Deja Vu ALL OVER AGAIN

Well, here we go again.  Sunday Don was walking around in the yard in Bermuda shorts and today we have ice on the deck and no one is going out the door.  Thank goodness I had the get up and go to go to the grocery store this morning early instead of waiting til lunch time to do it.  Didn't have to get much, mainly Advil and toilet paper, but I would have been hurting without it.  And news bullentin here, my sister in law, Mary, from Alaska is flying in Saturday (that is if her connecting airports in Minn. and Atlanta are open).  I can promise you that we will have weird weather while she is here.  One winter when she lived in north Alabama, every time she came down between Christmas and Easter it snowed.  Didn't matter what the weatherman said it would do, it snowed.  By the third visit and I got up early that morning and looked out and guess what?? snow on the ground, I called her mom to find out what time she got there.  It was supposed to be sunny and WARM that day and low and behold the snow didn't melt. Of course, in the summer time it usually means hurricanes and tropical storms.  The first date she had with my brother we had 4 tornadoes hit the area.  Should have known then what we were in for.  I love her to death and wouldn't trade her for anybody, but she does have this weather thing. Oh, by the way yesterday was their 37th wedding annivesary.  That day (the day they got married) was sunny and 70 F and we were wearing high neck, long sleeve blue velvet bridesmaid dresses.  I nearly melted.  In a pudddle.
I will keep you posted about the weather and Mary's visit.
God bless us all. 
Mary

ICE AND NO SNOW

Well, the storm came just like they said it would.  At 2:34pm Sunday I saw my first snow flakes. Unfortunately, that was just about all the snow I got to see.  Within 10 minutes it started sleeting pellets the size of BB's and a couple of hours later freezing rain.  And that is all we have had.  I had rather have snow, atleast it is pretty.  So far no power outages for us. I have only heard 2 rescue units go by. We live about a 1000 feet from a major highway with mostly pasture and forest between us and the road. It means we can hear everything that goes up and down the road, according to ALDOT about 8,000 to 9,000 cars and trucks and rescue units a day.  That's pretty good for 1/8 to 1/4 inch of ice out there.  The temp is sitting right around freezing right now with no sunshine in sight before Tues or Wed.  So I guess the ice will stay for a while.  As long as we keep the power I will be happy.  If we don't, I will endure.  Hope you all have a happy day and God bless all of us.

From iceland, Alabama
Mary

SOUTHERN CUSS WORDS

Well, the weathermen (and women) are using those 4 letter cuss words that start with 's' and end with 'w' and have had the nerve to add a new one with 3 letters that starts with 'i' and ends with 'e'.  If there is ever a single word that can strike fear in a southerner's heart it is 'ice'.  Ice in the south means people getting hurt, power outages, falling tree limbs on cars and houses (and sometimes even people). I can deal with snow. At my age I just stay inside and look out the windows and take pictures from the front door and the back sliding door.  I don't go out.  Ah, but 'ice' ain't no fun in the South. People keep on thinking they can treat it like rain and get out on it in cars and trucks. Just 'cuz you think you can go ANYWHERE in a 4 wheel drive DOES NOT MEAN YOU CAN ON ICE ! ! ! Now our power lines are underground in our little community, the main power lines out on the highway are on wooden poles that break when that 4W SUV hits them.  And there goes the power. This is the first major storm since I switched from a propane stove to all electric.  I wish I still had my propane.  If you can keep hot food going even if you don't have heat, and you will survive.  I just could not afford all the set up costs for propane when I moved the doublewide. It also means my gas fireplace does not do anything but look pretty any more.  So I will make sure all the jogging sweats are clean, and the heavy socks.  I have plenty of battery lanterns, candles to heat the fondu pots of soup and pre-made coffee that I will set on my useless electric stove. Battery radios will keep us connected to the outside world.  
I had to stop writting and go with Don to the store (Walmart) and do my best to keep him from buying  Coleman stove (I explained we didn't have a covered deck to cook on, therefore, the deck would be covered with ICE and we couldn't go out to cook, hence no need for cook stove). We have a gas grill sitting  out there already that we won't be able to get to for cooking because of UNCOVERED deck. LOL This is his first experience with ice in Alabama. Where he is from snow and ice are common everyday occurance and he just doesn't see why I get stessed out over it. That is why I have bread, peanut butter, Pringles, KFC chicken, Vienna sausages, cookies, deli turkey breast, etc.etc. and will make a couple of pots of coffee that we will only have to heat.
 This AM when I started typing this blog they were predicting 4-6 inches of snow/ice. Now at 6PM they are saying 6-10 inches of snow/ice and maybe more ice than snow. Experience says that they will either be VERY right or it won't do anything.  We had that once. They kept saying we were going to get inches of snow and NOTHING happened here but further south (Montgomery and south) they got 8 inches of snow.  In Alabama you NEVER put money on the weather forecast. 
Now to all you sweet folks that prayed for my Aunt Mary, I have an update.  I finally was able to go see her Thursday. I had talked to her every day but this was the first time to see her.  She has a fantastic shiner and a few stitches where she lost the fight with the door handle to the pantry when she fell. She getting up and walking in physical therapy (aided, NOT alone yet). I took a pic of her so you all can see her. She will kill me if she ever finds out I posted it on the internet, she didn't have her teeth in or any makeup on.  She had just gotten her hair fixed and her nails look great, so she was partially happy. 

 I think considering surgery and stitches and her age, she looks great. She is ready to go and doesn't slow down talking. She seemed in good spirits. So far so good.  She likes to be around people and has never met a stranger so in that respect she seems happy.  I hope so.  She said the pain pills have made her sleep good and she was happy with that.  I printed off your comments and took them to her and read them.  She was thrilled that folks from New England and other parts of the states and one lady from Singapore took the time to pray for her and write a note to someone they had never met.  It made her day. I thank each and everyone of you for your time and prayers. They mean a lot to her and to me.
I will keep you posted on her journey and the weather.
  I did not realize until I got home that I never took a picture of the vest that I made her for Christmas.  I hope Sheryl will take a pic with her phone so you can see it.  It came rather nice even if I did the work and design on it.  If Sheryl takes a pic I will post here.
May God shed His Blessing and Peace on each of you.
Mary

GIVEAWAYS, SNOW AND CHRISTMAS

Today the sky is clear and oh so verrry coooold.  For Alabama the high outside my front door is supposed to get all the way up to 32F.  Oh that is sooooo warm LOL.  It looks sunny and warm but oh it isn't. The weathermen are still saying we will have a chance for freezing rain by Wednesday morning.  I hope not.  Alabamians do NOT do well with freezing rain or ice.  And on top of that it has been years since we have had any.  The nitwits here think it is just clear snow. I will NOT leave my house period.  Having broken a wrist when I was in college on ice I know better.  I may be hard headed but not THAT hard headed. It hurt. I can still remember it propped up on pillows in my grandmother's bed with blankets draped over it to keep it warm.  It hurt.  That was the last time I ever remember the doctor coming to the house. It was January 1966. Brother have times changed since then.  I wasn't even doing something silly then, I was standing still watching for traffic and my brothers were up the street at the top of the hill waiting for me to give the 'all clear' so they could make a run down the hill (five blocks) on their new sled. I gave the signal and turned to watch them and my feet flew out from under me and I landed on my left wrist.  The sad part was I was a music major at Samford University and my major instrument was the viola.  Now you can see the significance of breaking the left wrist.   I never had a decent vibrato again.
Oh well the twists and turns of life.  That is all I will say about snow today. And ice.
Now about giveaways.  Heirloom Gypsy is have a delightful giveaway.  Some keys, a pinafore (beautiful), a silver spoon ornament and  vintage crochet trim and lace and last but not least a demitasse cup and saucer.  So hurry over and get your name in the pot and check out all the other pretties she has. The button is in the upper right hand corner and here is a link http://heirloomgypsy.blogspot.com/ .
Now about Christmas. As you can see from my Christmas countdown widget above it is less than 2 weeks til Christmas.  I was out Saturday morning about 10 AM and there was hardly anyone at the grocery store or on the road.  I guess the hard financial times have every where.  They have hit us, for sure.  We have to be careful with penny.  This year I am sending out Christmas cards and not buying but a couple of gifts.  I have the stamps left from last year and the cards, too, for that matter. I like to stay in touch with friends and relations that live far away. We rarely see each other any more except at funerals.  No more of the visits atleast once a year like when I was young.  Most of us are getting too old to travel much on our own.  And oddly enough the ones of us left don't have hardly any children to take us places like my parents did for their parents.  Hadn't really thought about that until just now.  My husband never had any children, I don't have any children, most of my cousins in Tennessee don't have any children.  Weird how so many of us never even married or married late in life (like I did at 62), yet all of us were raised old fashion to not have children without benefit of marriage.  I guess we are a literally a dying generation.  Well so much for the pensive thoughts for this time of the year.  We must remember what this season celebrates. The birth of our Lord and Savior. 
 THAT is the MOST IMPORTANT THING. THANK YOU, GOD, FOR SENDING YOUR SON.
Mary