Not Armageddon...Just Raleigh

ABC-11 News

It started snowing in Raleigh yesterday afternoon.  It came down fast and piled up quickly.  Apparently, everyone left work at the same time...and this scene took place just five miles from my home.  If my husband had come home from work on the Interstate, his truck may have been abandoned next to all these other ones.

Once  he got home safely (taking more than two hours to go about ten miles) I was able to enjoy the afternoon.  

First it snowed for about four hours.

Everything got so pretty!

Then the ice started to fall.  It coated everything.  We woke to a winter wonderland.

This morning all was still...but this afternoon, giant snowflakes fell again, and it is still snowing now.

Charlie has been keeping the wood fire burning in the fireplace.  Kasey likes the snow, and is glad of her fur coat!

I made a bunch of Valentines for my kids and grandkids, but they are probably still sitting in the mailbox getting damp.  I picked up another old project from a Pamela Allen class and have been stitching on it in front of the fire.  A bright summer scene, LOL!

Hope you are warm and safe, wherever you are!

Snowy Week

It is rare to get a snowstorm in Raleigh, North Carolina.  But it happened this week!  We got several inches on Tuesday night, accompanied by frigid temperatures.  Life slows down to a crawl as everyone enjoys a snow day at home.  Even my intrepid husband with the big pick-up truck stayed home yesterday.  Loved it!

I actually did a lot of cooking over the last few days...hamburger soup, baked butternut squash, barbecued chicken, roasted veggies, and focaccia bread!  That's not like me at all, but it was very satisfying to fill the house with delicious aromas.  I am trying out the Wheat Belly diet, and am using recipes from the cookbook.  So far, so good!

Here are some more sights from around our yard.  If you live in an area that gets a lot of snow, you probably aren't excited about it like we are here in the South!

 This afternoon I get to visit with my grand baby Charlotte.  Usually I babysit on Monday and Tuesday, but I only went on Monday this week.  Now the parents are back at work and the two grandmas are tag-teaming today to take care of our little snow angel.

First the Mailbox, then the Basketball Goal...

You may recall me mentioning our ice storm this week, and posting a picture of our icy parking pad at the base of the driveway.  There was some melting the past couple of days, and the roads are clear.  All the houses on the opposite side of the street are on the high side, and are all clear of ice.  Our lot slopes downward, and there is still ice at the bottom of the drive.

It does not look like it from the street.  It sure fooled the Fed Ex driver who decided to back down the driveway this morning.

Not only was he stuck in the driveway for about an hour.  He also took out our basketball goal.

We decided that was not a bad thing, because the goal was old and rusty and rarely used since the boys moved out.  The driver was relieved to hear that he did not have to pay to put it back up.  I did not know that Fed Ex sub-contracted their drivers.  This guy would have had to pay for any damage.   For that reason, he did not want to go out of pocket to call a tow truck.  He and Charlie chipped and hacked away at the ice with my garden spade and a pitchfork, of all things, until the truck finally got enough traction to make it back up the driveway.  Kasey and I watched and breathed diesel fumes.

In addition to being unsightly, that basketball goal was a magnet for vehicles backing out of our garage or driveway.  I'm glad it's gone.

Well, not exactly gone.  He didn't offer to haul it away.  It will probably sit on the side of the driveway until it's covered with kudzu.

Anyone need an ugly old basketball goal on a slightly dented, rusted metal pole?

Enough with the early Saturday morning accidents, already!

Frozen Beauty

We went up to our mountain place on Thursday night, arriving about an hour before an ice storm. When we got up on Friday morning, the world was a fairyland of ice-glazed trees. As the sun came up, it sounded like guns going off as pine trees snapped under the weight of the ice. One came down across our driveway, glancing off our tin roof. That sounded pretty loud! It bent the gutter a bit, but no damage. DSH was able to pull the tree off with a rope tied to our Gator. Then we went for a ride up the mountain on the Gator. Pretty!

Do not worry about this little duck frozen to our pond- it is a decoy!

On Saturday afternoon we took a trip to West Jefferson to visit some friends from college who also have a mountain home in Ashe County. It was so nice to sit with old friends and get caught up. We will probably see more of them in the mountains than we do at home, since our Wake County homes are at opposite ends of the county.We took another ride to the top of the mountain on Saturday night. There was no moon, and the stars were shining so brightly! I saw two shooting stars. I also spotted something I had never seen in the wild...a great horned owl! He was just sitting on a branch of a tree near the Christmas tree farms. He just sat there letting us admire him, blinking in the headlights of our Gators. Then he flew soundlessly over our heads.

Sunday morning, Charlie and I went for a long walk. We went up the road, then up the mountain and across the tree farms, back down and home. My legs got a good workout!

I got about half of the binding done on James' quilt. A great weekend!