Blizzards & Cabin Fever - Day FOUR

Once again we have had a significant winter event.  Ten plus inches of snow and sleet,  raging winds (for a time) and wind chills that had a " - " in front of the number,  high temperatures in the single digits......  This is the type of weather that we hear about happening in "other" places of the United States.  Remember?  We're the people who don't get enough practise driving in this kind of craziness!  Well,  at least we're in good company.  I heard this monster storm caught folks as far south as El Paso and after it visited our part of the country continued to work it's way east.  Such is life! Eh?

We've been home with all outside activity suspended, just waiting for the temps to warm up enough to get the worst parts of the ice off the streets.  We've read, crafted, painted, crocheted, etc. to try to keep from getting to cranky in our confinement.  We've laughed, eaten too much, danced with the Wii remotes in our hands and then eaten again.  (So much for the exercise!  lol)

Here are a few pictures of our winter break......................

                                 BACK YARD LOVELIES

The irony of the dial on this old camping oven made me smile.  We keep pinion wood in this little rusted oven.  It works great and is just the right size for the table it sits on in our fireplace area.  The HMS rescued it on a neighborhood big junk day.  Good hunting, HMS!

The back porch usually looks somewhat inviting (if the royal family hasn't piled it up too much).  Today it just looks cold!  Don't you feel sorry for the little angel? 

I loved the contrast in this shot!  I took this yesterday, knowing that the girls would want to be outside and all this pristine snow would be no more........

              Not everyone appreciates the beauty of rust.....but this Queen Mum can see the artistic beauty of it.

As I said, once the temperatures came up enough to keep these tender beauties from windburn and instant frostbite,  they made it outside to play a little.  Glad they took the camera!

Our covered front porch faces the east and has a three foot recess that protects the front door.  The snow drifted onto the porch making a little wall of snow across the recess.  I love how it drifted into and onto the decorations that I had out for the winter season.  Very appropriate, wouldn't you say?

The galvanized florist tin is filled with things that I scavenged from the yard.....Black Eyed Susan & Echinacea Flower Pods,  decorative tall grasses, dried flower heads of a succulent that we call Live Forever (August Sedum) and then, my all time favorite natural to decorate with, Nandina berries and leaves.  It's also called Heavenly Bamboo and does have a bamboo-type structure to the trunk of the bush.  These berry clusters are formed from the flowers, turning bright red, peaking about the time Christmas arrives.  If you can plant Nandina in your area do!  It is easy to grow, can be transplanted with success and makes a brilliant show all year long.  Just simply love this plant!
 

These berries and leaves were harvested in mid-December.  The colors are still vibrant!  Really amazing. 



The latest word is that we will be getting warmer temperatures for the next three days and then, guess what?!?, the possibility for more snow.  We know how tempermental our weather can be (it was actually around 76 degrees the day before the storm arrived.  But this kind of snow is really rare here.  Maybe the folks in our fair city will get the practise they've been lacking and turn into better drivers.........but I won't bet my crown on it.  Stay warm and keep busy....................Spring will eventually come.