Happy February!

January has been a rough month around here. Cold and snowy and looong! Glad it's over! I posted these pictures on Facebook, and thought I would put them up here as well.

The picture above is of my snowy front yard. We had 7 inches of snow on 1-28-2010! The tracks were left by my little wire hair, Midgie. And although some of it has melted, there is still a lot of snow out there! Greg will be clearing my driveway today. He is such a blessing to me!

This is my little pond. My view when I sit at my laptop in the sun room. Thirsty birds and beasts around here use it a lot. This morning it's frozen, but the sunshine will melt the edges, a little later today.

I walked up to my gravel road, a 200 foot trek from the house, to take a picture of all the snow, and was surprised to see it had been plowed! That was great news to me. It meant I could get out sooner than I thought. I have lived here since 1987, and had never seen this road plowed! Of course, we usually don't get this much snow, either.

I hope you're all doing well in your neck of the woods. Happy February. Spring will be here soon! I hope!



Blessings from the woods!

Babbling About The Weather Again!

I thought I'd start my first post of 2009 with a favorite picture and a bit of babbling about the weather. Here is my granddaughter Nichole, enjoying a TV show along with Fred, the cat! Aren't they cute? They were both very intently watching a movie that was on.

I hope the new year has been going well for all of you. It's been going well here for the most part. The weather has been flip-flopping from mild and spring-like, to ccccold, with episodes of freezing rain.

Friday, the second day of January was nice, and Greg treated Eileen and me to lunch in town, after some power shopping! Haha. (Well, I had a gift card that was burning a hole in my pocket!) We told our favorite waiter that he was our mutual boy friend! Ha!

Sunday morning, when I went to church it was still 60F, but an hour and a half later, it was down to 40F, accompanied by a brisk wind! People who went to church without a winter jacket, hurried to their cars. We hurried off to our favorite Sunday buffet!

Then yesterday, Monday, January 5th, I had to go pick up some antibiotics for my sweet Felix-the cat. Although Dr. Fox, the vet, was out of town, Judy, his assistant told me she would have some ready for me. The problem was, the vet's office is 7 miles east of town. I live ten miles south of town, and we were under a freezing rain advisory! So I called Eileen, who lives 3 miles east of town. LOL.

"I'm scared to drive 17 miles. What if the freezing rain starts while I'm on the road?" I said to Eileen on the phone.

"I'll go with you," she offered.

"But then we'll both be in danger," I told her.

"That's okay, at least we won't be alone," she said.

So, Eileen met me at the shopping center in town, and left her car there, and off I drove to the vet's office, praying all the while that the freezing rain would hold off until we were both safely back home.

We got back to town and nothing was happening.

So, of course, we stopped at McD's for a quick grilled chicken sandwich and some delicious hot coffee. And since the freezing rain was still holding off, we also ran to the store and picked up a few things, before finally speeding off to our respective homes. Whew! Thank you, Lord!


When I went to bed last night, the freezing rain was finally doing its thing, and this morning there is a thin coating of ice on the deck! Guess I'll be stuck in the house today reading blogs, cooking a nice pot of vegetable beef soup, and maybe even baking some low-carb cookies!


Thank you for reading my babbling. Hope your weather is better!



Blessings from the frozen woods!

Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful!

After a warm, sixty degree Sunday, our weather turned frightful. Yesterday we had freezing rain and sleet all day, and peeking out the glass door this morning, I see it is raining. Since it is 19 F out there, that is freezing rain again!

It's only the second day of this frightful mess and I'm already getting cabin fever! But as you can see, Fred the cat is enjoying the warmth of the Christmas tree lights, while he dreams of his favorite past time-chasing squirrels outdoors!

What is really even worse about all that sleet that looks like snow out there, is that I can't spend any time outdoors. It's just too slippery. It was in December of 2005 when I went out to feed the birds while there was snow on the ground, and fell and broke my hip. I recovered well from that terrible ordeal, thank the Good Lord, and thanks to my wonderful sons and daughter, who took turns spending six weeks staying with me so I could recover at home, instead of in a nursing home.

So, I have been listening to my Christmas Cd's, especially the new German one, " Weinachten mit Hansi," (Christmas with Hansi) sent to me by my old and dear friend Maria, who lives in Cleveland, Ohio. Thank you, Maria! It is a beautiful CD!

Of course, this weather means we will have to miss our Chinese Buffet day on Wednesday, but Eileen and I are both hoping we will be able to attend our annual Christmas Bingo and Luncheon, at our church, on Thursday. It is always great fun, and we go home with some nice Christmas prizes. Keep your fingers crossed that our weather will warm up by Thursday, as the forecast is promising.

I hope the weather is better where you are, friends, while you're out and about, getting ready for Christmas.

Thank you for reading. Have a wonderful week, everyone.

Blessings from the woods!

Chasing Away the Winter Doldrums!

Well, besides still battling the last of this bug that has been plaguing me, I have been down with a major case of the winter doldrums. The Bah Humbugs! So I decided to post some of the pictures of Thanksgiving and birthday week, to remind me of the wonderful time my daughter and granddaughters, son Greg, and dear friend Eileen and I had together. Since I have several pictures here, I hope you won't be too bored with them.

My daughter took this picture of Eileen and me at the lovely restaurant where we all had lunch. And the waitresses even came and sang the Happy Birthday Song, to me! :-)

Here are my granddaughters Nichole and Hannah with Uncle Greg, in the woods. The girls think Uncle Greg is a cool and fun guy to hang out with!

City girls enjoy hiking around in Nana's woods!

And they also enjoy riding around on the 4-wheeler.

Since the weather was mild and beautiful the entire week they were here, we decided to go to the river, too. And as you can see, The Current River is beautiful even in November!

And here are the girls by our cabin on the river.

Alas, our visits are never long enough, and I always miss them when they leave for home. :(

I also had some good news in the mail this past week.

I received my copy of the Winter 2009 issue of "Pure Inspiration Magazine," with one of my stories in it. As a writer, I'm always happy to see my work in print.

I also received the new "Chicken Soup for the Soul, Loving Our Cats," book with my story in it.

And I have a story in "The Big Book of Christmas Joy: An Inspirational Treasury to Celebrate the Season," published by Howard Books.

I also have three awards I will acknowledge very soon, friends.

Thank you for visiting. I hope you are all doing well and ready for the holiday, unlike me.

Ah, and today is Chinese Buffet day. That should also help chase the winter doldrums. :-)

Blessings from the woods!

BRRRRRRRR! And Some Chicken Soup to Warm Me!

The New Year arrived to remind us in my area, that it's winter!
"Baby, it's cold outside!"
Fifteen degrees with a wind-chill of zero but no precipitation. Brrr! The good news is, by the weekend we'll be back in the upper fifties and even sixties.

Some Chicken Soup arrived for the new year as well, and although "fowl" is not supposed to be on the menu on New Years Eve or Day, this "chicken soup" was very welcome. My contributing author's copy of "Chicken Soup for the Soul Celebrating People Who Make a Difference: The Headlines You’ll Never Read," looks great, and the stories in it are wonderful. It will be in the book stores in February.

My inspirational little piece also made it into the January issue of True Confession. It's in their "That's Incredible" department. The buzz went around about it in our grocery store, and some of the guys that work in there told me it sold out really quickly! LOL. Even Bob, the stock guy, bought a copy, but told me not to tell anyone. LOL. So I'll have to wait for my copy to arrive in the mail in a month or so.

And a check arrived in the mail as well, from Dave Bordon of Bordon Books, for the "Best Dad in the World" book, which will be released just before Father's Day 2008. Usually, the contributing writers get their checks when the book comes out, but he surprised us all with an early check! Thank you, Mr.Bordon!

So, the year 2008 has begun on a good note for me. They say what you do on the first day of the year, you will do all year. I went out to dinner with friends. Par for the course, for a "social butterfly." Tee-Hee.

My writing has become sporadic though. There are too many other things at this point in my life, that I want to do and enjoy. My daughter says I've become a social butterfly, nowadays, and so I have. Being with family, friends, enjoying simple things bring me much pleasure; they are joys of life that I want to enjoy more fully now.

This poem made an impression on me:

Otherwise
By Jane Kenyon

I got out of bed
on two strong legs.
It might have been otherwise. I ate cereal, sweet
milk, ripe, flawless peach. It might
have been otherwise.
I took a dog uphill
to the birch wood.
All morning did
the work I love.

At noon I lay down
with my man. It might
have been otherwise.
We ate dinner together
at a table with silver
candlesticks. It might
have been otherwise.
I slept in a bed
in a room with paintings
on the walls, and
planned another day
just like this day.
But one day, I know,
it will be otherwise.

(The poet Jane Kenyon died at the age of 45 of leukemia.)

So, in the new year of 2008, my main goal is to be thankful and enjoy my blessings. As for resolutions, they are the same as last year: to be the best Mom I can be to my "human" kids and "furry" kids as well, the best Nana to my grandchildren, the best friend to my dear friends, and a good all around person.

I hope all of you reach your goals in the new year, whether they be lofty or more simple, like mine, and if you made any resolutions, good luck on keeping them.


Happy New Year!