More Snow and Garden Calendar

More snow came our way overnight and this morning. It was a regular little blizzard for a few hours. Charley put out bird seed for our little friends. That's the Pic of the Day at the top of my blog. He was celebrating putting out the suet. The snow is beautiful, but worrisome when you have to drive to work and school in it.

Here's a few shots of our friends:

grand central station

here I come!

me too!

hey, get out of here! there's no more room!

here come the cardinals

being nice and sharing the seeds

I think the birds and I are getting tired of winter. Charley picked up the Garden Calendar at Tractor Supply Co. today when we went down to buy more bird seeds for our feathered friends.



Here's what you're supposed to do in February. Click on it and it will enlarge.



It says to prune grapes on February 15th, prune decidous trees and shrubs on February 21 and prune blueberries on February 22. Looks like Charley has his work cut out for him.

Are you longing for spring yet?

Old Student Desk

I haven't been blogging a lot lately, because I've been cleaning out the attic and garage. I had a gift card for WalMart and a little Christmas money that I used to buy storage containers. I've went up and down the stairs into the cold attic sorting, throwing away, putting away for future yard sales and organizing. It's starting to shape up, there is actually room to walk in the middle now.

I've been doing a little in the garage, too. I had an old school desk out there that I bought a few years ago for $5 at the road side sale. Many times my son has told me to get rid of it, but I didn't want to, so I kept it. It is now in my family room.

The seat needed to be permanently attached, it's laying beside of it. I don't think anyone would want to sit in it like this.


We got some long screws and my husband attached the seat.


Two children's books. . . Jack and Janet . . . (my favorite)


and On We Go. . . Don't you just love the little Dachshund named Noodle.


Piled underneath the seat with a few other old school books.


The finished desk with school books on top, waiting to be read and studied.


I know this is not an elementary student desk, because of the size of the top. But, that makes it better, because us adults can sit in it and not get stuck!

Do you remember Jack and Janet and Noodles?

That's Easy!

What do you do when the temperature gets up to 50 degrees?

That's Easy! You wash your dirty, nasty, disgusting looking car. Snow and salt just does not do anything for the looks of a white car.


Sorry, no before pictures. It was not a pretty sight.

For those of you who know us, you are probably saying, "That's not your car."
Well, "Yes, it is." I guess you could say that we traded down.

We recently traded our Taurus, which had over 120,000 miles on it, for this little Ford Focus. It had around 5 miles on it! It gets pretty good gas mileage, too. Driving 65 on the interstate, it said we were getting 37 mpg. Sounds good to me. Charley said when he was driving 70, it said we were getting around 32 mpg. So I guess it's true what he's being telling the kids all along, you get better gas mileage when you go slower.

How's you car? Is it still dirty with salt and snow or did you take advantage of this nice weather and give it a wash job?

Bird Quiz

I have a small bird quiz for you.

Which birds like peanuts? (these are unsalted raw ones)

Do you think it would be the Cardinals, Juncos or sparrows?


Or perhaps, the doves?


Or the cute little chickadee?



Of course not! It's the Tufted Titmouse! He likes to grab and make a fast get away.


One more for the road. . . or should I say sky ways.



Every bird feeder deserves to have a peanut eater, and we have ours.


Another quiz question.

What bird likes to eat while keeping one foot tucked in under his feathers to keep warm?

Answer: the cozy cardinal

Hope you enjoyed my little quiz. Did you know the answers?

Out and About

We got out from under the covers and out and about this morning before the snow started.

In 2008 I posted here about Mail Pouch Tobacco Barns. We have one just a little ways down the road from us. I took a picture of the back side of it on the way to town.


I also took this picture of turkeys following each other across a field. There is usually around 2 dozen turkeys in this field along with a herd of deer. I guess they knew I had my camera with me and decided not to show today.


On the way back, no one was behind us, so Charley slowed down so I could take a few pictures. The barn is slowly falling apart. I'm afraid it won't last through the winter without collapsing.


These pictures were taken during another snow storm which is coming through today and tomorrow. We didn't make it home before the snow started to come down.



It's the leaning barn of Fairplain. I feel like taking some long boards and propping it up.



And here are three horses braving the cold and snow across the creek in front of our house.


Hope everyone's ready for the cold weekend ahead of us.
Bundle up, or better yet, stay inside if you don't have to go anywhere.

Get Out The Covers

In the old days when Old Man Winter arrived with his freezing temperatures and snow, it was time to get out the covers.

It was time to open the trunks and the closets and dig out the quilts, comforters, blankets and spreads.


I think I got this red one at a thrift store for around a dollar. I'll keep it out and add it to our bed covers, then maybe my husband will turn the thermostat down a little.



I remember when I was a child our beds were covered with a lot of quilts and blankets. I'd snuggle under them and pull them up under my chin and keep warm during the night. I remember once when I was all covered up, I looked down toward the foot of my bed and I saw a big black spider sitting on the top of the quilt, staring at me. I don't remember what I did, I couldn't hardly jump out, because I was in the top of a set of bunk beds. . . but, I probably screamed for Mom or Dad. I hate spiders, maybe that's when my phobia started.

If you didn't have a fireplace it was time for you to get out your gas space heaters and turn them on.

We're lucky, it's a lot warmer in our houses today. There's no sleeping upstairs with snow blowing in through the rafters on you. Most of us have insulation between the walls and we don't have to trudge to the outhouse through the drifts of snow!

So, if you can, dig out the covers and snuggle up til Spring arrives.

Do you have any cold winter memories to share?

Snowy Feathered Friends

I just had to post a few pictures of our feathered friends.

We got a new camera for Christmas and we have been trying to figure it out.

"I need a hat and scarf!"

"Make room, here I come!"

"Brrrrrr!"


"I'm so cute!"


"Help! Where's my perch?"

"Let's go! I'm out of here."


"Topsy Tervy Woodpecker"


"Togetherness"

"Breakfast at the local Feed and Seed."

I love watching our birds! I don't know where the Blue Jays are, I haven't seen any yet. I don't know where the pigeons are coming from. We're in the country, we're not supposed to have pigeons! I guess someone forgot to tell them this is not the city.

The price of bird feed has gotten so high that I was wondering if we could afford to feed them this winter. The cheapest bird seed we found in Ripley was at the local Tractor Supply Co. Before Christmas it was only 9.99 for a 50 lb bag. We bought two bags! I wish we had purchased more.

Do you feed the birds in the winter?

Resolutions and Lists

Some people are list makers and some people are not. Which are you?

I tend to fall into the non list maker category. But when I do make lists, I usually get things done. When I see that list staring me in the face, I will do at least some of the items on it. It feels good to be able to mark off my accomplishments.


So, my first New Years Resolution is to make lists!

I will put a list on the refrigerator and I will put a list on the wall in back of my computer.

1. I want to lose 10 pounds. This may sound easy to a lot of you, but for me, it seems the older I get the harder it is to lose weight. If I could just shut my mouth every time I'm around sweets, I should be able to succeed. When I'm hungry (or not), I grab the easiest thing in front of me to eat, which means a cookie or a piece of candy. I love sweets and night time snacking.

2. I want to get the garage and attic cleaned out and organized. We have a two car garage and couldn't get one small car in it if we tried. So in this freezing cold, snowy weather we have to park the cars outside.

3. Travel more. I may be able to accomplish this since my husband just retired. I love traveling in West Virginia and the surrounding states.

That's not very many resolutions, so maybe I'll be able to keep them.

I have some writing resolutions, also, but I will post about them on my other blog.

We were not able to see the 'blue moon' because of the cloudy weather. Did any of you get to see it?

I wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Once In A Blue Moon

Have you ever heard of the expression 'once in a blue moon?'

You probably have. Tomorrow night on New Year's Eve there will be a 'blue moon.'

According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. A full moon also occurred on Dec 2. But don't expect it to be blue - the name has nothing to do with the moon's color.

New Year's Eve blue moons are rare, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990, the next one won't come again until 2028.

Historically, each full moon throughout the year was given a folk name to help people remember to prepare for the upcoming season. The 'harvest moon' is the full moon that occurred closest to the autumn equinox. It occurred at the peak of harvest and the light of the full moon allowed farmers to work late into the night.

Some folktales say when there is a full blue moon, the moon had a face and talked to those in it's light.

So, even if you can't stay up to watch the new year come in tomorrow night, go out and look up at the blue moon. It will be a while before you see one again. All full moons are beautiful, may it inspire us to do good in the following new year.

Grab your telescopes and hope for a cloudless sky.

Tis The Day After Christmas

I'm so tired! There was no getting up early and shopping the after Christmas specials. I've got enough Christmas stuff and don't need any more. I may get a little wrapping and tissue paper, but that's all.

Tis the day after Christmas
And all through the house
Not a creature is stirring
Not even my spouse.

The papers are strewn
All around the floor
The boxes are stacked
Up against the door.

The house is a mess
Don't know where to start
To haul off this stuff
We'll need a big cart.

I think I'll sit down
And rest my tired feet
It'll be a while
'till my home is neat.

I hope everyone had a very nice Christmas!

Our snow is gone with only a few patches of white here and there. The sun is shining and I don't even want to think of cleaning my house. I fixed a big breakfast of sausage gravy and biscuits and tomato gravy, too, and I have a sink full of dishes. I hope I don't have any company until next year :) That's not too much to ask, is it? Maybe by then, it'll be back to normal.

All kidding aside, we had a very nice Christmas. My son and his wife, my sister and brother in law and my dad came out on Christmas Eve. We had a nice dinner and a good visit with each other. Charley worked day shift this week and had to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so we opened our presents on Christmas Eve night. He works 12 hour shifts and went to bed around midnight and got up at 3am to go out to work on Christmas Day. So we are tired and not doing much of anything today.

Do any of you have your house cleaned up yet?

Bright Cherry Jam!

I haven't been very cheery lately, so I thought I would make some cherry jam. I had been putting it off for a long time. I have never made cherry jam before, but I'm not that good at making the pies, so I thought I would use some of the bright red fruit I have in the freezer and make jam with them.

Here is the recipe I used:

4 cups prepared fruit (take all those pits out)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 box SURE JELL fruit pectin
5 cups sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract

Prepare your jelly jars. Either sterilize the jars before hand or process your jam for 10 minutes afterwards. There will be instructions on the Sure Jell pkg insert about how to prepare and handle the jars and lids.

Finely chop or grind fruit. Measure exactly 4 cups of the prepared cherries into a large sauce pot. Stir in lemon juice.

Stir the pectin into the fruit mixture in the sauce pot. Bring mixture to full rolling boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar and extract. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; skim off any foam with a metal spoon.

Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads with a damp paper towel. Cover with two-piece lids and screw bands tightly.

Now you can either process them in boiling water for 10 minutes or invert the jars for five minutes. Then, listen for the ping, letting you know your jars have sealed.

As I stated above, you can follow the instructions in the Sure Jell pkg insert. My ingredients are a little different, though. They don't tell you to add the lemon juice or almond extract and the amount of sugar they tell you to use is only 4 & 3/4 cups.

Here is where I got my recipe that I used.

My son, David, who I didn't think was that crazy about cherries, loved it!
I had a little extra left over and it is delicious on crackers. It tastes just like a cherry pie.



One of my jars did not seal, so it will be put in the fridge and be our first jar to eat.


Making jelly is easy to do and I have been doing it for years. Just get all your ingredients and utensils ready before your start and the process doesn't take very long at all.

Add some cheer to your jelly jars by making bright red cherry jam!

Hard Rock Candy

I like hard rock candy. It's fun to make this time of year. It makes good little gifts to give. It is something nice to sit on your desk at work to share with your co workers. When giving it as a gift, put it in small jelly jars.


I will share with you a quick way of making it.

Gather confectionery sugar, flavorings, food colorings and sugar. There are many flavors to choose from, cinnamon seems to be the favorite at our household, we also like root beer, but I couldn't find any at the store. I made cinnamon and orange this time.


Stir together: 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup light corn syrup in a large microwaveable glass bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and put it in the microwave for 3 minutes.



Remove from microwave, take off the plastic wrap and stir again.




Put a new piece of plastic wrap over the bowl and microwave for another 3 minutes. Watch it the last 30 seconds or so, depending on your microwave, it may get too hot and burn the sugar. I took mine out with about 10 seconds to spare. Be careful taking off the plastic. . . the hot steam will get you if you don't watch out!


Add the food coloring and flavoring and stir. My recipe says to add 1/2 tsp of flavoring, but if you want a more intense flavor, just add the entire 1 fl dram bottle. Be careful with the cinnamon, the scent is pretty intense when you put it in.

Pour it out onto a cookie sheet or other container. The package of the flavorings says to put it on a greased cookie sheet. I probably do not need to tell you this but, DO NOT PUT IT ON ANYTHING TEFLON COATED. Quickly, spread it out a little and after waiting a few minutes, score it with a knife. It cools around the sides quicker than in the middle. You will have to keep going over the score marks while it cools. Let the candy cool and break it into pieces.


Here is my cinnamon batch.



Break it into pieces and coat it with the confectionery sugar.


This is not something to let children do. They may get burned. They can help you break it into pieces. If you have any, you could pour the mixture into lightly oiled lollipop molds for the little ones.

Is this something you make during the holidays?

Warm Winter Wishes!

I wanted to wish all my snowbound friends warm winter wishes. . .



before I show you some pretty snow pictures.

one of our maple trees

our apple trees

bird house

grape vines and blackberry bushes . . . brrrr

Catawba trees

our poor little doe

down by the creek

down by a neighbor's barn

our holly tree

our lovely sycamore tree

It's still snowing.

Here's hoping the electric doesn't go out from the weight on the lines.