Winter Storm Woes

Here in Virginia we don't function too well in winter storm conditions.  I guess we do as well as possible considering our storms are few and far between.  Coming from West Virginia, however, the extent of the storm madness that ensues can sometimes seems a little bit extreme .  The store shelves will empty out at the prospect of a measly 1 inch of snow forecast!  You can imagine what happened when the forecast was up to 10 inches!

Well, in my neighborhood we did not get the 10 inches.  It looks to be about 8 inches.  Which is why I'm home this morning instead of at work.  Worse things have happened!  The cold is what's giving me problems.  It's finally gotten up to 19 degrees.  I don't tolerate the cold at all.

It was even too much for my dog Chloe.  She's normally pretty sturdy in the weather, even for a little (I'm calling 18 pounds little!) Shih Tzu.  But this morning when Hubby took her out for her walk she came in limping.  She seriously held a front paw up and wouldn't put it on the floor.  Then she limped a short distance across the floor.  I was really starting to worry.  When I felt her paw she fell over and her hind legs went stiff and looked lame.  I was beginning to think she was going into a convulsion.  She had snow stuck to her so I grabbed a towel and dried her off.  Suddenly she jumped up as if nothing was wrong.  She grabbed a toy and ran round the room with it.  When Hubby came in he informed me that it was so cold, Chloe wouldn't even go off the sidewalk.  She did her job right there on the pavement.  I think her feet were freezing.  If it's too cold for Chloe who normally loves the snow...then it's definitely too cold for me!

I did spot one of the baby squirrels making a foray out of his nest.  He only made it about a foot away from the tree and stopped right there.  He actually grabbed a handful of snow and threw it up over his head!  Wish I had video of that.  As it is, I just settled for a photo shot through the back door.  I just am not up to suffering for art today!

Hope you're warm wherever you are.
Sharon

A New and Scary Adventure

So I've decided to try my hand at business.  I love to create things and after several people urged me to do it I've taken the plunge.  I've just opened my Etsy Shop and put a few things up for sale.  Here's what I have so far.

Yes, they are shoes!  But you can't wear them.  I've filled in the toes and totally covered and sealed the whole shoe.   They are meant to be candy dishes but you could use them for anything.  I think one would be beautiful on a nightstand to hold jewelry.  I'm guessing I'm not the only one who is sometimes too lazy to put my jewelry in the jewelry box!

Here is one with the candy in it.  If I had an office and a desk I'd definitely have this on it!

I have to say I really love this one.  It is just so much fun to look at.  I almost hate to see it go.  I do have more items done but I am still trying to get the listings ready.  Making the art seems to be easier for me to do than writing up an interesting description.  And to think at one time I wanted to be a writer!

Sharon

More Fun at #Busch Gardens Christmas Town

Well, I've managed to go to Busch Gardens again.  I try to take advantage of any decent day that comes along (weather-wise).  Two pairs of wooly socks, two shirts, hat, gloves, ski jacket...and I was feeling pretty fine!  This time I tried to fit in some shows that I hadn't hit yet.  Actually I did see the Deck The Halls shows before but at the time I was so busy shoving a yummy prime rib sandwich into my mouth that I didn't pay it much attention.

This show is a mix of standard Christmas songs that are family-friendly.  If you go right at dinner time be prepared for a possible wait.  Seems like everyone wants to eat at around 5-6 and that's also when one of shows is scheduled.  Crowded!  It's a nice place to eat since it's indoors and WARM.  I recommend the prime rib sandwich.  Not to mention the carrot cake (my personal fav)!!!  Of course it's not on my diet but this is a special occasion, right?

Not sure what this show was.  It was in France where the theme is 12 Days Of Christmas.  The ditzy lady with the "wand" was a bit irritating.  Well...more than a bit according to my hubby.  Actually it was so crowded that I didn't get to see the full show.  I never saw the guy with the 5 rings on his head do anything.  Took his pic just because I liked his costume!  In the glow of the lights he was a lovely shade of purple and I LOVE purple!  I guess I need to go back at least one more time to watch this one.

This decorations in France are my favorite.  If you come up the hill from Ireland, through the path of green trees, you will suddenly find yourself almost blinded by blue, pink and white lights.  It never fails to get the 'ooh and aah' reaction from everyone.  Or should I say "Ooh la la!"

Merry Christmas to all!

Terrible Take-up

Here in Virginia we have an expression 'terrible take-up'.  Actually I think it's more of a York County thing.  It basically describes a sudden shock to your system.  Now that I think of it I think I heard it mostly from my former in-laws.  Hmmm.  Wonder if I was the terrible take-up?  Anyway, I guess it's a country way of saying 'taken aback'.  Think I've read that expression quite a few times back in my Harlequin Romance days!

At any rate, I'm not enjoying the change in weather we've had the last few days.  It was just a week ago it was a balmy and beautiful 78 degrees.  I came home from work and sat out in the back yard to just soak it up for a bit.  Next thing I knew there were three baby squirrels playing in the tree.  They were adorable.  I do love squirrels in the off-season.  Can't stand them in the summer though.  They massacre my garden.  ARGH!  Anyway one little squirrel was giving his buddy a bath.  Never saw that before.  It was so cute.

  

Suddenly there was a red-headed woodpecker and a blue jay in the same tree.  Guess they enjoy the warm weather too.  I couldn't get a picture of the blue jay.  He was way too fast for me!  But the woodpecker was still just long enough for me to snap this one.

After the birds were gone I spent the next few minutes enjoying the antics of the little squirrels as the sun slowly set and the light changed to a beautiful gold.

What an acrobat

King of the hill?

So much for my fond memories of last week.  The lovely weather did not last.  It was 19 degrees last night and here I sit tonight.... wrapped in a blanket and cranking up the fireplace.  ARGH!  What a terrible take-up!

Sharon

Christmas Town At Busch Gardens

So far I've been to #Christmas Town two times.  The first time was for opening weekend.  The weather was almost perfect.  It was in the 60's.  Just cool enough to need a light jacket.  Of course I would have preferred 75 degrees but you can't have everything.

We also went the day after Thanksgiving.  Brrrr!  I should have gone with my first thought and broke out the thermals.  It was sooo cold!  Didn't stop the crowds though.  It's amazing how popular Christmas Town is becoming.  Busch Gardens really puts a lot into it.  They even have heaters placed all around the park to help the chilly willies like me!  And the lights are fantastic.  Not to mention the famous peppermint fudge hot chocolate.  Not on my low carb diet but what the hey!  I tell myself that all the walking will counteract it.

The decorations and carolers in England reminded me of a Dickens classic.  The only thing that was missing was Ebenezer Scrooge.

The shows are always crowd pleasers.  The one I like the best is Miracles.  Very beautiful sets.

Other than Christmas Town I've missed out on all the other festivities around here.  The Grand Illumination at Colonial Williamsburg was today but it was too cold for me.  I'm pretty sturdy in most ways but not when it comes to cold weather.  Give me summer!  Thankfully in Virginia it's not unheard of to have warm weather in December.  In fact it was almost 80 degrees on Friday.  Lovely!
I thoroughly enjoyed it while it lasted.  The perfect scenario would be a beautiful white Christmas that obligingly melts away on Dec 26!  Fingers crossed...

Sharon

Halloween 2013

I don't normally get into Halloween but for some unknown reason I felt like putting more into it this year.  I started out by making some altered witch shoes.  I made a mess with the paper mache but it was a lot of fun.  Don't know what I'm going to do with them yet but I'm really happy with the way they turned out.

Next I worked on the porch.  I had never used chalk paint but I found some examples online and decided to give it a try.  I found a recipe for DIY chalk paint here.  It uses Plaster of Paris and powdered calcium.  The powdered calcium was not easy to find in my area but I finally got some at a vitamin store.  It was about $6.00 which will go a long, long way since you use very little of it.  Then I got a chair from the thrift store for $7.00.  As far as the painting it was a breeze.  This stuff goes on so easy and you don't have to prime first.  I put on a coat of blue, then a coat of teal green on top of that.  After letting it thoroughly dry I sanded it down, making sure to let the blue show through in various place.  When it looked just the way I wanted, I started waxing.  I just used some old Johnson wax that I had around.  I put on four coats of wax and it looked fab!  It also was a much needed workout for my arms!

Then finally the day was here.  This is my very modest (not!) look that I went for.  Woot woot!  I actually even wore these socks to work.  Haha!  Well, you know someone's gotta spice things up a bit! 

Normally we only get about 7 trick-or-treaters at our house.  This year we had a bumper crop of 26!  Wow!  And all of them were surprisingly polite.  Very refreshing.  I didn't take pics of many but here are a few.

All in all it was a fun day.  For once the weather cooperated...sunny 78!  Can't ask for any better than that.

Now I get to start planning for Christmas!

Fun At Newport News Fall Festival

I look forward to the Fall Festival every year.  Sometimes the weather doesn't cooperate but this year was perfect.  The crafts were great this year.  I spent a bit more than I normally do but got some fantastic buys.  Also got my pint of local apple butter.  Yum!  I skipped the pork rinds but did get a big bag of kettle corn.  So much for my diet!  My timing was off so I didn't get to see a lot of the entertainment.  I did catch the kid's show with the monkey.  He was adorable.

  

The ventriloquist's dummy was another story.  Maybe I've seen too many horror movies but this was a bit creepy!

 

Checked out the re-enactment site also.  I'm sure they appreciated the good weather.

All in all it was a great time.  I ate too much, spent too much and walked way too much!  Already looking forward to doing it all over again next year.