Winter Storm Alert

 This winter has been a change from the mild ones we've had.  It's more like winters of the past. Our church social was canceled last night when it was going from rain to ice. Then this morning we got about 4 or 5in of snow at a fast pace. We did go to church. We only live just down the road but some others are much farther. Only 22 folks showed up and when we were at a level 2 alert, we headed home. It's been a quiet, snowy, cozy day.

The bird feeder has been busy. Look close, do you see the little red dot? Hello Mr. Cardinal!

All white again.

Even little fences seem pretty. I know this weekend has been a crazy weather time for many.  Stay safe and warm!

It's Febbrrrrary after all.

February First Thoughts

 Since my last post was back in January and it was my final thoughts on that day, I decided to make some first thoughts on this day in February.  As always, the month is flying by and soon will be half over!  We've had some crazy weather.  A little warm up, a cold snap again, rain that washed away the snow that had melted.  Rain that came in form of ice that made the roads a mess and my deck a mess too! My sister always says that February almost always has a snowstorm around Valentine's Day.  This year will not disappoint. We're expecting a snow storm this weekend.  First another round of ice.  I'll take snow over ice any day.  I know the Northeast has had its fair share of the white stuff this year.  I think a lot of folks are looking forward to Spring!  

We did have lovely sunshine yesterday, but it was cold, and I don't think you can see the ice on the trees in this pic.

All the trees were dressed in crystals and grass was crispy on Annabelle's paws!  But no matter the weather a walk always feels good. The driveway was covered in ice too, so we stuck to the grass route. The snow has melted when we had a little warm up and then some rain to complete the task.  

Notice the weird track on the back yard grass?  That's where I shoveled paths for Annabelle when we had all the snow last month.  I'm hoping when Spring does finally arrive, new growth will take that away.  Well, this month has been dubbed "Loveuary" by Hallmark.  Have any big plans for Valentine's Day?  We have a church social on Saturday but not sure we're doing anything for the actual Valentine's Day on Friday.  Our weather will determine exactly what happens I guess!  Have a good rest of this week!

January Final Thoughts

 Oh January how I won't miss you after tomorrow!  Yep, this very cold month will be over and I can put this one behind me and hope for a better February.  I shouldn't complain because we are doing fine but the scam that left us a little poorer but a lot smarter was a shocker.  Jack got that crummy bug that's been going around and so did Jordan.  Both are better now.  It's been going around where I work too.  So far I'm knocking on wood that it doesn't come my way.  My sister too has had it and she's finally sounding better.  My BFF, Donna, has been struggling with a perplexing condition that has left her with muscle weakness in her legs and having to use a walker.  Hoping she can get some answers with more tests on the way. Work has been very quiet.   One of our busiest surgeons left for greener pastures and left a big open hole in the hospital surgery schedule.  When the hospital isn't busy the staff goes to the Endoscopy unit that's about 5 miles from the main hospital campus.  When they're there, I'm not needed.   I usually get 2-3 days a week but not much lately.  I enjoy what I do there and the few who work there regularly have become good friends.  So, all in all, it's just been a bit different for the start of this year.   But enough whining for tonight!  Jack and I went to the Temple today and enjoyed a much-needed, quiet prayerful time.  It has put me in a better mood to face February!   Tomorrow, to finish January, I get to have an evaluation done by my boss.  Now you must take in consideration that she's never watched me work.  But no worries since we do our own evals.  We answer questions like:  What's the best part of your job.  What makes you excited about your job.  What are your goals for the next year...blah, blah, blah.  You also have to give yourself a score from 1-10 on how you feel you do at your job.  I'm a PRN worker.  That means I just go in and do my job, collect my paycheck, and can say yes or no when they ask if I can work certain days. I get no benefits, so I really don't have a big skin in the game.  I do work hard when I'm there and the one thing I never, ever say is the phrase: "I'm tired".   I leave that to the younger ones.  When I feel like I really am tired and the job isn't fun anymore, I'll be out.  Anyway, I gave myself a 7 with the idea that nobody is perfect, and I like to leave room for improvement! Ha!  So, my goals are to get to work on time, get through the day without saying I'm tired and hopefully work on the days the drug reps bring lunch.  They have big expense accounts!  Here's my final thoughts for this final week and days of January:

EAT LIKE A BIRD:   I don't know who made up that fairy tale.  We have birds at our feeder that hang out there all day and eat constantly.  Reminds me of a group of folks at Golden Corral that were bragging about being there all day and were there for dinner too!  Plus, those birds are messy!

Innocent bird buffet.

Messy mess on the deck:

The ground under the feeder.  Eat like a bird my eye!  We have had some lovely birds come and visit though.  The cardinals, red headed woodpeckers, blue jays, and of course the tiny birds that aren't afraid when we walk out on the deck.  They aren't leaving their buffet for anyone!  That's it for now.  Here's my final pic of the post:

Our Annabelle hasn't met a couch that she doesn't love!  She has the right idea.  Night all! Bye January!

BRRR Days

 We made it through the coldest week ever!  It broke a few records around these parts but thankfully we  didn't get the amount of snow the southern states did.  I'm sure the kiddos that had never seen snow were having a great time.  The grownups, perhaps not so much.  A few flakes can shut down those places not equipped to handle it but a foot of snow is down right paralyzing.  We had snow off and on but it came in just a few inches at a time.  No biggie here.  Our schools were shut down until yesterday because of the dangerous temps.  It's suppose to get up into the 20's and 30's this weekend which will feel like a heat wave! We've been hunkered down at the Pines with Jack manning the wood furnace.  Phil and Jackie came over last weekend and split wood that got us set to handle the cold.  We were very grateful for wonderful sons who care about us!  Jordan was fighting the same virus his Dad has had and was home from work a few days and really feeling crummy.  On Saturday, last weekend, our Granddaughter Rae had the high school winter formal dance.  Her boyfriend's Grandpa is the maintenance man for the Historical Society buildings and got them in for some pictures.

For a winter formal, that dress looked pretty chilly to me!  I think I'm getting old! She did have a shrug wrap that went with it but didn't wear it for the pics. The Victorian settee was very pretty too!
They were good sports about letting us take pics in places like the library in this beautiful building.

I liked the ones on the stairs.  It was nice of Gabe's Grandpa to get them in and I enjoyed seeing them have fun too.  So that about sums up our week!  I didn't work this week because the hospital hasn't been busy and the doc I work with at the endoscopy lab was on vacation.   So just puttering around, shoveling snow, taking Annabelle out for quick walks has been the order of the days.  We did go for a little drive today to an Amish store for some fresh eggs.

For $2.50 a dozen they are much cheaper than the grocery store!  The sun was shining even if it was only 17de out and it was lovely to see the pretty landscape.  For my final pic of the post:

Annabelle and her crazy hair in the morning.  Have a good weekend everyone!

Hello 2025

 Well, better late than never I guess. Happy New Year everyone!  January is half over and I was thinking of just giving this blogging thing up but decided to keep at it and give some more thought and time to it. The first weeks of January have been a mix of snow, cold, not much sun and not much working either.  I know things should get going more in a few weeks once folks decide to start on their medical care and using deductibles. As for the weather it's typical of January in Ohio except we've been spoiled the last couple of years with mild temps and not much snow.  Mother Nature has decided to up her game this year.  It's been a back and forth of bitter cold and snow.  The snow we have has thankfully came in small batches of only 2-3 inches at a time.  Makes it easier to keep up with the shoveling!  Next week we are expecting some bitter temps for Monday-Wednesday.   After that I'm thinking it will go into a more normal pattern of winter.  Thankfully, Annabelle likes the snow and doesn't seem to mind the very cold temps although I don't take her walking for very long periods of time.

I don't know if you can tell but I shovel out paths for Annabelle.  I call them her pee paths! Ha! They sort of look like crop circles in the yard.  Do you do things like that for your furbabies?  

Once all the Christmas decor is put away, I bring out the snowmen and even put some lighted flakes on the kitchen mantel.  I like to keep a bit of light up until February then I go for Valentine's stuff.  It helps to keep the winter bright!  

One thing that makes the winter brighter is watching my grandson play basketball! He's #14 in the red. They've had a good season and we were happy to watch them win this one and see Cameron score! 

Go #14!  

Last week we had a full moon.  This isn't the best shot but I liked the tree limbs in the shot.  The full moon made for nice lighted evenings and early mornings but also brought out some craziness at work.  Full moons make hospital employees nervous!  The next story here is maybe because of a full moon. It's one final thought for this first blog post of the year.  This is also a public warning.  This past week we,,,or I should say, me since I was the one who got involved, got scammed big time.  I got caught in a banking scam that makes me so mad and also feeling so stupid to have fallen for it.  Now to be honest the scammer was very good and even had the bank phone number he called me from to ask about a fraudulent charge on my account.  Turns out he was the fraudulent call.  I even called the number back to make sure it was from my bank, and it was.  A long story short and $8,700 later I finally went to the bank in person and found out it was a total scam. We did get it straightened out but what a pain.  We had to open new accounts, put in a dispute in hopes of recouping the money, change all our info to the places that we pay bills to or have automatically withdrawn funds from.  I know it happens a lot these days, but I still feel very violated and stupid.  Never deal with anyone on line or on a phone from a person saying they are the bank, or if you have a gut feeling something isn't right, just check it out in person.  Lesson learned for sure!  So, taking a deep breath and heading forward I will say, Hello 2025.  Let's do better from here on out!

2024 Is Out The Door!

 My final post for a lean posting year.  This year has flown by as it seems all do these days and just uttering the numbers 2025 makes me shake my head.  I still can't believe I'm "in my seventies"!  It's been a busy month even with not working as much as previous months.  Christmas came so quickly but these days I've had the chance to sit still for a minute and enjoy the decorations and quiet.  Jack is finally going to be able to close the office door for the last time.  It's taken 3 months to wrap it all up.  He practiced for 47yrs and part of that was with his dad, so clearing out the office also meant clearing out items that were there when Dad was alive.  It's been hard work and emotional work.  His Mom worked there too as the office manager back in the day and there were items there that will always remind me of her.  I got a little teary eyed as I vacuumed up the rooms.  We filled a dumpster, took furniture to a church mission, sold some things and gave much away.  His patients will miss him.  He had 4 show up yesterday and since he still had an adjusting table available, he took care of them.  One of his patients showed up this morning as we were cleaning because they saw his van in the lot and he hoped to get an adjustment.  We chatted for a bit but had no equipment left to do anything.  Yep, this chapter probably goes as the hardest part of this year for Jack, but we're hoping for new adventures in 2025.  Yesterday I did take time to make my Greek New Year's bread.  It's called Vasilopita and it's baked with a coin inside.  When it's cut on New Years, whoever gets the coin in their slice will have good luck for the year. 

I made enough for us and one for a neighbor down the street and one for my BFF Donna.  I wish everyone a very happy and healthy new year even if you don't get the coin in your slice of life tomorrow!  2024, you're out the door!

Has Spring Sprung?

 No, Spring isn't here but it sure feels like it!  We've had temps in the upper 50's to 60de the last few days. A little sun here and there was nice but mostly we've had rain.  I know we were in a drought this summer, so I won't dis the rain.  This is not really unusual weather for our area as I've looked back over the years on my blog and found warm temps this time of year.  I can even recall a January time when we had a 70de day when my BFF Donna and I used to walk.  I know the cold is coming this week, so I'll enjoy this reprieve!  Last night I finally took the walk around our "Candy Cane Trail" at Freer Field.  It was pretty amazing.  It first started last year but they really upped the beauty factor with tons more lights and sights.  Annabelle came with me as Jack was a little under the weather.  I wish I had remembered to put my memory card in my camera to get better pics....senior moment!  So, here's just a little taste that I took with my phone:

Start at the beginning:

Annabelle enjoyed the trek and lots of kiddos stopped to pet her.  She's a good sport and loves people so petting her was a bonus for her.  

The lighted trees and little vignettes like gingerbread people were beautiful.  There were many other cute stops for a photo moment or just to look at like a Nativity set up or a reindeer looking for Rudolph!  It's about a mile or more and we did win a place in the Guiness record books for the most lights on metal trees or something like that.  If you go to Facebook for Candy Cane Trail, I think you'd get a much better depiction of the event.  

My pathetic pics sure don't do it justice.  However, it was a nice, warm night with no wind and Annabelle and I enjoyed our walk.  There's only a few more days to blog before closing out 2024.  I hope everyone has a good Monday and a Happy New Year! 

Merry Christmas A Day Late!

 You know the saying, "A day late, a dollar short"?  Well, that's me today.  Late and lots of dollars short! I have been bad about blogging but dealing with blogger and sign ins and such has become a bit of a pain. We'll see how the new year goes with all that.  In the mean time, Christmas day went well here at the Pines. It was a little different this year.  We've always hosted Christmas celebration on Christmas day.  When our grown kiddos had littles it wasn't bad.  Most of the in-laws did Christmas Eve and then we had the next day.  But the littles aren't little any more and a few are married and have their in-law traditions to deal with.  So we sort of had a gathering that came in different times. Phil's girls came early because their other Grandma was having her Christmas that fell into ours.  Our Granddaughter Lexi was ill so it was just Phil and Rae and her sister Aria that made the trek.  They opened gifts and ate some of the snack things I had set out before  heading out on their way.  I was a little miffed that this was happening but couldn't really do anything about it.  It was a quick fun time with them anyway.  Next, most of the crew came at the appointed time with just a few coming in a little later.  I had all the gifts pretty well organized into family boxes and it went well.  I think everyone liked the gifts and no returns are necessary!  We had some fun laughs along the way before heading into the food zone.  Ham and a million sides were served and then we played a game and tried to eat dessert even though we were still full! Ha!  

Gathering around the food!

This is Hazel smiling for YaYa.  She's my daughter-in-law's Grandbaby who's become a favorite visitor here and we are happy to be step "Great Yaya and Great Pawpaw"!  She has a 1yr old little sister, Tatem, but I don't think I have any pics of her from yesterday. 

Granddaughter, Summer with her constant companion, Happy!

Wait, I do have a Tatem pic...standing by her Grandma, Evelyn.  

Jordan with his girlfriend, Brittany and her little girl, Haylee.  It was nice having tiny kiddos again around the Pines!

Driana and her hubby, Jonathan.  Driana is an RN and works at a University Hospital in Cleveland.  I work at University Hospital, Samaritan, here in Ashland and she just starting training doing EGD's and colonoscopies at her facility..hmmm....just like YaYa does down here in Ashland! We had a lot of colon stories to tell each other!  I did a bit better with photo taking this year.  I'm usually pretty busy with food prep, talking to my family, organizing the gifting and such and forget to snap a pic.  Oh well, I will show this one photo that did make me laugh.

This is a bad shot of Evelyn and Sam's back sides but the little girls were excited to look out and see a couple of Santa's reindeer in the back yard.  Yep, three deer showed up and I couldn't resist telling them that the reindeer were visiting to say good-bye for this year and to be reminded to be good for the new year ahead. I think the adults even bought that story! Ha! (no one noticed the "reindeer" had no antlers!) 

Here's a pic of the quiet before the storm as we got the livingroom set up for the family.

I found these green chair covers on line and they fit my yellow chairs to make it look a little more festive.  I sort of like to decorate for Christmas!   Last weekend Jack and I went and helped the Salvation Army by ringing a bell by the red bucket.  Annabelle came with us.  I promised Jack I wouldn't put this on Facebook but I hope he doesn't mind this pic on the blog:

We were laughing at the tiny size of the bell! However, Annabelle looked cute in her sweater.  She loved all the attention from the shoppers. Even though we were indoors, this is the exit for the grocery store and it got pretty cold with the door opening and closing.  We were assigned for an hour but after 45 minutes we noticed poor Annabelle shaking.  It was cold on that tile floor so Jack took her to the car and warmed her up until I finished the last 15min.  I think I'd rather do the Christmas in July bell ringing next year!  On a final, not so jolly moment, I want to mention a sad note from this past week.  We had a boy, 13yrs old, in our Church pass away.  He committed suicide because of being bullied so bad at school. Such a tragedy for this family and his friends at Church.  I think social media is the worst for kids when it to gives access to constant bullying and encouraging suicide.  I don't know what could have been done for this young boy to help him but being vigilant about checking kids phones and hopefully taking action if necessary to stop this.  Prayers go out for his family and his older brothers.  This can be a tough and cruel world for kids.  We certainly had bullying in our day but face to face where you can duke it out, get it over with, and walk away.  Times are different now.  Well, I hope this new year ahead can bring peace to everyone and hope for better things along the way.  Have a safe and happy rest of your holiday season.  

December Is Almost Half Over!

I started this post last weekend but it's now Friday the 13th but not unlucky!  No work so Jack and I did some final shopping and running errands.  Our December started out pretty chilly. We got the wood stove up and humming along  only to shut it down last weekend as temps were in the mid 50s! Cold came back yesterday along with snow but the sun has shown the last 2 days and I can take cold when it's so pretty and sunny out.  Ashland had it's annual parade and tree lighting last Saturday.  The crowds were crazy so we watched it on TV. I'm grateful they stream it for us old folks! They have fireworks afterwards and we could hear the booms all the way in our neck of the woods..  Our Freer Field Candy Cane lane got into the Guiness record books with the most lights on metal trees....or something like that!  Well, we have few lights here at the Pines but not in the Creep Woods.  Before our snow came this week I walked the woods with Annabelle when the temps were mild last weekend.

The lights here aren't the Christmas ones, just the Mother Nature type with the slowly setting sun. We will have the beginning of Christmas activities that include a Church social tomorrow, caroling during the week, cookie making, gift wrapping, and hopefully some Christmas movie watching.  I bet all of you are busy too or perhaps just enjoying the peaceful music or going to see Christmas lights.  What ever your activities I hope it's a good weekend.  I'll be posting some pics of our adventures.  Here's a little pic of the house and my decorated new fence:

Here's the snow from yesterday:

I want to put a quick shout out to my BFF Donna who made me the cutest wreath:

Thanks Donna!  Happy mid December folks!

November Farewell

 Well, that went slick as snot on a doorknob!  November has earned it's farewell for 2024.  Thanksgiving was a smaller than normal affair here.  A few kiddos showed up later for dessert and we all had a lovely time catching up, planning for Christmas, and enjoying a few new members.  Jordan's girlfriend, Brittany, and her daughter, 2yr old Haylee.  I will try and get picks later because I really blew it this year and never got any!  What? Yep,  Oh well, there will be plenty of Kodak moments next month.  That's tomorrow my friends!  So I will bid November farewell.  We had our first snowfalls and now it's super cold.  But that's Ok as we have the woodstove humming along and we are toasty and comfy.  Today I went shopping with my daughter-in-law, Evelyn, Granddaughter Summer, and her Mom...my son's ex wife Stephanie.  Yes we are one big get along family!  My son Jack and my hubby Jack went with us for a bit but took off to buy food for lunch and watch the Ohio State game that turned out to be the real turkey this year.  Oops.  We girls stayed downtown and shopped for small business Saturday and I got a few things for gifts and we laughed a lot and had fun.  Here's one pic I did take of Summer.  She had brought her dog Happy along and he was so darn good. Never heard a peep or bark out of him.

Nobody in the stores minded that he was there and I bet many didn't even notice.  After some hours of fun Summer and her Mom went their way and Evelyn and I headed back to the Pines.  We did take a quick stop at the Parsley Pot and found some things we couldn't resist.  At home Evelyn and myself enjoyed a quick snack of all the wings the guys had bought!  We were starving since we hadn't eaten all day.  We had fun and I'm going to be decorating for Christmas starting tomorrow.  I can't believe how quickly this year has gone but I shouldn't be surprised as every year seems to fly by quicker.  I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving.   Bye Bye November...you didn't disappoint!

Almost Turkey Day!

 If I don't get posting soon it will be 2025!  It's been a busy time for us with Jack getting the office closed and my working more days than normal.  Our Docs are taking off lots of time in December so they're trying to get as much done now.  Poor Jack has folks always asking how he's liking retirement.  They don't understand that he has 47yrs of practice to close out that involves patient records, equipment that needs to be sold or disposed of.   We've sold a few things and will be giving some things away to a local church that has a thrift store that folks can come and get things for free.  What things would we have?  Well, chairs, tables, file cabinets, decor...and the list goes on!  When you are self employed it's not like you can just walk out the door with your gold watch and forget it.  When the company that shreds documents came and took his patient records for shredding it was hard to see his professional life heading out the door.  Jack loves his patients and what he does but time moves on and we have to flow with it and find a new adventure.  So hopefully by the first week of December we'll be there.  This past week brought the first snow of the season:

Just a dusting here even though it snowed all day it just didn't stick more than this.  For some reason the first snow is almost magical and Annabelle and I had a fun walk in the woods and enjoyed the crisp air and pretty flakes.  Come February it will probably have lost its magic! 

 

Annabelle put on her winter duds for the walk.  You can see it melted pretty quick
 but the forecast is looking very cold with more snow starting on Thanksgiving.  That will make travel a bit iffy for those driving or flying. Also that means wood burning season will begin to keep us cozy and warm and the electric bill down!   This Thanksgiving we won't have as many around the table  because our grandkiddos from our oldest son will be going to their other Grandmother's house.  We trade off every other year.  The feast will go on here for those who will attend and then we'll be shooting pumpkins as usual if the weather doesn't turn too bad.  The squished up pumpkins will be put into the woods and creek for the animals to enjoy.  I hope everyone's holiday is great and filled with warmth, love and mostly gratitude for blessings.  Happy Thanksgiving!

The Quiet Month

 I always call November my quiet month.  The brightness and beauty of October with fun and sometimes craziness of Halloween is over.  The trees have lost their luster giving way to brown and dull color.  But many times on walks or drives I spy a tree with bright red or orange refusing to give it up just yet.  There is beauty though in dusky afternoons and a walk in the Creepy Woods.  Sunday it rained buckets which was so needed since we've had very little rain all summer and Fall.  It was a day that would have been great to snuggle up with a good book and just enjoy the sound of the rain.  However, I signed up to help decorate the Historical Society house for Christmas and we got it done but now I'm not super excited to think about decorating my own house! I'm one who likes to enjoy each holiday on it's own and don't want to gloss over Thanksgiving with Santa. So I'm planning my menu (which doesn't really change from year to year) for Turkey day.  Some of my Grandkids are going to their other Grandparents so not as many gathering this year at the Pines.  I know we'll enjoy the day with whom ever shows up. Plus there will be pumpkins to shoot!    Jack and I went to a craft show on Saturday that we always try to make each year.  It's a fun tradition we have and Jack is good about going with me to watch me look at stuff I really don't need but seem to find a little bit here and there to buy!

What I bought at the craft show...it will be put away until December.

I bought this set of salt and pepper shakers.  I thought they were pretty cute. They will find a place in a few weeks. 

I thought this cane was cute too and would look nice on the fireplace hearth.  I also bought some homemade soaps from one of my co-worker's wives who has her own home business.  I can put them into baskets as gifts.  My Father-in-law always said I was a sucker for anything cute or smelled good.  He was right!   I scored homemade ornaments too.  I put them on a present for each person every year.  Hopefully it will give the Grandkiddos some ornaments for their own trees some day.   Well, this quiet month is moving by quickly and it's almost at it's middle.  I did mow today when I got home from work.  It gets dark early and it was chilly but it's the last mow of the season and I just needed to also mulch up some of the leaves.  Rain is heading our way tonight and a little prediction of snow for next week.  Not really ready for all that yet! 

Annabelle and I have been walking a lot in the Creepy Woods.  This was a few weeks ago and now most of the leaves are down.  Soon it will be hunting season and we don't venture up there in case someone is hunting without permission.  Don't want to take any chances!  Until then I'll try and enjoy my quiet month and I hope you do too. Shhhh