Trying out a new skill

I haven’t been working on my big computer in quite a while and my skills are very rusty.  I was trying to remember how to make an animated gif.  I hope that I finally succeeded.  Here are the results. Hope it doesn’t make you dizzy.  LOL 

Brr...Bradford

Minus 7.5.  Like a lot of the country Bradford is in the deep freeze this morning. We even cancelled our daily morning coffee group. Schools are cancelled too. Everyone is huddled indoors now unless they have to be out. 

    I thought you might enjoy these snow images I've gathered from the Internet. 

Always an adventure with Chris

You may remember our wintry trip to the Stone Tower when Chris was visiting the last time.  It’s always an adventure with him.  While we were in Tennessee he wanted to take us to Fontana Dam. Now this is in North Carolina about two hours from Ryan’s house in Tennessee.  So we loaded us all up in two vans and took the drive over on a windy cold day.
   To get there you have to travel the Tail of the Dragon, a curvy famous road that motorcyclists from all over the country come to ride. The Tail of the Dragon with 318 curves in 11 miles, is America's number one motorcycle and sports car road. The road is internationally known and auto-enthusiasts from all over come to challenge its curves.  Jenny and I both took our Dramamine before we left.  Too bad we didn’t give Sara some. We had to stop half way to let her out to get some air.
  Since it is such a dangerous road there is a motorcycle accident on it almost every week and lots of deaths have been attributed to its switchbacks and bad curves.  Half way up there is a small restaurant and the Tree of Shame:
There were two dams that we visited that day.  The first was the one made famous in a scene of The Fugitive.

The second was Fontana Dam which is so large that we could drive our car across it.

It was an interesting trip…but I must say, the Tail of the Dragon can go on without me.

What’s new in the kitchen

  I am sharing this post on Kim Klassen's Friday Finds. For more..check out her blog on my sidebar. 

Just when you think you don’t need another thing in your kitchen you get these:

I’d been looking for a fruit stand that I liked for quite a while and when I saw this one at TJ Maxx I brought it home. I didn’t intend for it to hold the napkins and salt but it was so darn convenient…and isn’t that what life is all about right now?
But the top is great for a little fruit too.

And then I found this:
I’d been looking for a mug tree.  Do you know that they don’t sell those in the stores any more? I looked online but didn’t like the choices. And then in Target here it was back by the Threshold selection.  It’s not really a mug tree. Shh…don’t tell. It’s a jewelry holder. But I think it works just fine.

And for Christmas Ryan and Jenny got me this silverware holder. I’ve had a thing with chicken wire for some reason and I love it.

It is so convenient (there’s that word again) to have the silverware out and ready.

And not everything is a hit. I thought this honey pitcher would be just the most excellent thing to hold the honey for my tea.  I loved the shape and the idea.  But maybe the one I got is defective because the honey drips to the bottom catcher and it fills up.  I don’t think it is supposed to work that way.

But nevertheless I’m keeping it. I’m having a tendency to want things out where I can get to the easily…for tea, for eating.  No rummaging around in drawers.  Everything is out. 
   By the way, how do you like the pictures taken with my new camera? 

Ordinary pleasures

How ordinary is your day today?  Mine is quiet. I made some potato soup for my supper. I'm on soft foods since I had another bad choking incident the other day. I'm seeking a specialist after six years of throat scopes. The laundry is done, all the Christmas stuff put away in the attic, and even the outdoor stuff is put away. It's a return to normal. 

   Are you enjoying these cold quiet January days?

The time for home

Winter," Edith Sitwell wrote, "is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home."

Are you finding yourself more relaxed these days? I love January. You can finally exhale and say aah.  All the December rush is over.  Now you can sit quietly and contemplate, planning your adventures for the new year. 

  I find myself moving slowly. I'm in no rush to put things away so gradually I am carrying things to the back room. I didn't put out as many decorations this year. I plan on going through the remaining ones to cull out unwanted ones. The Christmas bins seem to take up most of the space in the attic. It's time for some of them to go. These days I don't seem to have a problem throwing things out or taking them to the goodwill. I don't have an attachment to things. 

   I have organizing plans for the new year. But for now I need to just relax, read and enjoy 

What I did on my Christmas vacation

When I taught third grade I used to give a writing assignment after Christmas…What I did on my Christmas vacation.  It was always interesting to see how they enjoyed their time off. This Christmas we went to Tennessee to visit Ryan and family. While we were there Chris and his boys, girlfriends, and dogs came too. We had a fantastic time being all together for a week. Here are some highlights.


As always I had such fun with my two little grandchildren. I brought felt, googly eyes and popsicle sticks and we made Christmas puppets.

Christmas morning was a delight with the screeching and whopping.   They were so happy with all their presents.

The next morning when we got up I thought it was romantic that Ryan and Jenny were sitting in front of the fire….until they told me that they lost power.  Luckily it was only for a few hours.

Then they rest of the group arrived. That night we had real tamales courtesy of my friend Linda Platko. It was a Mexican feast.
And then Christmas all over again.  

The next day Ryan fixed us a wonderful breakfast. He is the king of breakfast potatoes.

 

Go ahead, make a mistake

"

I HOPE THAT IN THIS YEAR TO COME, YOU MAKE MISTAKES.

BECAUSE IF YOU ARE MAKING MISTAKES, THEN YOU ARE MAKING NEW THINGS, TRYING NEW THINGS, LEARNING, LIVING, PUSHING YOURSELF, CHANGING YOURSELF, CHANGING YOUR WORLD. YOU’RE DOING THINGS YOU’VE NEVER DONE BEFORE, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, YOU’RE DOING SOMETHING.

SO THAT’S MY WISH FOR YOU, AND ALL OF US, AND MY WISH FOR MYSELF. MAKE NEW MISTAKES. MAKE GLORIOUS, AMAZING MISTAKES. MAKE MISTAKES NOBODY’S EVER MADE BEFORE. DON’T FREEZE, DON’T STOP, DON’T WORRY THAT IT ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH, OR IT ISN’T PERFECT, WHATEVER IT IS: ART, OR LOVE, OR WORK OR FAMILY OR LIFE.

WHATEVER IT IS YOU’RE SCARED OF DOING, DO IT.

MAKE YOUR MISTAKES, NEXT YEAR AND FOREVER.

"

Cancelled because of snow

Brrr. Bradford!  We are having a winter chill here. It will be minus two by tomorrow. I'm glad that we are home safe and sound from Tennessee. Don went out for a few groceries but I plan to stay in all weekend. Our Literary club meeting for tomorrow has been cancelled. So has school for the day.     Today I've been putting things away and getting back to normal. I will leave the winter decorations up for a while. There's really no hurry to get them back in the attic. Wherever you are I hope that you are getting a great start in the new year. 

Ryan made theses batwings for Sean. 

Back to snow

I'm back today and back to slippery snowy roads and cold temperatures. I can see why my son loves the south. The driving is easy with clear roads. We even had one day that we could be outside without a coat or sweater. I love my town and wouldn't trade it for the knoxville area with all of those people all over all the time. I like my simple quiet life.