Category Archives: Mother Nature

May 15, 2021 · 10:17 am

Nice Day

Depositphotos

It is a wonderful day here so far. It’s overcast, but not raining. I have two main things to do:

THING ONE – get a haircut this afternoon

THING TWO – finish planting flowers.

Yesterday we went to the local nursery to get two flowers that my husband likes – impatiens and wave petunias. We’ve cut back on what we’re planting this year as kind of a leftover from the pandemic. We had already checked several places for flowers. This year I would have been content with planting any number of flowers we saw. Finally, it came down to the fact that my husband wanted wave petunias and impatiens, and was willing to drive to Ft. Smith to get them. Happily, we were able to find a bright orangy impatiens for the front porch and other shady areas in front of the house, plus wave petunias in a gloriously deep purple.

Pahl’s Market

This is the color of the impatiens I planted yesterday. It should spread nicely, filling a couple of shallow round faux terra cotta planters on the porch, plus I dotted them in the brick planters that line the front of the house.

Good Shepherd Holbrook, NY

This is the color of the wave petunias we found. I’m cleaning out 4 large terra cotta pots that live up high on the railing of the deck, plus some other planters on the floor of the deck.

I’ll take pictures when the flowers start to look nice.

Tonight the rains are supposed to start. (My mouth dropped open when I saw this. I may still look like a gaping fish. )

Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. A stray thunderstorm is possible. Low 63F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.

Sun 16

79°/64°PM Thunderstorms50%SSE 11 mph

Mon 17

76°/65°Scattered Thunderstorms51%SSE 9 mph

Tue 18

77°/66°Scattered Thunderstorms51%SE 9 mph

Wed 19

74°/66°Scattered Thunderstorms57%SE 11 mph

Thu 20

79°/67°Scattered Thunderstorms45%SE 10 mph

Fri 21

78°/68°Scattered Thunderstorms44%SE 10 mph

Sat 22

83°/67°Scattered Thunderstorms37%SE 9 mph

Sun 23

82°/65°Scattered Thunderstorms38%SSE 8 mph

Mon 24

82°/65°Scattered Thunderstorms41%SSE 8 mph

Tue 25

82°/65°Scattered Thunderstorms36%S 9 mph

Wed 26

82°/64°Isolated Thunderstorms33%W 8 mph

Thu 27

83°/65°Isolated Thunderstorms31%SSW 7 mph

Looks like we’ll be dodging a lot of raindrops until further notice…

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May 13, 2021 · 11:41 am

Diet Discovery +

This morning my husband and I ate breakfast at one of our favorite restaurants in Greenwood, The Dari. We did this (1) to celebrate a stellar report from the dental hygienist for both of us, and (2) we always have breakfast out when we have to get blood tests at the clinic for a doctor appointment.

So my diet is pretty much blown for the day. We are having a portion controlled frozen dinner of tortilla crusted fish this evening, so maybe that will make up for the truly delicious, rare breakfast with all the fixings. I have to say that my emotions are like a yo-yo lately. I go from being really serious and sticking to my diet, to thinking I’m getting older and the world seems to be going to Hell in a hand basket so I might as well enjoy one of my last meals. Until I can get my ‘yo-yo-ness’ under control, I foresee very slow, if any, weight loss for me. :0(

I’m trying to get into the mood to get and plant some flowers in our deck planters. We will probably go to the local nursery tomorrow after Lunch Bunch to see if we can find some wave petunias and periwinkles. We’ve checked a couple of other places, but can’t find them. I hope our luck is better at the nursery.

We are about to start more monsoon weather. It’s a lovely, sunny day today, and we’re supposed to have another nice day tomorrow. I couldn’t believe the weather website, though. Starting Saturday, we’re supposed to have rain EVERY day from then, through the following Saturday, AND through the following Thursday. (Saturday, the 17th through Thursday, May 27th.) REALLY. I need to get out tomorrow and harvest more veggies.

I hope that your Thursday is a nice one.

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May 10, 2021 · 10:44 am

Thoughts on a Monday 5-10-2021

Lydie Steyer

I’m finding it hard to grasp that we’re already into May, and a third of it is gone!

Arkansas is having a ‘monsoon’ season this year. I’m growing some veggies in a raised bed square foot garden and they are loving this weather. It’s been cool and wet. For example it’s overcast, looking like it could rain any second, and is only 49 degrees right now. Friday I was able to share some spinach and lettuce with good friends. I’m planning to do my third harvest of the season today, if the weather will cooperate.

lettuce
spinach

Yesterday, after over a year of absence, I started accounts on Facebook and LinkedIn again. My accounts had been hacked and I couldn’t change my passwords or get any help from support at either place, so I gave up and closed my accounts. I missed some of the people I had met, so yesterday I created a new email address so I could sign up again. I have no idea of anyone remembers me anymore or will connect with me again, but I figure it’s worth a try.

My latest project – after putting the house back together after new carpet and porch flooring – is to switch my winter clothes for summer ones. Funny timing, since we may be setting a record for the coolest May we’ve had since I’ve lived here, but I’m in the middle of it now. I have the actual clothes switched. Now I’m trying to get things organized, plus I’ve promised myself I will try things on, going through for things I can donate.

We are continuing to enjoy getting healthy, individual portion meals from Real Food and from Stu’s Clean Cookin’, both of which have opened in the past year in Greenwood.

Calvin & Hobbes Mailbox Decoration

We haven’t been putting up mailbox decorations for awhile, due to the chaos in the world. We finally put up my favorite recently. I think we can all use a hug.

I hope that you are having a good start of a new week, too.

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May 4, 2021 · 11:56 am

Thoughts on a Tuesday 5-4-2021

cheezburger.com

I melted into a puddle when I saw this puppy. I couldn’t resist giving him whatever he wanted. Those eyes. :0)

We had lots of severe weather last night. It was all around us, but mostly went just north of us, with tornadoes, really high gusty winds, hail, lightning, heavy rain, flooding, and flying hairballs. Lots of people lost power, had damage, etc. A semi was blown onto its side on one of the main highways through Fort Smith. Trees were down, some on homes, and more. Several of the public schools in our area of Arkansas went back to Zoom learning due to damage and lack of power. I don’t think any lives were lost.

We lucked out. We walked around checking our roof and yard. I checked my veggie plants. We had some leaves and branches in the yard, but just little stuff.

We did our errands this morning, taking our trash down to the bottom of our driveway (650 feet steeply down to the street in front of our home). No damage on the driveway. We didn’t notice any damage in Greenwood as we did our errands.

We are home now, hoping for a quiet day. I finished getting things back in place yesterday after our new carpet and porch flooring project. I’m determined to keep getting rid of STUFF. I’m trying to get into a ruthless state of mind. Hopefully I can make some significant progress – AFTER I rest from moving all the stuff OUT and then back IN to our office, living room, foyer, and porch!

I hope that you are safe and well, enjoying a quiet Tuesday.

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May 3, 2021 · 10:32 am

Flowers Before the Storm

Karen Norton

We’re due for possible severe storms this evening, so I went out to get some pictures, just in case, so I could share them with you.

Our rose bushes were in awful shape – with straggly branches way up over my head – so I cut them back by a good 2/3. I figured that either they would be happy about it or we needed to start over. Happily, you can see that this one is already blooming with a bunch of buds. :0)

This sweet bunch of flowers tries to bloom each year. Usually, we have a bad storm just at the time these need a bit of protection. I try to get a picture or two, because they don’t usually make it through the storm.

It raises my spirits to walk around the yard, seeing HOPE in the planters.

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April 24, 2021 · 9:54 am

Mother Nature’s Nose is Out of Joint

Pinterest

It’s rainy and cool here today. I didn’t hear the rain overnight, but I was sleeping really soundly after moving stuff all day in the effort to get ready for the carpet and vinyl installers to come soon. We have JUST finished being threatened by frosts and freezes and NOW are being threatened with heavy rain, gusty winds, hail, flying hairballs, tornadoes and more. My poor veggie plants will need more than just sheets for protection and I don’t have anything. I’ll just have to HOPE that Mother Nature decides she has had her say and moves on. I will check on my plants later today – with all appendages crossed – if it warms up.

Meanwhile, the project to get everything off the floor and all the furniture empty is ongoing. I’m trying to do something significant each day. The day before yesterday I moved all of our files out of the office. That includes two 4-drawer file cabinets and one 2-drawer cabinet.

Yesterday I emptied and relocated the stuff that was on a free-standing 6-shelf piece of furniture that lives in our office.

Today the project is emptying my desk. It is a roll top, old-fashioned, well-loved-but-not-valuable desk I have had for YEARS. It is almost impossible to move. I am removing the drawers today and carrying them upstairs to the guest room. There are 15 drawers and two pull-out pieces of wood for writing. When those are all out and stored, the remaining desk is still in 4 pieces: the top; the two sides; and the board that connects the two sides.

I’m really looking forward to having new carpeting in our living room, foyer, and office, plus new vinyl on our porch, but it really brings home WHY we only do it every 13 years or so…

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April 22, 2021 · 10:16 am

Garden Progress

Pinterest
Butter Crunch Lettuce
Spinach
Zucchini

I’ve been covering my veggie plants and tomato planters with sheets for 4 nights now, and so far, things seem to have come through the freezes all right. The Zucchini has had the most reaction. I’ve had to cut off several leaves from the plants. They blackened with the frosts and freezes. There is enough left of the plants that still looks good I think they will make it.

According to the weather website we are now past the freezes. This is really unusual here. Usually, our last frosts are April 5th, and that is even pretty late since I have been trying to grow things. We are supposed to get rain tonight and all day tomorrow.

I have the sheets spread out on the fencing around the garden, trying to dry it out during the day today so I can bag them up and put them away.

I HOPING that things will get back to normal for gardening soon.

Although the veggies seem to be doing all right, my elephant ear bulbs did not make it over wintered in the garage. I have finally given up on them and ordered more bulbs. I am hoping those will arrive soon so that I can get them into the ground.

I gathered my first harvest of the year recently, and we enjoyed a main meal salad last night, featuring our own spinach and lettuce! It’s been quite awhile since we were able to do that. I loved it!

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April 21, 2021 · 9:33 am

Thoughts on a Wednesday 4-21-2021

party puffin-John Palmer Fine Art

Today is sunshine-y and pretty, but it’s still only 37 degrees outside now. This is the third night I’ve had to cover my veggie plants, hoping they won’t freeze in the uncharacteristically cold weather we’ve been having. I think after tonight, this cold wave will be finished and we can get back to normal. So far, so good. Fingers – and all other appendages – including my eyes – are crossed.

I finally gave up on my elephant ear bulbs that I tried to winter over in peat moss in my garage. They aren’t showing anything good. I have ordered some bulbs and will plant them as soon as they arrive. I’m sad to lose the ones I received from my friend, Laufrain.

My husband and I went searching for new carpet and flooring yesterday. We compromised on some new carpet and I got my choice of flooring for the porch. The man is coming today to measure and give us a final cost. My husband told the lady we got the carpet and flooring from them in 2012, but it turns out that we got our kitchen tiles in 2012. We got the carpeting and porch floor in 2008, so it’s a good time to get new.

I sold a hand painted tote bag on Amazon Handmade overnight, so I’m heading out in just a minute to get our mail and then drive to the post office to mail the tote. It really makes my day when someone likes what I’ve created enough to buy it for themselves or as a gift for someone else. :0)

I wish you a happy Wednesday.

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April 19, 2021 · 10:10 am

Iris Season

Our iris season always starts with deep purple iris. They are almost finished now. They are followed by pale yellow iris, and those are blooming madly all over the place now, along with some mauve colored ones here. :0)

We also have a few very pale coral iris and some ‘mauve’ iris, but those are few and far in-between.

A few years ago I devoted one of our brick planters to planting new colors of iris. Each year I did up some of those and replant them elsewhere in the yard.

I love all colors of iris, but I wish the deep purple and the yellow would bloom at the same time. Apparently, though, they have a system which decides which bloom when, and mostly, only one color blooms at a time around here.

These are two yellow iris from the planter I talked about. They have a really nice, deep yellow color. We also brought in one of the mauve ones.

If I get bogged down, I just go outside and walk around the yard a bit. Seeing things blooming lifts my spirits.

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April 19, 2021 · 9:47 am

Thoughts on a Monday 4-21-2021

photographyserved.com-Mujo Korach

I got some things accomplished over the weekend that make me feel like I’m starting the coming week well.

I caught up on the filing and bookkeeping that had been piling up for quite awhile. I gathered the things I brought home from the booth my friend and I were renting in a local shop. I’m not ready to go through them right now, but at least I’m not in danger of falling over them on my way to and from the computer.

Our credit card was frauded and we had to cancel the one we had and start over with a new one. We had to contact a bunch of places to get things updated. I’ll finish the list today with some phone calls.

I discovered the local weather people were warning of a frost and freezes the coming three days. I got my plants covered last night. They came through just fine. I’ll cover them again tonight and tomorrow night. I enjoyed gathering my first harvest of spinach and lettuce yesterday! :0)

I will start hanging things up on the porch today. We have decided to start researching putting a new floor cover out there, since the project to replace the ceiling, seal off where the squirrels were getting in, and hanging a new shutter are finished. As an added project, I paid the guys to repaint the rest of the woodwork out there, so things look fresh and clean. Ahhhh!

At the same time we replace the porch floor covering, we’re going to research replacing the carpeting in our living room, foyer and office. It’s beyond being able to look better with cleaning. Our records show we have had it since 2009.

Our list of things to repair or replace is getting a bit shorter, so it feels good.

I hope that your spirits are lifting, too.

Stay safe and well.

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April 16, 2021 · 9:19 am

I Feel GOOD!

Linda Ellerbee – Living Life – texturedsoul.com

I feel GOOD this morning.

Yesterday I had a glorious massage after SEVERAL days of mixing and spraying 2-gallon containers of weed killer, and then switching to 6 hours of using the power washer a couple of days ago, cleaning outdoor furniture, our deck, and the back sidewalk. My body was really anticipating the miracle that is Lynn Moody, my massage therapist. 479-629-7601. I spent the rest of the day reading, resting, and sleeping. AHHHHHH! I capped it off by getting a good night’s sleep last night.

Not even the fact that today is supposed to be very rainy can dampen my spirits.

We’ll go to Lunch Bunch in about an hour, catch up with our friends while enjoying chicken fingers, and then hit the local grocery store for supplies before coming back home.

Weather permitting, I’m hoping to gather the first harvest of the season from my veggie garden! My mouth is watering for a salad made with lettuce and spinach from our own garden.

I hope that you are safe and well. Enjoy your Friday.

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April 10, 2021 · 11:11 am

Storm

Sound Cloud

We had quite a storm last night – heavy rain, gusty winds, hail, flying hairballs…. I went out this morning to see what havoc had occurred.

Two of my three new azaleas were pretty battered, but I’m hoping they will perk up once they get a chance to catch their collective breaths.

My garden plants seem to have come through fine. As you can see, one of the next jobs will be to spray weed killer under the planters.
As you can see, I need to pull off yellow leaves and weed this tomato planter.
The ‘nook’ tomato planter is looking pretty good..

I’m feeling very lucky that the hail storm didn’t decimate my garden, as they did one year in the recent past. I’m trying to ‘hold my mouth right’ so the good luck continues. :0)

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April 6, 2021 · 9:47 am

Thoughts on a Tuesday 4-6-2021

i-pinimg.com

We are having a beautiful day today. It’s hard to believe that we are due for possibly severe storms overnight into tomorrow, with gusty winds and hail (and flying hair balls) much of the day tomorrow. I’m hoping that the whole thing will bypass us.

My guys are due tomorrow to finish painting our new porch ceiling. They will also paint the rest of the woodwork on the porch, so it will seem like a whole new porch when it’s finished! They have already installed a new shutter to replace the one that fell off the front of the house and sealed the area of the roof soffit where the squirrels were getting in. Clifford Harden is very reliable. He either comes when he says he will or calls to let us know what is happening, so we’re not left hanging. He, his brothers, and other workers in the group they call Safe Elite Transformations have a passion for excellence. You can reach them through Home Advisor, or directly at 479-849-0520.

If Mother Nature cooperates with us, by the end of the day tomorrow we should have a nice-looking new porch ceiling!

Since our weather is so nice today, I’m planning to transplant the celery I’ve started in the kitchen to the main garden. I’ll take some pics so show you later. Things are happy in the garden so far. I’m also planning to finish weed whacking in the back and then hopefully spray some KillzAll to discourage the weeds from popping right back up. My goal is to have less and less to weed whack each time throughout the season.

I’m still trying to go through the things I brought home from the booth I shared with my friend Carla at Rags & Roses in Greenwood. It is a really nice shop, and the owner, Joanna Brandt, is a peach. Our sales were super slow, though, so we decided that it was best we try other venues. I am going through things, trying to decide which I should list on my Amazon Handmade page. I’m taking my time, so my office looks like of like an explosion occurred. :0)

I hope that your Tuesday will be a nice one.

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April 4, 2021 · 9:58 am

Sunshine

A. A. Milne – E.H. Shepard – Winnie the Pooh – DreamsQuote
Tulip Tree
Amber and Purple Iris
New Azalea Bushes
Azalea bush close-up

There is always more to do in the yard or in the garden, and this is my favorite time of the year. Lots of sunshine, hope, new life, beautiful blooms, the promise of healthy veggies…

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March 25, 2021 · 10:09 am

“Washout of a Day?”

Quora

Today is supposed to be a “washout of a day. Heavy rain and lightning will be the main concerns today. Some small hail and gusty winds will be possible in the stronger storms but the threat is low overall.” It’s cool and gray and rainy right now – a great day to take a nap under my throw in my recliner. My husband is sleeping in this morning, and the morning chores are done. Nice and quiet.

I’m hoping to have a burst of energy so I can get the paperwork that is piled up finished, plus get a good start on adding some of my craft products to my page on Amazon Handmade. Adding things is to the page is kind of laborious – hence my needing a burst of energy to get started. :0)

So far I’m very encouraged about my spring garden. I’m glad we drilled lots of drain holes in our 4’x4′ wooden raised bed planters. All is designed to drain well and not get waterlogged. Needless to say, with all the rain we have been getting, delivery of the new sprinklers will just be NICE, rather than NECESSARY. I’ll get some pics to share with you when the rain stops.

I hope that you have a really nice day today.

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March 22, 2021 · 9:35 am

Thoughts on a Monday – March 22, 2021

Twitter.com

It’s a fine start to a pretty day here. We’re supposed to have some sunshine and 63 degrees this afternoon before having thunderstorms overnight. I’ll take it!

The gremlins who have been plaguing us lately seem to have decided to ease up some. We’re waiting for the new valve we ordered for the shop heater to be delivered. Our long awaited window replacements from Window World are due to be brought and installed late tomorrow afternoon – “weather permitting and the creek don’t rise.”

I made a major decision this week. My friend and I decided to close the booth we shared in the local shop in Greenwood and I closed my Etsy shops online. I will concentrate my efforts on my online shop on Amazon Handmade now. If you would like to visit the shop, click on this link Linda Lewis Artworks. If the link doesn’t work for you, here is the URL – https://www.amazon.com/handmade/Linda-Lewis-Artworks. I will be adding things to this site steadily.

Though nothing was said, our fish are swimming happily in the aquarium after I cleaned it for them yesterday. The new combination of things I’m using makes it so we can go several weeks now without cleaning and the water stays nice. Ever since I changed from the regular aquarium gravel to the glass beads, the fish seem to be having a “Bead Sucking” contest as to who can suck one up and swim up the highest with it before dropping it. It makes a funny, “tick, tick” sound as the beads fall back down.

Not sure what the day will hold, but it’s wonderful to have some nice weather to do it in.

Happy Monday.

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March 18, 2021 · 10:07 am

Spring?

Humane Society International

It’s 37 degrees, gray and rainy here today. UGH. I know that ‘spring’ doesn’t begin officially until Saturday, but I’ve been more than ready for a LONG time now.

I was HOPING to go to the local co-op today to get veggie plants for my garden, but I felt like I was freezing to death just putting out fresh bird seed and suet this morning.

joyfullearninginkc.blogspot.com

I feel guilty griping about our weather. We dodged a bullet of possible severe stuff yesterday, and that system has now moved east, threatening other good people today. I hope everyone stays safe.

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March 14, 2021 · 11:58 am

It’s Springing!

Although our last spring frost is technically April 5th here, there are signs of spring everywhere I look outside! I couldn’t be more ready.

Yesterday I planted the elephant ear bulbs I’ve had in our garage in a trash can of Mel’s Mix (soil alternative). The bulbs were ‘slimy’ on the outside (ICK!) but I dug the deepest holes I could in the planter and planted them. I have no clue what will happen – if anything – now. If they DON’T sprout new growth, we’ll look around and see if we can get replacement bulbs. We really enjoyed the display last year.

Our tulip tree is blooming!

It’s hard to be down when Mother Nature’s beauty is blooming its heart out all around you.

Happy Sunday!

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February 21, 2021 · 5:37 pm

We Did It!

We walked down the driveway right after lunch today to get to our truck my husband had to abandon yesterday, not being able to come back up our driveway. We cautiously backed down a seemingly endless amount, sliding a lot, before we were on the street in front of our house. We were delighted to find that our driveway was the only bad spot between our house and town.

We were able to get a microwave that was almost exactly the same as the one we loved that died. It’s a 2.2 cubic foot Panasonic with turbo defroster, genius sensor, etc. The only difference is that the new one has 100 watts less power than the old one. We are beyond delighted. My husband celebrated by warming up a cup of coffee. :0)

The only other excitement in our trip was trying to get back up our driveway. The first time we made it up about 1/3 of the way, but then started sliding around, losing traction. My husband had to carefully back all the way down to the bottom to give it another try. I thought we would end up stuck in the deep ditch on one side of the driveway or the other.

The second time he ‘went for broke.’ We started sliding about half way up, but managed to gain some traction and got over the middle, really steep part of the driveway. I had been holding my breath and firmly keeping my big mouth shut, so it took me a minute or two to calm down. My husband is a much gutsier driver than I, and gutsy is what it took today.

So the truck is in the garage safely now. Hopefully, by the end of the day tomorrow our ice and snow on the driveway will be only a memory.

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February 21, 2021 · 9:27 am

“A Whole Lot of Meltin’ Goin’ On…”

Warmquest

This gives you a bit of an idea of our driveway. This isn’t ours. Ours is graveled, 650 feet +, and STEEP. We had no choice about it being on the north side of our property.

My husband insisted he was going out yesterday to get some sugary treats at the local grocery store. I told him he really should wait – that we could go together Sunday afternoon after more melting occurred. He scoffed and went anyway.

He came back about an hour later with the sugary treats, but without the truck. He was unable to get back up our driveway and left the truck about 3/4 of the way down. He later tried to retrieve the truck, but had to leave it down there.

Today we will walk down the driveway, trying to NOT fall on our heads, hopefully back the truck down to the road, go to town and replenish supplies (my husband said the roads are pretty clear now – our driveway is probably the worst place in town) and then hopefully be able to drive back up and put the truck in the garage.

I’m still amazed that my husband told me I was RIGHT. Right about yesterday being too soon to go to town, and right about the fact that I thought we should put the snow tires on the truck at the end of the fall as we usually do. My mouth is still hanging open.

It’s 41 degrees F. out there now, so we should have ‘a whole lot of meltin’ goin’ on’ (thanks to my smart SIL – and Elvis, of course – for the title.) The forecast for today is RAIN. I won’t complain – even if we drown.

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February 19, 2021 · 10:25 am

Eat-Arounds

Pinterest

The forecast shows a slow warming trend here, so maybe we’ll be able to find our driveway in the coming days! I am hoping that I can convince my husband to wait at least until tomorrow afternoon before trying to negotiate our way down to the street that runs in front of our house.

Our microwave finally gave up the ghost, so this spoiled lady has been having to get off her duff and do some cooking, rather than simply heating up delicious, healthy frozen meals from REAL FOOD and STU’S CLEAN COOKIN’ in Greenwood.

Yesterday I cooked a chuck roast in the crock pot all afternoon. We had some of that, plus some rice, gravy, and peas. I am planning to spoon out some of the leftovers into oven containers to heat up for tonight.

I am learning to be careful what I gripe about! Not long ago I was griping because I wanted some comfort food to help us through the ice and snow we’ve had for about 3 weeks now. At that point I was taking my microwave for granted. NOW that has all changed.

In times like these, we learn what a great life we have and how VERY much we have to be thankful for. We cancelled Lunch Bunch for today. Yesterday I talked to one of my Lunch Bunch friends. Not only was she snowed in, but her main water pipe had burst and she was waiting for the plumber to come and try to repair it. Plus my heart truly goes out to the people suffering in Texas. I gripe about small annoyances while they try to get warm and find SOMETHING to eat.

Diets, extra lardage, and inconveniences, such as the lack of a microwave don’t even get on the bottom rung of what is important right now. May we all get through this winter so we can enjoy the promise of spring.

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February 18, 2021 · 10:13 am

Calories

thatswhatthatmeans.tumblr.com – Shibley Smiles

The saga of small annoyances vs real problems continues in the Lewis household.

A month or so ago, the dish inside the microwave that turns when the food is cooking to ensure even heating quit working. I looked up our records and the microwave was purchased in 2005. We have certainly gotten our money’s worth.

My husband is really good at fixing things. He figured out a way to fix the microwave so the plate turned again. Things went fine until yesterday, when the plate stopped turning again. My husband immediately squashed ideas of getting a new one – assuming we will EVER be able to negotiate our steep driveway and the roads between our home and town again. (We are into our second week of being completely stuck up on top of our ridge line – the first week due to ice and this week due to snow. We still have about 8 inches on the ground, so we MAY be able to get out by NEXT week some time if the sun stays out and the temperatures warm up from the current 15 degrees F.)

My husband went to work on the microwave again and we tested it this morning. It ran – and the plastic ‘thingie’ in the center of the floor of the microwave turned – for about 3 seconds and then the whole microwave shut off. It is now clear that the microwave is completely dead this time, no matter how smart or inventive he is.

I explain all this because we have been thoroughly enjoying frozen dinners from two new places in town – Real Food, and Stu’s Clean Cookin.’ These are individual dinners, portion controlled, healthy, and delicious. We have quickly become spoiled.

“I” will need to get inventive now on defrosting these on the counter, then transferring them to oven dishes, then figuring out how long – and at what temperature – to heat them up. In the meantime, I’ll cook a roast for tonight in the crock pot.

As I began when I started this post, this is a small annoyance vs the very real and dangerous problems many good people in the United States are facing right now. I feel a bit guilty even mentioning something as small as this. The pandemic, cabin fever, and the trying to diet have all combined to make me a rather gripe-y lady.

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February 17, 2021 · 10:21 am

More Snow – Ohhhhhh, NOOOOOOO!

In about 1977 we moved from Tulsa OK to Greenwood AR so my husband could take a job here. We like the idea of living in Arkansas because of the mild winters and unusual occurrence of snow and ice. HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! About 20 years ago we had a truly awful ice storm from which the whole area has never really recovered. We lost a BUNCH of wonderful trees, changing the landscape and causing people a lot of grief. My husband had mentioned that it was about time for another ice storm…

All of last wee we were iced in. We had some broken limbs and fallen trees, but they didn’t fall across the driveway, so we were very grateful. We had enough melting that last Saturday we were finally able to get out. We emptied our mailbox, filled up with gas, and got some food and supplies. By Saturday night, it was snowing.

Look at this sweet cardinal in our bottle bird feeder from this morning. Usually, only the smaller birds use this feeder. I checked a while ago, and the cardinal found his way out of the bottle. I will make my way out to the main feeder and fill it up soon. We have a double dose of suet hanging, so the birds will be taken care of as well as possible.

I’m not sure how much snow we have on the ground now. Maybe 6 to 8 inches, which is a LOT for Arkansas. By Friday, the temperatures MAY cause it to start melting.

I have stayed inside, mostly, because it is WAAAAAY too cold and slippery for an old broad to be sliding around.

It’s hard to see that we have STEPS down to a concrete pad in front of the porch! Did I happen to mention how ready I am for SPRING?

Stay safe and warm.

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February 16, 2021 · 9:11 am

Snow “From Heer to Thar…”

Gifer – Kizlikree

This cute video could be our dog, Amber, running across our front yard. I just let her in again. She is having a great time in our snow. We can’t tell we even HAVE sidewalks or a driveway. All demarcation lines have been thoroughly buried. The new snow we got (5″) actually helped me stay on my feet while I cautiously made my way across the deck to our bird feeder and filled it this morning. It is -6 degrees right now. The sun is shining, but we’ll be lucky if the temperature makes it to 20 today. We have ‘heavy snow’ predicted for this-evening-into-tomorrow. It’s all pretty, but I really don’t like being snowed in. We MAY start to thaw by Friday.

All this whining done, I’m VERY grateful we have power and water. Our home is warm and dry on the inside. Our animals are inside with us. Abby, our very independent cat, prefers to sleep outside in our garage in her ‘cat cube.’ We brought it in last night and kept her in the utility room bathroom, along with her litter box. I’m pleased that she did fine.

I’m also grateful to be thoroughly spoiled, drinking a cup of coffee while enjoying having Internet service and being able to type this note to you.

I hope you are safe, dry, and happy today. Eventually, February will be over for another year!

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February 15, 2021 · 10:22 am

Still Snowing

tutorialbunch.com

I found this beautiful .gif yesterday and wanted to share it.

It’s snowing harder again. It’s supposed to stop by 1pm, but I don’t think Mother Nature has received the memo yet, or maybe is ignoring it. We’re supposed to have another wave of snow Wednesday. It was -1 degree F. this morning, and now is a balmy 0 with big fat flakes of snow. I love the prettiness of it, but I would really like it to stop. Our heaters in the well house (electric and propane) were both working well this morning. We also have an automatic extra heater in our utility room bathroom cabinet that keeps our pipes in there from freezing. I’m glad we have a generator in case it’s needed.

We’ve been enjoying comfort food – soup and crackers for lunch yesterday and beef stew from the crock pot for dinner. It’s nice and warm and dry in our home, and for that I’m truly grateful. Even though it’s only needed psychologically and emotionally, I’ve been enjoying having the heating pad in my recliner on and then curling up under my throw – making a kind of ‘sandwich’ for a nap, a cup of coffee on my warmer on the table beside my chair. SPOILED LADY – and GLAD OF IT!!! :0)

I checked my seed starter tray this morning. I have the TEENIEST, TINIEST hard-to-see sprouts in a few places! I was ridiculously pleased to see them. I spritzed the tray with water and put the transparent top back on. We’re not getting much sun, so I don’t know what will happen. It’s wonderful to anticipate possibilities, though.

I’m not sure what the day will hold. I hope we can ALL stay safe, warm, and dry.

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February 14, 2021 · 10:36 am

Snowing

A. A. Milne – Winnie the Pooh

We’re sharing this lovely weather with a lot of good folks in the United States today. We are at a balmy 6 degrees right now with the forecast snow falling. Thankfully, we were able to get out yesterday – after a week on top of our ridge line – empty our mailbox and replenish supplies.

My favorite kind of snow is huge, fat flakes that make you feel as if you’re inside your own personal snow globe. It covers everything prettily, making you smile. The sun comes out, warms everything up, the snow melts.

Sadly, most of the time in Arkansas we get an ice storm first and THEN snow on top of it. The combination causes the evergreen trees that line much of our driveway to bend down into the driveway, weighing a TON (more or less) and many time either breaking off into the driveway or just making it so we have to chainsaw our way down the driveway at some point – assuming we ever want to get out again…

About 20 years ago we had a really bad ice storm. We stood on our front porch and listened as the ice broke tree limbs. It sounded like gun shots. Thank goodness we had a generator, even though it took all our efforts to keep the one we had running. It cracked the head and so was trying its best to overheat. We rigged a water source to keep cooling it off. We also have a well as backup. We were without public power and public water for 14 days.

We saw that most of the ice was gone yesterday. Most of the remaining was on our deck. Poor Amber, our 95 pound yellow lab, rediscovered how slippery ice is. She landed in a heap while attempting to do her usual rush to get inside the house. She looked a bit disconcerted, then leaped up again and made it onto the back porch.

The forecast this time is for snow all day today, tonight, and tomorrow, and then again on Sunday. It’s cold outside, but not nearly as bad as the poor people in the north are experiencing. I hope that they have stocked up and have good generators to make it through.

I just got the makings of beef stew in our crock pot, so we’ll enjoy a nice comfort food dinner tonight.

Stay safe, warm, and dry!

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February 13, 2021 · 10:01 am

Petition

“Crossing the Line” – oatawa – Getty Images – iStock photo

We have been stuck at home due to the weather the whole past week. It’s 9 degrees F. right now, with a biting wind, but nothing is falling from the sky at the moment. With the forecast of snow and more snow starting later today, we’re going to try to gather our mail from our mailbox at the bottom of our driveway (hopefully not ice-covered now, as it is 650+ feet down and STEEP.) We’re also going to try to get supplies before holing in again – probably until the end of NEXT week.

I am starting a petition to do away with February – completely. Just go straight from January to March. If you’re in, please let me know and I’ll add you to the list. (I’m not sure where I will send the petition, or how many we would need to make this change, but we have to start somewhere…

I continue to HOPE things get better regarding the pandemic, our country, and the people living in it. I HOPE that qualities such as love, understanding, compassion, kindness, and courtesy are not becoming things of the past, gathering dust due to disuse. Much like I tell myself on keeping moving and exercising, “If you don’t USE it, you LOSE it.” We never really know what’s happening to the people we care about. Let’s give everyone some extra slack.

I hope that you are able to stay safe and warm today. It’s a wonderful day to have a warm, dry home.

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February 12, 2021 · 10:33 am

Thoughts on a Friday in February

MAN v FAT

It’s harder to stick with a rational, mature eating plan when the weather is yelling for comfort food. It’s 17 degrees F here in Greenwood, Arkansas. February is always our coldest month, but I was beginning to believe we wouldn’t have much of a winter this year. Hahahahahahhaha! Our highs are in the 20s, we have ice everywhere, our deck is a skating rink unfit for old folks to fill the bird feeders, and our 650+ foot long, STEEP driveway and the road that runs in front of our place are not encouraging travel – even to retrieve our mail at the bottom of the driveway. The forecast is for ‘dangerous cold, and snow Sat – Monday, then again Wednesday of next week. Did I tell you I HATE February?

VectorStock

I’m trying to be the “mature adult woman” that I’m supposed to be, NOT stuffing my face while continuing to earn my gold stars on my desk calendar for exercise. I put on my sweatshirt, sweat pants, puffy vest, knit hat, and gloves to go out to the garage to put in my time on my elliptical trainer. The good thing is I feel very proud of myself if I manage to get my time in out there each day. The yoga in the afternoons is easier.

Yesterday I finally got the seeds planted for my spring garden. The seed starter tray is sitting on our dining area table where the seeds will get the best sun. I’m watching the tray like a mother hen, hoping my seeds will sprout and then do really well so that I’ll have healthy, good-looking plants to put into my raised bed square foot garden the first week of April.

I am planning to continue my efforts to clean and reorganize my art room today. So far, the only clean area is my drafting table. Today I’ll tackle this table.

I hope you’re having a good Friday. Maybe we can start a petition to do away with February…

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February 11, 2021 · 10:00 am

Meanwhile in Canada

Funny Canadian Memes
forwarded by a friend

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February 11, 2021 · 9:53 am

Thoughts While Iced In 2-11-2021

De Montfort University

We are iced in on top of our ridge line in Greenwood, Arkansas today. Our deck is like a skating rink. I almost landed on my head yesterday – filling up our bird feeders and hanging a double container of suet – and so threatened my husband with death if he tried to go out there. I haven’t been out enough to know if we have broken branches yet.

Our forecast reminds me of a gathering my parents had at their house years ago. My dad had his own advertising agency in Tulsa, OK, and the gathering was a business one, full of people who had to do with radio and TV advertising. The talk turned to the weather, and weather forecasts. Someone laughed and said their very FAVORITE forecast was a local one, where the weather forecaster predicted, “FLEEZING DIZZLE.” Someone else held their head and said, “Oh, no! That was me!”

So “Fleezing Dizzle” is forecast to continue here, with the addition of probably snow over the weekend and even worse Monday. It’s 18 degrees F. right now. A GREAT day to have a warm, dry house.

We did have things scheduled, but I rescheduled a doctor appointment, so I don’t have to get a blood test this morning, plus we cancelled Lunch Bunch for tomorrow. The Greenwood Public Schools have gone to “Online Learning” today, and I suspect, also tomorrow.

Amber, our 95 pound yellow lab, discovered the hard way that ice is slippery this morning. She went rushing out, barking, as she does routinely, and ended up sliding all the way down the sidewalk behind our house. I didn’t see the look on her face, but I know she was shocked.

She might have looked like this –

Reddit

I hope you have a safe, warm day ahead.

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January 29, 2021 · 9:11 am

Hope is Where You Find It

There is SO much hate and hostility now sometimes coming at us in waves. To combat this, I am looking for hope where I can find it.

This morning when I let our yellow lab, Amber, out, I noticed that our silly daffodils have shot up greenery in preparation for blooming in the spring. We have a good 6 weeks or more of really bad weather for daffodils, maybe even resulting in their deaths. Yet here they are, giving life their all, full of hope that things will get better.

I dug up our daffodils several years ago, transplanting them around the yard. I dug deep and thought I had gotten all the bulbs out, since it’s kind of a pain to deal with them around the well house. Some came up anyway, despite my efforts, determined to put on a show.

Each year they are thicker and stronger, and I look at them as determined, hopeful, heroic, happy plants, believing they should come up wherever they want and be treasured wherever they are found.

May we all look at the ‘silly daffodils,’ full of hope in the middle of a hostile environment, determined to add their beauty and optimism wherever they are – and emulate them.

Where will you bloom?

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