The Saga of the Lilacs

 Of all the places I've ever lived, I think the Denver area has the wackiest weather. Last year the lilacs were just beginning to bloom the week before Mother's Day. We have a lovely stand of tall lilac bushes along the back of our deck and I was so looking forward to enjoying the delicate color and delightful fragrance of lilacs in full bloom, when we got hit with a late spring snow storm.

Spring snow is wet and heavy. The leaves and blossoms hold the snow and weight the branches down. So that was the end of the lilacs last year. I was hopeful that this year would be different. The weather was milder and the lilacs budded out earlier.

They weren't quite in full-bloom when we, again, got another spring snow storm. Again, the branches were weighted down with the heavy snow. I was so disappointed, just sure that was the end of lilacs for another year.

However, the temperature hovered just above freezing, so the lilac blossoms were tenaciously hanging on. I thought it still might freeze during the  night last night...

...but it didn't. This morning, when the sun came out, I was happy to see the branches beginning to spring back up as the snow was melting away.

One large branch had snapped off, so before the flowers had a chance to wilt and die I went out and "harvested" them...

...and arranged them in a lovely bouquet to enjoy indoors.

I'm so glad the lilacs survived this year!

(High drama in my backyard, right?)

Winter Day Trip

After a particularly snowy week we were happy to see sunshine when we got up yesterday morning. Lyle suggested going for a drive in the mountains to see the fresh snow. Rebecca and Cookie accepted our invitation to ride along. 

We started out early because I was afraid the sunshine might not last. Sure enough, it was only partly sunny during our drive. Still, the scenery was breathtakingly beautiful.

ICY CONDITIONS MAY EXIST

 Do tell!

Our route took us through the ski resort towns of Breckenridge and Keystone.

MUG SHOTS

 I thought the name of this coffee shop in Breckenridge was clever. I love a good play on words.

 We were especially interested in watching the skiiers. Needless to say, the ski runs were quite busy after all the "fresh powder" this past week.

We pulled into a scenic overlook above the chair lift at Arapahoe Basin. It was neat to have a bird's eye view. Lyle and Rebecca would have liked to go skiing themselves. Maybe another time.

It sure is fun to have beautiful scenery so close to home when we are in the mood to go for a drive.

Marshmallow World

On Friday the weather forecast for the weekend was 8-16 inches of snow by Sunday evening.

Since the weather has been mostly sunny and snowless this winter, I thought it would be interesting to do a series of "time lapse" photos of our back yard over the course of the weekend. Obviously, the weekend isn't over yet, but the results are dramatic enough that I decided to go ahead and post while I have time. (Otherwise I might not get around to it. Iz bad, I know.)

The little dab of snow lurking in the shady areas on Friday afternoon was left over from a few days earlier. The clouds were beginning to gather, but the flurries didn't start until after dark that day.

 Saturday morning the ground was lightly covered with a very wet snow. It had already melted off the stone walkway and mostly just stuck to the grass. But more was still in the forecast.

Midday Saturday it started snowing lightly... 

 just kinda spitting snow off and on...

 By early evening the snow finally decided to start getting serious.

 The "snow" setting on the camera shows it coming down better than the "auto" setting above, though I have to say the "auto" setting makes a prettier picture. I love the warm lights shining from the back fence neighbors' houses.

 And so finally, this morning, we did wake up to a Marshmallow World.

Church was cancelled due to the bad roads, so we are enjoying a quiet morning sitting by the fire, watching the snow. We love that our family room has both a fireplace and French doors overlooking the backyard.

We will enjoy the snow while it lasts because it could very well be all gone by midweek. Denver weather is funny that way.

Fragmented Thoughts for November

I have a love-hate relationship with the month of November. 

It's the month I was born, 

as well as the month I was married, 

so double reasons to celebrate, 

in addition to Thanksgiving.

My children presented me with this lovely bouquet of mums 

in honor of our anniversary last week.

They bought their dad candy.

The other part of their gift was a series of pictures

they had a friend take of them at a local park.

I was so pleased!

I told them they could do that as a gift for us for any occasion.

 Speaking of mums, the ones in my flower bed 

have been blooming since early September.

Some of the blossoms are beginning to fade, 

but the plant is still putting out buds, too.

That's two months and counting of bloom time.

This is the fourth year I've had them.

Isn't that wonderful?

 With the ever-shortening daylight hours and the drizzly gray skies

(which is what I hate about November),

I appreciate the bright spot in my front flower bed...

 ...and the still-fresh Jack-o-lanterns on the front step

which I plan to leave up until after Thanksgiving,

or until they start to soften, whichever comes first.

 An early snow this week reminded us that, ready-or-not, winter is upon us.

We've winterized the trailer and put away the bikes and lawn furniture,

and are turning our attention to more indoor pursuits.

Happy November!

Trip to Seattle

This past Saturday Lyle and I took off on a little day trip to Seattle. It was the weekend of the Seattle Auto Show which Lyle always enjoys. Some years it has been on our anniversary weekend, but this year it was a little earlier. We just decided to go for the day.

 It's about a 4-hour drive so we left about 6:30 a.m., just as it was getting light. The drive over and back is half the fun. We like to talk, listen to music (and Car Talk), and watch for interesting things along the way...

...such as this abandoned love seat which was strategically placed on the edge of a cliff along the Columbia River. We weren't brave enough to actually sit on it, but we did speculate about who might have carried it out there and why.

 I took a picture of our car while we were stopped there. It seemed like a nice backdrop for it. Interestingly, we saw a car just exactly like it (only two model years newer) at the car show.

 The autumn colors made the always-beautiful drive even more spectacular.

We had sunshine almost all the way to the city, but as is typical for Seattle, it was damp and foggy when we actually got there.

We spent about 3 hours at the car show, and even though I'm not the car enthusiast in the family, it was still a lot of fun. I'll share fragments of that experience with you tomorrow.

I'm sure you can't wait!

Pumpkin Patch

 One of our favorite fall family activities is visiting the Green Bluff area near Spokane, and making a tour of the orchards and farms. We like to get pumpkins... and apples... and kettle corn... and cider... and harvest-y things like that.

 This past Saturday was the day we had decided to go. Turns out that was a good choice. The day was sunny and just cool enough to really feel like fall. The kind of weather you want for an outing in the country.

Mostly I had fun taking pictures of all the pumpkins. The ones in the pumpkin patch as well as the "sweet li'l punkins" that came along with us.

It was a good day!

Ring Around the Sun

Unusual phenomenon in the Seattle area this afternoon.

Travel Stats for Tuesday/Wednesday

Continuing this week's whirlwind travelogue...

Time in Missouri with family for Dad Cook's funeral: not quite 21 hours.
Departed Missouri Military Cemetery at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri: 1:45 p.m. CDT on Tuesday.
Hours driven: 27.5
Hours slept: 3.5
Miles driven: 1,783 miles [I drove twice coming home for a total of about 200 miles while Lyle slept a little more. Otherwise, he did all the driving.]
Average speed: 64.4 mph
Fuel mileage: 33.4 mpg
States: Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho
Time zones: 3
Wildlife spotted: Not much on the way home. Saw a dead skunk on the road, but I guess roadkill doesn't exactly count as wildlife, though, does it? Saw a squirrel at a rest area.
Weather: rain in Missouri for about the first 6 hours yesterday afternoon, very cold with snow on the ground in South Dakota through the night, snow flurries in eastern Montana this morning, warm and sunny across central and western Montana this afternoon.
Audio books: finished The Racketeer, started Forbidden by Ted Dekker.
Car Talk podcast: 2 episodes
Other audio: Sunday's sermon from our home church, Sirius radio channels-- Road Dog, Radio Classics, Laugh USA, Enlighten.
Arrived home: 7:00 p.m. PDT on Wednesday.
Thursday's destination: Redmond, Washington for the Christian Heritage conference.

Signs of Spring

It's that time of year when Winter has pretty much long since worn out her welcome. Eagerly we begin to watch for the very earliest signs of Spring. According to the calendar Spring should be making her arrival next week. Usually, Spring comes late to north Idaho. Happily for us, she seems to be arriving just a little earlier than normal this year. 

Rachel has been watching for Spring's arrival in central Indiana, too. She has already spotted some bright little crocus faces in her neighborhood. No blossom sightings around here yet. 

 However, I was glad to notice that my mums are coming back for Year 4. There was some discussion here on Ramblin' Roads last fall on how to get mums to come back year after year. Mine are planted in a flower bed close to the house. Once they've finished blooming in the fall I just leave the "dead" plant there all winter. It does not look lovely, but then, neither do the bare lilac bushes in the same flower bed. When the lilacs start leafing out in a few weeks, I will cut down last year's mum stalks to allow this year's new growth to flourish. And then, hopefully enjoy blooming mums again in the fall. I don't know if that's the "secret" or not. That's just how I do it.

This is what our weather looks like most days this time of year. Snow on the mountains in the distance but not in our yard. Cloudy skies with periods of fog. And occasionally, lovely sunny days! Looking forward to more of those, for sure!

Another sign of spring is that my homeschool convention season kicks off this weekend. Tomorrow morning I'm heading to Loveland, Colorado for the Home Instruction Ministries Spring Curriculum Fair where I'll be hosting the Sonlight booth. I'm flying this year, rather than driving, so I'll be responsible for all the packing, loading, and unloading that Lyle usually takes care of for me. That's making me a little nervous, but I'm sure it will be fine. This is the first of six conventions I'll be attending this Spring, so I'll keep you posted on my travels.

What signs of spring are you seeing in your neighborhood?

Sunshine!

After several days of freezing fog and "stagnant air" the sun has come out! It's still well below freezing so the hoarfrost on the trees glitters like jewels. Sunshine is rare in January, and very welcome!

I am, however, still fighting "the crud" so I didn't venture beyond sticking my head out the door to take pictures. Maybe we'll have a pretty sunset in an hour or so. I'll try to remember to keep an eye on the west windows.

From the rising of the sun

unto the going down of the same 

the Lord's name is to be praised. 

Psalm 113:3

Frozen Fog

Laura took these amazing pictures in our yard this morning...

Frost crystals on her car antenna...

...and mirror...

...and on every little bare twig of every bush in our yard!

By the breath of God frost is given...

Job 37:10

Frag-Blogging

I have been receiving some gentle nudges that it's time to blog again. The thing is, in my mind, blogging should be story-telling. If I wanted to just talk about the weather or what we had for dinner, I could just tweet about that... or post it to Facebook... and be done. Blogging is more fun for me because I love stories!  And sometimes I just haven't got a story. So that's where Frag-Blogging comes in. You can blame Mrs. 4444 and Keetha! Somehow they've managed to convince me that it's okay to gather up a bunch of fragmented pieces of almost-stories, weave them together, and voila! Blog-worthy story!

And so, we've had snow. Well, duh. It's January. In Idaho. So, yeah. There ya go.

I have to admit, there's something magical about watching falling snow pile up. I am kinda enjoying the way it's been coming this year. We've had several snowstorms with thaws in between, which keeps the white stuff fresh and pretty.

Cookie likes to lie in the window and watch the snow... and keep an eye out for any interesting passersby. She loves in play in the snow when it's deep and fresh. She pounces around in it like a puppy, rather than the more sedate 7-year-old lady dog she usually is. It is very fun to watch her.

What's not so fun is driving in it, though the snow plows are pretty good about keeping the main roads cleared off. The snow was coming down pretty heavy on Monday morning as Becky and I headed back to co-op.

Speaking of co-op, since this is a fragmented post, this term I am helping with a class of little girls (1st to 3rd grade) who are learning to crochet. Let me rephrase that. They are "learning" to crochet. See the difference? They think they are learning. Mostly they sit and hold their balls of yarn and crochet hooks, and giggle. One-by-one, the other teacher and I put our arms around them to guide their little hands to hold the hook and manipulate the yarn in just the right way, while they watch intently. I don't think they've caught on much yet, but this was just the first class. It will be interesting to see what progress they make by the end of 8 weeks.

On to the next fragment... Tuesday evening we had a birthday dinner at Olive Garden.

Our family had received a gift card to Olive Garden for Christmas, so we decided to go there for Laura's birthday. We also invited her BFF to join us.

And while they are "grown up" young ladies, legally adults and all that... they mostly just sat and giggled. Wonder when they outgrow the giggle stage?

Anyway, it was a lovely dinner.

Other than that, we've mostly just kept the home-fires burning (figuratively, since we don't have a real fireplace)... fought a virus that's going around...

...and tried to stay warm!

Hope you're having a good January!