After 60 to 70 degree days it finally started getting cold this week. We'd love to get below freezing temperatures for a month or so to help reduce the bug population, but it's not looking good for that to happen. Some of the trees and flowers have already started to bloom. In any event the cold temperatures reminded us that we planned to replace the gas logs in our fireplace. That happened last night, so you're seeing our new logs.

We spent most of the week cleaning house; Nancy in her sewing room and me in the garage. I was moving some paint cans around when I came across the 2 shovels you now see next to the fireplace. They are marked "Handmade by Mike Kozak." That's Nancy's dad. He probably used them on his old coal furnace that I remember seeing when Nancy and I first met in 1967. Being the sentimental guy that I am, I thought they deserved a better place than an out-of-the-way shelf in our garage. Next to the hearth sounds good to me.