Police stop...twice in 30 minutes....?

I was driving to a city called Gjakova yesterday evening. Along one stretch of road I am very cautious about the speed limit, since I was stopped by the police 3 months ago for going too fast. The roads were wet from the recent snowfall, the temperature was dropping, and it was getting dark. There was no way I was speeding...but a police officer stepped into the road and waved me over to stop.

Oh man...! How could I be getting another speeding ticket when I was being so careful...? The police officer was very nice and asked me in english for my driver's license and my documents, as he was waving his flashlight at my car tires. He didn't even look at my documents. He told me to have a nice evening and waved me to drive on. No speeding ticket...what a relief.

30 minutes later, same road conditions, just before I reached Gjakova, another police officer stepped into the road and waved me over to stop. Again...??? I had just gone through the emotions of possibly getting a speeding ticket...and now it is happening again. This officer spoke to me completely in Albanian, again inspecting my documents and tires...taking a while to inspect my NM driver's license. I am pretty sure he has never seen a NM license before.

So...no speeding tickets, my documents are all in order, and yes I have winter tires on my car.

Have a nice evening...

Still stuck in the field...

My little car is still stuck in the field behind my apartment. I guess it will have to stay there until the snow melts some and I can find some young men to help push and dig. I am not sure where I will park it when I get it out...the edges of the streets are piled high with snow from the sidewalks.

There is more snow forecast for Tue-Thurs this next week. I had wanted to see how my car handled on snowy roads. I know this for certain...it doesn't do well in deep snow.

Winter wonderland...

We finally had a major winter snowfall in Malishevë. We have had flurries all winter long...but this morning there was 10-12 inches of snow. It is so beautiful and early this morning as the sun came up it was so quiet and pristine.

As the shops along the main street in Malishevë began to open, the snow was piled high on the sidewalks. There was some sculpting of the snow, and a few snowmen started showing up.

Unfortunately there was a huge pile of snow put into the area of the street where I usually exit my parking place between two buildings. So...I had to attempt an exit through the field behind my building. My little car pushed snow as I was able to go about 50 yards before becoming stuck. The clearance on my little car is not high enough for this amount of snow. It is currently in the field behind my apartment, and it will stay there until some of the snow melts. I do have to be careful to not wait too long because with the melting of the snow comes the mud.

Camping showers...brrrrr

A new adventure...camping showers in the winter!

In the past there have been times when there was no water, off for several hours or a day. But I have never experienced a time when the water turns off and on every 5-10 minutes. The water had been fluctuating but had been quiet for the last 2 hours. So...I thought it was safe to get into the shower. I was all shampooed and soaped up...water off! Yikes...! It is about 50 degrees in the hallway/shower area. It took about 8 liters of cold water out of a bottle to rinse off. It took about an hour to get warmed up. I had power so that was a help to dry my hair, have hot tea, and snuggle up in the warm living room.

Now, I am so thankful when the water stays on throughout an entire shower.

Never put off till tomorrow...

"Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today..."

This is so true here, but I still find myself doing that very thing.

Two days ago I did quite a lot of cooking and decided to finish all the dishes the next day. The power had gone off and I don't like to wash dishes by candle light. Yesterday morning, there was no water...ok so I will leave the dishes until the water comes back on. Today...2 days later there is still no water.

So....this morning I am washing dishes "camping style". It takes me 6 liters of water, 1/2 to wash, 1/2 to rinse, to do all of my dishes. I have water stored in 2 liter bottles, and heat it on the stove. It takes a lot longer to wash dishes this way...why did I not just do them 2 days ago?

Oh, by the way....I use the left over dish water to flush the toilet...no water is wasted. I hope the water is back on in another day or so...washing my hair "camping style" is not as much fun.