Hi Everyone!
I've come to the conclusion that Blogger no longer sends out notifications of my posts to people even though they have subscribed to my blog! Quite irritating! And I'm not sure how to go about fixing this because I'm not that computer literate. So I've decided that until I can figure out how to make it work, I'll just announce new blog posts periodically on my YouTube channel, and put a link there as well. Oh well, there certainly are worse things that could happen, so I'll count my blessings. Here are some recent pictures I've taken!
This picture was taken on January 1st!! It's my Lenten Roses in bloom! I was amazed, but very happy to see them. And that's Brer Rabbit in the background, overseeing everything. Fortunately for him, he's concrete. Otherwise, Dundee - our very old (17+ years) and still very active cat, would have eaten him by now!! 🐈
Another New Year's Day picture of one of our Dogwood trees! Before we had any, I never realized they have red and bluish-black berries in the winter! And did you know there are 19 varieties of Dogwood trees? It's also our Alabama State Flower. Now you know!
These next four pictures were taken in time sequence and shows what happened on the evening and morning of 2 and 3 January, here in Madison, Alabama! This particular picture was taken at 8:59 pm, 2 Jan. I looked out our front door and couldn't resist grabbing the camera. Everything looked so peaceful. I also love how the lights glow from the houses in the background.
Taken at 9:30 pm, 2 January! Yes, it was coming down pretty fast and getting quite a good accumulation. The last time we had snow like this in Alabama was about 4 years ago. I think this picture would make a great Christmas Postcard!
This was taken at 10:08 pm!! Sadly, the trees that look like umbrella shapes are actually dead. They're Weeping Cherry trees and we've had three of them for about 26 years now. This past summer, they started looking quite scraggly and we asked an expert about what was needed. He asked how old they were, and then told us he was amazed, because Weeping Cherries usually only last about 20 years at best!! Of course, Nigel Fursdon not only has a green thumb; both of his hands are totally GREEN!! He even grew raspberries one year, quite successfully, and they usually only thrive in much cooler climates that you find up north!.
Here's the final picture taken at 9:51 am, on 3 January. All in all, we got about 4 1/2 inches here, while other surrounding areas received a lot more! Admittedly I love the snow when it gets this deep. It seems as if all the chaos and noise of the world is calmed and soothed by such heavy blankets of snow.
I turned 62 on 4 January! And what a surprise I had! I've always been very blessed having Nigel as a husband. He gets me flowers for any special occasion, and even when I've returned home after a trip! For birthdays, we usually go out to dinner some place nice, and that afternoon, at 4:00 pm, we were going to a favorite German restaurant of mine. However, about 3:00pm, Nigel told me the restaurant had called and said they were having some difficulty and would we mind waiting until 5:00 pm to come to dinner. I agreed of course, but when we got there, Nigel started walking toward a booth that was already occupied. I couldn't see who it was seated there until Nigel moved to the side and I realized it was my Mom! Then he told the waitress we needed a bigger table since one more person was coming. Naturally I asked, but he said it was a surprise. So I kept wondering who it might be, but couldn't think of any one person that might come. Only couples. Finally, after about 10 minutes, I looked behind myself to see my very best, best, best friend of all time - Sherry Craig!! Sherry lives in Murfreesboro, Tennessee (about 2 hours north of us) and the reason for the delay that had us eating at 5:00 pm rather than 4:00 pm was that Sherry was delayed getting away. She wasn't even entirely certain she'd be able to make it because they also had a lot of snow, actually more than we did. Anyway, I bought the ruse hook, line and sinker!! And without reason if the truth be known because (1) had I thought about it, I would have remembered that this particular restaurant did NOT take reservations and (2) Sherry had already intimated she might try to come down within a few days or so! I guess turning 62 fried some of my brain cells. 😀 But I have to say, it was the loveliest birthday I've ever had!!
Isn't he the cutest pudgy bird?!? I took this picture on 7 January. The snow had cleared and I had walked out of the house to take the trash out. On my return to the front door, I looked up and saw him! He was SO STILL! So I quietly went back inside as quick as I could and grabbed my camera. He still hadn't moved when I returned, so I was able to get several pictures. Apparently he isn't suffering from "miss a meal colic" as my Dad used to say!
Hugs! Jan
