Feeling Flakey

Blake took some snowflake pictures.

Snowflakes are just too cool for words - pun intended.

So beautiful, and so unique. Click on the picture to enlarge them & see more detail. I cropped in pretty tight on each individual snowflake, so the picture might go grainy, but they are still pretty. And yes, I played with Photoshop on some of them. Mostly just cropping & lighting...Blake did the rest of the magic with the camera. =)

Each one a work of art.

I love it when God feels artistic.

More Snow ~ Wahoo!

Friday afternoon we were blessed with another snow. (Yes, I know folks up north have been slammed with some unbelieveably massive blizzards, but for us, snow is a blessing! I'd probably feel a lot different about snow if I had to shovel it, but since we don't, I'm always tickled silly when it snows!) School was canceled, and we just waited & watched - hoping for a good one, but worried it would put a damper on a planned dinner with a group from church, but after a call saying the dinner was on, we ventured out.

This is our house as we were leaving. I love how the snow coats & outlines each and every tree branch. Such a pretty sight.



The roads on the way.


Our destination - Sam & Rosco's.




I'm happy to say everyone made it to the dinner & we all had a delightful time together. The trees outside looked like they were in full bloom...with 'snow blossoms'.
























The birds were in a frenzy of eating at Blake's Birdy Buffet. There must have been hundreds of visitors there! Blake got a really nice picture of this little downy woodpecker.



Cole & I made some "snow cream". This was the first time for all of us & I'm happy to say it was quite yummy! It would have been better with real cream, but our 2% milk worked well enough.







Bobbin was NOT impressed with the snow. She was completely disgusted with Blake for plopping her out into it. IF looks could kill!!!!









On the other hand, Riley thinks snow is great. He romps, wallows his face in it & plays almost as much as Cole & Ian.














Our local firestation made their own snowman. We think he's pretty cool!


Blake went out early and took some really pretty pictures. The brilliant blue sky behind the snow covered branches are just so lovely. And this single snowflake - shining out in the middle of the snow covered yard. How awesome it that!

This says it all....

A very accurate description of January so far! The boys have had 2 snow days - last Friday & Monday - due to the icy roads. Even at Mama's house in FL it's been cold. Her heat isn't working right so it's cold inside, too. And they have had sleet & snow in Florida, too. Not good! I noticed there is still quite a bit of ice & snow around in the shady areas. There is an old saying in Georgia 'if snow stays on the ground more than 3 days, we'll get some more snow before winter is over'. It snowed 6 days ago. Hmmm ~ we'll watch and see, and put that theory to test.

So what's all the hub-bub about global warming???? Al Gore, where are you? We could use a little warmth about now!

Snow! January 2010

Wahoo! It started snowing yesterday. As usual, this created major panic, mayhem, and general chaos is Georgia. Lots of folks race to the grocery store for milk & bread. Personally, I think TP & popcorn would be more essential & useful, but that's just my personal opinion! hahaha We don't get snow often enough to learn how to live with it. So, to us it's fun, it's pretty, and it's a reason to stay home & play! The boys had a snow day off from school ~ which pleased them greatly to say the least. Blake ran outside last night & took some pictures. He even turned our Christmas lights back on just to see how it looked in the snow. But it's also a hazard....the tv news is showing lots of video of cars sliding on the ice and crashing into each other. Just up the way from our back gate 2 cars mixed it up a few minutes ago! So when it snows - we'll just stay home and play ...and I made some bread. (Yum!) Sounds like a good way to spend a cold winter day!

Cloudland Canyon Hike

Last Saturday we decided to start the New Year off with a nice hike. Cloudland Canyon was calling our name, so off we went. Road Trip! It was REALLY REALLY Cold. The temp. never got out of the teens, and the wild chill was awful. Standing on the edge of the canyon at the point was really a challenge! We look happy in the above picture...but we're shivering like crazy. We didn't stay long at the overlook/point.

So off we went - into the canyon, on the waterfall trail. This is where it got interesting. Blake & I had made this hike almost exactly 25 years ago, in Jan 1985, the winter before we married. I remembered the canyon trail & walls being icy and beautiful. That's what we wanted to show the boys...the ice! The trail was much improved in the last 25 years...because I vividly remember slipping on the ice & almost sliding underneath the railing into the canyon! Now there's boardwalks & better rails in the places that need it. The wall of icicles was so cool. The boys couldn't get enough of playing with the ice.








Eventually, we convinced the boys to keep hiking down the trail towards the falls. They were equally impressed with the ice around the falls. The spray from the falls creates winter ice sculptures all over. It's a 'box canyon'...so the ice is almost surrounding you, with the falls at the end. It was really pretty! The wind wasn't bad down there, but you still had to stay bundled up. Somewhere, Blake & I have a picture of us taken in this exact same spot....25 years ago.



This is how Blake spent most of the day.



More pictures....






The hardest part of a hike for me is going out of the canyon. I'm built like a dashound ...wee, short little legs! So steep climbs and lots of steps just wear me out. I've learned to just go at my own pace - Lord knows I'm not exactly in tip-top shape - and just keep walking, NOT try to walk at the same pace as other long-legged folks. Everyone else goes on ahead of me. Occasionally they wait for me, but most of the time they go on. Riley doesn't mind going at my pace...he often stays with me. It looks like he's saying "are you gonna make it, Mama? Do I need to run for help????"


Could my face be any more red from the cold!

But I finally made it..... but I'm always the Last Hiker Out.