Day Eighty Four 2013

SNOW DAY

Ah, Spring! Who’d have thought March 25th would be a snow day? Talk about March madness. Students and teachers in our neck of middle Tennessee woke up and rejoiced and then went back to sleep.

I was going to make a new recipe this morning for the Crockpot that called for mild chopped green chilies. I had the chopped green chilies, but the operative word here was ‘mild’. Alas, mine were hot. Just wouldn’t do. So off I go to Wal-Mart for the proper ingredient. First, had to scrape the snow off the car. Looks like we got an inch or more.

It’s spring time in Wal-Mart (or maybe more like summer time). Guess Mother Nature didn’t get the memo.

It couldn’t have been a bleaker day, but I do like the snow flurries. It flurried here all day long. May get another inch or two tonight and tomorrow.

The new recipe  is White Chicken Chili ~ thus the need for chopped green chilies [mild]. I’m not a great cook, but I do know how to create a great mess when trying some new recipe.

Looked good. Smelled good while it cooked all day long.

I used the last of the bird seed to fill up one of the feeders this morning. And I always put out peanut butter when it’s this cold. The birdies love that stuff.

Even the doves didn’t want to be walking around on the cold ground today. They’re always welcome on the feeders …

… if they can manage to hang on and eat at the same time.

Grandpeeps Elijah and Shelby came to stay with me around lunch time today. Since our fave Thai food place is closed for the next six weeks, we had lunch with the Colonel. I wish I knew what Elijah was saying to Shelby … that’s what happens when you’re too busy taking the picture … you miss stuff.

Meat and potatoes kind of guy.

And girl. Love those KFC taters.

We hit Ralph’s Donut Shop after porking out on chicken and brought home a dozen to be savored later at snack time. With cold milk, of course. We didn't eat them all ~ just in case you're wondering.

The White Chicken Chili turned out great. A hearty meal on a cold windy snowy spring day. Especially with a dollop or two or three of sour cream. Fritos, too, which are always good anytime anywhere.

Seems like it was a day for chicken in various forms. Since we were out of bird seed, Neil and I went to Tractor Supply after supper to pick up some seed [the birds still need to be fed until the bugs start to hatch] and they had baby chicks for sale. [Easter is on its way.] They’re such cute fuzzy little peeps. You just want to hold them and squeeze them and love them.

And they had Easter bunnies, too.

And Easter ducks. Quack! Hope they all end up in good homes.
Happy Monday, y’all!

Day Eighty Three 2013

I took this picture of the stone path in front of my house this evening and had some fun with it in Photoshop Elements 5.0. I think I’ll share it on another blog that I share with my sisters and nieces and daughters. It’s called Waiting On The Lord. If you’re interested in spiritual matters, please check it out:  http://wearewaitingforthelord.blogspot.com/
Hope your week is awesome!

Day Eighty Two 2013

[Ever Lovin Saturday![

Neil and I spent several hours this afternoon and evening with daughter Kelly, son in law Kerry and grandson Knox, who has really grown since we saw him almost three weeks ago.

His new favorite thing to do is lift this jug of detergent and carry it from the laundry room into the kitchen and back again.

By the way he grunts and groans when he’s picking it up, you’d think it was full and weighed a hundred pounds. We told him how big and strong he is, which pleased him to no end. So he kept doing it, over and over. Major cuteness.

We enjoyed a yummy lunch at The Chop House and got to sit beside the fireplace which didn’t really need to be going since the day was so mild. Knox had fun playing with cell phones and noodles. He had my phone to his ear at one point, like he was listening to somebody. He may have made a call for all I know. I would have taken his picture when he was doing this but he was using my phone.

He LOVES to be outside, and he LOVES to play with brooms.

He had more fun than pint sized human beings should be allowed to have on a Saturday afternoon.

He’ll sweep your porch for free any day of the week.

We went for a brief stroll around the neighborhood where you might hear/see a barking dog. Or even a moo cow or two. There’s a big farm close by.

He’s learning to feed himself with a spoon.

And doing a most excellent job, landing those spaghetti O’s right where they’re supposed to be.

Son in law Kerry worked hard all day (and all week) but stopped by Toots for some take out supper of chicken and fries and big fat onion rings, which is a treat for Neil and me since we don’t have a Toots any more. Thanks, Kerry! We enjoyed the meal and enjoyed those delicious dark chocolate brownies and ice cream and the whole time we got to spend with our far away peeps. And we especially enjoyed those sweet [wet] goodbye Knox kisses. Love you guys!

Day Eighty One 2013

Squirrel in motion. He was racing toward something, probably the weekend, like everybody else on a Friday. Happy T G I F !

Day Eighty 2013

35 degrees at lunch time today. Welcome, first full day of Spring!

I’m trying some new recipes. Made Black Bean Soup in the Crockpot after lunch. I got to use things like lime and cilantro and cumin and ground cloves and balsamic vinegar, all in the same dish, a departure for me, especially the cumin. I made this unholy mess in my kitchen and for all my effort was rewarded with a most pleasing aroma wafting through my house.

This Black Bean Soup was great for a cold night, especially since it set our taste buds on fire. Didn’t expect it to be inferno hot, but Neil and I both agreed it was the most unusual tasting soup we’d ever experienced and it was quite good. Some sour cream on top helped take the bite off, and Fritos were good with it, too. And since there were leftovers, we’ll most likely be having it for lunch tomorrow.

Ah, Spring! It’s 36 degrees which called for a fire in the wood stove. There’s snow in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow. Like I said, ‘Mother Nature’ doesn’t care what the calendar says where the weather is concerned. Not one bit.

Day Seventy Nine 2013

Happy spring, y’all! [it snowed this afternoon]

Day Seventy Eight 2013

Come, gentle Spring! ethereal Mildness! come.
~ James Thomson








And all about, the softening air
Of new-born sweetness tells,
And the ungathered Mayflowers wear
The tint of ocean shells.
The old, assuring miracle:
is fresh as heretofore:
And earth takes up its parable of life from death once more.
~ Whittier

[We’re in the final hours of winter. Finally. Spring begins with the vernal equinox at 7:02 A.M. (EDT) on March 20, 2013 in the Northern Hemisphere. Today was a beautiful sunny blue sky spring like day, this last day of winter. But we all know ‘Mother Nature’ doesn’t pay much attention to dates on the calendar when it comes to the weather. So, for what it’s worth, goodbye winter!]

Day Seventy Seven 2013

"March bustles in on windy feet
And sweeps my doorstep and my street.
She washes and cleans with pounding rains,
Scrubbing the earth of winter stains.
She shakes the grime from carpet green
Till naught but fresh new blades are seen.
Then, house in order, all neat as a pin,
She ushers gentle springtime in."
~ Susan Reiner, Spring Cleaning

Day Seventy Six 2013

It’s Saint Patrick’s Day. Neil and I stopped by our local pub [Poet’s On The Square Coffeehouse] and ordered up a brew or two. Couldn’t help notice this Post-It note on the counter. I said ‘really?’ The barista said some people let them know they don’t like it when the order takes too long to be filled. Wow. Some people, huh?

Actually, Neil and I weren’t celebrating St. Paddy’s Day or anything  else for that matter. We just wanted some frozen hot chocolate, or, in his case, frozen cookies and cream. We don’t need an excuse to have tasty frozen treats.

I do have a bit of Irish in me [more like Scotch-Irish, as my dad would tell me] but I suppose everyone is Irish on Saint Patrick’s Day.

Happy St. Paddy's Day, y'all!

Day Seventy Five 2013

I couldn’t have ordered a more perfect spring day than today. And it isn’t even spring yet.

Day Seventy Four 2013

Apparently, this is what Julius Caesar thought before he was assassinated on March 15, 44 BC.

In modern times, the Ides of March is best known as the date on which Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. Caesar was stabbed to death at a meeting of the senate. As many as 60 conspirators, led by Brutus and Cassius, were involved. According to Plutarch, a seer had warned that harm would come to Caesar no later than the Ides of March. On his way to the Theatre of Pompey, where he would be assassinated, Caesar passed the seer and joked, "The ides of March have come," meaning to say that the prophecy had not been fulfilled, to which the seer replied "Aye, Caesar; but not gone." This meeting is famously dramatized in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, when Caesar is warned by the soothsayer to "beware the Ides of March.”  The death of Caesar made the Ides of March a turning point in Roman history, as one of the events that marked the transition from the historical period known as the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ides_of_March

I do hope everything about your TGIF is totally hunky dory. Have a wonderful weekend, y'all!

Day Seventy Three 2013

Grandpeeps Elijah and Shelby spent the day with Neil and me as their spring break winds down. Lunched at KFC. Elijah was playing with his Jell-o and flipped some on the wall. Shelby is making the universal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ gesture. Elijah did eventually wipe it off the wall.

Landed at the DQ for frozen treats with more peeps. Daughter Holly, sister Jane, granddaughter Shelby, niece Julia, and niece Sarah having a laugh which I missed cause I was taking this picture.

And here’s one with Elijah in the mix ~ the only man in a sea of cooties. Or is that cuties?

After stuffing ourselves with chicken and ice cream, we spent some time in the sunshine. Neil pitched ball to Elijah who is signed up to play T Ball this spring.

Batter, batter, swing, batter! He can really pop them out of the park (or into the street).

I love this picture of Shelby. She doesn’t even know I took it as she walked away, going after the big ball she’d been kicking around the yard. She’s eleven and such a great kid who is quickly growing into her teenage years. Nope. Not gonna think about that right now. Sure did enjoy spending the day with my peeps. Always do.

Day Seventy Two 2013

Housework is always open ended. I feel a bit like Cinderella when I sweep the hearth with this worn out fireplace broom. [I always think of her as Cinderelly, like the Disney movie mice called her.]

Neil had the day off and was back out in the yard, getting it ready to put down some mulch. I didn’t envy him that, as it was a cold windy cloudy winter day ~ not much sun here. When I snapped this picture, there was a brief moment of snow flurries. Thought I was seeing things because at that moment the sun was out. They were here and gone in a blink.

We treated ourselves to a frozen cookies and cream drink at Poet’s coffee house this afternoon. Crazy thing to do on this cold day. It was delicious, but, living up to its name, froze us half to death.

Neil built a fire when we got back home. Took the chill off for sure. So much for Cinderelly’s hard work sweeping that dirty hearth.