Goodbye January

Well here we are with the first month of January into its last hours. It’s hard to believe that one month of the year has gone already. January has been a bit of a crazy month. Both long and short at the same time. We said goodbye to 2023 and got ready to start a fresh new year. Lots of snow and ice for us. I read 4 books and listened to 2 audio books. I will have a rundown on those for you in an upcoming post. I finished several knitting pieces and the heart cross stitch. I had a lot of winter snuggly time at home and that is fine with me.

Last week we again had the taste of rural living. Remember I told you the week before, that we had the downed tree and we had to cut it off of the driveway before we could get out. Last week we lost power for over two hours. It went out around 6:00 AM Thursday morning. When we lose power we also lose our water, because we have a pump, and our phones because we have to have power for the internet. So there we were.

We always like to report our outages to the power company and not just hope that someone in our area will do it. To do this we have to go to the top of our driveway and get a cell signal to call the utility board. We then get a recording and we report the outage. The driveway was very dark because the outside light on the driveway was out as well. And I forgot to mention it was sooooo foggy. Oh and we have to back up the driveway because we always pull down the driveway when coming in.

My husband and I both went to the top of the driveway so that one of us could get out and open the gate. It was not easy backing up the driveway with no lights except the back up lights. The fog made it even worse. I had left the house without my glasses. That added to the difficulty, because I wound up behind the wheel doing the driving. We finally made it to the top, we have a very long driveway, and got the outage reported. It had already been reported by a neighbor. But you never know.

***This is what it looked like at 6:00 AM***

The power was out for over two hours and I was a little late getting into work. We never found out what the issue was. It was a widespread issue on our road. Several houses were affected. We do have a small generator that we can use if the power is out for hours or days.

Over the weekend I felt like I was running a bakery. Secretly this has always been a dream so it was actually a lot of fun. It started with my nephew requesting sourdough bread. I make this from a starter that I have had for probably fifteen years or more. It stays in the refrigerator until I feed it. He also requested some peanut butter pies to take to his coworkers. He just moved and started a new job a couple of weeks ago. It was also my brother in law’s birthday and I wanted to bake something for him as well. If you want to read more about the sour dough bread and how I make it, visit this post I did a few years ago. It is definitely a process.Making Sour Dough Bread

I made six loaves of the bread, 20 small peanut butter pies, and about 2 dozen cake pops. The cake pops were just something I decided to do at the last minute. I had never made them before. They were okay but I definitely need to work on those. So I did a lot of baking on Saturday morning and delivered bread, and pies and cake balls all over town in the afternoon. I finished the evening with a visit to my little mother in law at the assisted living village.

The peanut butter pies were a big hit.

I also spent some time over the weekend cleaning my silver bracelets. I am ashamed to say that I haven’t worn them in forever because they looked so bad. I bought some cleaner and got to work on them. I fell like they are new again.

This is not my cat. Well she sort of is I guess. She lives at work. She is feral and we haven’t been able to catch her. We are trying to get one of our team members to agree to take her home. We named her Anthe. Isn’t she beautiful? We feed her and take care of her the best we can. She has been with us for several months. I hate to trap her but that may be the only way we can get her to someone’s home where they might be able to tame her.

How is your week going?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!

We Had A Snow Day or Three

Hi friends and happy Wednesday Let me clarify that title by saying we didn’t actually get much snow at our house we just got the dreaded ice. The city I work in actually got about seven inches of snow and that is a lot for us. Everything pretty much shuts down when we get a snow of this magnitude. Don’t laugh. We are southerners and just not used to that kind of snow.

We had been hearing all weekend that we were going to get a major winter storm in our area. At first it was supposed to be Tuesday but then it changed to Monday. I went in to work as usual Monday morning. It had only snowed a very small amount by the time I woke up on Monday. But I was keeping the amount of snow we were supposed to have in the back of my mind. By the time I got to work it was snowing like crazy and very cold. Within an hour it had covered the roads and driveway. I was at work with one other coworker. Her dad called and told her the roads were getting bad. We locked everything up and left.

I had driven our old Toyota four wheel drive to work so I made it home easily with only a few scary moments. The funny thing was when I got on my road the snow stopped and it was only rain. The only problem with that was that everything froze solid Monday night because the temps were so low. So needless to say me nor my husband left the house on Tuesday. The snow continued to fall in nearby areas and they accumulated about 7 inches.

This picture I got off of our work security cameras. This was after the snow stopped and added several inches.

I did not take this picture. Someone posted it on FB. It is downtown Knoxville, South Gay Street, at the Tennessee Theatre. What a mess the snow made Monday afternoon. I think it’s still kind of beautiful.

I would like to say that while I have been home bound, I have been keeping busy cleaning out closets and drawers and much needed inside things. But I haven’t. I binge watched Grey’s Anatomy and read, and worked a million crossword puzzles, worked on my heart cross stitch and finished it, and finished the rose colored scarf I had been working on. Oh and I have cooked a million meals. Well that might be a bit of an exaggeration. it has only been three days. HA!!! But it seems like it.

Sunday before the snow came I made a big chocolate cake. I had been wanting cake for a long time and I decided to make one. So we were able to eat that during our snowbound days.

Over the weekend we moved my nephew Tyler to Cookeville TN which is about two hours from us. He has taken a job there and rented a house. He rented a U-Haul and me and hubs, his parents, his brother and my sister went along to help with the move. I have been trying not to think of him living two hours away because it hurts my heart. I know that is not that far and he will come home often but it’s still not the same. I made him his favorite Butterfinger cake and put it in his new refrigerator for him.

On Friday morning we woke up to really strong winds. Luckily I had taken an extra day off. A good thing because we had a tree down across the driveway! We were also expecting some heavy rain so before the rain started Mark and I went out and cut the tree off of the driveway. Ahhh rural living.

With the bad rain and bad weather, and the day spent moving my nephew we didn’t get a lot of the tree cut up and moved. We just cut it up enough to get it off of the driveway. The cleanup will come later.

***This is how we found Gus and Kitty Kitty when we got home Saturday evening. I think they were waiting for us to walk in the door.***

Last year I bought two heated kitty houses for my outside kitties. We always bring them into the garage at night but even with the garage door down, when the temps drop down to 2 degrees F, as it was last night, it is still very cold. Last year they hated the kitty house and would not go in it. I left it in the garage for a while and then wound up throwing it away during the summer.

Last night I got the other kitty house out. I put it together and took the plastic flaps off of the two entrances. That is what they seemed to dislike about the other one. I also placed it next to their main bed where they love to snuggle together. Mama cat, Allie, was the first to venture in. Then Izzy and finally Sadie went in. They can all three fit inside. They love it!!! I am so glad and relieved. They refuse to come into our house because of Kitty Kitty and Gus plus they are still a bit feral. This will keep them warm on the really cold nights. It makes my kitty mama heart happy.

I finally ventured out this afternoon to take a walk around the house. I seriously needed some fresh air and vitamin D.

So a lot has been going on. A busy week and then a lot of down time at home. Much needed I think. I am hoping to get back to civilization tomorrow.

How has your week been? Any snow where you are?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

Hello Monday!!!!

How was your weekend? I had a long weekend. I was off on Friday to take my sister to her chemo appointment. She has only one left now. She is doing great!!!

On Saturday I went with a friend to Athens to eat Chinese food. We also went to Dollar Tree. They had all of their Easter things 50% off so I bought some extra plastic Easter eggs. I like to make baskets for Easter and I will put these up until then. I buy so much of this stuff when it goes on sale. I don’t think I have ever had to buy anything for a holiday at the actual time of the holiday.

I have a large bush in my front yard. I am not sure exactly what it is some type of boxwood but it is over twenty years old and it is mostly dead. We, my husband and I, decided to cut it out and put something else in its place. But when I cut all of the dead branches away there was still a lot of greenery left. I read that older shrubs like this can be more susceptible to disease and bugs and things that can cause them to decline. I noticed that it hadn’t been draining well so I cleaned out all the dead leaves and rot from around the roots. I am going to give it some time and see if it starts growing again.

***So you can see quite a bit of green. We will give it some time and see.***

I got out my mini chain saw I got for Christmas and used it on some of the other shrubs and trees around the yard. To be so small it is really quite powerful. Well to me anyway.

While I was working in the yard I noticed the kitties were quite fascinated by something in the yard. I went to see what it was and it was a huuuuuuge snake. Only a black snake but he was big!!! The kitties would not leave him alone so that he could get away. I finally distracted them enough that he was able to get through the woods and head down to the lake.

Over the weekend I made Watergate Salad or Pistachio Delight some people call it. It is so light and fluffy. Only a few ingredients are needed; pistachio pudding, canned pineapple, cool whip, and miniature marshmallows. You can garnish with cherries or add additional walnuts if you like. I hadn’t had any in years. It’s a favorite dish for family reunions and church socials. I don’t think it’s just a southern thing but I ask my friend from Ohio if she liked it and she said she had never heard of it. I love it!!!!

And finally my irises are blooming. I was afraid they weren’t going to bloom again this year but they are. My nephew and his wife took the entire bucket full I had thinned last week. I was glad they took them. As I mentioned they originally came from the house where I grew up. My mama planted them. Now they are spread out among several family members’ homes. That would make my mama so happy.

How was your weekend? what plans do you have for this week. It’s my Birthday week and my wedding anniversary. I actually got married on my Birthday. But that’s a story for another time.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!

A Wild Weather Weekend

Wow what a crazy weekend we had here. It all started on Friday. I took my sister to Knoxville for her chemo treatment. This was her third one so she is halfway through the treatments and doing great!!! The doctor is so happy with all of her bloodwork. While we were still at the hospital we noticed the skies turning dark and the wind really starting to blow. We knew bad weather was predicted for our area, which is about forty miles from the hospital, but we were hoping we could get back home before it started.

At about 1:30 PM I got a notice on my phone that my security camera at home had gone out. That meant the power was out. We were still at the hospital with about another thirty minutes to go before the treatment was finished. I figured the storm was probably hitting close to my house at that time. My husband was at work and of course I was so worried about the kitties. They were all inside but they get nervous. We finally left the hospital around 2:00 PM. I took my sister home. We ran into some torrential rain but we made it home safe. I took off for my house which is about another thirty minute drive.

The power was out all over town. The main road to my house was blocked because of broken power poles. I took another back road and came upon a car slowly backing up because of a downed tree. I turned around and took another back road and finally made it to my driveway. It looked like a war zone, there were lines and trees down everywhere. There was a large tree blocking our driveway. I had to park the car up the driveway and walk down to the house. I still had no electricity. When I have no electricity I also have no cell service except in one spot several hundred yards from the house. I guess that’s better than nothing. I have no water because we are on a well system. The water will run for only a few minutes after we lose power. I do have a generator but I wasn’t sure about starting it without Mark there. It is new and I had never used it.

Lots of Kitty snuggles went on this weekend. I think the kitties were glad to have my attention solely on them. It makes you think about all the things you miss by having your eyes focused on a screen. Thankfully the weather was fairly mild so it didn’t get too cold at night or early morning.

Kitty Kitty sleeping on my lap.

I did a lot of reading this weekend. Because I had no internet I wasn’t on my phone and I finished this entire book in a day and a half. It Starts With Us is the sequel to It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. I know it sounds sort of backwards but you will just have to read it. Both books are great!!!

We did not get power back until Sunday afternoon. Forty eight hours without power. I went into town on Saturday and bought ice and filled a cooler with some of our items from the refrigerator but we lost almost everything. On Saturday night we got the generator going so we could have TV and internet for awhile. Mark had to work all weekend so it was just me and the kitties. It was a very quiet weekend. I am so thankful that no trees fell on our house or on anyone. It could have been so much worse. I feel grateful this is all the damage we sustained.

When I was at the hospital with my sister we were checking out at one of the desks and setting up some appointments. I looked up and spotted this writing by St Therese. I think it is very appropriate and I looked it up after I left and copied it. It’s very fitting for whatever you may have going on in your life. I think if we truly believe we are exactly where we are meant to be then what else could there be? Very freeing!!!!!