Fake Spring

This past week was a breather from winter.  We had sunny skies off and on along with warmer temps! Ahh....very much appreciated.  It's called a fake spring.  I was able to take some nice walks with Annabelle and see our yard go from snow to green grass.

Even the birds took a hiatus from the feeder and I'm sure they are enjoying snacking on whatever the yard has to offer.  I only worked one day this week but had an early morning (6:30am) surgery meeting today. It got me up and running and Jack and I decided to do our weekly grocery shopping after I got home. The weather is supposed to change and possibly be bad tomorrow.  I was glad to get it done.  But more excited to go to a new shopping place to enjoy!  A local nursery, greenhouse opened a gift shop and Jack gave me a gift card for it at Christmas time.  I had never been there and was very surprised at how large it is and how much fun stuff they have!  Plus, the smell of plants, dirt, flowers and the sound of water fountains was so spring like! Here's a few pics of the inside:

I managed to find some goodies to spend my gift card on! I know my family will love this place when they come out to visit. We're having a family reunion at the Pines in October, and this will be a "go to" place!  But we mustn't forget some important residents that live here:

A couple of super friendly kitties! With cold weather back in the forecast the wood burning furnace is back in operation.  Jack closed it up for the week because of the warm days, but it gave him a chance to clean it up and get it ready to finish this season.  Wood season is work but the heat is so nice and having had a super cold winter, it was a blessing.  So, even though this spring like weather was a teaser, I enjoyed every day!  To end my post, I will add a little YaYa news. Two of my Granddaughters are expecting babies this year!  Our oldest granddaughter, Driana, is having a boy in May and now her sister, Summer is also expecting a baby boy in August!  Being a great YaYa is a bit crazy to think about. Weren't these girls just babies? Wasn't my son just a baby and now he's going to be a grandpa?  The circle of life and that's no fake news!

Did You Notice?

 Even though the ground rodent said spring was not eminent, I wonder if you've noticed any telltale signs that there is some change in the air?  It's been a very bitter cold and snowy winter for Ohio and many others all over the country. Even sunny Florida has felt the chill.  I must admit that today was a real gift from God.  My car said 52de today! And the sun was shining!  I even sat outside in a chair alongside Jack and let the sun hit me in the face.  It felt like heaven!  The huge ice sickles are now history:

I showed this one in a previous post, but it grew to hit the roof above the kitchen. Today it's all gone! It was pretty muddy though and we had to give Annabelle a bath after her walk.  It's hard being an all-white, short legged doggy! While we were sitting outside, I noticed Annabelle licking the cement on the driveway.  She then preceded to throw up! I'm assuming she found some salt left over from the freeze? I made some chicken and rice for her for dinner and she seems better now.  Back to the signs of change...I noticed that it was still light out at 6pm!

This was 6pm the other day. I look forward to lighter later days and lighter early mornings.  I know that's still some weeks away, but I love the first signs of the longer daylight.  Since the weather this past weekend was pretty cold and nasty, I decided to put together a puzzle I've had sitting around for over a year.  I'm really not a puzzle gal but I couldn't resist this one.  It has a westie dog like Annabelle in it and it's a summer picnic scene...a sign perhaps?

I'm going to glue it together with mod podge stuff and frame it to put up in Summer. I like to change out pictures on my walls.  I hope near you the season is showing signs of change even if it's only a little lighter at night or perhaps a lovely warm day that gives hope of brighter times ahead.  Speaking of having a brighter head:

I had my hairdresser throw a few bright highlights on this old gal's head! Ha! Have a good rest of this week! 

Hello Loveuary...I mean February!

Hallmark calls this month Loveuary but I'm just glad we made it through crazy January!  We had record cold, record snow, and Jack and I battled a virus that took a good 3 weeks to get over. We don't get sick very often, (knocking on wood here!) so it was not a fun time.  But we did have a few sunny days over the weekend, and February 1st was also sunny and by the evening the full moon had the yard as bright as day! No, I didn't get any pics unfortunately.  We also had our kids and grandkiddos over for a little rib fest yesterday and I didn't get any pics then either.  I'm really slipping on my photo moments!  I know that crazy rodent saw his shadow this morning and for some reason the calendar agrees with him and shows we have 6 more weeks until spring. So, let's get through this short month that usually feels like the longest one due to the winter weather.  July with its 31 days doesn't drag along like February! Even though I missed photo moments yesterday, I did get a few from Saturday to share.  It was the high school's winter formal on Saturday and my granddaughter, Rae, came over with her friends for some pics.  I had to razz her a bit about her dress. I asked her where the rest of it went! I was afraid she'd freeze in this weather! She loves me anyway and did laugh!

Rae and Ethan. He came with her for lunch on Sunday too and seems to be a really nice young man.

This is Rae's friend who went with them to the dance.  They all went in separate cars and just met up at the high school for the dance.  Again, brrrrrrrrr Rae Rae!  After the kids left, Jack and I went up the church for a church social that was also a food competition.  I made my Greek chicken recipe.  Guess who came home with a medal for the best overall dish?

Yep, that would be me!  So that about finished up our weekend except for having family over for ribs and potato salad, tossed salad, fruit salad, baked beans, rolls, and homemade apple pie with homemade icecream for dessert on Sunday.  Our son Jack said, "Mom, looks like a summer meal!"  Yes, I was hoping to manifest some warmer temps here!  It did get up to 21de today! Yeah!  Finally, here's some other eaters who came to visit over the weekend that I did manage to click a pic:

Mr. Cardinal.

Mrs. Cardinal.

Come and get it!  One last pic:

We have had some amazing ice cycles show up!  Watch you head when it starts to warm up...hopefully sooner than later!