Brr it's cold outside

I didn't go for a walk today. To be honest, it was just so cold I couldn't be bothered. It was about 1F/-17C with wind chills colder than that. It just didn't sound appealing. I almost changed my mind when I looked out the back window and saw the sunrise over the trees. I don't get a great view, but the skies over our big trees at the end of the back garden turn a nice colour some mornings. 

As it was so cold I did decide to give frozen bubbles a try. I wish I had a clearer view to take photos, but I gave it a go. Not sure how the camera photos turned out. 

A phone photo. It's fun to try...and a little frustrating!

I did end up getting quite a bit done. I'm pleased with crossing everything off my list and then some! The book donation pile is coming along nicely. I'm hoping that, by next week, the weather will be a bit better, and I can drive some boxes - yes, boxes - of books down to the library bookshop for donation. 

I'm not doing overly great in the craft room BUT I am making sure that each time I go up there I pull out a few things for donation. I feel like it's going to take a while, but every little bit is progress. It's better than not tackling it at all! I do feel like every bit I get rid of, makes me feel as though I can get rid of a bit more. Does that make sense? 

Tomorrow, it's still going to be cold in the morning, but we're on a warming trend. Makes me laugh as that still means we're not getting above freezing until Sunday but next week we might hit 41F/5C which is practically a heat wave! There are bound to be people out in shorts. Mind you, we did see a man in shorts at a petrol station on Sunday. He was with a woman and a couple of children (they were well bundled up at least!). Shorts though - brrrr!

Anyway, what I was going to say is that I am going for a walk in the morning. I'll bundle up and just keep on moving. Even if it's not for long I'm going to get out for a walk. 

End of Week

 It snowed overnight. The roads were quite yucky early, so I decided not to go for a walk. All change from the weather yesterday and it was cold enough to freeze bubbles this morning. So that's what I did. Later, when the clouds cleared and the sun came out, the roads cleared a little, so I decided to drive to the nature park and take a walk as I didn't get out at all yesterday. It was lovely and snow covered, but under the snow was a horrible layer of clear ice. I had to really watch where I walked, and I didn't quite walk as far as I usually do. I did talk to a woman who was also walking with a camera. She asked if I was Sharon and I said I was as she had seen my photos on the Facebook page for the park. We chatted for a little while. It was nice to chat to somewhere else who enjoyed my photos. 

I didn't get a lot else done to be honest. There was a lot of communicating later on. I chatted with my daughter. Facebook messaged with my sister. We usually check in on Fridays with one another. I was hoping she was okay as she was under the red warning for the windstorm. She said that they were all doing okay. I hope everyone else is. On my Ipswich in the US Facebook group there were posts of people losing their fences and such. 

Sister said she had stayed in today. Her son-in-law was off work due to weather, so he was taking care of the children.  It is their half-term next week. Sister said that she and her husband, one daughter, his son and one of her other grandchildren were going to London early in the week. I hope the weather is good for them. 

Talking of wind, it's very windy here tonight. I can hear the wind howling around outside. So far - touch wood - our power has held and so have the trees in the garden. We're under another Winter Weather Advisory with snow and winds up to 50 mph. Lovely. Hope they clear before morning. 

I'm playing catch-up with my Phone Photos - Things That Make Me Smile. 

Yesterday was a little bit of a rough day. I didn't really feel like smiling a lot. 

48/365

Red Leicester Mini Cheddars. I am addicted. I am rationing these out as they aren't easy to find over here. Currently I can't find any. Sigh. They do make me smile. They remind me of home. 

49/365

I think I've already shared a frozen bubble. But this made me smile. Weather is all-change from yesterday. It was pretty close to 50F/10C and this morning everything was snow covered and it was cold enough to freeze bubbles! How crazy is that? It's Michigan weather lol. 

Hope everyone has a good weekend. I'm hoping we can get out but it - as usual - depends on the weather!

 

End of Week

 So glad the snow is done! Well, we're expecting a dusting tonight but nothing more at least until the middle of next week. I managed to get out of the drive and braved the drive to the park on Thursday, but the roads were really slippery and icy as it was too cold for the salt to work. On the way back I slid past our road and had to turn down the next one. I decided after that just to stay home. I didn't go out today either lol. It was enough to put me off! 

Today it was really cold in the morning. I think it was about 6f/-14C in the morning. At that temperature nothing on the roads was melting. What to do what it's that cold? Freeze bubbles, of course. I'll try to share some photos over the weekend. 

The online camera club I'm in is going over aperture again this month as part of the A Year With My Camera Year 2. One of the things we're talking about is different lenses and how it's important to learn what your lens is capable of, how it works, what its 'sweet spot' is and more. I decided to pull out my little used 105mm macro lens that I like but I don't know a lot about. I decided to pull out one of my miniature Lego photographers and give it a go while I was out there.  Here's one. 

It was quite fun. I did have to keep coming indoors to warm up as it was so cold!!!

Not sure what we're doing this weekend. We'll go out somewhere. It is supposed to be sunny so we'd better make the most of it!

Photo a day - Phone Photos - Things That Make Me Smile 34/365

My MIL and FIL surprised husband with a new snowblower! Made me smile - and him too! It will make things a lot easier when he has to remove all the snow. 

35/365

Smile today - me, my camera, some bubbles and a straw. Lol. Was fun. Cold, but fun!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

 It was an okay day today. 

I walked with my friend early on. The weather wasn't too bad this morning (still below freezing) and the main roads were fairly clear. After my walk I had a couple of errands to run and some housework to get done. So nothing too much. I should have done more sorting but I didn't. 

This evening I sat and watched some television with husband and worked on some photos. I'm not sure what tomorrow will hold. I think we are taking a break tomorrow from Jane's as MIL as some things at her house to get done and I know that there are things at mine that need to be taken care of. It is supposed to be sunny in the morning but very cold. I'm not going for an early walk but instead will try freezing some bubbles. I managed to do it the other day but the light outside, and background for that matter, are not very good so I hoping that as the sun rises I might (not guaranteed) get some colour coming over the back garden and it will help with the lighting. 

The other day I had a couple of sort ofs

And more than a few pops!

My 27//365 Phone Photo Things That Make Me Smile are the two magazines I treated myself to with some Christmas money today. 

I have been doing really well on my low spend month. It really helps that the roads are bad and I don't want to drive lol. 

These are probably older issues (last months in the UK I think) but I am glad that I can at least get them here even if they are a little pricey! Reminds me of home and the photography one always has great articles and ideas.