Happy Saturday

below is a short clip of last night and today.  I was hoping for more snow here in Va. but we do have winds and it's cold. 

Staying in today and getting some things done.

A picture of our fence we decided on a paint color with the help of grand daugher Adalyn.  The patch to the left is the color we are glad to get rid of.  The strips of colors are test colors, and I may leave them and just call them art.   I do like the deep hunter green. It blends.  Will get back to it in Spring. Maybe before if we get a few warm days. 

Happy Monday

Started my day off with a little catching up on some reading I started and never finished. For breakfast, a bowl of oatmeal with cranberries, pecans and a drizzle of maple syrup.  

After breakfast I took the plastic off of the carpet piece I ordered for our bedroom and thinking to myself, why did I think white shag would be a good choice?  Shag part doesn't bother me, it's the white color that I am thinking I probably should have made another selection.  I like white but keeping it clean may be a chore.  

We have dark furniture, and I would like to get rid of that but no time soon.  Need a change. I want the bedroom to be a little brighter and now it will with the curtains and rug.  I painted the room last fall along with the ceiling and woodwork.  I would rather paint the ceiling than the walls, much easier.

Not a large room which is good because it's all I want to keep clean.

Need to unroll the rug to flatten out and fluff it up some.

It will not cover the whole floor just some under the bed and around the sides. 

I have a felt rug pad to go under it as our floors are oak and I want to protect them.   This will feel good on the feet and sound proof a little. 

We also got a storm door as I do not like opening up my front door directly to the outside.  I like to have a little barrier.

This is a Christmas picture but you can see the entrance door. 

and here is the new door

I like the extra layer of security 

I haven't mentioned it to my husband, but I have an idea for two new lanterns on each side of our door. 

Well, I guess I really do not need to tell him because he will find out when he reads this post.  

Til next time, Betsy

Birds sound very happy today

 Ice ,snow, rain or whatever the moment brings.  We've had a little of all three.

Then and now Williamsburg. Interesting to see the Change over the years.

Thursday already!

The days are flying by. 

Dreary out all day, looks like snow to me but who knows? It's winter. 

Steve went out to visit Mom today for a game of checkers, as you can see Mom has the red ones and she is winning and she did, all games. 

She is serious when it comes to checkers

Mom is sharp and remembers all her family.  She always asks how everyone is.  Steve likes to visit her in between his jobs during the middle of week and it's a good time. 

On his way home he has to have lunch dinner combined at his favorite place, Fire Chicken in Ashland Va.   Wonderful Peruvian Cuisine, made to order.  Always a great staff.   The green sauce is HOT but the yellow is mild.  I like a mix of both.

Peruvian chicken and Prawns with rice was his order today along with his favorite black beans.

Meanwhile at home, he must have forgotten that I had a pot roast in oven with fresh carrots, redskin potatoes and a few celery stalks thrown in for flavor.  I made a gravy to go on top.

We may eat it and if not, it won't be the first time it's been tossed.  Doesn't freeze well with the potatoes. 

Meat has surely gone up in price at the grocery store, way up!

I usually always try to buy from our local farms. 

 

leaving with a picture of owlet cozying up to winter tree on my mantle.

He likes books too

Clean up

Tree service came to take out tree that fell over our power line to house Tuesday.  Made quick work of it and cleaned up really well, very professional and thorough.  I am surprised they came the very next morning when they said they would with all the downed trees in the area and beyond.

The day before was so pretty with the heavy snow hanging off of the hemlock.  I heard from tree service people and read that the Eastern Hemlock is under attack by an Asian sap sucking insect.  A wooly adelgid.

Serious in that it threatens to eliminate all of the Eastern Hemlock in the Shenandoah National park.   

We have removed one from the side yard as it was leaning and  should never have been planted there to begin with. People just don't think that these forest trees will ever get as big as they do.  The one in the middle back yard shouldn't be there either. They are more forest trees than yard trees.  Very messy but I will leave it for now. 

As seen below it is growing quite tall.  Around it are dogwoods and a few of them could even come out.  I have little dogwoods coming up that I am pulling out here and there.  They grow like weeds.  A few hemlocks I have pulled and have growing in pots. 

The Eastern hemlock is called the mighty red wood of the East.  Sad so many have died due to a nasty insect from Japan. Some trees were 500 years old. Reading from this article Shenandoah: The Hemlock's Last Stand | Vermont Invasives (vtinvasives.org)  I don't see when this was written.  

View from jalousie porch.  Would like to replace the windows but more important things to take care of at the moment.

The sky was magnificent this evening at sunset.  It was so vibrant a sunset.  

I just could not stop watching it set. The colors of orange, pink, yellow and in between was a sight to behold. 

Now on to this little book

 my sister sent me from Maine.  It was printed in 1925 and has some wonderful recipes.  Desserts.

Good evening, 

Betsy

Yay, Snow!

Beautiful snow this morning.  Sunday was warm but things changed very fast after the rain early hours Monday morning.

I am a little disappointed that I did not remember to plant my tulip bulbs.  I still will and hope they bloom for the spring.

short video

 

Happy New Year!

Wishing all the Happiest of New Years!

We started our day with black eye peas.  I cannot find the green ones anymore in the frozen food section, so we have to go with the dried brown ones.  Mom always had the ones from our garden frozen from   the summer.  I added garden canned tomatoes also.  

Quiche with gruyere and Swiss cheese, spices and broccoli.  Sprinkles of nutmeg on top

There is a slice of made in Germany cherry stollen with butter.

Bye bye to the dining area tree with orange slices etc....

Now on to 2022!