Snowy Day

I asked David to get some pictures of the snow for me and when I went to download them, I found this one. I have the sweetest hubby on the planet, I do believe.

Our Katy, the Golden Retriever who hates water....loves the snow! Go figure? She especially loves to eat it. :)

Our lovely, Witchwood in the snow.

The kids had a great snow day on Monday, the snow was too powdery for snow people, but perfect for snow tubing.....stay tuned for pictures.

Grandmother Winter

Well, Grandmother Winter is really shaking out her feather bed on us this year. We have had three pretty good snows already, very rare indeed for East Tennessee. The trees were so beautiful! Each branch seemed to be covered in a thick creamy layer of frosting. We are still getting flurries each day.

It reminded me of the children's book that Sophie and I love so much to read this time of year, Grandmother Winter.


The snow covered branches against the blue of the winter sky is just beautiful.

This is the view from our back door.

More Snow Pictures

As promised....more pictures of the snow we got. We had about three inches around our house, though it was partially drifts. We enjoyed it and it was a beautiful winter white coat for Mother Earth.

Here is the view of the neighbor's on the right.

Me in front of the snowman that the kids made. It is facing the house so we can see his smiling face and carrot nose from the warmth of inside.

Here he is, missing one leaf eye, alas.

SNOW!

We got snow!!!! More pictures soon.

Dreaming of the Sun

I am dreaming of the sun and springtime. I have already made many plans for the gardens this year. Including expanding the vegetable and herb gardens and adding an additional area for flowers. I hope to add to our income this summer/fall by selling surplus produce and flowers. We did fairly well last year, but the odd weather made for less harvest in the end.

It has been a very cold winter so far, for East Tennessee. We don't usually see such cold until February. It has been below freezing for the past two weeks, just yesterday we made it above freezing. Our rain barrels are frozen solid. :) We have even had a small snowfall already. Very unusual for this area.

Since I have been dealing with depression, it has been hard to think of much else, besides getting through each day, one day at a time. It has only been harder since my grandmother and aunt passed away. Needless to say, that did not help my emotional state any. I have been taking St. John's Wort daily for the past two months and it has made a huge difference in how I feel and how I deal with daily life. I am so thankful that I have a natural remedy that works for me.

I'm Still here.....

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. I have been terribly busy with work and trying to keep things going during this hard economic time. I hope that everyone is doing well.

The weather is promising that spring will soon arrive. Well in about six to eight weeks. LOL But I am dreaming and planning our gardens now. Seed Savers Exchange has an absolutely gorgeous catalog this year, and I can't wait to get my seeds. Sophie and I have many plans for what we want to grow this year.

We have been enjoying the cold winter days and nights as a family. Watching movies and reading and sharing books and having many lovely conversations about everything from politics to the economy to what we want to do this summer. Our family has gotten much closer through all the tough times we had since last fall. What a blessing that has been. There is always something good that comes from every bad thing.

Katy is doing well, as this photo shows. She loves running in the yard. She has learned a great deal already and her training is going well.

Brrrrr!!!!!!

I am dreaming of summer. It is so cold!!! Brrrr!!! I really am not enjoying it much. Besides the fact that we NEVER have snow in east Tennessee. I just can't do most of the things that I enjoy most in the winter. I try, really, I do. But I find very little to make me happy about winter. I know that Mother Nature uses the winter months to rest and rejuvenate before the hard work of the spring and summer. And I appreciate that, its just.....well...I guess it comes down to how spoiled we humans are when it comes to climate control. Geez. I am going to work on that.

On the bright side, having to walk Katy in all kinds of weather has brought my attention to some beautiful things that I otherwise would have missed. Wild animals in the early morning, the gorgeous full moon setting in the early morning sky, along with Venus brightly shining.

I have also continued with my yoga routine. Yeah! I am so excited. I feel so much better and more flexible and strong. David is happy that I have begun again too. :)

This is what we have today, along with big, feathery snowflakes and cold!

But it is beautiful, isn't it?

Farewell 2007

Well another year gone. It seems as I approach forty the years just speed by faster and faster. But this been a fairly good year for us. Though we had some financial strain early on, things have definitely improved now. As tomorrow is January 1 and the beginning of another year, I am, of course already thinking of my gardens and all that I want to do in them this coming spring. My top wish are to add an elder tree to my yard and to add some mugwort plants to my herb garden. I also hope to have a few vegetables. Even though we live in the city, we do have a fairly spacious yard and I think enough room for a few things to grow well. How exciting!

The other thing on my mind are the winter months projects I have planned. One being a full length velvet crazy quilt cloak for ritual. And the other a quilt for my daughter Sophie out of her old baby clothes. The quilt will not take too long or be too complicated, but he cloak is another story, its construction alone could take me most of the winter. Not to mention the crazy quilting and embroidery. But it will be fabulous! Plans, plans, plans.