Lilacs and more...

Yes, we finally did have a yard full of lilacs in bloom this year. And Karen brought bouquet after bouquet into the house. They smelled heavenly!!!! As you can see, we were having rain when I took this photo!! (We have lavender, dark purple and white ones....) there are a few by our deck and patio. The rest line the end of our yard... Gorgeous!!

But then along came a spring hail storm, I know ours was nothing compared to some others. However, when it was pounding the house, I had De-Javu, many, many years ago we had a terrible hail storm. I was home alone, it knocked out all the windows on one side of my home!! I sat in the hallway, just sobbing. It was such a scary feeling, not knowing when or if it would ever end... This time I was praying and praying as I went around the house closing windows...and soon it ended. Well, it did do our lilacs in, between the hail and the rain. But we certainly enjoyed them while we had them!!

 

I know this is a blurry photo, but it's a Mama Oriole. I was so excited to see them come back this year. We have oranges and grape jelly out there for them. I hear them as they arrive, but they are fast, by the time I get my camera and  walk to the window, they have grabbed a few bites and have flown off.

I also received my 'free' Gooseberry Patch cookbook!! It is so cool!! I love their books. So many great recipes, stories and helpful hints. I had submitted a Christmas story, which they choose to use in this book! And when they do that, whether it's a story or a recipe they send you a free book!! I'm smiling... You can read my story about Rudolph here..

 

I've been very busy with the newsletter I put out, working on the church directory and a few other things!! This is all good, as of course you know I need to keep busy!

 

Blessings and Good Night..

Winter is Here

This is what we woke up to the other day. And it lasted a few days. The wind blew some of snow off the branches...but today the trees still look like there is frosting on them..smile..

 

Last night at 6 o'clock, the temperature was 2 degrees, with wind chills of -18 below. Ugggg... And the wind chills in the night were -30 some below. My poor Rusty, it's been so cold and the ground is covered with ice and snow, I don't know how he (or other animals) can stand to go out and do their job! One things for sure he doesn't go out as often as he did in the other seasons.

Today, I had to stay home again. My hip (sciatica nerve) has been causing me lots of issues lately. I really hate it when I can't go over and see Tom. And I know he misses me too. My uncle's prayer service was tonight and had to miss that also.

Since my last blog, I've fought for Tom, enjoyed special times with him, been sick and was in the ER. Had wonderful friends help me in many different ways, including taking Rusty to finally get groomed. My son picked him up and brought him home. He's been such a big help to me. I've finally got some new lenses for my glasses, (which help when I have to drive at night-which I really hate to do..) Again, my son took me to get them also.

Now, something fun!! I got word from Gooseberry Patch that I will be getting their new cookbook "Christmas Comfort Classics"  this June for an article I submitted "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer".  Actually, I had forgotten about submitting it. So, yes that was a welcomed surprise!!

What do you think about the Powerball lottery?? We always play it, so we already had out ticket. But can you imagine?? A BILLION dollars?? Unbelievable.......... There was a time when we never even used that word in conversation....a MILLION was the biggest money we ever talked about!!

I hope you are all doing well and staying warm and dry. This has really been an unusual winter so far...and it seems to have effected the whole country differently. I pray you are all well and happy.

Blessings......

Lots of things going on here........

Tuesday (where did the week go??) we went back to the doctor and got our stitches out. Mine looks real good, Tom had pulled a stitch so had a small open wound. He's on antibiotics this week until it starts to heal!! But it looks good now.. smile.. and the best part neither of us have any cancer..yeah!!

Today, was such a blessed one..my daughter in love stopped by and brought the twins! Aren't they just adorable??  They were so....so good!

When they were getting ready to leave, one of them woke up and was crying...Rusty ran over to see what was going on!! smile... He actually was really good around them...

Actually, this was his spa day..smile... They posted this picture of him waiting his turn...ha..ha.. He looks kind of tired. Then he got home, and had company! The baby twins!! smile... like I said he was good with them, but after they left he 'crashed' in his bed...lol

Another great surprise and gift today...I received this Hometown Harvest cookbook from Gooseberry Patch for submitting a recipe, Old-Time Sage Dressing. They put out the neatest cookbooks! I have been collecting them for years! How about you, do you have any of their books? If you're not familiar with them be sure and check out their web page, they share so many fun and free items!

How has your week been so far?? 

more as it happens here in the city.....

Snow & Birds

Last night we started to get some snow, the totals predicted were from 2" to 7"...so we weren't sure what we'd wake up to this morning. My son Randy called about 9:30 pm to say he was home safe, but they had more snow then we did. (He lives about 20 some miles south of us.) Funny, how a band of snow starts and ends..

We ended up with about 4". So we will be having a 'white' CHRISTmas this year!! The wind was blowing all day, which produced wind chills of our already cold temperatures way down there!

As I was sitting here this morning, I spotted this Northern Flicker nestled in the branches of the tree! He stayed there for a long, long time. As you can see by the previous picture, the wind was blowing up the feathers on him...

And there was another one on a different tree. He, being of the woodpecker family, was busy pecking away at this tree!!! smile...

As you can see, they were busy all day hitting the feeder...to keep their energy up I suppose! Lots of cardinals, and snow birds.... I'd be sitting in here and soon I'd hear the cardinals out there once again..(that's how I know they were out there a lot today.) Ever so often, there would be a Papa in the tree and I'd grab my camera, only to have Rusty run and jump up on his house and block my shot!! grrrrr... (that's me by the way!) 

Oh, I had some exciting news in the mail the other day!! Gooseberry Patch chose one of my recipes for a cookbook they are putting out next fall! And best of all, I get a free copy of it!!! Isn't that just the coolest thing??? smile....

I have not forgot about sharing our church CHRISTmas party with you. I'm having some computer issues (sad) again, so I have to download stuff on my other computer first. But, I promise I will get it done soon!!

more as it happens.....