Now you might be wondering about North Dakota about this time and may have some preconceived ideas about the state that might just not be entirely correct.

The area we chose has an excellent elementary school, a safe environment, and a lot of outdoor recreation available, less than a mile away.

A beautiful recreational area with a beach, boat ramp, and fishing docks.

Room to play and run without an enormous amount of people.

Isn't this just so Little House on the Prairie?

People who have not lived in one of the plains states do not always understand there is beauty here to be enjoyed.

Antelope really do play here...

There are rolling hills of various colors...

You can honestly leave your doors unlocked...

Over each rolling hill there is a different scene, velvety grass waving in the wind.

Room to breathe and regenerate after a difficult time...

beauty and

a little bit of time to be a kid again.

Happy 4th to you and yours!