First Real Fire

Dave, the 'Iron man" called on Friday to say that our fireplace screen was done. We jumped in the explorer and went down the road to pick it up. It turned out really nice...fits like a glove. It covers the whole open space of the mantel. Of course, we had to try it out Friday night....so we had our first " real fire". We watched two movies on TV and enjoyed the warm, pretty fire. The next morning the house smelled like " a camp fire". It's a good thing that we had a beautiful " Spring-like" day so we could open the windows to air out the house. We even opened the kitchen door to the porch and let the kitties out for the first time. Annabelle ran out as fast as she could and loved exploring the porch. I had to go get Marmalade and carry him out. He walked to the middle of the porch and decided two minutes was long enough and ran back in the house and he used to be an " outdoor cat". Can you believe that? We ended up being outside all day since the weather was so nice. Chuck chopped some wood for the next "cold spell" ( this coming week) and planted our "living Christmas tree" in the back yard. I moved more furniture up to the TT from the barn. I finally got the TT cleaned up from us moving out lock, stock and barrel when it was time to move into the house. We moved the furniture onto the deck, even though it all still needs to be painted. When we get the " real Spring weather", we'll start painting the 100 things that need to be painted yet. We have one more day of pretty weather before the rain starts and it turns cold again. I have a feeling that " Mr Groundhog" is going to be seeing his shadow in a couple of days.

Christmas Poinsettias

Did you know that you can cut your Christmas Poinsettias and put them in a vase, like cut flowers? I never thought about doing it until I saw that Gene and her Mom had done it when we went down this last trip. Since I was getting a little tired of the poinsettias being on the floor by the fireplace, since way before Christmas, I decided to cut them and enjoy them just a little longer. The plants themselves, have been cut back and put in the green house. ( here's to hoping they will come back and bloom for next year) Nope, we still don't have the fireplace screen....suppose to be done this week. We don't really need it for the next couple of days...it's going to be in the 60's......awwww....summer....lol. ...will be spending the day outside for sure.

Unexpected trip.

Living/dining room.

Sun rise in Gene and George's front yard

We had an unexpected trip down to Montgomery on Sunday. I had gotten an email from our friend Debbie ( Ala/Tx) saying that her Dad had died on Wednesday and the funeral was going to be on Monday. I quick called Gene and George to see if the Cecil Bed n Breakfast was going to be open and of course it was. After talking to the BNOE to see if Charlotte could please feed the animals while we were gone for the two days ( thank you soooo much Charlotte)....we packed up and left early Sunday morning. We got to Cecil just before lunch time. George had made one of his great pots of soup for lunch, which we enjoyed. Then, we went over to the " lodge" and Gene and I spent hours rearranging furniture and pictures on the walls. It was fun!! We worked right up until dinner time which we went back to Gene and George's to eat. Remember when I said we had twin houses and the only thing about them was the rooms were in the same place. Well, I lied. Our rooms aren't even in the same place any more. They inherited Gene's Mom's dining room table and the only room in the house big enough for it, was the living room. Soooooo, our living room is now their dining room and our dining room is now a sitting room at their house. Chuck's bedroom is their TV room. ...but in my mind...we still have the same house. We enjoyed dinner in their beautiful dining room, with the good china and etched glasses. Monday morning, Gene had to go to work, Jacob to camp and George took them to town. I enjoyed the morning, visiting with Gene's Mom and her maid, Annie Lois. Annie Lois has been part of the family for as long as we have known Gene and George. They invited Chuck and I to have lunch with them, before leaving for the funeral. The funeral was at 1:00 pm. It was a very nice service and we were invited back to the house afterwards. It was good seeing Debbie's Mom, Debbie, Ken, and their children and grand daughter. I just wish it was under different circumstances. We couldn't stay too long at the house since we had a three hour drive to get back home. We got home around 7:00 pm. It was a bitter sweet trip. ....glad to have gotten to see everyone, but the reason for going was sad. Taking care of a parent and then losing them, isn't easy. I have lost all of my family members ( mother, father and brother) so my heart goes out to everyone who has to go through it. As my Mother told me..."it's a part of life " but that doesn't make it any easier.

Happy Birthday Chuck!

Saturday, January 22, was Chuck's birthday ( and my half birthday). We didn't do anything special all day. Both of the kids called to wish their Dad, Happy Birthday. I did make Chuck a birthday cake and made him a new hat to keep his ears warm. We went out to dinner at an Italian Restaurant that we had been wanting to try out. It wasn't " Gigi's" in Florida but it was OK. I can't believe that we have celebrated two of Chuck's birthdays up here now. Time sure has flown since we moved. It will be time to plant the garden, have tons of company for Spring and enjoy all the pretty Spring flowers before we know it. The seasons come and go and I have enjoyed every one of them.

I found it!

You know how you picture things in your mind when you are decorating the house? I had a blue and white area rug, pictured for the dining room. I even saw one in a magazine and it was exactly what I was looking for. The information about the rug in the magazine said...Target and they gave the measurements. It was too small for our dining room. I " sighed" and forgot about it. When Chuck and I were in the Super Target in Huntsville on Tuesday, we walked by the rugs and there it was! The one in the magazine and it came in two sizes. I still didn't think the larger one would fit under the dining room table so I " sighed" again and we didn't buy it. Well, when we got home, I got the tape measure out and sure enough...it would work. We got dressed and headed to " our Target" in Decatur and as luck would have it....they had one!!!! After spending an hour turning the rug two different ways and moving and measuring the table and chairs to make sure we had it all in the middle....we now have the beautiful area rug that I had pictured in my mind. I'm still looking for the area rug for the sun room. I don't really have one pictured in my mind, but I will know it's it, when I see it.

A really fun weekend!

We wish!!

Dining room curtains

What a fun weekend we had! Lady Melanie came up Saturday and got to stay until Monday afternoon. After lunch of soup and homemade bread ( thank you bread machine) on Saturday, her and I went shopping to some of my favorite places. We came home early enough to get ready to go to Florence to have dinner at one of Melanie's favorite places...." Dale's Steak House". It's been famous since the 1960's. ( Gene and George took us there when they were here last fall) Melanie and I stayed up past midnight, knitting hats and talking. ( girl stuff) Sunday, we ran to Walmart to get curtain rods so we could hang the beautiful lace curtains that Melanie gave me for my bedroom. They had to be hemmed on the sides since one panel was cut in half to be used at both windows. One panel was 9 yards of lace, wide. Can you believe that! It's the prettiest lace I have ever seen. I just love them. Melanie helped me hem them, along with making the curtains for the dining room. Now, all we need to do is make the valances to go over both sets of curtains. (I'll take pictures of them once we make the valances) The weekend went way to fast, as it always does when Melanie comes to Brambly Pines. It's just so much fun having her here.

A Winter Hike

Crystal clear icicles

We waited a couple of days until the main road going through the forest was cleared before heading to hike in the snow. It was 22 degrees when we headed out on our hike and 29 degrees when we were finished. We were dressed in really good winter clothes...so it wasn't bad at all. Let me tell you....hiking in the snow is a different experience! It takes twice as much effort to even walk. It's a good thing we only had to hike about a mile to find this canyon and creek. Boy! did we find a " jack pot" though.....as Chuck called it ..." an ice cave". It was the side of the canyon and the icicles were as long as we were tall. It was the neatest thing ever. We had to be careful getting back behind the icicles though because of the layer of ice under and around them. They were crystal clear....you could see all the way through them. I bet not too many people had a picnic lunch in the snow today. We did!...hot chicken noodle soup, multi-grains chips and hot tea/coffee. I think this hike will stand out in our minds for a long time. Winter doesn't get any better than this one, so far. ....building snowmen, sledding, making snow ice cream, hiking in deep snow and finding the biggest icicles anyone could wish for.

Fun Snow Day!

Bush Hog in the snow.

Chuck sledding......

Ben helping me build the snowman.

Snowman, Owen, Charlotte and Ben

Charlotte invited us to come " play" in the snow this morning so we got all of our " stay warm clothes" on and went over. Raimey had made a sledding path by driving the Range Rover up and down the hill in the pasture to pack the snow down so the sleds would work. Charlotte had me sit on one of the flat sleds and she ran down the hill, pulling me. I never laughed so hard...it was so much fun. When Chuck came over, I was going to pull him on the sled but he couldn't sit because of his knees so he figured out how he could lay down on it and push with his hands. It worked! It even worked when Ben laid on Chuck's back as he was doing it. After the fun sledding, Ben and I started making a snowman while Charlotte and Owen made a snow fort. It takes a lot of work to make a snowman. As you roll the balls, it gets all lumpy and you have to pack it all down. Then, once you get the ball as big as you want it, you have to lift it up onto the bottom one. Snow is HEAVY! Charlotte went to the house and got all the snowman embellishments....hat, scarves, hoe and a carrot. Chuck found sticks for the arms and wall nuts for buttons, while Charlotte found some funny little pods for eyes. Our snowman was complete and so was the fun. We came home for some lunch and to get warm. I will remember these " snow days" forever! Who knows if we will ever see this much snow on Brambly Pines again....but then again...ya never know.

"Let it Snow" and " It Did"!

Our Christmas tree

Snow ice cream!

Where's the front steps?

Cone head Janice.

The split cedar tree

For almost a week, we were told about a " Major Winter Storm" that was coming on Sunday. Everyone was anticipating it. The grocery stores sold out of bread, milk, water and batteries. Just like hurricane warnings in Florida. We were told to expect any where from 4 to 14 inches of snow. ....probably would be around 8 inches. We waited and waited and it finally started around 7:30 Sunday night. Within just a few minutes, it was coming down hard. One inch every hour. Chuck and I kept turning the lights on outside and watching it all. By the time I went to bed, it was a real snow storm. Even with thunder and lightening. I never knew that you could have thunder and lightening when it snowed. I guess it does make sense though. When we woke up at 5:00 am, it was really deep and everything covered! What a beautiful sight! First thing we did was get the yard stick and measure how deep it all was. ....8 1/2 inches!!!! It was the most snow that they have had here in over 23 years. After getting on my ski pants, a sweat shirt, wool socks, scarf, hat and coat.....out I went. We walked down to tend to the chickens. I knew they didn't like the last snow we had, but they REALLY didn't like it this time. I opened their door and usually they come running as fast as they can into their yard. This morning, they all poked their heads out the door and that was it. They wouldn't come out. I had Chuck hand me one of them ( he was inside looking for eggs) and I put her down in the snow. Oh my! she sank down in it and flapped her wings, making a little " chicken snow angel" and then she " FLEW" back into the hen house..lol. I just closed up their little door for the day and I'm sure they were perfectly happy to be in there. Next, we walked down the drive way to the road. There were several large animal tracks all over the land. Chuck thinks a lot of them were deer tracks. It had snowed on top of the fresh tracks so it was hard to tell just what they were. We lost one of our large cedar trees down by the garden. It split right down the middle from the weight of the snow. After walking around the land, we walked over to see how the BNOE were enjoying all the snow. They were out in their pasture with sleds but since the snow was so fluffy and wouldn't stick together, they weren't getting very far on their sleds. Plus, we couldn't build snowmen either....nor snow balls. We all went in and took off our wet clothes and enjoyed some really good hot chocolate with baby marshmallows. Chuck and I came on home, had some lunch and I got out the neat puzzle of our land ( that Gene and George gave us). We sat and worked on it while we watched " The Little Rascals" on DVD. ( they were my favorite when I was growing up) I came up with the idea to try and make " snow ice cream", so I got on line and got the recipe and went outside and brought in a gallon of pretty clean, white snow. ( I know not to eat yellow snow..even if I was born in Fla.) I added, milk, sugar and vanilla and ta da!....snow ice cream. It made a huge bowl, so I took it over to share with the BNOE. It was actually very good. Think I will make some more, next snow we get. Since it's going to stay cold for several days....I think our snow is going to stick around for a couple of days. Every town around here has shut down and all the roads are impassable. When, the roads are cleared, we plan on heading to the forest to see the pretty frozen water falls and what snow is left. I'm soooooooo lucky to live here. My life is so full of great things to do. ......winter, summer, spring and fall.

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