Saturday, January 11, 2014

Quilt of Valor presentation

I had the honor and privledge to drive to Starke, Fla. on Thurs. to present a QOV to a Viet Nam veteran who was sprayed with Agent Orange and is having many health problems. He and wife live in a modest single wide trailer home on a beautiful lake. The road was dirt, but thankfully not too bad with the little bit of rain we had. He was so happy! It brightened his day, not to mention mine. This was my first experience in doing this (there was a script to follow). Another quilter went with me, and her name is Sara (h) also. We had quite a good day. Stopped at a fresh fruit stand and bought the first strawberries of the season. I just bought a few, but they were wonderful. Got to talk to a farmer who had spent 2 nights in the strawberry field checking on the crops. Evidently if the temp. drops below 18 the sprinklers freeze up. Thankfully it was only 24 he said. Also bought some fresh honey from a bee farm in the area. Yum! Nothing like tea with honey. Sara in Fla where it is 75 today.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Same view, winter's morn

My camera has not been working so I'm glad to have these photos from my neighbour around the corner.  This is her view from her back porch, it's a view we see but not until we walk out to our back field as there are tall spruce trees that block our view from the house except from the upstairs windows.  This morning, I saw a buck walking past my bedroom window, which I was glad to see, he's a singleton...unusual as the does all run in packs but maybe they've tossed the buck out of the pack...I'm assuming he's done his job and they no longer need him.  The babies are born early spring.  At least he was moving through the snow (ice beneath it which makes walking or running difficult for them).  While the sun may be rosy coming up, it's pretty bleak still.  Interesting when we all live in such different climates to see the terrain.
Rosey who missed the rosy sunrise this morning.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

The polar vortex . . . !!!

Rosey,  love the photo.  That is the reality check we need down south here, as we have suffered from the cold but not been hit as badly.

It has been cold here in Middle Tennessee, but nothing like our neighbors to the north have suffered.
We woke up to 2°F on Monday and Tuesday mornings and the wind ..... ACK!!!  Wind and its chill factor were unbelievable.   To save on natural gas (and the resulting bill),  I moved the thermostat back a couple of degrees to 64/65F and wore an extra layer in the house.

Sophie was immune to the elements and took .. her... time ... doing her business outside while I was at the other end of her leash.   While I was bundled up for the weather, my face was not.    Oh, the pain from that cold wind chill!  

Today we are back to more normal temps ... a balmy 40°F and I felt like washing the car.   LOL

DH and DSon had a wonderful trip to the BCS bowl game.   Too bad that Auburn lost, but at least they made Florida work hard to win.   ;-)   With all the airport drama due to this bad weather,  their non-stop flights out and back home were only delayed by 30 and 20 minutes, so they were very lucky!!!

I spent the polar vortex days sewing polar fleece footie pajama sleepers for our granddaughter.  KwikSew has a great pattern (2919) that I use.  DGD should have plenty enough that DDIL won't have to do laundry quite as often, hopefully.   They are the easiest wardrobe for a baby her age, during winter's cold weather.

Well, I think I have this post done up right to get paragraphs, so we'll see.

Stay warm everyone.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

How's this for the reality of winter

Pretty bleak and this was taken during the daytime by neighbours who snowshoe across the back of our property.  It is overlooking the valley to the north.  Now you know why Canadians flee to the southern climates and Florida where Sara lives.
It's -8F tonight and the windchills will make it more like -34F...that's 32F which is freezing, this is below zero F.  Believe me, it's bitterly cold.
Rosey in Southern Ontario, Canada

Monday, January 6, 2014

Good news about eye

We went to the Mayo clinic eye Dr. this morning, a good report. He took pictures of the spot, and I will go back in 3 months. Just checking every 3 months this year, hoping that it stays as good as it is now. I have pretty good vision now, the blurry vision has gone away. So things are looking up! Stay warm everyone in No. America. Going to be down to 20 here, -20 where my daughter lives in No. Dakota. Sara in Fla.