Now It's Freezing Rain...

Freezing rain, building up on branches

I changed my feeder station, because there was so much

snow, I couldn't get to them where they were before.

 

 

For the 2nd week in a row, we have cancelled our Worship Service. Last week it was a snow storm, one of two, and this week, it is the freezing rain. This system of bad weather stretches from my old hometown, Windsor, Ontario, to the Atlantic Provinces. Some of us are getting just a lot of rain, others, freezing rain, and yet others, snow. Any way you look at it, it is not a great day to be on the roads.

 

It certainly doesn't seem a lot like Christmas for me, since the Church Services are what really holds the message of Christmas, the celebration of  Christmas Joy and Peace. Without them the experience of this season is left wanting.

 

Christmas music, which speaks to my heart, is not the same when one is alone. It is with the church family, and our little choir, where the real Spirit of Christmas speaks. I am missing this experience very much. I also miss giving and receiving Christmas Hugs.

 

Listening to the news, and there are lots of warnings of bad roads, flight cancellations, power outages, and downed trees on wires. A few cars are travelling our road, but not many, and this is supposed to keep up all day, with snow and ice pellets to come. My goodness, I sound like the weather reporter.

 

My very little Christmas Tree

with some homemade ornaments

 

Sadie looks a bit spooky in this shot

 

 

 

 

 

 



Ay...okay...

A big storm is heading our way.

 

It is supposed to hit us on Sunday.

 

But much to my dismay,

 

We had showers off the bay, today!

 

The skiers are shouting hooray,

 

Drivers couldn't find their way.

 

It's too cold for kids to play.

 

So I just want to say,

 

In my warm house I'll stay!

Cookies????

Ah, today I made cookies, a new recipe that I got from the internet, and proceeded to follow it......almost.

Dear readers, I am not known for my prowess in the kitchen, and I fear that as hard as I try, I will never ever be adept at cooking, any kind of cooking.

Tomorrow, perhaps, I will make the same cookies over again, and see what happens when I include a whole cup of butter as opposed to the 1/2 cup I put in today, and then wondered why the dough could not be rolled out.

Waste not, want not........I heard that somewhere....

Solution....pick up dough with a spoon, squeeze in hand and lay carefully on pan. Voila..15 minutes later I have something that could be called a cookie, that didn't taste too bad, but were definitely not what I had intended. It took me until I finished and was cleaning up to notice the recipe and see just what I had done wrong.
Doingg!

No wonder.

I said to myself, "Self, pay more attention to what you are doing."
Self said, "Why? This is the real me."

Later - - - -
Well, I said that the cookies didn't taste too bad, and that's true, however, after having cooled, I found that they were a little crunchy, even hard, dare I say, and so I have created a new Christmas cookie --

Christmas Rocks

 

Just think of the uses: They could be used to weigh down the toes of your Christmas stockings,

they could be sucked on like candy until soft enough to eat, perhaps if painted black they could be used as weirdly shaped hockey pucks on the backyard rink, or I could paint them and they could be used as paper weights.........

 

I am not sure I want to attempt this recipe again tomorrow. I'll see how I'm feeling.

 

I was going to put the tree up today, but cooking must have taken a lot out of me. I went upstairs to get the tree, and saw the bed, and said to myself, "Put the tree up, or have a nap?' I really wanted to put the tree up, but Self thought the bed looked so cozy, and Self and I had a bit of a lay down.

 

Perhaps I will put the tree up tomorrow, rather than making cookies.

I get so angry when I make stupid mistakes, as with the cookies. All of my friends are great cooks, and can spend a whole day baking yummy things. Aren't all moms and grammys supposed to be good cooks?

 

And now, I am tired again. It has been really cold all day, and the roads were not very good, especially up here on the mountain. I'm glad I spent the afternoon ruining a cookie recipe, rather than going out on the road. 

No more second page..

I decided that I wasn't going to do a 2nd page, just putting on my paintings, etc. It was a pain, and really didn't work the way I thought it would. And so I shall just post my pictures here as I had in the beginning.

And so, here is another painting. I rather like it.

 

 

And my favourite shot out my window......

first real snow

that stayed.

Actually, there is a bit more on the ground today......just a bit more.

Tomorrow, the first day of December.........there must be lots of things for me to do.........
                         
                               and so.......................................................

                                              I'd better get thinking of what that

                                                                         just might be......

Christmas Luncheon for Seniors today at the church, and the Youth Group are collecting items for the local Food Bank.

That's all for now. Have a great day.

Brrrrr

I wrote an email to my island friend this morning, and that is what I said to her. BRRRRRRR. I hope that my body soon adjusts to this weather, or I shall be like a bear, and seek out a warm den to spend the winter.

I say to myself, you should go and get a few things from the store, and then I open the door, and immediately change my mind. I find I am going out only when it is absolutely necessary.
We have had rain, and cold winds, and unseasonal warm weather, with the rain., then cold, windy days. Today the wind is bitter. I would much sooner sit and paint, than brave the cold.

How does one talk themselves into going out when it is nasty. Now they are showing pictures on the tv news of the snow and snow squalls. Nice....... On the bright side the winds should be easing off tomorrow.

My Christmas card is off to the printers, so I shall have that back by the end of the month. I have painted a lot of things, and perhaps some of them will be presents. I always make little decorations for my choir and Bible Study group, and have made a good start on them.

On her blog www.emilypfreeman.com Chatting at the Sky, Emily has been an encouragement to me as far as renewing my desire to paint. Now I am painting, for my own pleasure, the crazy acrylic abstracts that I have always loved to do. I am enjoying it more than ever.
When I paint landscapes, I always compare myself to other painter's pictures which I like. I can't compare my abstracts, because they don't have to be exactly like anything else. Does that make sense? I also don't worry now (too much) whether I am making sense. I know what I mean...

I am also taking 10 minutes a day to just write. I receive daily prompts, and write on the topic given. It is not easy, but I am trying to keep up. I have missed one day, because I just couldn't come up with a story. I am just supposed to write, no re-reading, no correcting or scratching out and changing. When finished I put it away. At some point I will reread, but not for a while. It is a very interesting exercise, and I am enjoying it.

So my desk and cupboard are scattered with half finished items, paint bottles, brushes and palate lay waiting for me to get back to it. I used to be able to paint into the wee hours of the morning, but that was years ago. Now I have become something I never thought I would be, a morning person. Sadie is my alarm clock, and we are always up around six. So mornings have become my quiet time, my work time and my thinking time. Sometimes the thinking hurts my head so I try to think only good things if I can, though some mornings it is hard, especially if a dear friend is sick, or somewhere in the world a hurricane or a tsunami has flattened villages and devastated the lives of thousands.

And then there is the foolishness of our Canadian politics....well, I won't even go there........

Sadie and the fall trees, before the leaves all blew off

 

 

 

 

Dawn getting the last bins of juice apples ready to be picked up

 

I have surprised myself, as I reread this post.

I wrote that I was enjoying something twice.

Wonders never cease...

 

I guess this is all for now.

Be safe and stay warm.

Cheers!

Dreary November Sunday

Ah, November, what do I do with you. It seems to me, that you are a very dreary month, and you cannot decide what weather you will have from day to day. A few days ago, it rained all day, yet the temperature was warm. Yesterday, no rain, but the wind was ferocious, and chilled me to the bone.

And, as usual, it seems to me that the closer November 11th gets, the drearier your weather is.

This morning, our church held a Remembrance Service, before worship. We are one of the few communities that has its own cenotaph. I always find the remembrance day services so moving, especially the reading of the names of those from the community who fought and died in the wars. As I stood there, with my feet freezing, and snow falling on the gathering, I thought to myself, that as cold and uncomfortable as I was, it was nothing, compared to the exposure of our soldiers to the elements, and the horrible days they went through.

Perhaps it is good that the days of remembrance are dark and dreary, reflecting the hearts of many family members who lost fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers and today, sons and daughters, grandsons, and granddaughters.

The day is dark, windy and cold

We stand at the cenotaph

Shivering, with head bowed.

A moment of silence

in honour of those who fought and died.

Their days were dark, windy and cold,

their silence broken by the sounds of guns

and seeking safely in the muck and mud,

they hoped to see the morrow.

For some, this hope was not fulfilled,

as life blood poured out on the ground

and tomorrow never came.

Yes we should remember

those brave souls who fought and died,

and pray that the peace they died to save

will someday, with us abide,

That we might see tomorrow.

 

 

Lest We Forget

 

 

 

A Whole Month...

.....has passed since I last blogged. Am I now a monthly blogger? Sometimes I get a real go on, posting several blogs in a row, and then days go by before I write again.

Ah, such is the life of an undisciplined blogger.

I have been reading lots of very interesting blogs though, and one blog has encouraged me to let the art out, so I have been working on that.

My life is so ordinary, that I have nothing exciting to share, and that holds me back.
However, if I think hard about it, being exciting, was never the idea when I started this. My daughter had encouraged me to blog my thoughts. Well.....you really wouldn't want to read some of my thoughts, so it is a good thing that I do not post all of them.

I keep telling myself that if I don't have a neat picture to go with the blog, then it is not worth posting.
I know that is silly, and comparing this blog with others ends up being self-defeating.

I guess I am still in search of myself.....and at 70, I probably don't have a great deal of time left to find me. I am hiding in the shadows. I am hiding in the sorrows of loosing friends. I am hiding in the daily difficulties, aches and pains. I am hiding in the words that hurt and belittle. The painting is helping, and the weekly responsibilities keep me going.

Oh how I long to be a strong person, capable of overcoming obstacles without bruising.

Ah well, the days go by and I do the best I can, even if I go through self recrimination....
I will count my blessings, which are many, and carry on.
Not all the days are in shadow.
Sometimes the sun does shine.
Sometimes the wind is soft
And the rain gentle.
The storms will pass....