Finished project

When we moved to South Dakota, I had a cross stitch project in progress.

I've been working on it some evenings while catching up on podcasts...

Finished!

And the wrong side.

Snow!

It snowed a decent amount between yesterday and today (~6-8 inches plus drifting). Enough that we actually saw the snow tractors out at about. Enough that driving into work was tricky, not only because of the snow on the roads, but because of the 3-4 ft snow wall where the double yellow should be. My car is pretty ok in the snow, but I don't have the ground clearance required to bust through that kind of pile. I had to get to work today making as few left-hand turns as possible.

We're quickly learning that it is hard to predict from the weather forecasts and radar just how much snow we'll get in Pierre. You see, the closest radar station is an Aberdeen. We're kind of in a weather radar dead zone.

The timing of this snow seems somewhat cruel, but most people in town are happy to see it. Snow = precipitation which is something this part of the country has not seen enough of in the last year.

Snow on Tuesday.

Snow on Wednesday.

I'm so glad we're buying a house with a 2 car garage.

Tear down that wall! That's one of the snow tractors with the snowblower attachment filling up a truck. They plow the road and then eventually come back for the middle bit.

Devo not looking like a scruffy sofa bison.

New game!

Josh got me Ticket to Ride for my birthday. You should visit us so we can play it with more than two people. This is one of the few German-style board games that I really enjoy. The rules are clear, quick to learn, and there is a decent element of chance that helps to level the playing field. There is also an episode of TableTop that is a very fun way to learn the basics.

We had our home inspection yesterday, so we're moving forward with the whole home buying thing. There is some wallpaper in the parlor (there's a parlor!) that has got to go, and some mauve paint that I will not be able to live with (I spent enough years with shades of maroon and mauve already). Those are just cosmetic changes, and the bones of the house are good. The stained glass windows are probably my favorite thing. I'll be able to post photos once we close.

Until then, a bonus picture of Devo being  an adorable sleepy sofa bison:

Tax season

Josh's tax preparation method.

They are finished! (a full 10 days before the deadline, too).

Someone didn't get the memo

Some of the trees around the Capitol building are conveniently labeled. While walking around today, I noticed this one:

Hello, buckthorn. Fancy meeting you here.

I realize this is just one buckthorn and there aren't a ton of soybeans in the vicinity, but still, it's an invasive species that is the host for not only the soybean aphid, but also oat crown rust. It really has no place being in anyone's yard, especially not as a labeled and obviously maintained planting.

Enjoying the spring weather

When I got up this morning the pavement outside was wet. Actual water fell from the sky! I was beginning to think we were never going to experience rain again.

After the early morning showers, it cleared off and was sunny and almost 70. Pretty good for spring in central South Dakota. It'll be back to 30 and snowing on Tuesday, probably because I was thinking of digging out my Chacos.

Someday there will be leaves on these trees. I think.

The World War II Memorial at Capitol Lake.

A squirrel! There aren't nearly as many squirrels out here and they are more reddish than the ones in PA.

World War I Memorial.

This is the view from those bronze statues above, looking up to the flaming fountain. As you can see, it was a bit windy.

Happy (late) Easter!

Josh organized the jelly beans by color.

Devo had to check them out.