The great snow melt

Well the great snow melt is almost over here... finally. I can see all of our road today, so I feel comfortable going out for groceries tonight. It will be my third trip out of the house in over two weeks - and the first by myself! I really didn't have a huge need to go out (other than a little Christmas present shopping to help Santa), but just knowing you can't go makes it seem like a big thing.

On another subject, I have discovered face book. And it is a bad thing. Well, bad for me who spends way too much time on the computer as it is! I am still trying to figure it all out and that is taking some time. I'm not sure why to do it, other than connecting with other people... Though I am a bit of a hermit, so not sure why I should be participating online... not to mention it is taking away even more time from my family.

And on that note, I will probably be posting less for now until I can get back in the routine with school and Mighty Mouse in January. He will be 2 months old - I can't believe it. I'll try to at least post some pictures from Christmas soon, there was fun had by all.

Snow, snow and more snow

So we have had about 12" of snow over the last week or so. We only had a little wind last night, but it did blow our snow around a bit.

I have had cabin fever. Had friends over today who also had cabin fever. Dads took the kiddos out sledding, so they ALL were worn out by the end of today.

I finally got to take a ride in the new truck - thank God for 4x4! No problem getting "to town" and back. Had to make the WalMart trip. Plus pizza for dinner - hooray!

Tomorrow means a trip for Big D and Nana to B'ham to pick up Sister and her husband from NV. I'm home with the kids again tomorrow... nowhere to go. Akk! I just want to be able to drive in it again by myself. It's that independent thing I guess.

Should turn to rain at some point, but is snowing tonight since around 4pm. Not sure how long this low 30s/20s temps will last. More snow every time the moisture comes back... ugh.

But I still love snow!! :-)

Winter Fun

Some winter fun pictures. Be sure to see the last post of the scenery.

The first outside glimpse of the snow this morning.

Just when they went outside around 9:30 this morning it started snowing hard again!

(Yes, that is a snowball that hit the outside of the slider door...gee, maybe that is why big D had a smile on his face in the last picture?!!) :-)

Bye! We hope you enjoy your day as well!

Snow Scenery

Here are some scenery pictures from around our house this morning.
An official Winter Wonderland!

Cherry trees:

Snow measure:

(Why some do rulers have a 1/4" at the beginning and ends before they start counting??) Adjusting for that, we have 2.75". Cariboo Valley is laughing right now, seeing as this is a big "snow event" for us here in Western Washington and they had over 8" fresh (on top of all the other they already had) the other night.

On the deck:

The back yard:

Out the front door:

Green-ish Update

Second try at the clothesline. It was unfortunately after several more loads of laundry that I could get more on the line because of the rain. So first try was towels, this second try was sheets. The sheets and pillowcases were almost dry before I even finished hanging all of them up. Well, not exactly, but they did dry incredibly quickly on the line. I think they would dry out there on a 40 deg. day. OK, maybe not, but it didn't seem to take much.

Maybe I can sneak some more out there today, I don't see any rain coming... yet. Of course this is Washington, and you never know! Doesn't the saying go "If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes and it will change."

I'm sad we waited so long to put this up. It seems like such a waste to use the clothes dryer on good weather days.

Blue Sky

Wow, the blue sky has finally been spotted again.

I had to change the look here; before it was too dark with all that rain around outside!


Hopefully with the three or so expected days of "warmer" weather and no wet stuff, maybe the dhalias will dry out???? It would be great if they could eventually flower this year so I will know where to put them in the ground at the next place. (Wouldn't want to put red next to purple, right Dad? - Well, maybe that was just a Barbie outfit I had that he didn't like.) Purple and red actually sound like a fun and vibrant garden choice... maybe I should keep that in mind!

Rain. again.

It is raining again today.
My dahlias are going to rot.


On a better note, the majority of the sweet peas are about 2" tall now. I know they like this cooler weather. Some day the weather will change and I will probably be complaining about not planting a drought resistant garden.

Always something to complain, I mean find joy in, right? ;-)

When life gives you lemons, use lemon balm.

So the ugly container area I had of leftover pots and ungrown plants is now filling in. Life gave me "lemons" (problem pots) and also Lemon Balm!

So we found some more new plants to add to the container mish-mash this weekend. It is the lovely Lemon Balm. I have always loved herb plants and would love to make an herb garden at some point - whenever we get settled somewhere! But they are so beautiful on their own, as well as mixed in with perennial and annual flowers.

This Lemon Balm plant was on this property when we came and it has a lovely fragrance. Lemon of course, but also mint. (It is a member of the mint family.) I would love to try it as a tea, with honey as the article mentioned, but I read that pregnant and nursing women shouldn't have it. Bummer. It sounds so nice chopped and mixed into a lovely fresh fruit salad. I'll try to remember it for next summer.

It really needed to be divided. It looks like it was starting to die out in the center so I guess it was a good thing to move it. We divided it mainly because we didn't have a big enough pot for the entire plant, but I'm sure it will benefit from the division. I will add a picture soon. Raining again today after a lovely weekend which was entirely too hot for my northwest girl status (80 deg. F.)!

Containers on the move again

Containers on the move again... The neighbors probably drive by and think "What is that crazy woman up to now??" ;-)
Yes! The weather is as nice as they said it was going to be. It was 71 degrees here yesterday! Woo hoo! I had a great day yesterday accom- plishing lots of stuff (cleaning, returns, organizing toys, calendar planning, etc.) But more importantly I was able to rearrange the containers outside. I feel much better about their presentation now except for one little area. And, I was also able to plant some sweet pea seeds that will hopefully come up before we leave.

The sweet peas are at the bottom of the sticks you see (actually two archs now shaped together.)I was able to move everything around to make it look nice (I think, anyway) without re-potting anything. I also decided I needed more height in some areas so I used some of the terracotta pots and saucers that were just hanging out as "lifters" to stack the plants on. I'm not too sure how stable they are, but they are working for now!!


I can't believe how long it took me to make these moves. I just couldn't visualize without actually moving the stuff! It makes for more work, but in the end I am always happier.
I moved the Adirondack chair that D made years ago to the small deck off the master bedroom and I like the arrangement there both from outside and looking outside from the room. It seems nice and peaceful there. If only I would make time to go and sit there!
It could be like a bed and breakfast... a little coffee maker in the room, maybe a toaster. Hmmm... The one area I am not happy with is right in the middle of the outside area at the end of the big deck. It is probably because most of the plants aren't out or filled in yet. The peonies are only in their 2nd year so they probably won't even flower this year. And who knows how long it will take those dahlias to sprout in those black containers? Maybe I could dig some more plants up from the yard to mix in (yikes - that means more pots...) and make for some more green in there. Any thoughts?

Oh yes, and there will be more sweet peas in the long terracotta colored planter on the ground climbing up those stakes as well.

So, as you can see, I am in the "gardens" part of this "flowers and gardens" blog. Maybe some day I will be posting about fabric again. Maybe this fall. Or maybe not since that is when the baby is due!!

rain ... small hinderance

The rain is back. I should have known after such a lovely day yesterday and a predicted warm - dare I say hot - couple days coming up at the end of the week, that today it should rain. No container moving/arranging today. Now, mind you, I don't melt like some people I know, but since becoming pregnant I am cold all the time. The rain seems to amplify it. I keep turning the heat up in here. I hope that "warm" weather they are talking about is really coming; maybe I'll get to wear a couple of those cute sleeveless maternity shirts I have picked up along the way.

Anyway, the kids had fun outside in the puddles.