The Elf on a Shelf is visiting Ivy in northern Maine

December 10, 2019 - Tuesday morning

0 degrees/partly cloudy/calm winds

Pentoga Road

It's a short one this morning. I removed the flash card from my camera a few minutes ago and it fell apart in my hands. Time to purchase a new one. Until then, the camera on the phone will have to suffice.

Andy remarked early this morning that the Elf on the Shelf is a real pain. Seems he's infected Ivy with the Christmas spirit and she's up bright and early every morning to see where Mr. Elf has landed during the night.

Andy may be grumbling, but you know he's having as much fun as my three year old granddaughter.

I went for my walk yesterday morning on very slippery roads. A sheen of thin ice caused by a misty night was covering everything. I managed to make it to Pentoga Village and back without leaving my feet, but there were a few times I thought I was going to end up on my bottom.

The shop was warm by the time I arrived back home. 

I'm not certain I accomplished much. 

As I've mentioned before, I'm just not in the holiday mood this year and as much as I try to "fake it 'till I make it," making presents isn't the same this year. I'll be glad to get this holiday season over with and move on. I know it takes time, but yesterday, while outside, I looked into a living room window expecting to see Mom sitting in her chair, looking out, watching me. 

She loved the snowy Christmas season in the north country and enjoyed watching me through the window as I cleaned the drive or patio of snow. Hard to believe she's not going to be with us this year.

I assembled my new device that removes snow from the roof, the Minnesnowta. It's a goofy thing, but works fairly good. It has wheels and is pushed via a twenty foot lightweight pole under the snow that is loosened and then falls down a slippery heavy poly chute. 

I was impressed. It actually worked, even on the snow that was icy and hard on the garage roof.

Another four to six inches of snow fell during Monday afternoon, but it was very light and fluffy. I'll plow the drive and clean the patio this morning when I return home from my walk.

Last night was spent sitting in the car in Jambo's yard talking with Hugesnet, the satellite internet company from whom we get our service. Seems the reception has dropped to almost nothing these past several days. So far, I'm getting nowhere, so I'll just keep calling and bothering them until something positive happens.

Oh, why Jambo's yard? Our cell reception is poor here in the valley so our phones are hooked through the internet as well as our land line. In other words, when we have no internet, our phones don't work. The closest reception is Jambo's yard.

Of course, getting a tech person at Hughesnet who can actually speak intelligible English is a another challenge, but that's a story for some other time.

Sargie's working today. I'm going for my hike then start a fire in the outdoor wood furnace while I clean the drive. Once that's plowed, the shop should be warm enough in which to spend the day.

After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Removing the snow using the Minnesnowta