Make up your mind

Dear Mother Nature, please make up your mind.  I leave the house at 8 a.m. and it is 62 degrees, then two hours later it is 35 and the wind has blown the remaining leaves off the trees, and there I am in a sweater that the wind blows through!  Enough.  I know how the weather is in Texas, but doggone it, I still wish it would get cold and stay cold. I have gotten the boots out, and scarves and gloves and I want to wear them more than one day a week for 3 hours.  The past few weeks that is what we have had, several days in the high 60s then a huge cold front and its almost freezing. First part of the week, it was soup making time.  All the Thanksgiving leftovers were gone and we had no food in the house.  Hubby had a cold he picked up somewhere before Thanksgiving, and I was just tired (as usual it seems), so neither of us felt like going to the grocery.  So we scraped together what we had, he chopped and I sautéed and made a big pot of split pea soup.  Oh, it was so tasty and that's pretty much all we had for dinner.  I had forgotten we had some ham so it is just plain, no meat.  We were so hungry I even forgot to put out bread, but sprinkled croutons on top. Nothing like a big pot of soup on a cold night, plus the comfort of knowing there will be enough for a few more meals.  I have this quirk, of really wanting a beer when I have split pea soup. But we had none so I settled for a small glass of wine.  It was a passable substitute and the soup was just as yummy.  Hubby drinks milk with everything, just as good a combo.

 

 

It's back up to almost 70 today and supposed to stay through the week end and into next week.  I'm seeing Christmas lights already on some of the neighbors houses, but it's a little too soon for me. I like to leave my tree up till New Years, so I can wait another week to put it up.

Happy, Merry, Cozy Week-end

Merry Christmas to Y'all. Whatever you're doing, wherever you are, however you celebrate.

Our weatherman forecasts a "wintry mix" for tonight. It's 41 right now with a wind chill of 38. I like it! It's 65 inside, I'm bundled up in sweater/scarf/tall boots. Cozy. Candles burning. Me listening to Led Zepplin and Simon and Garfunkel.

A couple of neighbors stopped by with baked goods, I delivered a few myself. There's a neighborhood block party/open house later tonight. We'll stroll down for a hot drink.

Not a lot of decorating done around here, but hubby and I both had an artsy/crafty day yesterday. He's hiding something in the garage that he's been working on. He raided my Tim Holtz drawer of supplies, and made off with handfulls of stuff. Well, yes I said he could use whatever he wanted....I am afraid.

Today is my parents 69th wedding anniversary. Will call them in awhile. As a kid, we always opened our family gifts on Christmas Eve, then Mom and Dad went out dancing. Christmas morning we trekked 35 miles to Grandmas house, with all the Aunts and Uncles and many cousins. Forever, all the days of my childhood. Good memories.

Yes We Have Weather

We got just enough snow to make the weathermen ever so happy, since they had been talking about the snow coming for several days! I know they are so proud of themselves when they actually get it right. It matched the "computer model" of the impending storm to a T... I do love to make fun of those guys, because they don't often get it right. The storm that we are right in the path of, usually passes us by, or it arrives many hours sooner than they predicted. Oh well...here are my snow day photos.




It's still 28 degrees, but the sun came out and the snow is melting already. We have nothing severe like the rest of the country is having. I feel really worried for the folks who are having to dig out of many feet of snow, downed power lines, being withouut heat. Not to mention treacherous road conditons. I lived many years in climates like that, so I sure don't complain about Texas winters.

Hope it is warm where you are. Do you think that groundhog was right about Spring coming soon? Oh by the way, my friend Ruth Ann Gigliotti owns Stewart's Drug Store right in the middle of Punxsutawney PA. On Mahoning Street I think it is. You can buy a rubberstamp of Punxsutawney Phil there, plus other groundhog collectibles.

SNOW They Said

And snow it did.
Huge Fluffy Snow.
Proof was fleeting.
Most has melted.

But for one day, we had SNOW in Austin, the most they say in 25 years. Certainly the most I have seen in my 16 years here. Wow, that was fun! Glad I was home to see it. Parts of town got a LOT more than we did out here. A funny moment, yesterday morning when I was out taking photos, me being raised in Idaho, and my across the street neighbor, being raised in New York, was out doing the same. She says "what, ya nevva seen SNOW before"? LOL

Snow falling, just starting in the a.m.


Back yard, table


Snow on metal flowers, backyard


Front yard, car, fountain

Windows Wide Open

The week-end was wonderful weatherwise. After mid 90's again on Friday, we got a cold front and 30 degree drop in temperature. I love sleeping with the windows open, even though sometimes it wreaks havoc with my allergies. I'd rather put up with that than constant airconditoning.

Saturday I was able to clean house a little bit, between watching several hours of college football with hubby and even a movie. The fresh air gave me a wee boost of energy I hadn't felt all week. Oh, and remember I mentioned all the "unfinished" projects I had, I did manage to finish something...I cleaned off the table in my entryway, yet again. This is always an ongoing project, as we tend to drop things there as we come in. Keys, the mail, library books, found items such as rocks and bird feathers, etc. It gets to looking pretty cluttered, but yet we don't seem capable of breaking the habit. Once the first thing gets put there that doesn't belong, it just seems to snowball until there is a big stack. This is not a big accomplishment, such as finishing an art project, but I decided I'd better start looking at some of my chores as finished projects to keep myself from feeling like I am getting NOTHING done.
So this is the way I like it to look!


Close-up


Sunday, I had a friend over and we looked at books and magazines, planned a few art projects, watched a couple of recordings and ate this!
Vietnamese coffee, along with Italian Pizzelles. A nice little treat.

It finally FEELS like Fall

I've been so envious of those of you who have written that you are experiencing fall like weather. Even though we've had tons of rain, it was a wee bit cool then got hot hot hot again. Yesterday was in the 90's and heat index up to 100. Felt really awful. We had a cool front trying to come in, but the heat hanging over us wouldn't allow it...according to my trusty meteorologist, MM. It rained in the night a lot, and when I got up this morning it was 55 degrees. OH YEAH! Dug out the woolie socks and boots and a long sleeved shirt, along with my shiny green raincoat and scarf. Went out with hubby for awhile, for a stroll through the neighborhood. Then we went to the mall(outdoors) with our umbrellas in hand and strolled some more and got a coffee. Cold and windy, and it felt so good. It is supposed to stay cool through the week-end. I won't ever complain about it finally feeling like fall. It feels like it could be a spicy tortilla soup kinda evening. Maybe I can even dig out my flannel jammies this week-end, along with the wool throws for the sofa and chairs. Oh boy! Can you tell I am really ready for cold weather?

Bundling up a wee bit



Pomegranate blossoms after the rain