Quiet Saturday

It was quite cold this morning and the wind was blowing so it wasn't a fun walk this morning. I actually wish I'd stayed in bed! Even though the temp said differently, I honestly thought it was the coldest day this week! It didn't help that it was snowing a bit too. I spent the rest of the day trying to warm up! Not good. Nothing I did seemed to help. I think it's what's known as cold to the bone! It certainly felt like it. 

I was supposed to go to a couple of places after the walk, but the snow on the roads made me feel a bit uncomfortable so I asked husband to drive me. He was happy to do so. He and son had been out for a bit but when they saw the roads they knew I probably wouldn't drive on them, so they headed back. I'm so thankful that none of my children have a fear (like I do) of driving in winter. I suppose it's because they've grown up with it.

I was glad when I got back home, but like I said, I did spend the rest of the day trying to warm up. I took a bath (which usually works), drank some cup a soup, bundled up with a blanket and finally got out my oversized snuggie. I'm not overly hot now, but I'm finally comfortable. Needless to say, I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped to today. Some days, I suppose, are just like that!

I used a bird mug for my cup. It's pretty and though not classically Christmas-y, the colours remind me of the season.

Husband and son went out for a while and picked me up some lunch where they went. It was a vegan wrap with spicy cauliflower and chickpeas. It definitely was a little spicy (at least for me) and not something I'd usually pick, but it was pretty tasty. 

Tomorrow we might, or might not, go on a Sunday Adventure. There might, or might not, be snow tonight. We're under a Winter Advisory but who knows what will actually happen!

Hope you're having a good weekend!

Sunday

Overnight snow changed our Sunday Adventure plans for today. When we went to bed last night the forecast was for less than an inch of snow. When we woke on Sunday morning, we had three inches of snow, and it was still snowing quite heavily! The roads were looking pretty bleak, so we decided to not go as far as planned. Husband is a really confident, good driver in the snow, so we did decide to go to the nearest lakeshore point. We were thinking of even just sitting in the car in the car park and looking out at the lighthouse. I wouldn't have driven on the roads at all, but I'm just a scaredy cat. Husband was quite comfortable so although the roads were pretty horrible the journey wasn't too bad. 

It obviously took us longer than normal, but by the time we had got to the lakeshore the snow had stopped, and the sun was even shining! I did tell husband that was the plan lol. I had looked at the forecast for Sunday, and the snow was supposed to stop, and the sun would shine for a bit. Luckily, this time they were right.

There are a few little shops by the lakeshore that I wouldn't have minded stopping in and looking around, but they weren't open for a while, and the pavements hadn't been plowed yet. Husband didn't want to get back too late as he would have to rake the snow off the roof and clear the driveway of snow before relaxing. Perhaps another time! As we passed by, I could see some Christmasy displays in the windows. 

As it was, we did get out at the lighthouse, but we didn't walk far. There were a couple of fishermen on the pier, but we didn't walk along it. Two fishermen who were sitting at the start of the pier called out to warn us that there was sheer ice under the snow. They were right! We could feel it beneath our feet. I didn't fancy falling over! I took a few photos and then we popped over to the other side of the channel where I couldn't walk at all as the snow was too deep! 

A couple of phone photos

Some ice was beginning to form in the channel!

Blazing a trail through the snow!

The roads were clearing by the time we made our way home. Our street is still very icy as they haven't been through yet but the main roads looked good so I'll just have to hope I can get up our hill in the morning!

Hope everyone had a good Sunday!

It's Friday! It's Friday

Well, by the time most people are reading this it will probably be Saturday, but as I write this it's Friday night.

Yesterday. Sigh. Good day not to have to get out for a walk. We had freezing rain overnight on Wednesday into Thursday and the roads were really icy. Schools were closed. Again. I am pleased with what I got done on Thursday. 

Last night was my Asylum Lake meeting. I was kind of dreading it. I'm glad I went though. The meeting was productive. There is just one lady who seems to irritate me. Everyone else seems to like her. She is one of those people who seems to know everyone, has done everything and wants to do everything in the group. Sometimes I just want to roll my eyes. Maybe it's just me? 

I did get up this morning and go for a walk. Bit of a mistake. It was even icier than it has been. The beavers' little hole had mostly been iced over and the only good part of it was the lovely sunrise. 

Even with the Yaktrax on it wasn't pleasant. I didn't walk far. I went back home and got quite a bit done today too. 

Husband was off a bit early so he came home and took four boxes to the charity shop. I've already started another box! 

Poor Aurora has been off daycare again. She's had a fever. Oldest son also came home with a fever and cough. I hope he's not coming down with what husband had!

I'm not going for my usual walk tomorrow. Husband is going to drive me down to the covered bridge. Maybe I'll stop and get some photos. Sometimes there are Eagles trying to fish in some open water. Otherwise the bridge sometimes is good for photos. I have tempted him with a promise of a visit to the Amish store down that way. They have some lovely foodie bits down there and it's been a while since we've gone!

It's Official...I've had enough of Winter

I must admit this is a little of a moan post. Well, perhaps quite a lot of moan.

I am officially tired of winter. I'm tired of being cold. I'm tired of snow and ice. I'm tired of having to bundle up before stepping out of the door. I'm tired of having to warm up the car before going anywhere. I'm tired of feeling like half the day is over before it's light.

So, that's the moan. I hear they are having lovely weather where Mum is. How glorious! I have really enjoyed seeing the lovely Spring photos on Instagram and in my Facebook Camera Club. They cheer me up no end in these seemingly long winter days.

We got our heat back after about 18 hours. That was long enough. Brrr… It sounded like they were really surprised we still had separate wires going into the house. They restrung the broken one and wound them into one wire, so next time if something comes down we'll lose all power to the house. On the plus side because it's one wire it is thicker and less likely to come down. Being without heat made me think of that post I did the other day - the one about spending the winter somewhere isolated. It would have to include a lovely fireplace or wood burning stove with lots of wood prepared.

It's been a kind of blah! week so far. I did go out yesterday, walked a little while, but it was really cold and everywhere was quite icy. I was really glad of those ice things I bought to put on my shoes. They saved me from slipping. I'm not sure if I'll go out walking today. I might stay in. It's cloudy and snow might/might not be in the forecast, it's -6c (22f) and the warmest it's supposed to get today is -1 c (31F) so I might just stay in and get some things done around here. I would like to get out and take photos, but there really isn't anything that catches my attention at this moment. It's a case of the winter blues I think. It's colder where daughter lives but - as I told her - at least they get sunshine. I think that's what gets me down sometimes.

On the plus side - I was looking at photos from March last year and came across these - the first flowers I saw growing. It was March 18th! So maybe the end is in sight....

A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

I seem to be jumping around on thoughts today. I managed to get out for a walk. Ice and snow are called for again tomorrow (we're under a Winter Weather Advisory) so I thought I'd get out walk and run some errands while I could. If I'm in tomorrow I can get more things done around here.

We had a somewhat enjoyable weekend. Yesterday we took a trip further up the lakeshore to see what Lake Michigan looked like. It was extremely icy. The beach was covered in ice as were both the walkways to two lighthouses we went to. I did not attempt either one. We walked a little way out on the ice but it was very bumpy with large balls and ice rocks so I stopped while I was ahead. I couldn't believe how crazy people were. One beach we went to a woman had her children up on top of an ice formation and one of them was sitting with his feet dangling in one of the large cracks while the other was lying on his stomach looking down the crack!!!! I couldn't believe someone would let their children do this! They were going to slide off the ice face down onto the iced over lake but the woman put a stop to that. It was about a 12 foot (3.65m) drop.

It was one of the big cracks that you can see.

We were quite a way away. It was a long walk/climb out to that formation which would have involved walking over lots and lots of ice.

I've been thinking more about cleaning/sorting. Has anyone done the Marie Kondo thing? I hope that's her name. I see that she does a show on Netflix, but I haven't watched it. Has it worked for anyone? I'm afraid that the 'sparking joy' would leave me getting rid of none of the books in my house!

Another thought running around in my head - has anyone tips about blocking knitting items? I have a couple of long cowls that (ends haven't been joined yet) are all curly at the edges and I thought that I should probably block them before joining the ends, but don't have any experience doing it. What do I need? I see there are some fancy blocks on Amazon but so far I've resisted. Any advise would be appreciated.

Still doing well on the spending. I was tempted to take a little trip to the craft shops and the book shop while out today, but I resisted! I thought about all the things in my craft room that still need to be used and thought I'd avoid temptation. I was 'good' last week too - instead of buying the series of books I wanted (two of which had 'fallen' into my online Amazon shopping trolley) I went to the library and borrowed them. I know this doesn't help the whole getting-rid-of-the-books-in-the-house thing, but I didn't add any more (at least not permanently).

Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend!

Back Home

Wow! I can't believe more than a week has passed since I last blogged. I had really good intentions to check in during the week, but time just got away from me. I really enjoyed the time with daughter, boyfriend and the three huskies. It got pretty cold there in the middle of the week, so much so that we stayed inside completely on Wednesday. It was just too cold to go outside. Minnesota had the cold worse than Michigan. I can't believe daughter didn't move somewhere warmer instead of colder.

I'm giving myself tomorrow to relax a little and get back into the swing of things then I will start back on track. I've got to update January goals and plan my February goals.

We did stop at the Minnehaha Falls on the way to daughter's house when they picked me up at the airport. It was beautifully frozen with some blue ice. I absolutely loved it! Wished I could have stayed longer but it was cold even then!

Another Sunny Day!

It was another fairly sunny day today - that's four of them in a row. I can't remember the last time that happened! I think it's been a couple of months at least. Maybe this means that Spring is on the way. Maybe. We're under a Winter Weather Advisory tomorrow - 2-6 inches snow possible. I'm hoping we're on the low end or get none at all. I've had quite enough of it this winter. I looked it up and we've had about 68 inches + this season. Enough already lol.

I talked to Mum today and she's got snow (she lives in East Anglia). It looks like quite a few places in England have it. I was watching the Tottenham FA cup replay today and it was snowing like crazy. I know Mum will be happy when it's done. She was glad to chat today as she hasn't been out for a few days. I'm glad she stayed in. My sister visits on Monday so Mum does have plenty of supplies. It looks like lots of people are excited about all the snow. I remember when I was little if we got snow we were excited as it was such a rare thing. Now every time it snows here I wonder why I moved here lol.

Spring is coming though. I was reminded of that today. It was beautiful at the park where I walk. I saw someone else out with their camera - a man who reminded me that I had passed him the other week when he was out skiing. How things have changed!

It was lovely just to stop, take a deep breath, look around and listen to all the birds singing. How wonderful! I saw my first red-winged blackbird and a robin - neither of which I've seen for a while. Hopefully they won't disappear again when the cold and snow comes back. Here's hoping it won't stick around!

Winter Storm

Ugh. We're under a Winter Storm Warning. They are saying up to 10inches on top of what we've already got. I reckon there's a rush at the store - there usually is every time they say 'storm'. We always keep things on hand so I didn't go. We rarely lose power either unless there is ice on the lines so at least I'll be able to stay in a warm house. I guess we'll just wait and see.

The trucks did come through our road today and dropped salt so I thought I'd see if I could at least go out and unbury my poor car as it was covered with snow. I must have scraped about five or six inches off it and then shoveled the driveway a bit to unbury my car a little. Seems a little redundant now I know we're getting more. I probably shouldn't have even done that with my back but I've been sleeping most of the night (at least until hubby gets up at 4.30) in the chair and things are feeling a little better. Anyway by this time I could see some road so I thought I'd go out just down to the park for a walk. We live right on the hill and when it's not clear I can't get up it in my car. I did manage though.

There was nobody out walking - not a surprise. It's really cold and windy. I just needed to get out a bit. I took my camera and took a little walk around. In places the snow was quite deep and heavy going. The ground keeper truck must have been through on some of the thicker trails and I walked in the tyre track.

On my way back to my car I saw a woman and her (maybe) grandchild getting out of their car for a walk. I told her it was pretty deep in places. She wasn't even wearing boots! They didn't even look like proper shoes, just slip-ons. Doubt she went far!

It felt good to get out a little. I'm hoping the storm will be over by Saturday so maybe we can get out this weekend. Fingers crossed!

Weekend

Not too much of a weekend here. Both oldest son and hubby worked Saturday. They were pretty tired out today as they worked 56 hours this week and will be doing the same next week. Having work is good but son has been working overtime for a while now and it's beginning to wear him down a little.

Hubby wasn't in the mood for a long walk today so we decided just to go to the beach and take a walk along. Nothing too strenuous. It was a lovely day, cold at first but sunny. It warmed up later. It's funny to walk along the beach at this time of year as the barriers are up to stop the sand from blowing too much and there is debris on the beach. In the summer everything is pristine.

The slabs on the second photo aren't rocks they are slabs of sand that have fallen down from the cliffs above. It seems some sand has already frozen and then melted causing it to fall.

 I have managed to get some of my crafting done - 2 albums for Mum and 1 for hubby. I was feeling quite good about it - until December hit. This week I am going to write a list so I can try to get somewhat organised.

I am quite pleased with how they turned out.

Tonight was the night of the supermoon. I gave it another go and tried to take a photo. I am quite pleased with how they turned out. I actually worked out how to put the tripod together this time!

October 1st

Wow. I can't believe it's already October. It has been three months since I made the move to leave my job and stay home. It doesn't seem that long ago. I was out of the country visiting my Mum back home for seven weeks so it really hasn't been that long since I've actually been home.

Autumn is definitely in the air now. I had windows open today for a little bit but there was a bite to the wind that soon had me closing them once the late afternoon came. With the colder weather comes the thought of winter. It is not my favourite season. I don't like the cold or the snow we get here in Southwest Michigan. When I first moved here I thought it kind of strange that a lot of older people left the area to go to Florida for the winter. Now I understand it. Unfortunately we don't have that choice - hubby is still hard at work and neither one of us are near retirement age!

I was reading a blog I visit frequently and the topic was what do you do to prepare for winter. To be truthful I haven't really thought much about it before but one of my goals in staying home is to be a better planner and not do things spur of the moment as well as saving money. I won't be going out as much in winter - and need to cut down on store runs anyway - so I want to be stocked up with things BUT I don't want to pay for the nose for them. I am making more dollar store runs and stocking up on toothpaste, hand soap and other things I know we'll use. I suppose I need to think about food stocks for winter so we can just do a fresh fruit/veg/milk run each week. This will mean meal planning (not good at it!). I am trying to build up a good variety of recipes to keep us going. I plan on putting more thought into this subject over the next few days.

 Looks like someone else is getting ready for winter too!

Halfway through the week...

again. Time seems to just fly by. I've been working on my garden and, sort of, planning next year. This was the first year that I've planted some veggies. I didn't do a lot as I knew that I would be gone for 6/7 weeks and things wouldn't get tended to. I'm getting through all the weeding so the patches will be nice and good to go in the spring.

Our courgettes/zucchini did REALLY well. I had some really big ones. Peppers did pretty well. Potatoes were okay. They definitely weren't taken care of but I did get some. I need to do some research on kinds of potatoes next year as these were of the smaller kind. My lettuce failed miserably. The deer ate it all - pulled up from the roots. I would love to have fresh lettuce so need to come up with some sort of idea to keep deer and rabbits out. I did some onions, but definitely could have planted deeper and more of them. Next year I would like to do carrots too. My poor tomatoes died while I was in England. Apparently they had a lot of rain and hubby thinks they caught some sort of disease. He talked to some people at work who said they were having trouble with theirs. Pumpkins - only got one small one - there were two when I looked so something carried it off. We nowhere near got enough veggies to keep us going for any amount of time, but fresh veg was certainly nice. I am going to do some reading up this winter and be more prepared for next spring.

Talking of being prepared I am going to make a list of things to get ready for winter. One part of the list will be things that I could shop for before the snow comes. We get a lot of snow and cold and I don't like driving in it so if I could stock up before winter it would mean less trips out in the snow. I feel like such a chicken for not driving in the snow BUT I did only learn to drive when I was thirty so I'm giving myself a little break lol.