Almosst Wordless Wednesday

39°f/3.9°C, mostly cloudy with bursts of sunshine, high of 52. Nice day. The snow is gone.

Scenes from the past week.

Cracker Barrel for breakfast today! Yum. And enough calories for the whole day!

Last night at the open mic, my fiddling friend Jenny Allinder and her friends provided incredibly wonderful old-time music. Jenny has won many fiddling contests in West Virginia and other states.

There was an ugly sweater contest too. Since I wmown exactly one Christmas shirt, I did not compete. I did do a carol,  though, one of my favorites: The Holly Bears a Berry, which has a refrain for audience singalong.  And of course, I threw in some commentary on the melding of pagan and Christian beliefs in the song, and folklore and superstitions about holly.

Larry and the "old men's club" listening to one of the singers.

On the Ripley courthouse square:

Of course, we had booth work to do.

Ans a couple scenes along the way:

Oops, back to booth photos. These are in Ravenswood,  the others above were in Ripley.

One cold, early morning 

I sent each grandchild one of these Sasquatch ornaments, and Ally sent a photo of it on her tree 

A cozy evening at home.

I think this is my favorite outdoor light.

Pink snow. So pretty.

One of the many, many pieces of glass we were given this week. Miss America pattern by Anchor Hocking, only made between 1935 and 1937.

In the bathroom

Around the house.

These two amber pieces are in the pattern Willow Oak by Bryce Brothers Glass of Pittsburgh, circa 1891, and were a Secret Santa gift from a member of the Early American Pattern Glass  group on Facebook. I joined in the fun, sending some of my Glass to two different group members. Fun!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Inside on a Cold Monday

Overnight was -1°f/-18.3°C, but has warmed to 22°f/-5.5°C as I write.  Mostly cloudy but some periods of sun.

My tree is not leaning, although it sure looks like it here! The yoyo quilt on the chair is waiting for me to repair it. Several of the yoyos are loose and need a few stitches.  Maybe I will start on it tonight.

Cold, why yes it certainly has been! Last night was a let-the-faucets-drip-and-leave-the-cabinet-doors-open kind of night. We were warm enough, and turning on the cookstove to make coffee and tea soon dispelled any lingering chill in the house. Larry was pleased to report that the heated watered for the rabbits worked well. The chickens stayed snug and warm in their new coop under a light, which added enough heat to that they generate themselves to keep them comfy. There was no schol here because of the cold temperatures. I am glad they build in enough snow days in the calendar these days. It always seemed silly to risk children's and school personals health when bad weather could have been allowed for in the okanning process.

It has been another inside day, with Larry only going out long enough to take care of the animals. Even the dogs are happy to stay in, although Pip, being still a puppy, keeps trying to get somebody, anybody to go out and play! The older dogs are having none of it though, so Pup has had to be content with rolling in the snow alone. His fur is so short I don't know how he stands it, but the silly boy loves it. Buddy, who is only 3 years older, stays near the fire, as does dear old Daisy, who is now 17 and totters around amazingly well. Yellow Labs do not usually live this long, so we are grateful for her long life.

I have been pricing stuff, again, getting some totes ready for when we go out to our booths again. We do plan to go out tomorrow night as a musician friend is playing in town. The roads are fine, our driveway, so far, undisturbed. 

Larry has been working on cleaning those pocketknives I bought at auction last month. He finished three and they look great. 

There are at least a dozen more to do, so this little project will keep him occupied for a while. He is still working on all the hickory nuts and black walnuts, too, and has done 2 quarts of walnuts and a quart and a half of hickory nuts so far. It's a good winter project for him, and will keep us supplied for the rest of the year and longer.

It has been easy cooking days lately. Yesterday I made a brunch of eggs, fried potatoes and toast as we ate fairly late, then grilled some chicken breast tenders on the stove and made wraps for dinner. Today we had oatmeal with dried cranberries and cider along with some toast for breakfast. I made, broccoli cheese soup for Larry's lunch (I wasn't hungry) and dinner was salmon,  baked potatoes and salad. I have been using what is in the refrigerator freezer; I had frozen the basis for the soup so just had to thaw it, heat it up and add the milk and cheese. Yummy.

I love the way Blenko glass looks whebmn the shapes overlap. It adds a bright warmth to this cold day.

On the porch, Green Man awaits the Winter Solstice, when he will take over from the Holly King.

And on a porch shelf, lights and joy!

While the Garden Madonna, as I call her, ponders stones beside an old chipped pitcher that I don't have the heart to throw away.

Enough for today!

Winter Whites

13°f/-10.5°C, snow tapered off before 10am. Mostly cloudy now, clearing expected later. We are not expecting to get warmer than about 18° today.

Well, it snowed, and the weatherman was pretty much right on target as we ended up with almost 6 inches. 

Taken through the door window, which gave it a look I kinda like.

And my usual "picture window", as a patch of blue appeared. Flurries continues most of the day, along with a very sharp, blustery wind.

Our Christmas tree some 30+ years ago.

The woodshed looks downright cold. Taken through the bedroom windows, which needs cleaning, again. We just did that chore in October!

One bird out there, which I think is an Eastern Bluebird, judging by its orange breast, but it was hard to tell, even with this zoomed photo.

The woods by the house, where an oak is still clinging to its leaves 

We had planned to go to a play today, and to our great-granddaughter Elliana's 4th birthday party, but instead we holed up here. Little Ellie didn't miss us, I know, as she has her brother and step-siblings to celebrate with her. Here she is in her special birthday dress. Such a little doll.

This next photo has an amazing story: a lady in Wetzel county, West Virginia,  has a hummingbird that is wintering over! It did not leave when all the others did, so she has been keeping it alive as best she can with a heated house, a feeder and catching fruit flies and probably some other things. It survived last night's frigid temperatures, but tonight it will be close to zero. Will it make it through the night? Photo is from the Facebook group West Virginia Birding.

Another Facebook photo, by JR'S Donut Castle in Parkersburg, WV, which I can verify has the most amazing donuts. I have only been there twice, though, because donuts are unfortunately on my naughty list. But this photo could be a Christmas card.

Today has been mainly a keeping-warm kind of day, although the dogs and Larry are in and out so much it seems like the doors have been open as much as they've been shut! I finally begged Larry to please keep the doors closed for an hour, so we can get the house above 67° before we go to bed! He did, finally, hook up the electric heated waterer for the rabbifs, which has been here for a few days. Of course he waited until the coldest day we've had so far to do it, but I think the rabbits will be grateful. We need one for the chickens too but right now we just haul water out to them a couple times a day. 

Larry is an outside kind of guy, no question. He spent almost all day yesterday cleaning out the old chicken house and spreading the bedding/manure on the garden he plans to use for tomatoes and corn next year. And he has been busily keeping the fireplace in wood, which is certainly a pleasure for all of us. If there was just some way to get that wood in without opening a door...

Right now we are cozy and warm, and guess what? The doors gave been closed for 20 minutes!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.