More Snow and Beginning A New Project

We got another 12 inches of the white stuff!  

 

 

This snow was very wet and heavy and caused much havoc with trees and power lines.  We were without electricity in our home for over 7 hours yesterday.  My hubby, who is a rural elec. lineman, was called to work around 6 am yesterday and didn't get home until the wee hours this morning.  He didn't get to sleep long and it was time to go back to work.  They have many broken poles to replace and quite a few folks are still without power.

Another shot out my kitchen window overlooking the back acres.

The bird feeders weren't as busy today as they were in the last snow.  

I had to have something to do instead of fretting over the lack of electricity, so I got out my purchases I made the other day at the craft store and got to work.  The scissors, glue and magazines were already here.  I bought the sketch books and decorative papers.  When you start a project, do you ever get sidetracked?  So do I.  Which means that I didn't get as far along yesterday on this particular project as I would have liked.  Hopefully soon, I'll be able to show you what I'm working on.  What fun projects have you been working on this winter?

Until next time...  

Barn Charm

This barn was snapped last Saturday.  We had just begun to melt a wee bit from Thursday's snow storm in which we got 12 inches of snow.  As I type this Monday night, we are in the middle of another big snow storm!  Hurry spring!  

Linking to Tricia's Barn Charm 

Until next time....

I Think The Rodent Was Wrong!

We just shoveled our way out from under the last snow storm which began last Thursday and now we are facing another big storm due to arrive sometime tonight and into tomorrow.  That is our snow shovel in the driveway above.  We got around 12 inches last week and we might get 8 inches more with the next storm.  Now I know those of you who live in the northern states and out east are probably already yawning, but this was our first significant snowfall this year and it was a Big Deal to us!  

It was snowing so heavily that you can barely see the pond.  I was shooting out my dirty kitchen window that morning and was amazed to see that the finches were busily eating at the feeder during the blizzard.  Take note of the amount of seed in the feeder.

 

We had a break in the snow in late afternoon and the sun came out very briefly.  Check out the seed in the finch feeder now.  The finches didn't let a little blizzard stop them from eating, but they were a bit messy judging by all the seed on the snow below. 

Stormy wasn't concerned about the snow storm at all.  While I was pacing the floor and worrying about my loved ones until they were safely home, she decided to take a nap at one of her favorite spots when I'm in the kitchen.  A lot of cups of hot chocolate and coffee and bowls of soup were fixed in this kitchen those snowy days.  

It did warm up above the freezing mark over the weekend and a bit of the snow melted, but we still have plenty left.  The sun looked so good and I thought that Saturday would be a good day to get out.  I was getting cabin fever.  So my husband and I hopped in the car and went to one of my favorite flea market/antique malls.  We spent a couple of hours or so looking around.  We weren't alone, there were a number of others browsing and I decided they must have had cabin fever, too.  I didn't find what I was looking for, so we came home with only a few books that I couldn't resist and 4 Paula Deen magazines that were only a quarter each.  How was your weekend?   

Until next time... 

Friday Favorites

My favorite place in all the world for many years was the farm I grew up on.  The house in the photo above was my very first home.  This house burned down when I was 9 years old.  In this photo, you're really looking at the back of the house.  The little house you see to the right of the photo was a guest house.  When my parents owned this farm, the guest house was used for storage.  The yard was filled with jonquils and peonies and lilac bushes blooming in the spring.  In summer, there were roses and hollyhocks.   

A couple of years after the house burned my parents had a modest ranch-style home built.  My dad, who loved the Ozarks and the rock that many used for siding in that area, had rock delivered to side our house with.  I didn't like it, but he didn't ask for my opinion!  You can see a closer look at the house in this post.   It was always referred to as The Rock House.

Here is an aerial view of part of the farm.  It covered over 550 acres and had 5 nice ponds, one of which isn't seen in this photo.  A creek ran through part of the acreage.  I posted a photo of an old barn that was on this farm a few weeks ago.  A metal building, which you can see behind the pond nearest the house, was put up very near where the old barn had stood.  The building to the right of the house is a long machine shed where tractors and such were parked.  The bare looking spot in front of the house is where a large garden was.  I don't remember what year this photo was taken, I believe I was in high school at the time.

See the trees in front of a pond below the back of the house near the middle of the photo?  That is where the house in the first photo that burned used to stand.  You can still see the guest house between the garage and some grain bins.  Those buildings weren't as close together as it appears to be in this photo.

I have so many wonderful memories of living on this farm, although it could be a bit lonely at times during summers when I rarely saw any other kids except my 2 brothers.  My brothers were helping on the farm as soon as they were old enough, so after my chores were done I was often left to my own devices.  A lot of time was spent horseback riding and fishing or playing with the pets.  When the boys weren't busy in the summer, we would go swimming in one of the ponds...usually the one nearest the house.    

Very often, I could be found looking through the Sears or Montgomery Ward catalogs daydreaming and many hours were whiled away playing on the piano I talked about last Friday.  I loved music and reading, but I also loved the great outdoors and enjoyed each of the 4 seasons.  It was during those years on the farm that I became a birdwatcher.

We had a utility pole with a transformer just behind the house at the end of the white plank fence.  I don't think you can see it in the photo above.  Anyway, we had a mockingbird that just loved to sit atop the pole and sing his little heart out.  I loved to watch him because while he was singing, he would fly straight up in the air and turn a few flip flops before landing back on top of the pole.  He was quite entertaining!   He also was a bit of a nuisance and tripped a loop several times on the pole which knocked out our power.  It seemed to happen 2 or 3 times every summer!

I have so many stories I could tell about growing up on the farm, but I'll save some of those for another time.  When my dad eventually sold this farm, it was a sad day for me.  Even though I was married and had my own home by then, I left a piece of my heart behind there on the farm.  It will always remain a favorite and cherished memory.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Friday!

Until next time...

February Note Card Party

Isn't this month rolling by fast?  It's once again time for Vee's Note Card Party.   I just mentioned in a previous post that you never know what you'll see in our back yard and Back 6.  So, for this month's note cards I'll show you a few of our frequent visitors.  I think they would make nice note cards for the person who loves the great outdoors!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you enjoyed seeing some of our little critters who had no idea they would end up on notecards!   Be sure to stop by Vee's to see what others have chosen for this month's party.  Better yet, select 4 photos that you have previously shown on your blog and join in the fun!

Until next time...

Barn Charm

My barn this week is again a drive-by shot while driving through part of Iowa a few weeks ago.  The barn is one of many abandoned barns we saw dotting the winter landscape.   It probably isn't noticed in the summer when the trees in front have leaves.  

This shot of it isn't very clear, but I liked the background.  It was a beautiful drive with just the right amount of snow making the landscape pretty but leaving the roads clear.  Thanks for stopping by!

Linking to Tricia's Barn Charm.

Sunday afternoon entertainment

Stormy and Sissy are sharing a favorite spot where they love to look outside.  Never mind that they could see the outside better if they went downstairs and looked out the large window there.  They like to be on the same floor as the rest of the family.  I wondered what they were looking at so intently.  

There are any number of things to see in the back yard and the Back 6.  You might see a squirrel, or rabbit, occasionally deer and more. 

More often than not, they are caught up in bird watching.  Just like their Mom, who loves to bird watch, too. 

I went to another window to see what had caught their attention.  The maple tree outside the window was full of Starlings.  They have about polished off all the bird seed I have out including the suet.  Well, except for the Finch seed that they can't get to.  Pesky birds.  They can devour a suet cake in one day.  How do you keep them away?  If any of my bird loving friends out there know a way, please share. 

Have a wonderful day.
Until next time... 

Friday Favorites

Each Friday I am sharing a photo (or several) of something from the past that I loved.   So far, I've shown a favorite kitty and favorite dogs. 

 In answer to some comments about my dogs, yes I do miss having a dog but have no plans to get another as long as we live on such a busy street.  And for anyone wanting a good guard/watch dog, I'd highly recommend a German Shepherd.  I feel the best time to get one is when they are very young and you can train them yourself.  And, yes, some of them can be very mean, my older brother had one, but we never did and I think it has a lot to do with training and socialization. 

 ~ my children at my grandmother's piano~

 

This week, my favorite from the past is a piano.  Or pianos.

Above is my grandmother's piano that I loved to play on when I 

was a youngster.  In fact, my grandmother was probably the one who got me started playing the piano.  Even my children loved to play on their 

great-grandmother's piano, although at that age I'm not sure just how well!

 Gran's piano was always cluttered with sheet music, hymnals 
and photos.  If you look closely on top of her piano, you might get a glimpse of yours truly's senior photo next to my younger brother's.

~my children, my piano~

       

This is my square grand piano that used to belong to my parents.

I remember that my dad bought this piano for 25 dollars at an estate sale when I was 12 or so.  I only took piano lessons a few summers from a neighbor and learned just enough to play for my own amusement.  I wish I'd inherited my grandfather's piano skills.  He died before I was born, but I'm told that he could really make a piano sing.  He could play anything by ear.  I usually had to have sheet music unless I had the music memorized.     

 

After I married, and we were living in the country, I was given the piano.  We had a nice sized dining room that it lived in.  Then, when we moved to our present house we sold the quite large and heavy piano because we just didn't have room for it and we didn't want to put it in the basement at the time.   

I'd love to know the history of this old square grand.  Who played it before it came into our family and where it is now.  I hope they enjoyed playing it as much as I did. 

 

 How about you?  Did you or do you have a piano?  Or maybe there is another musical instrument that you loved to play.  Do tell!

Until next time... 

Happy ♥ Day!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Happy Valentine's Day!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

♥ I wish you shelter from the storm

A cozy fire to keep you warm

But most of all when snowflakes fall

I wish you love.... ♥

                                                                        (lyrics by Albert A. Beach)

         xoxo           

Until next time...  

Not Wordless Wednesday

~ wishful thinking~

I didn't get a lot of commenting done yesterday even though I was on the computer most of the day.  Now, I will be the first one to admit that I'm  very computer-challenged, but I thought that surely by the end of the day I would have things figured out.  How hard could it be?  Well, by bedtime I was ready to pull all my hair out.  Really.  I've never felt so befuddled in a long time.   

What I was trying to figure out was how to put an image that I can click and will go to another page on my sidebar.  I searched the web over and read and read and tried and tried and no luck.  I copied the HTML codes exactly as explained and nothing happened.  Nada.   I don't have a clue what I'm doing wrong.  No, I wasn't looking at help sites for Word.press, just B.logger.  Anyone out there need a blog post idea and want to do a tutorial that I can follow?  I'll bet there are several besides myself that would thank you!

Until next time...

Barn Charm

This is another driveby shot of a barn in Iowa taken a couple of weeks ago.  I tweaked this photo a bit in Photoscape.

Just drop in at Tricia's Barn Charm 
to see some great barns around the country.

Thanks for stopping by!
Until next time...