It Ain't Spring...YET!

I'm still in spring cleaning mode. Still. That's because of the weather, I'm sure. It's winter and we are having 50-60 degree weather here. What's wrong with this picture? Last year we had a lot of snow...Remember this?

February 2010

 

Well, we're dry. And warm. And dry. 

Yesterday, I saw my daffodils peeking up in the soil--it's way too soon for that. And I'm worried about our water supply for spring and summer since I'm planning for my garden. In this town, our drinking water comes from the main river--which is the size of a creek or "crick" if you're from my mother's neck of the woods. I don't know where that neck of the woods are specifically but all my life, she's referred to creeks as "cricks." I used to get in trouble in school for spelling wash as "warsh" because that's how my mother pronounced it. Same with "squarsh."  And "warshing" the clothes, car, dishes, or floor. 

Anyways, I digress. It's Thursday. I'm allowed to digress a bit on Thursdays. It's in the rules. Or should be. 

ANY-hoo...
In this northern New Mexican town, we get our drinking water from our crick creek-sized  river and two reservoirs where the location will remain under double secret security, thanks to Homeland Security and TSA. We don't have an aquifer here. So we really depend on snowfall in the winter and rainfall in the spring and early summer until the monsoons come to help us with our water supply. It looks like I need to start conserving warmup water already. 

But because the weather is warm, I'm in spring-cleaning mode. I've managed to fill up several bags of garbage because I'm tossing out stuff and junk and what I consider to be garbage. I've got seven boxes full of stuff and junk and clothes to take to our favorite charity thrift store. That's this current load. And I'm not done.  I'm working on convincing my husband to part with some of his toys and some of the clothes he's never worn and the 15 backpacks, 7 rifle scopes (he only has one--maybe two rifles!) and 6 bows he picked up in a bargain or two or three. That's going to take some doing but as I pointed out--he can only carry one or two backpacks, rifles, or bow at time. The others are taking up space and driving me up the wall. 

Yes, I have cabin fever and we're not even snowed in. Strange how that works.  

Now back east, people are complaining about another snow storm. I wish those storms would not pass us by but there you have it. What was I going to do about the no-snow-no-show? Then it hit me!

I bought a beautifully made pendant from Ivy Koehn (pronounced cane). Ivy works in polymer clay. I discovered I'm easily addicted to artisan beads like hers. So last year, she created a lot of them to entice me. Because she knows there are bead addicts in this world like myself. And I was easily enticed and smitten. And bought quite a few of them. More than I probably should have but oh my...they're so pretty! And I'm a confessed bead addict! What is so fabulous is that she also has a store on Etsy as well as one on eBay! 

Just some of Ivy's beads I just had to have...

One particular pendant I had purchased from Ivy was a claysicle. Oh my....It was breathtaking. And wintery themed complete with snowflakes. *fans the air around her to help her breathe* Yeah I know...silly to get all lightheaded and flushed over a bead but just wait until you see it! I put it together with some other beads and it's my Snow Charm. I'm wearing it daily in hopes it will bring snow to our part of the country.  

This is my Snow Charm...in hopes it entices the weather faeries in making snow! 

A close up of this fabulous pendant by Ivy Koehn...Just simply gorgeous!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 But that also brings me to another necklace I made. One I'm having a hard time parting with...meaning putting it in my store. The beads were made by Mary Ellen of BeeTreebyME and I fell hard for them. Two sets.And I've been holding onto them for the past couple of years. A few weeks back, I decided it was high time I did something with them before someone accused me of hoarding beads. Seriously. This is probably the only place where I could be accused of hoarding tendencies. I work hard not to go there but I also know there's a fine line between having beads and hoarding...a very fine line. Microscopic thin and fine. 

Anyway...This is my Winter Blooms piece. The one I'm having trouble putting into the store. 

Winter Blooms by ME from BeeTreebyME...complete with snow quartz. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And that brings me to another piece I'm having trouble letting go of and placing it in my store. Because I like it a bit too much, perhaps. Because it speaks to me. The pendant was made by Terri Stone of TLS Clay Design. I confess that I became hooked on artisan beads because of Terri's fabulous designs. But don't blame Terri--she creates and the Bead Addict must have! So easy to blame the Bead Addict for my bead purchases. This necklace was simple but vibrant. Every time I put it in the store box, it comes back out. 

Ocean's Vortex Necklace

A close up of the fabulous pendent from TLSClayDesign

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring cleaning means I should put these pieces into the store and sell them. Right? And if you hear a loud, screetching "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" that's the Bead Addict. Not me. 

So what do you have trouble letting go of? 


 

Spring is Here....Maybe

The other day it was warm. I mean WARM folks--day time temperature was 60 degrees! I walked around in the sun, wearing a t-shirt--that's how warm it was! Ok--the breezes still were a bit chilly and I had goosebumps every time one blew over me but it was still WARM! I found my first miniature daffodil blooming!

I love daffodils! They are so bright and happy and so damned cheerful! They bring sunshine into my spirit and this past week--I needed that. They make me happy! HAPPY! I guess you kind of figured that out, huh?

In the back yard, I checked out Quinn's Tulips and they seem to be multiplying. I walked around planning my summer garden. I know what I want to plant, but it was getting a feel of the land. I spotted one of our ferals, MC watching me. 

Then Friday came. I was eagerly planning my Spring Break while trying to finish up some grading and noticed this out the office window:

Please tell me that wasn't a snowflake. Maybe it was a pigeon feather...or two. 

 Please tell me those are pigeon feathers. Seriously, we seem to be supporting all the flocks in town. I know some of them live on the West Side--I've seen them parking their happy butts over there. But that white stuff on the ground isn't pigeon feathers--or any other kind of feathers are they? 


Then I remembered how the weather folk get it wrong some times. So I was hoping for another "We goofed" in the weather department. Instead, this time they were right on the money!

 I ask you--How are my daffodils and tulips supposed to compete with this kind of weather?!?!??! I think someone---probably some governmental official--forgot to tell Winter that his chance came and WENT! Winter has to learn how to share. It's Spring's turn. Of course if Winter is taking his lessons about sharing from our government, then he might just be getting the wrong idea--since our government officials never learned how to share either. Anyway---It's going to be Easter in two weeks.  Does Old Man Winter still plan on throwing one last temper tantrum before heading into his room for a good long while?That might be the example he got from our government officials, temper tantrums because they aren't getting what they want. I better not go there, otherwise you'll have me rallying up the people to SPANK our government officials. But like I said...I'm not going there. 

Just checked the weather forecast for this week. It's going to be a repeat--bright sunny days--which is what's needed to melt the latest snow dump--with SNOW again on Wednesday! ARGH! I can't win here!

Good News---Please check out the newest lanyard made for our lovely but regal Topaz by our friend, LanyardLady.  Cherin has created miracles from our cats for her lanyards! She's also a great blogger. I'm about addicted to her blog as I am to my morning coffee. Trust me--that's a good thing! She's also made one for Ava--capturing her wicked personality and combined it with Ava's love for flowers. 

 My camera is slow, but Topaz was giving the lanyard an eye blink of approval. D and I love what Cherin's talent is doing--immortalizing our cats. Thank you again, Cherin--this means more to us than you'll ever know!

I hope it's Spring and WARM wherever you are and that the sunny days spread sunshine on your shoulders and warm breezes to fill your souls. 

Snow and The Bead Junkie

Before we go onto my addiction, I have to post these pictures of what we had yesterday. Yep--snow. Enough that D had to go out several times in the night to shake off trees and shovel the walks. Our little town got anywhere from 8-10 inches of the heavy white stuff. Luckily for us, it's supposed to be sunny and warm today. I might get to see the daffodils that were just about to bloom!

Now about the Bead Junkie. I posted about the bead swap I couldn't resist getting into. Then Jen Judd posted about something that makes all junkies drool---yours truly here included. I apologize for the slobber right now because this is every bead junkie's dream! 

Heather Powers, over at HumbleBeads is starting a Sisterhood of the Traveling Beads Giveaway! She's culled some interesting beads from her stash to send around. I'm so excited--I want to be a part of this! I know I have BFs (Beady Friends) out there in my readership, and I couldn't wait to pass this information along! Those who are interested, check out Heather's blog for more details. You will squeal with pleasure! See me digging into my stash this weekend to see which of my beads need to go traveling!

The Storm

  

 8AM February 3, 2010  

 

9AM February 3, 2010

   

10AM February 3, 2010 

  

11AM February 3, 2010 

 

 

 

5PM February 3, 2010

  

7AM February 4, 2010 

We're supposed to get hit with another storm this weekend. May be it will be a lot milder than this one. 
Stay safe, stay warm, stay toasty! 

Nestling Down

 

 If you want to get me in the mood to bake or cook, you first have to get me to slip into my nestling down mood. What's nestling down? You ladies may remember that urge to do some serious nesting when you were pregnant. You know what I'm talking about--the urge that had you washing the baby's nursery and the clothes twice a week because you found something that screamed "UNSANITARY FOR THE BABY!" at you. The kind that had you cooking up a twenty casseroles each weekend for when the baby came so your husband/Significant Other didn't starve to death--even though you KNEW he was going to hit the fast food drive-thru's. 

You men might remember  either being the most popular man or the most cursed man at work when your Wife/Significant Other was nesting due to pregnancy. It was because she loaded you down with all kinds of goodies at least twice a week to take to work because the sight of them made her gain 60-gazillion pounds! You also might recall coming home and finding her forgetting she already made dinner and she was cooking up something new. Or she was in the middle of disinfecting the kitchen because it wasn't sanitary enough for baby things? 

Well nestling down is similar to those feelings but this occurs when your children are all grown up and have moved out of the house...and you get that odd but familiar feeling to cook homemade comfort cold-weather food and bake upteen dozens of cookies. Just in case the power goes out. Just in case you have to feed lots of stranded travelers. Just in case...you feel like eating homemade goodies and cookies during a winter storm! 

So my nestling down included trying out another cookie recipe. I found the original recipe over at the Joy of Baking website and made some modifications to it that turned out to be really good! These cookies have a crunchy outer shell with a soft and moist center.

Here you go! Wheat Pecan Shortbread Cookies
1 Cup Butter
1/2 cup Demerara sugar 
1/4 cup brown sugar
 1 Egg
1 Cup Toasted Pecan pieces 
2 Cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
2 tsp Vanilla extract
pinch of kosher salt

Beat sugars and butter until creamy. Add the egg--again minus the shell! Beat until creamy. Add the toasted pecans and vanilla and beat until well mixed. Add the flour and the salt. Mix well. Mixture will be chunky and crumbly, but should stick together when compressed into a ball. Divide dough in half and wrap each half in waxed paper. Chill for at least 30 minutes to an hour until the dough is firm.

Preheat your oven at 350 Degrees. Line cookies sheets with parchment paper. Remove dough from refrigerator and unroll from waxed paper. Form dough into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet.  Flatten each ball slightly. Bake at 350 Degrees for 10-15 minutes. Rule of thumb: the smaller the cookie, the less time they need to bake. These cookies do not spread. 
 

Only An Inch And A Half? The Aftermath

Tuesday after D shoveled the walks several times... 

  

Yesterday morning....

 

Even front-end loaders can slide on the ice under the snow!

Bye-bye snow...

Only An Inch and A Half?

 

We woke up yesterday morning to an incredible sight. It was as if Christmas fairies sprinkled fairy dust all over the trees. It was beautiful. It was extremely cold. Even though our weather forecaster predicted temperatures in the upper 30s, I doubt it got above 25 degrees all day. D and I looked at each other and headed to the grocery store. We had a storm brewing. We gotta stock up on the essentials: cat foods, bird seed, and possible hot chocolate for him.

 (It's essential for you to understand that while I can't drink that prepackaged, highly processed pure unadulterated crap---have you seen those ingredients? Do you understand what they are? Sorry--I got sidetracked a bit--it's finals week. While I'm on this very necessary health journey, my husband is his own person and has free will. He doesn't have my health issues. If he wants to drink prepackaged, highly processed, pure unadulterated crap--that's his decision. I rest my case. :D)  

 Most of the town was brushed with this magical look. It was incredible.

While our weather forecast stated we would get cold and snow,  it also insisted that we wouldn't get more than an inch to an inch and a half of snow. *blinks then laughs* You can tell in the snapshot above that most of our previous snow had melted. 

Now I know--KNOW--that weather isn't exactly predictable, despite the long way we've supposedly come (baby!). I know there's controversy over climate change and let's not travel over to Climate-gate.  We can say we did--but please--let's NOT go there! I also know that some people--and we aren't mentioning names--believe that what the weatherman predicts SHOULD happen. But I'm not one of them.  This morning the weather forecast kept insisting we would only get less than an inch of new snow accumulation. I wonder where they got those figures from and if they meant the amount on top of the old snow that was mostly melted? 
  
Nonetheless, you look at the following pictures and tell me if this is considered to be ONLY an inch to an  inch and a half!

 D's shoveling snow at 7 in the morning...

 

 An hour later, he's helping someone get unstuck on the road.

 

About an hour later, he's helping someone else get their vehicle moving forward instead of sideways or spinning in the road.

 

 Neighbors are helping push a truck in the right direction. 

That's not bad photography--it's blowing snow!

 

 This is my husband shoveling snow again in the afternoon. 

 Now tell me---does that look like a mere inch to an inch and a half of snow?!?!?!?!