Spring Where Are You?

It is March 1st.

It is cold.

I have not blogged in over a month... more pictures of snow anyone?Thought not. Oh darn...well that's about all I have to share pictures of...my sister and her dog arrived mid February. It was the first snow he'd seen, and the first she'd driven in, ever. My sister continued on to Virginia where she started her new job and is trying to find a place to live. We are hosting Chip. I think he'll be ready to go back to Debbie, the poor thing gets quite worn out from romping around with Gordon all day. Gordon sometimes gets carried away in his excitement and hugs him a little hard, but Chip is very forgiving and never seems to mind the roughness.
The house is almost ready to go on the market. Just 10 days or so away I think. Painters come to finish the painting I finally gave up on tackling myself. I've almost finished the bathroom - resurfacing the walls and painting it again, and the trim, and the ceiling. It is the never ending project. I'm overwhelmed, and tired, and as much as I don't really want to move from this town, I'll be happy to get the move over and get on with life, wherever that takes us.

One More Christmas

This "second" Christmas was on New Years Day, in Virginia at my mother in laws. The weather was biting cold, single digits, but so beautiful, especially near sunset when we went sledding in the yard. I'd forgotten how much fun it is to go sledding! As the picture taker, I don't have any photos of me sliding down the hills (very small hills, but with a slick sled it was just fast enough!). Gordon and I did the most sledding, sometimes one at a time and sometimes together with him leaping on my back...it was good to laugh so hard & feel the cold snow and wind. We all had a great time. We even convinced Shannon to give it a try a few times!

The setting sun was beautifully golden pink in the clouds and on the snow, it was really magical.Gordon and Shannon were already in the front yard...it was a matter of following the tracks in the snow to catch up with them.

There's my little guy making tracks...

And there is my other guy...it sure is a big yard, especially when walking through snow half way up your calf and falling into your shoes.

I was quite a ways away when I noticed Dad had forgotten to zip his son's jacket up...it was only 9 degrees, so I guess he thought it wasn't necessary, but I'm overprotective that way.

Breathtaking color in the mountains. Just beautiful, in every season, but I'd never seen them in purple and gold before.

This is the same view...pulled back from zoom to get more of the clouds, you can just see the mountains in the distance between the trees.

And now I notice bare hands???? Ughhhh...what would they do without me??

The sky gets more beautiful each minute as the sun sets...

Going back to the back yard now.

Still can't take my eyes off the winter sunset. Gordon said the clouds looked like cotton candy - they do - just like the kind at the fair.

Those cheeks are getting red, we couldn't stay out too long at a time, but we went in, warmed up and came back out several times while we were visiting.

Oh if only you could hear him laughing here - Shannon tossed him on the sled like a sack of potatoes and gave him a push off, he landed down where the garden beds grow.

Dad is looking tired and ready to go in I think. And Gordon is stuck.

More cotton candy clouds, over the neighbors house.

Time to head in. Woops...yeah I think we wore him out. Or he wore us out.

Back inside to play with his version of the Polar Express...using my mother in laws antique cast iron trains.

Winter Wonderland

The snows are long gone...in Greensboro at least, but the day after it fell the sky was bright & the sun so intense, it made the crisp snow & shadows so pretty The snow just sparkles when it is so bright. And if you look closely you can see all the little critters have left foot & feather prints in the sugary snow.

It really does look like frosting...until you go anywhere and look at the ugly piles of dirty snow on the road side. At least here in our back yard it was still pretty.

It looks good enough to eat!

I'll have to come back here to this date's entry sometime in July or August - just looking at it gives me goosebumps!

This little titmouse was happy that I filled the bird feeder before the snow fell.

Looks like Mr. Rabbit was in the yard bright & early.

And sorry for the odd glow in this one, he was so dark in comparison to the bright snow I couldn't get the camera set right. But I thought he was funny enough to share, the way he was putting his foot in one of my foot prints.

These next two were from the snowfall up in Virginia at my mother in laws home.

And finally here are the pictures from my parents. They were totally snowed in from Friday the 18th until Thursday the 24th and risked a scary drive down the mountain to make it to Greensboro for Christmas eve.

This picture is of downtown Waynesville, my favorite small town ever. The picture was taken by a photographer in Waynesville, Ed Kelley, at Ridge Runners, you can see several other breathtaking pictures he took of the snow on Main Street at this website, it is well worth the visit! It makes me want to move there & live in the Norman Rockwell-esque town of Waynesville. http://www.theridgerunner.com/snowville/index.html
Next up...Christmas! (Hopefully before the year is over!)

A Walk Outside At Night in the Snow

Heading out the front door, here's the wreath I made for this year.The Moravian Star

Look at the snow coming down!

It looks a lot warmer in there.The lights really shine on the snow
There are lights on some shrubs you can't see. I didn't put any on the house - every year I think I want icicle lights on the house, and every year I decide to stick to the shrubs - I don't like using the ladder.Heading to the back yard, the snow is so beautiful & it is so still sounding.Everything looks so different with snow on it! And here are a couple of elves having fun on the deck with the snow. Next up...the sun comes out!