As I have learned, the first snowfall we had was very dry. It would barely hold together well enough to make a snowman on top of the truck but we managed. Then the next snowfall was on Christmas day and it was perfect just in that distinction alone - family, Christmas, snow...what more could you ask for? Following that was this last snowfall and it was called a wet snow. It piled up on tree branches, on power lines, even on every blade of grass that was out in the open. This wet snowfall made it look like the world had come to a complete stop. It was perfectly quiet, not even a slight breeze blew. The snow fell and stayed where it landed and it was magnificent. I took plenty of pictures for you to see and there are still a few more to come. My favorite? The one looking out off the deck to the front yard. And to think it happened on my birthday....
I tease Wally that he lured me up here under false pretenses. I was told that the winters here were fairly mild and that only the occasional snowfall occurred. This part of TN is breaking all snowfall records and it's not even February yet. According to what I've been hearing, February is the coldest...Really?
Well, even with the cold and the snow I'm still enjoying all the new stuff as days go by. I'm careful to plant my feet where there is no ice. I wear hats when I don't even like the way they look on me. I have an emergency kit in my trunk and I keep the fuel in my car at a half a tank. Gone are the days of the quarter of a tank being a necessity. I keep it full now just in case...
On the bright side, Lowe's has their onions, potatoes and garlic sets on sale. They also have a huge selection of flower bulbs. I'll have to make my list and submit it to Arlene (my garden guru) and see what she says about the survival rate for this zone. There are many, many flowers that I could only look at in magazines and only dream about planting in my yard. It may well be that this year, those planting dreams will come true! woo hoo!!
It's not even close to time for me to get the garden tilled up. Trust me, the ground is still frozen down below that surface of mud. It'll be at least another month, maybe more, before I can consider digging. The bulbs are a slightly different story in that they only have to go from 1-3 inches deep and they can go in a pot. That much I can handle :) so long as those puppies (a.k.a. "lil monsters") don't dig up everything I plant! They are going to be in so much trouble...
Well folks my birthday vacation day was wonderful. As you can see from the pictures the snowfall didn't disappoint. Wally woke up before I did and told me I needed to get up and look outside. Well, of course I didn't really want to get up (something about getting my drink on the night before...) but I didn't want to waste the day either so up, up, up... that's when I started taking pictures. I did that for about an hour or so on and off while we set up our plans for the day.
We fed all the animals, I took a few birthday calls and sent a few text messages with pictures of the deck. Before long it was time to go to the Diner for my birthday cheese burger and fries. woo hoo! We ordered our food and chatted with the waitress and we watched the news on tv. The snow was done falling and the temperatures were supposed to get just above freezing. Okay - cool. Our burgers arrived, perfectly cooked and we ate with abandon. Then, surprise-surprise, the waitress comes out singing Happy Birthday along with the other diners in the Diner...and she's carrying a dessert!
I had already made a pig of myself with the cheese burger and fries and now I had this sugary, gooey, chocolaty concoction in front of me - with whipped topping on top! They were so excited to see how happy I was to have it that I had to eat it, at least some of it...right? whew - as you know I'm not used to eating stuff like that anymore so it was really rough on me but I dug in. I took little bites and I ate it as slowly as possible. It wasn't like Wally could help me - he's diabetic for pete's sake! It was two warm brownies with vanilla ice cream in between them. They were covered in hot fudge and had squirts of whipped topping on each corner. There was a birthday candle in the middle that they lit as they sang to me.
It was very, very sweet of them and, don't get me wrong, I loved every bite of it. My stomach had some issues after while but it was delightful going in :) I had a hard time thinking what to wish for as all my wishes have come true so I wished for everyone to be as happy as me and we got on with our day.
We hit up Tractor Supply for some sweet feed and dog food and while we were there Wally bought me some long underwear... not the one piece kind with the flap in the back, thank you very much. These were the regular thermal underwear and it was just the bottoms. I already have a top to go with them. We were off to Fred's...
Fred's is kind of like Wal-Mart but on a much smaller scale. I can handle Fred's if that tells you anything. They have paper towels, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, ziplock baggies, a few food items - mostly junk food and picture frames, greeting cards, etc. We found a few things we couldn't live with out and since we were in Centerville, decided to stop by Pee Wee's Place.
On the way, I noticed that the Co-op had sweet feed on sale for $6.50 a bag. We usually spend about $8.99 a bag so since it was on sale, we decided to stock up on it. I'm always looking for the bargains! lol! I posted a picture on the flickr site showing how the other side of the road looked while I was waiting in the truck at the Co-op. Wally got back in the truck and handed me a quart jar of honey. Sweet!! It's been kind of difficult to find honey other than the store brand so this was a great find. According to the label the people who sell it have a farm in Dickson, TN and another one in Umatilla, FL. How 'bout that? I'll be sampling the honey this weekend so I'll let you know how it is on Monday. :)
We stayed at Pee Wee's for about an hour or so and then we were ready to head for the cabin. It was calling my name for sure. I was ready to just hang out, relax, read a cookbook (or not) and do nothing at all...and that's what I did. After an hour or so of that I couldn't take it anymore and had to get moving. I seasoned the steaks we were having for dinner and pulled out some leftovers; green beans, corn, peas, squash casserole and stuffing. Naturally, the green beans, corn and peas all went together and that left the squash and stuffing. It went into another pot.
This being my first birthday in my new home, I was as content as I could be. I was in awe of the snow, I was as relaxed as I could be and I was ready to get the next year underway...so off to bed I went to get rested up and do just that! lol
My thanks go out to all of you who called, sent text messages and/or cards, gifts and letters. They were all so thoughtful and I appreciate all of you thinking of me and letting me know about it. Please don't be upset if I miss your birthday - if that happens, it's only because I don't know when it is. Send me an email so I can mark you on my calendar :)
Have a nice weekend everybody!! I miss all of you!
"Missing someone gets easier every day because even though it's one day further from the last time you saw each other, it's one day closer to the next time you will." ~Author Unknown
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