It Snowed All Night - Dec 18, 2009

It started snowing around 5PM with predictions of 1 to 2 feet possible

5:55PM

Through it all the flag kept flying

7:31PM

9:20PM and it is piling up.

It was hard to go to bed I was so excited!

9:21PM and about 28 degrees F.

Good snowing temperature!

Dec 19, 2009 4:38AM - Yogi checks out 14" of snow.

Averaged about 1" per hour through the night.

Another view at 4:38AM.

BTW - I normally get up at 4:30AM and it only took 8 minutes to be outside with the camera!

Broken thermometer reads 60 degrees - not hardly!!!

9:37AM

Yogi checking the snow depth again.

10:54AM

What to do on a snowy day - dig out and grill!

11:30AM

11:58AM - Chicken on the grill

Dec 20, 2009 8:48AM - Sweetie tries the snow on for a new look!

17" of snow when it finished!

Fall 2009 Update

I'm still catching up on our blog. Following are some pictures from late fall in Virginia

(with a special bonus at the end)

Fungi diversity on a stump captured in the evening sun.

Lichen and moss beside the driveway

Fall colors on a miniature Japanese Maple in front of our house - after a shower

Messy squirrel table

Spider web on a foggy morning

Fungi growing up the side of a stump

The last roses of 2009

Yogi is our Pomeranian and he is Tona's buddy

This is Sweetie our ShizPomPeekaPoo.

Hair styling by Tona!

And my special bonus:

Love ya' Tona!!!

Fall 2009 Crafts

Tona has been crafting this fall and since the gifts have been given I can now present them in this craft update.

But first ...

What Is It??

The black items are shelled black walnuts from Idaho,

The tan item is an egg from one of our Buff Orpington chickens,

but what are the round brown items in front???

(Hint - they are leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner preparation)

Button bracelets

Baby bibs

Casserole carrier and a couple of kitchen towels

One of the creative centers in our house

Quilted jacket

Winter Wallhanging

Fabric flowers for pins

Centerpiece with tiny apples

Baby shoes

Button belt

Quilted jacket

Casserole carriers and felted bag

Tona has really worked hard on making gifts this year and she has a talent and desire for crafts.

Makes for a great combination!!!

Now for the What Is It quiz:

We had guacamole so these are the avocado seeds. I had not seen these before so I thought you should see them too!

(FYI - Avocado's were peeled and mashed and were a very tasty addition to our Thanksgiving Dinner)

September 2009 GRAND Update

We have a granddaughter!!!

HIP - HIP - HOORAY!!!

Momma and baby

Father and daughter

The family of three

Tona and grandaughter

Granddaughter and grandfather

Wow, what a grand month!

One last picture of the little GRAND baby:

We pray God's blessings for this new life - may she grow up in faith, hope, and love.

August 2009

August 2009 Update

WhatIsIt???

This is something actually very common but not very often seen or noticed.

(Answer at the end of this blog)

The next two pictures are one of my favorite subjects - mushrooms on stumps.

Looking down from above:

From the side with a little Virginia Creeper thrown in for good measure.

The Clematis at the end of our front walk is a beautiful bloomer for late summer.

OK - did you guess what the first picture was???

Mushroom imprinted with a tire track.

Disclaimer: no mushrooms were purposefully squashed for this picture.

As you consider the life of a mushroom in the driveway...

Let's move on to September!!!

July 2009 - 32nd Anniversary

July 2009 - 32nd Anniversary

Tona and I got away for a couple of days for our 32nd anniversary. We went back to Seneca Rocks - the same area we went to on our honeymoon. This time we rented a nice little cabin.

Here is Tona sitting on the porch - lookin' pretty!!!

For supper we went to a restaurant that had a second story porch where we could look at Seneca Rocks while we waited.

We had driven through some showers that day but it was breaking up. The clouds gave a nice backdrop to the sunlit rocks.

This was a valley off to the right of the rocks.

This gives an idea of the beautiful view we had to enjoy!

On the way home we took route 250 into Virginia crossing the mountains. Here is one of the views looking down into the valley below.

We had a nice but short getaway.

I thank God for 32 years with a wonderful woman!!!