So, I went with cute

Couldn't decide how I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day.

chipmunk love source*

*see post title

Pancake Day, Penny Man & a Quip

Happy Mardi Gras! Tradition dictates pancakes for supper tonight. Love it!!

pancake source

(though I won't be coloring the pancakes. I know, boring, right?)

Happy Birthday, Mr. Lincoln.

  

dead president source

Kudos to Debra (She Who Seeks blog)
 I laughed so hard when I read this comment from Debra on my post yesterday about ordering plants:
"Garden catalogues are like crack to you flower junkies, aren't they?"

Cold and windy here in the Salt City. Stay warm and cozy, be happy and safe.


 

Make a New Plan, Stan

It's a rainy day and a Monday; does that always get you down? (always loved the Carpenters).

The plan for the week:

1. Find camera. It seems to have settled somewhere out of my view. Maybe the kittens hid it.

2. That list of plants I want to order from various garden catalogs: Really? I actually think I can spend over $500.00??!! Make a new, shorter list and cut cost by about $450.00. (and where exactly would I plant that many plants anyway?!)

3. It's still way too early for spring cleaning, so scratch that off the list till about, oh, April. (or May).

4. Gotta bake chocolate chip cookies, thanks, Akasa!

5. Make Valentine for hubby. Every year I make one for him. It's sweet of me, ain't it??

6  Take a trip to Hobby Lobby to look for supplies for Celebrate Altered Oz. (click on the button on my sidebar for info)

7. That reminds me, what am I doing for Celebrate Altered Oz??

8. Please, please, please tidy up Book of Shadows (witch's journal).

9. Time to make a trip to the store for wild bird food. Feeders are low, thanks to Squirrels.

10. Explain to the dogs (again) that cat food is for cats. Not dogs.

That wraps up my plans for the week.  I feel very organized now.

Crystalline Fury

The beauty of a fresh snowfall can not be denied. Trees are festooned with fluffy garlands and houses are painted with frosty brushstrokes. There is a silence that embraces and lulls into a peaceful state. A fresh, crisp smell to the air, offset by the puffs of chimney smoke that rise and fall in the now-gentle winter breeze.

But winter can turn the gentle snowflake into a harsh attack of crystalline fury. Wild winds and icy cold join forces to beat the weary world into submission. Blizzards bring with them a brutal strength that wreaks havoc like no other storm.

To survive and be victorious over weather's attempts to overrule an orderly existence, one must strive to be strong, prepared and patient. Damning the storm serves no purpose. Nature will not be cowed.

And in the end, the sun will shine again, the great banks of snow will recede, melting away, disappearing into ponds and lakes and ground and seas, providing refreshment for plants and animals and humans alike during a hot dry summer.

Nature can punish, but also reward.


Courage and strength to those battling in the Northeast against the blizzard.

Blurbs

Heavy snow today.

Experiencing withdrawals from lack of newspaper four days a week.

Image source

Bought myself cheery orangey-yellow roses yesterday.

Enjoyed the dvd, "Premium Rush", lots of exciting bicycle riding through NYC.

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Read a fabulous novel, "The Winter Witch" by Paula Brackston. Highly recommend this well-written story about a young, mute woman with magickal powers.

The skeleton of King Richard III was identified, solving the 500 year old mystery of where his body was buried. His skull had many wounds inflicted by blades. Gruesome, yes, but still interesting.

image source

Chip Ahoys taste really good when dunked in hot coffee.

The kittens love Friskies salmon and beef. Gaah, what a combination.

Life is so exciting, isn't it?

Newspaper Woes

If I were to state that I am not that much excited about the Superbowl, would I cause a flurry of comments asking me if I am nuts? I just don't care that much about football. Also, I cannot believe that there have been "trailers" for the Superbowl commercials. Isn't that a little extreme? Oh well, just MHO.

Hey, I baked yesterday! That is unusual. Peanut butter cookies, a very old family recipe. No picture though, as they somehow vanished.

Here's something. The Syracuse newspaper, The Post-Standard, is changing how we, the public, read the paper. No more daily home deliveries. We will receive home delivery on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. A small version of the newspaper can be purchased the other days of the week at newstands. A new on-line  digital version of the newspaper will be available 24/7. In other words, they pretty much want to do away with home delivery. I have been a newspaper reader since I started reading the comics (the "funnies") when I was very young. I am trying to be a grown-up about this, but truly I am not happy to lose the daily paper. The comforting routine of morning coffee, sitting with my husband as we both read the paper will be difficult to lose. Somehow, both of us using the computer to read the newspaper early in the morning is not going to be the same.

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Not much else to report today. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.

image source

Here's a picture of Johnny Depp because I haven't posted one in a while and well, why not?

Blessed Imbolc

Here we are looking for signs that Spring will be arriving soon. The most notable sign is the longer days. It is good to have sunset later each evening. Every day there is a bit more brightness.

But alas, there will be no other physical signs around here. It has been snowing heavily most of the day and it is now snowing late into the night. I imagine most of February will be like this.

Still, candles are lit to celebrate the midpoint between winter and spring, the sabbat of Imbolc.

I think about this long strange winter with it's roller coaster weather. There does not appear to be a "normal" any longer concerning the seasons. Sitting by the window, watching the snow fall, and dreaming about spring flowers and summer gardens. Planning and preparing is a good way to spend the cold days.

"There is a privacy about winter which no other season gives you … Only in winter can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself." 
-  Ruth Stout

With my feet firmly planted in the present, I look to the Spring and all the many things I would like to do. Projects, ideas, goals, dreams as well as garden planning. And I think of the things I need to let go, get rid of; not just the physical, but mental and emotional "stuff". It is good, in these quiet February days to stop and look within, as well as without.

Image Source

The promise of Spring is one that Nature will keep. We wait, sometimes impatiently, for those days when the daffodils bloom and songbirds fill the air.

For now, we work quietly, steadily finding beauty in a fresh snow fall, comfort in hearth and home and the splendor of a winter's night sky.

February Twilight

by Sara Teasdale

I stood beside a hill
Smooth with new-laid snow,
A single star looked out
From the cold evening glow.

There was no other creature
That saw what I could see --
I stood and watched the evening star
As long as it watched me.