Bring on the blooms.....

    With all the rain we've been having, it's hard to find a Saturday to clean the
 flowerbeds out. Being scheduled to work every other weekend adds to the problem. I could see plants sprouting up everywhere and plenty of  blooms through the dead leaves that laid there all winter. They make a great covering to protect the plants from the cold,  but extra work in the spring...Yuck.

The primroses are lovin' all the rain!

 I was determined to get out there yesterday even if it rained. It turned out to be sunny and about 60*.

Jack and I worked together and accomplished a lot:

1. grass cut
2. Flowerbeds raked and weeded
3. wood edging stained
4. bird feeder cleaned out
5. Hillside cleared of wild bamboo... ggrrr...I hate bamboo.

Then a bubble bath...dinner and a movie at home... A fulfilling day!

See more inspiring snapshots this Mosaic Monday over at "Little Red House".

~ Mosaic Monday ~

A balmy 70 degrees on Friday and then snow on Sunday.....

Even the birds are feelin' confused !! Come on Mother Nature, cut us a break and listen to the groundhog.
Join us over at "Little Red House" for more entries this Mosaic Monday!

Farmers know their stuff.....

Last year, the Farmer's Almanac predicted a cold, snowy winter and boy,we're they right! They said most of the snow would be late in the season, Feb. and March and that's exactly what happened, with over 24 inches here in the northeast.
Here's their forecast for April through October:

April and May will be much warmer and drier than normal—great weather for outdoor activities, but raising concern about summer drought.

Summer will be cooler than normal, with the hottest periods in mid- and late July and early to mid-August. Rainfall will be below normal, with the greatest threat of drought in the east.

September and October will be slightly cooler than normal. Tropical moisture in the first part of September will bring above-normal rainfall.

Looks like a dry summer and a wet Fall...we shall see.

What happened to Summer?

With this crazy weather, It seems as though it just got started and as quick as a flash ...it's over!


I kept waiting for the flowerbeds to fill up and it didn't happen. Come to think about it, we only had to cut the grass about 4 or 5 times.
 I was driving home from work two evenings in July and the car was so chilly that I had to put the heater on. What's with that???

I demand a re-count...there's an awful lot of 90* days missin' somewhere.

Brrrrr...it's cold outside.....

Not just outside...but inside...

It's 11 degrees outside and 52 degrees in our house. For the second time this week, the furnace has stopped working and I'm waiting for the repair man.

So I've got three layers on, a shirt, sweater and a heavy robe. I even put a tousle cap on, because they say that you lose a lot of heat from your body through your head !

I've heated one of our Thera - hug bags that we make as a home-based business and keep it on my lap.....that makes a big difference. And I topped everything off with a quilted throw.

I'm getting hungry but I'm so bundled up, I don't want to move to go make some breakfast!

Maybe I'll just take a nap.

PS. I just heard that the temperature today in Denver is 67* and Orlando is 57*... What's up with that ???

Finally...

it's February 12, and were getting enough snow to be considered a "snowstorm". Up until now we've only had a dusting here and there. Jack was two hours getting to work today.
Did you notice...Hubby now has a name!

My friend from work called and said that there were a lot of call-offs and that no one is really shopping so this will be a stress free, easy day!
And as luck would have it, IT'S MY DAY OFF!

Let it snow...let it snow...let it snow...

Will the winter be wooly?

When I was a little girl, I often heard my grandparents talk about the wooly caterpillar and the prediction of winter. This fall, I've seen several in my flower bed and they were all marked this same way:

" Some people believe that the coat of a wooly bear caterpillar can be used to predict how bad the coming winter will be.

There are many wooly bear caterpillars in the United States and Canada. They can be seen anytime from May to October.
They believe that if a wooly bear caterpillar's brown stripe is thick, the winter weather will be mild and if the brown stripes are narrow, the winter will be severe.

In the late 1600s, farmers relied on weather history to predict weather. For that reason, they looked for something in nature to help them. They found the wooly bear caterpillar. Reports about the weather, along with a comparison of wooly bear stripes, made people think that the wooly bear's coat was a good signal about weather. Some people still believe the wooly bear caterpillar can be used to predict weather."

Author Unknown

Hope your wooly caterpillars all have a WIDE brown stripe!!!!

Enjoy the season...

" Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower "

Albert Camus

***

I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house.

So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air.-

Nathaniel Hawthorne

***

The hazy, cloudless skies of Indian Summer.

Leaves scurrying down the street before the wind.

The cold shiver from an arctic blast.

The last warmth of the sun.

Chilly mornings and glorious warm afternoons.

The Harvest Moon.

The Rainy Season.

Dry corn stalks clattering in the wind.

The touch of frost on grass and window pane.

The smell of burning leaves.- Keith C. Heidorn

Works For Me Wednesday

Shannon over at http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/ is hosting " Works for Me Wednesday " and I have a hint from my Hubby.

With all the slush from so much snow this winter, our vinyl mats in the van were wet all the time. So he went to the dollar store and bought 4 small carpet pieces. They do a great job of absorbing all the mess. And at $1.00 each , he can replace them every month.

Has Spring Sprung ?

" Longing For Spring "

Once a day and sometimes more,
I look out my daydream door,
to see if Spring is out there yet,
I'm really anxious, but mustn't fret.

I see the snow is melting down,
and lots of mud and slush around,
I know the grass will surely sprout,
and birds and flowers will come out.

But why, oh why does it take so long?
I'm sure the calendar can't be wrong,
sunshine fills my heart with cheer,
I wish that Spring were really here.

Soon Mother Nature will sound the alarm,
wake up! get dressed turn on your charm,
Winter's gloom has gone it's way,
It's Spring..It's Spring..Oh Happy Day !
Edna T. Helberg


*******************

No matter how long the winter, Spring is sure to follow ~ Proverb

Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world ~ Virgil A. Kraft

Spring is nature's way of saying, "let's party " ~ Robin Williams

Punxsutawney Phil - Shame on you!

On Feb. 2nd, you predicted an early spring instead of six more weeks of winter.Well Hello, here we are, it's March 7th and the wind is blowing....and the snow is piling up....I think it's time to find a new groundhog....maybe "Punxsutawney Priscilla". What do you think?

brrrrr

Brrrrr.....
Baby,it's cold outside...5 degrees this morning with a chill factor of 10 to 15 below!
Nothing like the 60 degree temperatures we were having here in Pittsburgh in November.
Well,this is the kind of weather that makes you appreciate your warm and cozy home and when you walk in after a hard days work....maybe a long drive home in traffic....and all you want is a bowl of hot homemade soup and some good crusty bread...yum!