It's been such a nice weekend. The snow has been beautiful - Jack and I have enjoyed it, and I've been able to take a bunch of nice new photographs.

I've linked a photobucket album below - please click on the link to go to photobucket and see all of them.

Today has been a wonderful "snow day" - we've been warm and had fun, and Jack made a small pot of chili for our lunch, which was perfect for the weather.
Snow fell in varying amounts for most of the day but has tapered off this evening, and our precipitation is likely at at end. Though weather like this creates difficulties for a lot of people, Jack and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. We haven't had snow this beautiful in years...

I carried the dogs and my camera for a walk this afternoon.

The layer of ice that was laid down last evening is sandwiched between two nice layers of fluffy snow, which creates a strange-feeling walking surface. The total of our snow is between three and four inches, but walking on it feels strange, because the ice and packed snow beneath it are thick enough that the "surface" doesn't break and you sort of walk on the top of it.

Hot-natured Moose loves this weather more than any of us and has taken many snow rolls today, which is great, because every little bit helps in getting rid of the skunk stench he brought home last night.

Yes, in the middle of the biggest snowstorm we've had in twenty some-odd years, Moose decides to mix-it-up with a skunk. He came home reeking to the high heavens last night, and there was no getting-around giving him a bath. Thankfully, he's easy to bathe and just sits in the tub... We gave him a dose of "the potion" and he's smelling much better now. Our towels, on the other hand, will need another cycle through the washing machine.

New Lu

When I ended up with an early morning meeting being scheduled for Wednesday, I made the decision to spend the night at The Baby House. Staying close to town is so much easier when I need to be at work before seven o'clock in the morning, especially this time of year when the early morning chill is enough to take your breath.

Sis asked if I could babysit Lucia for a couple of hours while she and Chris grabbed a rare dinner "out", and of course Aunt Pam was ready for action.

Lucia is perpetually delightful and Tuesday night was no exception. She laughed and played and walked (just a little) and entertained me thoroughly.

Looking at the slideshow of her "baby" baby pictures that are still here on the blog, it is amazing to see how much this little girl has changed...

First Post on a Snowy Saturday

Gosh, where to begin?

It's been an eventful week, and looking back on it now, I wish I'd done a mid-week blog update, but at least I now have something to occupy some of my time on this snowy, icy, stay-at-home day.

Yes, we've finally gotten some weather that's worth writing-home-about.

With hope for a beautiful snowfall and a responsible amount of skepticism, Jack and I watched the weather forecasts all week like eager-eyed children and were thrilled yesterday to see the first flakes begin to fall. By late afternoon we had watched our landscape become covered by a thick blanket of snow. Quite spectacular.

Sometime in the overnight hours, the snow we received turned to ice and freezing rain, so this morning in addition to the snow, there's also a fancy little glazing of ice on the power lines and tree branches. Beautiful though it might be, ice on power lines and trees always leads to trouble, which we experienced around 5:00 this morning when the power went off. Lucky for us, the wood stove doesn't care if there's any electricity or not, so we stayed toasty warm.

The outage, which was, according to many of my facebook friends, fairly widespread across the county, only lasted a couple of hours, so I must give a blog shout-out to those hard-working folks that get the call from Caney Fork Electric Cooperative in the middle of the night and have to leave the comfort and safety of their own homes to provide for the comfort and safety of the people they serve. Bravo!

Here are a few pictures of our "winter wonderland" from yesterday and earlier this morning. I will update periodically throughout the day with more pictures of snow, new Lucia pictures I took during a baby-sitting adventure Tuesday night, and an account of Moose's first-meeting with a skunk.

Have a great day, everyone - check back soon!

Saturday Night, Basketball, Television, Dogs

First of all, "high five" to all the Vandy fans out there. The win over Auburn today was fabulous - Kevin Stallings has done wonders with the program there, and today is proof of his ability to pull his team through tough competition.

Tennessee fans... Georgia was big and bad and had offense out the ying-yang. We've had a seven game winning streak, and considering some of the extracurricular problems the team has had in recent weeks, it's maybe time for a gut check. The Volunteers finally have a men's coach that's fit to sit on the same bench with Pat Head Summitt, but that doesn't necessarily mean winning every game. Sure, Georgia is a conference loss, but don't forget the win over Kansas two weeks ago. It's cool. This didn't hurt us badly in the standings.

A basketball update?

Absolutely.

Jack's birthday was Monday, and he wanted new television - not a new television, but new television in the broad sense. High definition. Flexibility. On-demand. Real sound. Internet capability.

And now we have it.

OK. I've never been as much of TV person as some members of my family, but this high-definition stuff is WOW. Especially for sports.

Jack found great deals on everything and did all kinds of negotiating with the folks at DirecTV, and while it was his birthday, we are both the beneficiary of his vision for television in our house.

When Jack and I first met, I had no computer and an ancient portable television that sometimes got all three channels from Nashville and the UHF channel from Cookeville the rest of the time. Jack scored a major victory when he installed our first DirecTV dish, and I said, "this is cool."

Our new outfit, all installed by Jack (with carpentry assistance from me) is wonderful.

I was skeptical at first.

"A 47 inch television? Who needs a TV that big? High-definition? Is that really going to make a difference?"

Word.

Between coverage of the Australian Open and NCAA basketball, I'm converted.

Today was a lovely day, and Jack and I got out for awhile to play with the dogs -- they LOVED it, and so did we --

And crocus are starting to bloom...

Sunday Lunch

Happy Sunday!

While the weather is rainy, the temperatures are much warmer and more tolerable than what we were dealing with a couple of weeks ago. Jack can wear his short pants, and the dogs don't require coercion to go outside for their "business trips". Moose IS the exception on that latter point. As far as he's concerned, the colder the better. When we took him out to play in the snow last week, he kept stretching out and lounging on the frozen ground. Here in the house, he finds the coldest places on the floor to do his napping. Moose has been "on the bench" for most of the game this week, having been neutered on Monday. He seems to realize that something is different, but he can't quite figure out what it is...

Jack has made us a big pot of vegetable beef soup, which is perfect for a cool, rainy day, and while I haven't tasted it yet, the aroma wafting in from the kitchen is making my mouth water.

We have nothing on the agenda for today, other than watching what will hopefully be a couple of good football games. The Vikings just kicked off to Dallas - we want Minnesota to win this one; not so much because we're fans or have any particular affection for Brett Favre but because it's always nice to see a team like that have a great season. And we really don't like Dallas.

Jack and I have also been pulling for New Orleans this year. When the Titans had such a bad start, we decided we needed a "back-up" for whom to cheer, and the Saints were playing so hot, we picked them. And we really like the city of New Orleans.

The woodpecker in the photograph was a visitor in our yard yesterday. We see these little guys frequently in the winter months.

Jack took advantage of the warmer temperatures yesterday to split some of the wood that he and Dad cut and hauled earlier this week. The two big loads they fetched could possibly last us through the rest of the season, so YES, we can start thinking about spring now...

Thoughts from a Frosty Night

I changed the picture at the top of the page. If you liked it, I'm sorry. I found it depressing... The photo was too dark, the lettering was too dark, the overall feeling was too dark. And this is a happy blog. For whatever reason, I decided that I really didn't like that picture --

If some of you liked that photo, I'm including one in this post that I think you'll like better.

The new picture at the top is, of course, Moose -- I tried some new stuff in photoshop; black and white except for the tennis ball, and picking colors from the tennis ball to use as the text, and some different "mojo" on the text. Playing with my pictures is just fun.

I didn't take any new ones today - I pretty much stayed in the house, but here's one from last night. I used my new tripod (thanks, Santa) and did some long exposures on the snowflakes being laid-down on the deck. During the day the light is different and makes for difficult visualization of individual flakes, but under the porch-light last evening, it was a flood of icy doilies drifting softly downward...

Snow Day

I got several things done on this work-from-home day; even participated in a conference call. Technology rocks!

This afternoon Jack and I took Moose and Diva to the field across the road for some romping and chasing --

Jack and Diva did the "snow dance"...

Moose levitated a tennis ball.

Lots of fun...

Snow Days - 1966

We were supposed to have snow today. Lots of it. Schools are cancelled everywhere and the ground is barely white.

Here are some snowy memories from our library of home movies.

Enjoy!

Tuesday Night

The weather is cold. Unbelievably cold. And it's going to stay this way for several days, with snow and a dip to near zero forecast for later in the week.

We're supposed to start getting snow sometime tomorrow evening, and with the ground already frozen solid, anything that falls will stick. I'm a big fan of snow, but I prefer it come on a weekend and not when I have a thousand things on my "to do" list at work.

As long as I can get where I need to go and perhaps snap a few decent photographs, I will be fine.

I had an early morning meeting today and spent the night with Mom at the baby house last evening to be closer to town. When I left there at dawn today and the thermometer on the car read 13 degrees, I was glad I only had a 25 minute drive.

I made a couple of stops on my way to the baby house; to visit a dear friend and take some pictures of her sweet dog and to visit the V3 and take some pictures of my sweet niece. I'm including samples of both.

Happy Tuesday night!

Dinner on a Cold Evening

Chicken and Dumplings with a beautiful, colorful salad --

Jack pointed out that the new picture at the "top of the blog" looks like a Christmas card, and he's right, so Merry Christmas - again. As far as photos and "art" for the blog are concerned, I go with what I have when I have it, which, I think, is an OK attitude for a non-commercial venture such as this...

Even though we haven't gone two weeks since winter solstice, Jack and I already notice that the days are getting longer. We let the dogs out for a short, romp with Roxie-next-door at dark. Two weeks ago, those were happening somewhere in the neighborhood of 4:45. Now, it's 5:30.

Spring will be here before we know it. Seriously.

I tell that to myself as we look at a "5 Day Forecast" that includes sub-freezing high temperatures every day this week. Thinking about Spring helps sometimes...

We do have snow in the forecast, and that's generally not a bad thing as far as I'm concerned, but it's supposed to happen Thursday evening into Friday. I have an early morning meeting on Friday and have already made plans to stay at The Baby House on Thursday night to be at work bright and early for my meeting on Friday, so there's no chance of using a "snow day" to work from home, one of my favorite things in the world. As long as I can get home at the end of the day and start my next weekend on time, I will be fine.

Jack made the most fabulous pot of chili on New Year's Eve. I have no pictures to share, but I can easily say this was his best batch ever - big chunks of falling-apart-tender beef and the perfect layering of savory flavors with heat and texture. He crafted it over the course of the day, and wow. It was seriously the best chili ever. Hands down. He added something to hit every part of the tongue, and it was wonderful. Jack's chili is always something special, and I must give him full credit for turning me into a "chili snob".

I hate that when it comes to chili, my first question is, "Do you use ground beef?" and the second question is "Do you break a sweat?", but once you've had the best, it's hard to go back.

OK, well... I'll eat it on a hot dog.

Snow: Just a Touch

This morning Jack and I work up to a light coating of snow on the deck. Dry, icy snow.

There was no accumulation, and by lunchtime, there was no evidence that snow had even fallen. What didn't simply blow away was evaporated in the frigidly bright sunlight.

Illuminated by the sun, the snowflakes looked like glitter.

All is Quiet on New Year's Day

Happy 2010!!

Jack and I have had a quiet but wonderful start to the New Year, staying warm by the stove, eating good food, watching football...

Jack made a big pot of chili yesterday, and we're still enjoying it. He makes the best chili in the world - hands down. And whenever the weather starts getting cold, Jack's chili is one of the first things that comes to mind.

If this break is any indication of things to come, Jack and I are certainly not going to starve to death this year, though one of our main objectives in the first few months is to starve enough to lose some of the weight we both picked up in 2009.

I tried to take some pictures of the dogs this afternoon and had the best of intentions. Jack and I took Dudley and the Moose to the field across the road from the house with plans for tennis ball chase and supervised fun. Wrong.

Jimmy led Moose and Dudley on a wild goose chase across some deer trail, despite Jack's and my commands of "stop" and "no" - I even resorted to the "BAH" thing my sister uses for her dogs that ours have never heard before. Nothing worked.

Jack and I took the car up the road and collected the two "big boys" where we thought they might be - Dudley was nowhere to be seen. Thirty minutes later, Dudley finally came running home and has been, for the most part, passed-out since his return.

There are times that Jack and I would throw Jimmy into a hole, if we could only get our hands on him, and this afternoon in the Webb's dog-friendly field at thirty-two degrees on the thermometer with tennis balls in hand and an obedient Moose until Jimmy came scampering through - it was one of those times.

I'm working on a project - a compilation of my best 100 photos from 2009. Currently, after two "cullings", I have about 800 in the pile/file... Maybe by the end of this weekend stay-cation, I'll have them sorted and ready for photobucket.

Happy New Year!!!!

I'm going to bed now...

Love ya'll.