So ... I baked!

DH bought some blackberries from Aldi's on his way way home from work last night. He hinted (more like told me) that it would be nice if I could make him some blackberry cobbler today. I got it in the oven about 25 min. after he got home. These were big berries so the pinwheels didn't want to be pinwheels, haha. I'm ready to dig into it now, wish I had some ice cream.

It was so pleasantly warm yesterday, but today is almost cold. The dogwood are blooming, so this must be 'Dogwood Winter.' I don't know what all the 'winters' are. The folks (or somebody) around here have given each cold spell in the spring a different name. Dogwood Winter is right on and so is Blackberry Winter. We didn't have such  when I lived in Minnesota. I suppose it's something like Indian Summer in the fall. DH has his tomato planted outside, so it will have to be protected, young tomato plants are adverse to temperatures 38F and lower ... I hope it doesn't freeze.

First snow 2017

Pretty, isn't it?

Pretty darn cold!

"Now, what did you order?"

That was the first thing DH said when he came home from work. There was a goodly pile of packages waiting for us to open together. (I wonder why he always says that?)

The flowers began perking up this morning!

Not being a clairvoyant or mind reader, I would say these came from my oldest son, Daniel. Thanks, Daniel, Sandy and Sons! There was nothing that said what these flowers are. They are pretty. Anybody know? 

No name or card on these either, but I know the youngest son sent them. Dad(same B-day) received a new blue-ray player and additional movies. Thanks BL! We'll have movies and goodies in front of the big screen on Saturday for sure!

 I'm still sick, happy to have some new reads to curl up with. I think The Left Hand Of Darkness will come first, with some more of the Halva that Renee sent me.

Rainy Day Feeling

Cold, rainy day and I'm feeling rough. The dogs are hiding and I hurt more than usual. Going back to bed - don't panic.

Snow ... again

 I just took these pictures and it's still trying to snow. It's nothing big time, just kind of pretty and peaceful. Except for the breeze that kicks up and blows the white stuff from the roof. It is down right cold out there!

 I was looking through my old files last night. We haven't had anywhere near the snow or cold that we had some of the years since we moved into this house over 10 years ago. So griping is not in line.

 The grackles have flown in for breakfast. They cleaned out the feeder and left. This time of year, I would guess everybody is hungry. I don't think I would want to be a bird in February.

A little reminder for those in my area:
It's time to prune those bushes and trees that need it. The sap is down and it looks like it will stay down for the next while. We are expecting more snow and cold temperatures for the next 10 days, at the very least. Stay warm folks! 

Birds n Bed

Stalker?

Eavesdropper

 

"Herman, we should have gone south with the wives."

 The dusting of snow we got is melting in the sun. It didn't really amount to much. Nashville got eight inches, the storm simply didn't come down this far. We were on the edge. (Thank goodness!)

Antique Circa?

I'm still in the middle of rearranging my womb. Luckily, the trundle from the day bed fits underneath for odds and ends - when I get a bed skirt, no one will know the junk I am hiding. I think the TV will go on the wall above my desk to keep from getting a crick in my neck - it has a DVD player in it for my movies. Now to bring in my chair and jewelry box and throw a bunch of extra away. It's going to be quite the eclectic womb!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

A Frosty Morn

This is all frost - yesterday's snow melted in the sunshine and 34F before the temperature began to plummet once again. Our morning low was 10F and it has already warmed up to a balmy 17F. The poor birds! I'm not complaining, just stating the facts. It's quite pretty out there with lots of sparkles.

Once again, I am hunting for a bed. I gave up last time. Now, most of the 3/4 beds have disappeared. My mattress with the bunky board has gone the way of all things and is so uncomfortable. You see - everyone plunks (and I do mean plunks) their behind smack dab in the middle of it when they come in here. The thing has caved-in so bad that it kills my back. I have the "Aero" bed on it and it squeaks every time I shift, not to mention that it's so cold I have to use a sleeping bag. The sleeping bag is our son's old one from when he was a cub scout and I feel like a mummy. The search continues. I wish my womb was large enough for a full size bed. Jill has abandoned her floor mattress because she's cold too - not enough room for two in my twin sized bed, sigh ...

I hope everyone's week is starting out well. Have a good one!

 

Sharon's (Pandora's) Box and loose ends.

Something I never thought of when I signed up for Ancestry.com... It gets them off the boat - kind of. As near as I can tell it costs more to search where they came from to get on a boat. My family pretty much came to a screeching halt at the dock in the 1800's.

My husband's family is really messed up. Tennessee had hired people with the worst penmanship to fill out the thin lines on those census forms and obviously never asked for a spelling. It all has to be taken with a grain of salt. (And a good guess) Had all sorts of spellings for the same names on different census years.

It was 7 degrees this morning. I dripped the water all night. Irritating drip, drip, drip, all night long. Dollie did Jack's stinky dip on Tuesday, he still stinks. I have my lavender giraffe laying on him so I can stand having him in my womb. He's cold - he want's my bed.

My brother or someone from his household sent me a stollen in the mail. Have been eating on it. I like it with butter, so I am still packing on those Christmas pounds.

Dollie may not be here for a while, something wrong with her car. She will need a shovel by the time she comes back. Haha.

The price list on those pictures are prohibitive... cost me a medium sized fortune. Not sure what I am going to do about it. Can't blow up the ones on the monitor... pixel problem.

Oh! My son has ordered me an original G. Boese figurine. Not as intricate as when my brother began helping him, but truly his work. I would know that signature anywhere!

All for now... PS the birds hate it on this side of the house or something. No visitors YET.

Have a good, day, night, whatever! 

Good-bye Fig

I believe after 2 nights at 15F and a freezing day - my fig will not be back in spring. That cold spell is most likely the end of it. The new limbs were thin and weak. I think I will allow the Mr. to cut it all back and get a hook for a feeder.

That didn't work...

All solutions - empty. Maybe she has a better place. The temp got down to 15F last night. Tacky was not in anything when I got up. Back to the drawing board.

I brought her inside for a while last night, to warm her up, hoping she might just curl up somewhere and decide to stay inside. She's a pretty cat and she doesn't need to literally freeze her ears off. Max (the neighbor's Great Pyrenees) has taken to chasing her, I don't think he would come up onto the porch.

When I let Jill outside this morning, she was afraid to go down the steps. The most I can imagine is that she had forgotten about frost.

Have a great sunshiny day!

Rear Window

After a couple of unhappy nights trying to bring the animal inside during the sub-freezing weather, we wondered just where the heck Tacky was sleeping. She avoids the garage since the skunk visited.

Puzzle solved. New problem.

 I have no idea if the weather did this or what, but there is evidence that Tacky has been making herself at home in the back seat.

We took another trip for a tarp this morning, not that it will really do much good. It rained in...

Letter From Home - It's Cold!

Dear Folks,

Nearly a week of January has been polished off! Some of us are in the deep freeze and some wishing for a breeze of our freezing temps for just a few hours.

Our hot water line was frozen today, it has now been thawed and hopefully there are no leaks. Seems the line to the heater was directly in front of the vent where the workmen shoved out the drain hose for the water cleaner and the vent could no longer be shut. He has stuffed it with insulation and spent time under the house, burning out the blow dryer motor to get flow again. No clothes were laundered, BTW. Perhaps tomorrow.

Jack only spent the one night at the vet, he came home with us the next day, blurry eyed and slightly unsteady after having an abscessed tooth removed. He is fine now and eating as if he is trying to gain all of his weight back in a week. Their new heart worm medicine is for fleas too... I am a little more than slightly concerned about giving them all those chemicals, but the battle with the fleas and their bites is a losing one here. The budget took a big hit... over $600 for their annual shots, 6 months of heart worm meds, and one tooth extraction. Jeez!

For now - I am done looking at houses. I can't see catching my death in this weather for him to get me excited about a house, only to have him change his mind the next day. Not enough Xanax in this hemisphere... I do so hate "window shopping" on this scale.

As I write this, it is 5F. Temps tonight will go below zero on anyone's thermometer. We can't keep the cat's water liquid. I tried to bring Tacky in last night to sleep in the dog carrier - she almost went berserk. I had my fingers through the front, to give her reassurance and she bleep near broke my finger. Finally around 3:00 a.m., I couldn't take it anymore and let her have her way - out the door. She still has ears, so I can only hope she finds a spot tonight and doesn't lose them. It should begin to warm up in the morning and be decent by Wednesday or Thursday, but with rain. Winter here is like that, warmer and wet, or colder and clear. Choices, choices!

He hasn't been called back to work yet, because of the temperatures. Makes for an extra long Christmas break. The kids (other people's) won't go back to school until Wednesday. I hear that even the kids in MN had the day off - that has to be the first time. I must say, it's about time! They had windchill temperatures, something like -60F! Now, that is cold. I remember standing out on the road waiting for the bus, many years ago when girls wore skirts. We could wear pants under them, but they had to come off as soon as we arrived. The school wasn't all that warm either...

The other day, my gums decided to shrink and my teeth fell down - I still have a sore, so going without the plate until it heals. I have had enough pain for a while.

I do hope you are all staying warm or cool! Stay safe!

Toothless in TN.

 

Almost back

Okay, my Nano quest is over. I am done writing for a while. I tried to make an adult content link... can't figure it out. I am tired...

Biggest thing on my mind right now is having my top teeth all yanked out on (get this) Friday the 13th! They are killing me...
So far my grocery list has yogurt, jello and pudding on it - I won't want any lumps, that's for sure!

Man, it is so cold for TN! Yesterday the temp here was the same as St. Paul, MN. That is just plain unreal!

My wifi thingy lasts about half an hour now, I need a new battery really bad, but I am not going out to have the cold wind whistling through my teeth... That rock and hard place are squashing me pretty darn hard.

Catch Ya later!