Ice Ice Baby!

This icicle must've broken off the mailbox but was still precariously attached at the bottom, to a piece of snow.

Where it attached to the snow

This really fascinated me.

I'm very happy to report that almost all that snow is gone thanks to 2 days of temps in the low 50s and rain. 

Winter's Last Gasp......We Hope!

Last week we had two more snow events....actually three.  One was Sunday night (3/1) which melted pretty fast the following day.  Then it snowed Tuesday afternoon, and then another 'small' storm was predicted for Thursday.  Unfortunately they were WAY wrong about that one and the 3"-6" turned into a foot or more for Bourne & Sandwich.  It did not make for a pleasant time trying to get to a couple of appointments in Falmouth, but luckily we got home safely.  It finally stopped snowing around nightfall.

I wonder how long it'll take till my deck is snow-free.

We are all hopeful that was the last storm of the season.  At least with March snow, it does start to melt pretty quickly as we move towards spring.  The weekend was sunny and in the upper 30s and low 40s, so things are starting to finally thaw.  I really want that snow to come off the roof quickly. The south side is melting nicely but the north side is much slower.  I'm getting more icicles on that side now which look cool in the afternoon sun.  See the droplet falling?

The forecast calls for rain tonight and FIFTY ONE DEGREES on Wednesday!!!!!!!!!!  That's going to feel downright hot!  

The Neverending Winter

Winter continues to hammer us nonstop with subzero temps and snow.  Oh the snow.  The media has been winding everyone up about collapsing roofs and ice dams.  I do know of some people who are experiencing leaks from the ice build up on the gutters which sucks, but so far our place is OK.  It rained a little bit and was 34 yesterday but it didn't seem to help my roof as much as I'd hoped.  The ice is still solid on top of the gutters.

I will say that the icicles do look pretty cool.

Snow on the rail trying hard to melt.

The weather has been hard on me mentally, and hard on the truck too.  My car makes weird noises when it's this cold. It's hard to not be completely lethargic all day long, eyes sliding in and out of focus on the TV or computer screen, hours slipping by as you mindlessly play Bejeweled Blitz.  

I had hubs home for a week after the last blizzard and we did what we could to get out a few times for breakfast & errands, or grab some takeout Chinese for lunch on Chinese New Year.  He helped me grocery shop for the house and also for my mom.  He's been really into wanting homemade soups lately so I've been lovingly preparing lots of new recipes, so that I can bask in the ultimate compliment, 'This is yummy, babe. Thanks!'

So with him home last week, and with my back virtually destroyed from all the shoveling, I cross stitched in my recliner with the heating pad on my back.  As is my usual MO with beaded cross stitch, once I get going and the design emerges, I obsess to the point of waking up in the middle of the night to think about where I want to pick up in the morning.  So I cranked out the stitched part and then was finally ready to add the beads which is, of course, the best part.

The beads make these projects really pop.  I beaded in two marathon sessions that lasted hours.  I didn't even stop to shower and kept saying, 'just one more thread's worth....just one more colour....'

And then these happened.....banana chocolate chip cookies with vanilla frosting.  Cause I woke up and it was snowing....AGAIN.....and dammit, I wanted cookies.  Hey anything to beat the winter doldrums at this point.

It's February 23rd.....last time I saw my yard was January 25th.  Can't believe we've endured a month of this crap.

Run Me Out In the Cold Rain and Snow

Post title is a line from a Dead song.  

On top of being dumped on with the record setting blizzard, we've also had drenching rain which did little to nothing to melt the mess, and earlier this week we had a storm that started out with snow, which changed to sleet/ice, then rain, back to ice and finishing the evening with more snow. And wind.  And plummeting temps. 

This has made taking the dogs out very treacherous, and I went down like a crumpled heap when I set my foot down on snow and promptly slipped on the thick ice underneath.  I couldn't even get back to my feet without crawling to a snowbank to get traction.  Now thanks to that little spill, I need traction.  Hurt my neck, back, right arm and right leg pretty bad. All I could do the rest of the week was hobble around trying to do errands & stuff around the house (because the errands wait for no one), read in bed, take hot showers and nap.  And everyone who knows me knows that I do not nap. Ever.  

Needless to say, I have had no motivation to craft and it's too cold and snowy to go anywhere or do anything.  Roads are still compact snow and ice, or slush.  Getting back in my driveway is difficult because I back in when it's snowy.  Takes me multiple tries. 

Took this pic of some footprints in the back yard.  Glad something can access the back because I still can't.  Poor dogs are relegated to the driveway for their business which I then have to shovel out of the way.

Still though, the weather's made for some pretty cool icicles over the back deck.  They pose no danger because there is still that giant drift that's about three feet deep. I'm just letting them go to see how big they get.

They lit up really nice in the late afternoon sun.

I don't have much in the way of predrafted blog posts coming up.....hoping to get back to all of it soon, both crafting and blogging.  I'll still be visiting blogs and I hope you guys don't abandon me for lack of posts but I'll be back when I have something good to share.

More Goodies!

One of the drain pipes needs to be fixed and this giant icicle formed.

I had a real off week, last week.  Felt like crap, couldn't get warm, crying real easily and which culminated with a killer headache from hell on Sunday....just one of the lovely hormonal byproducts of middle age.  Like a beacon of light, I got that package from Tracy with the sugar cookie mix and the very next day I got another box full of flat backed glass blobbies from Kim!

PLUS chewsticks for my fuzzies!

Of course Sagan demolished his in no time, then sat on the couch, with his eyes flicking back and forth between Pepper still munching her chewie, and me, with a dejected look on his face.  I couldn't stop cracking up. 

I looked down at Bean and she looked up at me like this, which only made me laugh harder.

Eventually she tired of hers as it was rather large and Sagan left it alone for awhile which surprised me, but he finally finished it off later in the day.

So the day I had my headache, the only thing I managed to do was sew beads to this little doily bowl I made a few weeks back by spraying starch on it and letting it dry over an inflated balloon.  It didn't make the bowl as stiff as I wanted and it began to collapse under the weight of the beads.  So after they were sewn on, I tried spraying more starch on it but that still didn't work, so I coated the back with mod podge and let it dry.

Then I got up on Friday, checked my email, and was excited to see that I won another giveaway, on the Krafty Max Originals blog/Facebook page!!  I won a bracelet but I haven't gotten it yet. 

And then I got this from Michelle!