Cabin Fever...Winter of 2017

Cabin Fever...yep...it has settled in big time today. After my last post, it just dumped snow Tuesday night and into Wednesday. We had an epic snow storm here which resulted in the governor declaring a state emergency. Schools and businesses have been closed and the road are still difficult for driving anywhere. There is another wind advisory posted for tonight. The temps have been kept down in the 20's so we just can't get rid of this snow and ice.

These are pictures of the snow late Tuesday night. It just piled up at about an inch per hour .

The wind was blowing so it didn't pile up as easily...but most of Portland and the suburbs ended up with about 10-12 inches in that short time!!! Unreal.

Jim's car was getting buried and you can't see our driveway.

Here we have a shot at our cottages and the backyard Wednesday morning.

Wednesday is our day to babysit Otto. That sure didn't happen. His mommy sent a couple of great photos. He just LOVES to play with his cars and trucks....even in the snow!

He looks pretty happy playing in the snow. Mommy and daddy got to stay home the rest of the week.

The snow stopped falling and Jimmy got out to dig a path down to our cottages. He was trying to work on his items for the upcoming antique show, but things just we going against him and he actually has canceled. We are to get tons of rain after this cold spell and he just can't get his things over from storage and it's going to be a mess trying to set up on Thursday. I think he is relieved to just let this one go. The next show is the first of March and that really isn't that far away.

Here he is out front shoveling away.

This is my Mary Englebreit book that LaVonne sent me for Christmas...WINTER. it is very cute and runs from Christmas through St Patrick's Day.

I had to laugh at chapter 4...Cabin Fever! Oh yes, how true.

I have had a lot of time indoors. I decided to spend some time working on healthy dinner recipes.
We have had turkey meatloaf, yogurt chicken and turkey stroganoff. All were good. I have some recipes that I used in the past in this little book when I was on Weight Watchers. Now that I am on a low sodium diet, I have to eat differently. Some of the recipes were ok to keep, but others had to go. I will use it for new recipes now.

I did make Jimmy a small batch of blueberry muffins and some chocolate chip cookies. I only ate one cookie. I had time to bake too.

A couple years ago, I bought a cutter quilt. I used it to make Christmas stockings, runners and a tree skirt. I was sorting through a few things and found the rest of the quilt that I hadn't used. I decided it was time to cut it up and be done with it.

I was able to get many large hearts and some tiny ones for dolly cards. It was fun to work with some fabric.

I am not sure what I will do with them...I have a couple ideas I am working on. It's been fun to have some time to be creative again. Plus, I am feeling so much better and have more energy now.

My miniature show was cancelled today....another day inside. I started watching the Cranford series on cable. I have never seen the entire series. I also started working on some hexies. I like English paper piecing using the glue gun system. I had ordered these precut pieces and the papers, so got them all glued and ready for a few projects. There are 52 pieces. I also cut out and glued 14 more pieces in a different grouping of fabrics for another pin keep. I really love making these. These are 3/4" pieces.

We still have lots of snow and ice after 4 days. Jimmy took a little fall yesterday on his way to the mailbox. He is taking it easy today. Luckily, nothing was broken and he didn't hit his head.
The east wind is blowing so hard again tonight and we are under another wind advisory for the night.
You can imagine how much wood we have been using. I am so thankful for all the wood our good friends the Pietzold family gave us this fall.

I just hope it all ends soon. The weather man is keeping a close watch on things as we transition out of this Monday evening now. We may get more freezing rain. I am longing for spring. 

Tea Time Tuesday #129

It's almost 9:30 PM and the snow is piling up tonight, even with the East wind blowing! The weather man didn't think we would get this much...surprise! This has really been a winter for us. I don't even know if we had a hard freeze last winter. My teacher sisters just got word that school is closed again tomorrow. This makes day 6 of their snow days used up, so they will have to make it up in June at the end of the school year. I don't think they really care. My daughter Angie works for one of the school districts and she will be home tomorrow too. No Grandma and Papa day with Otto tomorrow.

This photo is out my front door. The walk way is covered after the ice finally melted off today. There is still ice under the snow from our weekend storm. I live in East Multnomah county and we are always the last to thaw out! Jimmy had to drive me to my Dr appointment yesterday as there was so much ice. I don't like the ice!

I stopped to have a little cup of tea and a snack this afternoon after I got my Etsy orders packed up. I found this mug and little plate at a flea market last summer. It's made by Johnson Brothers. I love collecting Johnson Brothers dinnerware, but this is a pattern I have never seen.

 I love the colors and the scene is lovely. The blues are so pretty. I'm not sure where the town would be, but it does look like a European village to me.

I always love a little design inside the cup or mug.

The pattern is called Dream Town. Maybe it isn't really a town at all...just an imaginary one.

I had a great check up with my doctor and didn't gain any weight over the holiday. I did enjoy a few sweets but now it's time to get back to my healthy eating. I decided to have some yummy yogurt with my tea. I love yogurt so it's a treat for me.

I decided to enjoy one of my tea time books while I was taking my break. I have had this book for years and I really enjoy it. It is composed of 13 little visits and recipes from ladies in England. Each story is very different and it's fun to read about their lives.

On of the ladies in her home.

One of the recipes...yum yum yummy.

These next few photos are of our ice storm just last Saturday,Sunday and into Monday morning.

The street is a sheet of ice and ice was beginning to coat everything when I took this photo.

We also had very strong East winds before the ice storm. During the night, it blew our BBQ away from the house and over on it's side. Yes, it is ruined.

I have spent so many days at home this past December and so far in January. I am all decorated for Valentine's Day and have been using the time to read and rest. I hope to do a little hand work on a kit that a friend sent to me. I am longing to get back to my more creative projects...it's been a long 5 months of doctoring and labs and appointments. I have 4 more this month. I am thankful that I am doing well. My doctor said my coloring was great and I was looking so much better. That made me feel good to hear that from my doctor.

Well, I wonder how much more snow we will have in the morning? It's really pretty. 

Monday...more snow and ice!

I was up early to get to the lab for blood work, the post office for mailing and a bit of shopping today, BUT woke up to a winter weather advisory and snow and sleet! It's supposed to change into freezing rain and then rain later today. So plans are on hold...ugh. I really need to get out.

So I decided to post some pix of an outing Jimmy and I went on a few weeks ago. I never got this post started, so now is a good time. It's funny to see green grass in my photos, as we have had snow covered grass for almost a week now. This is not the norm for Oregon.

This is Wade Creek House out in Estacada OR. It's a darling little house filled with antiques and hand crafted items. It's always a fun trip out to see what's new. They offer a lot of fun classes through out the year and I hope to take some.

Love the old truck with the Christmas tree out front!

Here's a look at the offerings and the feel of the shoppe.

I thought this was a cute idea for a jar...a truck in a jar!

Home made signs...so cute.

I have a thing for vintage wool blankets. Isn't that a cute Santa pillow too?

This was one of my favorite booths in the house. It was just darling and the red painted cabinet just set it off.

Joy Joy Joy!

Jimmy enjoying the goodies. It was a really fun trip to the Wade Creek House. 

A Snowy Epiphany Sunday

January 6th is the real date for Epiphany, but today is also known as Epiphany Sunday. My friend Natalie was the first to enlighten me years ago that the wise men did not visit Jesus in the manger. She always has her wise men across the room, with camels, traveling to see the baby Jesus...of course, they are coming from the East. I think of Natalie every time I see a manger!

I was thinking how serious these men were to follow the star and bring gifts to Jesus. We don't know if these men were kings, we don't know if there were only only three of them, but we do know they journeyed to see the King of Kings....Jesus. They brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh,symbolizing royalty, deity and death.

So what gift would give to Jesus if you were traveling with the wise men?
What gift would you give Jesus today?
Something to think about.

It's been a snowy day here in Troutdale. I think the winds have settled down a bit tonight. freezing  rain is falling now.

November Snow on Tea Time Thursday #52!

Tea Time Thursday....in the snow???? In November???? In Oregon???? Unthinkable yet oh so pretty and a treat really. I know some of you must be laughing, but we don't get much snow here in Troutdale, so it is a novelty for this month. My charity quilting was cancelled and Jimmy didn't have to babysit Otto, as Angie works for the Centennial School District and the schools were closed. A bonus day for Jimmy and Linda! The reason school is cancelled here is that when we get ice, it's really dangerous with all the hills in this town. We did have ice before the snow and we may have more later in the afternoon.

I snapped this photo a few hours ago and it's been snowing ever since. The temperature dropped and the freezing rain became snow. It may shift back later. I put on a big pot of homemade soup and the woodstove is humming. It's a good thing that Jimmy got our snow tires on last Monday.

I wanted to share my fall card and tea exchange that I joined in. I belong to the very fun ATAA group, which stands for Afternoon Tea Across America. I have been a member for almost a year now. LaDonna does just a fantastic job as moderator and organizes these card exchanges. I LOVE going to the mailbox and finding treasures for days. We send along tea and some little tuck ins. It is amazing how creative these ladies are with little goodies. I can't bear to part with my cards, so as I have shared before, I like to keep them in albums. I just like to look at them sometimes.

These were the cards I chose for the autumn exchange this time. I love to find artists on Etsy or Ebay. It is nice to support small business whenever I can. I put my tea and a goodie inside the little treat sacks that I also found on Etsy.

Thank you to all the ladies that participated in the exchange again. Our Christmas group is so large that we will only be sending cards...38 people signed up! How fun is that?

The other nice thing about these exchanges is all the different teas you get to try. I think it's time for a cuppa as I watch the snow fall, just a bit longer.