A Message From The Weather Channel

Yes, interesting weather we've been having.  When the groundhog said "6 more weeks of W (the W word)" I was OK with that.  When the calendar said Spring started on the 20 of this month, I was happy about that.  I thought I understood what the term "Spring Snow" meant.  What I didn't "get" was when the 6 weeks turned into 8 and the Spring Snow was going to continue until June when Summer starts.  Ok, I know it won't snow until June...(I hope).  Yesterday we had what the video showed.  So what does a girl do when faced with a chilly, snowy weekend?  Make pizzas!

Very Yummy!

Good to the last bite!  That helped us get through Saturday night.  When I got up Sunday I was blasted with sunshine and crystal blue skies.  Too pretty to not click a pic...even with the white stuff on the Pines!

The view from the backyard was just as lovely.

The sun was rising above the trees but I'm doubting it will make the pool ready for humans!

Eddy, did you forget to carry your play thing to the garage?

I'm also thinking not too many will want to take a seat....

The ones in the front of the house aren't looking too inviting either.  So what's a girl to do while the sun melts the snow on a Sunday afternoon?  Make a chicken pot pie of course!

Better hurry over if you want a slice.  It's going fast!  After seeing the images from Washington State and hearing about the earthquakes out in California,  I have nothing to complain about. Our weather is actually suppose to warm up this week.  So I hope everyone is safe and healthy and having a happy Sunday. Amen

Journal Journey

 

 Some of my blog buddies write a post daily....and God love 'em because I'm not that faithful.  I do however use my blog as a journal tool. I love to go back and read what was happening last year or 6yrs ago!  I like to see what the weather was like in Spring of 2012, or 2013 or 2008.  What I discovered was half the time we had lovely warm and sunny days and the other half were like Tuesday of this week.  Here's a look at March 25, 2014:

2 of my co-workers walking with me over to our employee parking lot...a 1/4mi from the hospital.  The day started out sunny and ended up in a mini blizzard. Click on the pics to really get a feel of the wind, snow and cold.

Selfie of snow on my roof...I mean my hood!

Looking out the side window to say hi to everyone...if anyone was even out there!

That's as far as I could see on my road.

Soon the pine trees were coming into view! Almost home! It was a scary ride with white outs and very windy conditions.  Just another day in paradise! It has cleared up and tomorrow we're expecting temps in the 50's with rain...never a dull moment! Here's a few other moments of my week in my journal journey:

This is a lovely canvas art piece that I picked up at my favorite little shop: The Parsley Pot. My photo does not do it justice. It's very peaceful to look at and the reason is this:

The lights in the trees light up...flicker even! Makes it very pretty and fun to watch. It reminds me of Summer...after looking at my first pics , can you see how I was enticed to purchase it? Thankfully I had a gift certificate from Christmas burning a hole in my wallet.  Thanks Jack!  I'm now up to today in my journal journey....I got home a bit earlier than usual and made a batch of these:

Then I made a favorite of Jack's for dinner.  Tuna casserole.  Maybe not everyone's cup of favorite dinners, but he likes it!

When my kids were little they always called it "tuna una".  I have no rhyme or reason to why that happened, but to this day that's what we call it...it's a tuna mystery I guess. Finally I must end with this mug:

Mr. Eddy....he had to go to the Vet for a check-up and some shots..ouch! He was very good and was declared a healthy guy for another year.  I now can rest easy having put my week in print so I can look back at this time next year and hopefully have warm sunny skies to compare this nasty weather week too!  Wait! One last pic in this photo blitz.  I was going through some old pics to put onto a disk and I found this one:

It was taken at my in-law's place we lovingly called "The Farm"...What I remember about the day was the heat...super hot and humid...the photographer, not so good..my kids, not so happy to be sitting in the grass with a tie and white shirt on. (my youngest son, Jordan has a fake smile on and the cutest curly hair...he'll be 30 next week! Ahhh! )  Since this is a journal tool for me I think a post about "The Farm" is in order.  We had many good memories and fun times there...except for this day!  Thanks for coming on my journal journey today.

Say What?

My previous post was a shout of joy because it's finally Spring.  In the post I mentioned the phrase: "Spring snow"...my blog buddy over at Sweet Tea had never heard that phrase. Probably because they have Spring with actual warm temps and flowers and such! Well, this was the scene from a work window yesterday morning:

The snow came fast and furious..white outs at times.  Then the typical Ohio weather came into play by the afternoon...it looked like this going home at 3:30pm:

Today when I picked up the newspaper this was the headline:

Yes, Spring snow is a real term...a real pain...a real mess... I hope the weekend isn't!

Shouting For Joy!

 It's SPRING!!!!!!  The big bad  W word is behind us for a bit.  We've had a few days of warmer temps...in the 50's.  OK, so today it's cold again and a few snow flakes are falling...but they're SPRING snow flakes!  It rained yesterday and the huge snow piles are gone.  Yes it's muddy..but it's SPRING mud!   Easter is very late this year..end of April.  But that's OK too because maybe it will be nicer weather for the annual Easter egg hunt.  This weekend I'm bringing out the SPRING/Easter decorations.  Yes folks, it's been a harsh, cold W word.  Shouting for joy here in Ohio and I'm sure I can hear shouts from all over the country.  HAPPY SPRING!!

Just A Bit Green

Not green around the "gills" or green with envy.  Just a bit green for St. Paddy's Day. I just learned that it's spelled "Paddy", not "Patty" for St. Patrick's Day.  "Patty" is a girl...aren't you glad I shared that wisdom? Well, you all know I don't have a speck of Irish in me...Greek and German...but Jack has some and to celebrate I usually make the traditional corned beef.  This year was no exception.

 The meat was tender and very good.  Some potatoes....carrots would have brightened the whole thing up but I don't like cooked carrots!  I also made cabbage but for some reason forgot to click a pic....hmmm...maybe because I was eating instead??  I also made some Irish soda bread:

I took a walk in the Creepy Woods with Eddy to see if I could spy a Leprechaun or  perhaps a pot of gold.  No such luck for this unlucky Greek....I didn't even wear anything green today. (wasn't I suppose to get pinched or something?)  I did see a shot of the Chicago river turned green.  That makes me a bit homesick.  Maybe next year I should tint our creek green! (of course this year it's still frozen) I hope everyone had a good day filled with yummy Irish food, Irish music, Irish proverbs, and maybe a bowl of Lucky Charms cereal...It's magically delicious...sort of like my Irish dish for today!   

 

Mud Season

Yesterday I was out in the yard observing the new season...I lovingly call it "mud season".  The temps were an amazing 65 degrees with sun and blue sky. The yard was mushy, muddy, and Eddy's paws were dirt filled! I sat outside and let the sun warm my face while I basked in the joy of it all.  I felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz when she walked into Technicolor Munchkin land! I noticed these sweet signs of Spring:

Plants that will shoot up even though a few days ago they were covered in snow.

The mounds of dirt and overturned soil mean only one thing around here....skunks! We smelled them last week but didn't see them...just the calling card they left looking for grubs!

The depleted wood pile. 

The mud driveway in need of stones that will have to wait until we're sure no more snow.

Last week we went to pick up coal that we supplement the wood heat with,  and I thought I'd get a shot of the owner's cool "wheels".

It was also laundry day I guess!  All these sweet signs of Spring were dashed back like a clock in the fall....today the snows returned:

The temps dropped like a ton of bricks and the winds blew hard to blizzard like conditions that closed schools down again.

Maybe I just need to brush off the chair and sit and think about this for a bit...sigh.  I'm back in Ohio winter Toto. (I mean Eddy)

Forward, Backward, Light, Dark

I'm sure by now we've all turned the clocks ahead.  Again.  I'm of the belief we should just leave them alone...quit all this nonsense.  But I would prefer to leave them at this change. For some reason I do better with the clocks going forward.  I'm not as tired at work and I do enjoy the lighter evenings.  Probably because I work all day and would like to see the sun for a little bit!  I have enjoyed a brighter morning, but soon it will be light at that end too.  I just have to suffer the dark AM tomorrow...while enjoying the light PM tonight. Confused yet?  Forward, backward....whatever! Each side has it's advantages. I guess we should just sit back and enjoy the view.

Sunrise

Sunset...don't worry I'm not breaking into song from Fiddler on the Roof!  I also know that about the time we think we're moving FORWARD to Spring we'll go BACKWRD and get a bit more of that:

Before we get a lot of this:

And The Winner Is:

Last night I attended our Chamber of Commerce award dinner.  I hadn't planned on going but at the last minute I changed my mind and I'm really glad I did.  Jack's on the board of directors for the Chamber and has served in different capacities.  He chaired the small business awards for years and in the last few years the format has changed.  There were many categories that competed for awards besides small businesses.  Agricultural, recreation, education, health and medical services, social services, small and large businesses, retail and professional awards were handed out last night.  The meeting was very well attended...about 400 people. The venue was lovely and the dinner was excellent.

Sorry about the blurry pic here! The entry was so pretty!

There were lovely flower arrangements on all the tables and every table was different.

Displays of all the nominees were all around the convocation center. Like this one of our downtown Ashland main street organization.  Ashland is trying very hard to bring our downtown area back to life.  Strip malls, Wal-marts, and big box stores have done a lot to kill small town main streets. We have many new shops and eateries opening up and making downtown a fun place to visit.

Factories used to be big business here. We had many manufacturing plants that made Ashland a wealthy community years ago. Hedstrom, they make sport equipment and other fun things, has made a come back here and employs many in our town.

This display was for our hospital that was nominated in two different categories. Samaritan Hospital has won a few prestigious awards in the last few years. We've been rated on of the top 100 hopsitals and 100 best hospitals for total joint replacement. Last night we won the large business award.  It was great to cheer for our small town hospital. We do great things here and I've been working there for 35yrs and feel proud to be a part of the team. (Even when it gets crazy and stressful).

I'm putting a plug in for Brethern Care Village. Donna was on the board of directors and brought me on board a few years ago.  I only served for 3yrs but learned a ton about nursing homes and care for the elderly. I think we have many good facilities here.  Kinston of Ashland, another fabulous nursing home, won for health and medical services.  Last night also had a keynote speaker. The Dean of Religious Life, Dr. Dan Lawson spoke about "Sowing the seeds of success"....a very positive message delivered by a wonderful speaker.  He talked about fear of failure, having gratitude and the role of positive thinking. I'm thinking he was the reason I needed to be there last night. I'm going to take some of his suggestions to work and into my own life and hopefully some of these seeds will sprout into positive actions.  Hey, Spring will be here in 2 weeks and I want to be ready to go forward with a smile! It's sunny out today and the temps are suppose to rise into the 50's...I'm off work for the weekend and that is the best winning combination. I guess that means the winner is...drum roll here.......ME!

To The Victor....

I'm not saying I was actually victorious over my birthday blahs this year, but I had help from people I dearly love to give me smiles and make the weekend a nice continuing celebration. So I had a few "spoils" to this victory...like a spring garden in my kitchen:

Jack brought me a beautiful basket full of my favorite spring blooms...tulips, daffodils, and yummy smelling hyathincs..(I hope I spelled that correctly!) They are all opened and looking lovely and brought a hint of what's to (hopefully) arrive in a few months here! The bulbs can be planted in the fall for blooming next year...so thoughtful! He also got me another gift but was hesitant to give it to me.  As long as I don't have to feed or clothe it I said it would be fine! It's a Bissel spot cleaner..he knows how much I love to clean carpets! I really do! This will help with the Eddy and Squeak mishaps! However, it is an appliance of sorts and I think he was nervous about that! No worries! My best friend Donna stopped by on Friday afternoon to bring goodies and gifts. Larry came too and he and Jack gabbed away while I enjoyed admiring my gifts.

She makes the most beautiful wreaths and made this one for my front door! It's so pretty and looks great! Nice way to greet visitors with a fresh spring look!

She also made this clever and so fun necklace.  The medallions have special words that she put on them...like "joy", "God", "friends", and my initials...love it! Gifts made with your hands are so, so special...Thanks Donna! But that wasn't all...nooooo...she stopped by the new cupcake place in Ashland and picked out some scrumptious treats:

Now, I'm not saying I tried every one...well, OK, I tried every one...except the one in the pretty package.  Why? Well, first I'll show you what it was:

It was a cupcake with sprinkles and a candle to put on top.  I had put them in the fridge and my Granddaughter Addy found it.  All little kiddos (and big ones too!) are attracted to sprinkles and candles..and she ate it and declared it yummy! They all were and it was so nice of Donna to bring them. They made the perfect birthday cake!  I also received a new movie and fun homemade cards from my son and his family out west. The cards were adorable and also hilarious...love them! My Mom sent me a lovely necklace and the sweetest card.  She wrote some really touching thoughts in there..I know I'll keep it and treasure it forever.  Thank you all for making my day special.  Oh, Mother Nature also gave me a gift! The snow storm we were expecting did arrive, but the total amount of snow was only a few inches. That was a gift!  Then to top it all off, my Granddaughter Driana stopped by on Saturday and cut my hair! Thanks honey, I love it!

Good hair and smiles all around!