Two Inches of Total Mayhem

People always laugh at us here in the South when we get a little winter weather. Honestly folks, it's not like it is up North. We are totally unprepared when it hits. We only got 2 inches but it brought Atlanta and surrounding areas to a complete standstill.  School buses got stuck in major traffic jams for over 18 hours. Several schools had to keep the children overnight. One of the high school buses students were rescued this morning and taken to a fire station by the National Guard (our heros!). My brothers were stuck on expressways for 9 hours. In my own county we had a fatality (car crash). One of the problems is that everyone lets out at the same time. All the schools dismissed at the same time that all the businesses did. Add to that the thousands of big rigs coming through and extremely cold  temps and what you have is a disaster. There is not much government can do, though all the news reporters are trying to pin it on them. I know they will reassess the situation for next time, but no two storms are ever alike. What they discover this time might not be an issue next time. The problem is that weather is still unpredictable. The storms were supposed to be only south of Atlanta, but it ended up going far north of Atlanta. I heard Al Roker Trash our city officials, but I watched the weather reports and the Nat'l Weather Service kept saying "a dusting" from Atlanta and north. It's the old, "Damned if you do, damned if you don't", scenario. Last week they closed school for two days and everybody complained. Geez!

So that's what's being going on around here. I have been safe in my little warm home, feeding the birds and making a pretty ice sun catcher and watching the news for updates of the conditions. I live South of Atlanta, and work 4 miles from home, so I made it safely, but so many others were not so lucky.  I've enjoyed having some time off and the birds have been a real delight.

I hope you're having a nice Wednesday. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pretty January

 So much fun around here this weekend. The birds have been crazy! I have never seen so many different kinds visiting all at once. At one time we had chickadees, juncos, nuthatches, bluejays, finches, yellow bellied woodpeckers, wrens, morning doves, sparrows and some little bird that I'm not sure of, maybe a warbler. Every time I try to get a picture they all fly away.  Of course, there were a few squirrels, too. They don't care, you can take their picture all day long. Brave little buggers!

I love that rotted tree. It attracts many different birds. Or at least I think it still does. Not sure if there is anything still living in its nooks and crannies.  It's just darn cool looking.  Two pictures up is another dead tree trunk.  What's left of it is really beautiful now, though I don't think my picture shows that. A hole has opened up from it's decaying roots and I've thought it probably houses a snake.  I'm always a little nervous when I'm working in that area, as I was this past summer. You can almost feel the ground giving way. I can just see me dropping into some dank and dark hole full of snakes, ala Indianna Jones. If it happens I'm sure you will hear a reverberating scream all over the county. Copperheads were everywhere this past summer and they were striking, too; so while I"m not usually a Nervous Nellie,  in that little corner, I am.

After getting outside, and even moving a few shrubs today, I am seriously getting the gardening bug. I can see many spring bulbs emerging in the garden. I've often had daffodils blooming by now, but mine are only up about 3 inches. So much excitement to come!

I hope you're having a great Sunday. Thanks so much for stopping by!

You're My Blue Sky, You're My Sunny Day...

A little Allman Brothers to greet you today. Truly, it is a beautiful day with lots of blue sky and sunshine. This is the first weekend since November that it hasn't rained! I guess it can't always be my way!

Lots going on around here lately.  I've been trying to get some projects finished. I did finally complete my Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow! Yeah! It has been a year, and I love it so much. But man, I"m so glad to be done with it! I don't think I will ever take up another year long project.  I like short ones.  I guess that's one reason why I was able to keep with it...it changed every month. But during the year I kept seeing other things I wanted to do, but couldn't, because I really wanted to keep with the "one a month" thing.

One thing I am doing is finishing a quilt for a friend at work. Her dear Grandmother made that beautiful Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt-top you see above.  Unfortunately, she passed away before she could complete it. I only had to make 3 more large flowers and some of the ones along the sides. But it was all pieced by hand, so I continued in that fashion.  I had never made this pattern and didn't know how to do it. I could not find ANY instructions online for piecing it the old way. Very frustrating.  I finally figured it out and realized that the old way is probably a lot quicker, once you figure it out. It is a little complicated in the beginning, but becomes quite cathartic once you get it. Many pleasant evenings the past few weeks spent poking myself with a needle:) It's going to be absolutely gorgeous when we get it done. She actually has another one that only needed a little work on it. It's ready to be layered and quilted.

That's how my days have been going, how about you? Anything keeping you busy this winter?

I hope you've had a great Sunday, thanks so much for stopping by!

January - Packing in the Fun!

I brought in the plant after breakfast to bring on the Spring feelings, I love this plant.

Jeepers, folks! It's cold out there!  Right now it's 7 degrees with a pretty wicked wind chill (somewhere around 10-15 below). I only have one thing I have to do today that will make me venture out. it will last about 2 hours, then I'm back home getting cozy.

After breakfast this morning I started making garden plans.  I really love this time of year, when my ideas seem so doable.  I have several garden blogger friends that I get a lot of inspiration from . One of them is Canadian Garden Joy (below). I love her plant placement. She does a great job with mixing textures and color. She's awesome (I want her autograph). Her garden is mostly shade, but she gets a lot of color from her plant choices. I hope you'll check her out.
http://canadiangardenjoy.blogspot.com/2014/01/july-2013-parade-of-plants.html

There's also been some serious bird watching going on, of the feline persuasion. She'll sit there all day, gazing lovingly. She has her garden dreams, too. So cute.

I'm guessing tomorrow will be back to work. What a lovely two days I have had! I was hoping for some of the white stuff, but I guess we just missed out.  Perhaps it's in our not too distant future? We can hope!

I hope you have a great Tuesday. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Winter Weather Approaches

It feels like snow today! We have the hope of a little of the white stuff tonight. I went by the school and fed the fish, just in case.  I'm making my grocery list (in my head) so IF we get snowed in we'll have lots of winter comfort food. Not necessarily healthy, but it will be comforting. 

The first bird picture above is my favorite bird, a Nut Hatch. I think they are so adorable. They are usually standing face toward the ground, but wouldn't you know, this one isn't. This is the first year they have frequently visited my bird feeders.  Usually I only see them coming down a tree. I do not have a fancy camera and so am not able to get a decent picture. Same thing with the Red Bellied Woodpecker, they don't stand still for long so it's hard to get a shot. 

The first picture is looking out the back of my house. Storms often come from this direction and I think they are so pretty, viewed through the trees.   I was all giddy, waiting on the stormy weather. Didn't get a drop...major bummer around here! Now it looks like snow clouds.  I don't really know what snow clouds look like, but I'm pretty sure that's them out there. If I say it enough, and think it enough, well then, it's just gotta be!

Hope you're having a great Sunday! Here's to a snowy post tomorrow!!!

On With the New Year...

Happy New Year! Are you a party person on New Years?  I hate to admit, but I was in bed at 10:30. In our neighborhood the fireworks started early, waking me with big booms and I was constantly having to orient myself. 

The first day of 2014 dawned cloudy and cold. It was a lovely day of relaxed family and a nice little fire and some blueberry muffins. Yum! We've had a strange little illness going round, low grade fever and a cough - just feeling poorly. I've avoided it so far, but don't count myself out of the woods yet. Tomorrow I return to work. Hopefully all the germs have died in the school and I'll have a healthy remaining school year. 

I'm working on my list of things I would like to accomplish this year.  I failed miserably last year, didn't do a single one of them. I made my list and promptly forgot all about it.  This year I am going to post my list everywhere - bathroom mirror, bedside table, desk at work, kitchen frig.  I'm not going to list anything ridiculous. Just some things I really want for myself: create a private place in my bedroom for reading my Bible and praying, make healthier choices (even if I don't lose weight), take a walk several times a week. How about you?  Are you good with making plans? Do you write them down? Do you accomplish what's on your list? 

I hope you're having a great day.  Leave me a comment on YOUR resolutions or desires for the new year. Thanks for stopping by!