Diary of a Winter

Oh Paula.!
my sympathies! At least you didn't have foul weather and the horrible bronchial flu we had over here!
We are all just trying to cheer ourselves up until the weather does improve ! I have lots of my hellebores budding and various bulbs through which gives you such a boost!~have you got any bulbs in the house?
are you able to get anywhere yet? make sure your hubby gets you some hyacinths,tete a tete mini daffs,amaryllis or something bright that you can put all over your kitchen to cheer you up!
Best wishes
Arlene

WOW, what a heavy snow fall, I haven't seen anything like that in years!! On the last picture, is that your house and the chimneys under the children lol?
I think Arlene is right, if you can get to the shops, get some spring bulbs to cheer up the inside - Grenville did a wonderful blog on how to brighten up Winter with some lovely bulbs and arrangements.
Hope it greens up soon for you..............

Ooooooh dear! Nice to look at for a while, IF you don't have to go out in it, that is.

We'll keep posting flower photos - or will that make you feel worse?

Arlene, thanks for the sympathies. No, we didn't have the terrible flu that I heard about from other GoY members. You're right, bulbs are just the ticket! Don't know why I didn't think of that. The roads are clear now in town, a little ice here and there on the back roads yet. We're supposed to get a weather break in a couple of days. Above freezing! "Hoo-Ray!"
Can't tell you and the rest of the GOY people how much fun it is to talk and joke with everyone. All of you are making my winter days go quickly. Thanks.

Andrearichter, That snow pile the kids are on is a bit deceptive. My son plowed all the snow in his driveway into a heap in the middle. The kids love it.
I'll look for the Grenville blog.
This was an unusual winter, it ususally snows a few inches and melts and snows again, very often our winters are frosty but open, with early spring.

Spritzhenry, by all means keep posting flowers! They remind me that spring is almost here!

LOL...too funny....looks like the kids found things to do...must have been paradise for them...drums and mountains of snow...poor Jada..how much did she have to eat...?

Oh Weedy....You took your last sentence right out of my head....LOL...I know exactly how you feel....damn dam. Ha ha ha.

Jada's a finicky eater...she stopped at the end of the driveway! Um...that may not be completely true. :-)

Alene, I looked for some bulbs at a store here that has a gardening department, but they weren't out yet. We're going to Portland, OR for Jada's birthday. (That's a few hundred miles south and much warmer.) Theres a giant garden store there where my daughter-in-law likes to browse. Bet they'll have just what you recommend. :-) Thanks.

Gilli, I had a feeling you might relate to this. :-)

~that sounds good!
You may still find some amaryllis bulbs which only take 6-8 weeks to flower from being planted, being sold off cheaply as Lori did but whatever you can get in flower will do you the power of good ~they are so colourful and cheerful.
I have a bowl of snowdrops outside which are now through and I am waiting for them to flower~could still be awhile but will put a pic on when I can..I hope you can get something nice.
Regards
Arlene

My dear Sisty...I hope you have a great trip on to Portland...how old is our Jada now? I found some daff's pushing barely pushing through the other day..and now this morning it was 21 dergees again...so cold..I have stopped working in my garage...cannot get it warm enough out there with the wood burner for it to be ok to keep on working in there...so am working in house packing and sorting for now...stuff to put in storage, garage sale, Heather's store...use in house for Holiday travelers who I am hoping to rent too....goodness... making such a strange re-aarangement of my life ...but it is a good thing...it makes me feel like I am making forward motion instead of being stuck in wet cement...Happy flower shopping...wishing you
Tulips....love ya..~Sis-n

Arlene, Amaryllis would be nice, they are flamboyant, and I like watching them grow; might be just what I need.
Looking forward to the snowdrop pix. Thanks

Sis'n, Jada will be 7. Tall like her gramma.

Glad you're getting some of the hard stuff done. Nothing is ever gained by standing still. (Unless you're a statue with a pigeon on your head. <:-[ I'm pretty sure you don't want that. (We have pigeons in our barn, one 'bombed' Mr. Weeds, so to speak, last year, he's still cranky about it.)

Renting the house to people on vacation is really a good idea! Would it be all summer to one renter or a few weeks at a time? You have a great location for that kind of thing.
Rick and Karen rent homes for a few days at a time along the coast a lot. They rented that one at the ferry dock on the Whidbey Island side a couple of years ago.

I would do it weekends etc..and up to two weeks at a time... I am thinking it would be good for a family or retreat groups...and then if I needed it for family etc. it would still be available...I cannot think of selling it in this economy...so this way it can pay for itself at least...and maybe give me a little bit of an income as well...

Tell Forest Glen...I think some times your the pigeon and some times your the statue......LOL... that's just life..

I can't think of a better solution for you.

Forest Glen was definitely the statue that time. -Small snicker behind the hand here.
In my defense for sounding disloyal, he got a giant chuckle out of the seagull and the margarita on the deck at Ripples.

LOL...oh I bet he did...but I bet you got another Margarita too...lol

Well the fun certainly went out of the first one! It was not a pretty sight.

Yuck......

Sorry to hear you're snowed in like that. It must be very depressing for you. I hope it thaws soon. It'll take a while by the look of it. :o(

I saw four robins yesterday. The first real sign of spring! :-) Nothing like the first robins of spring to cheer a person up! I'm wondering what they're eating? Anybody know? The ground is frozen solid and there are no worms yet.

I have not seen any here yet ....what are they doing there already...? Do they come this early normally?

Yes they do, but I didn't expect them so soon this year. Hope they brought a sack lunch. :-|

Hi your tree picture is stunning, have never seen anything like it, quite amazing.

Dottydaisy, thank you. The trees are covered with hoarfrost or rime. It's not snow, it comes from the moisture in fog. We had many days of thick fog combined with far below freezing temperatures. As it builds up day after day, it gets very heavy. Several of my neighbors tree branches broke down. Some were huge branches from big fir trees.