Today, the sun is shining...

Well, it snowed Thursday night and into Friday morning here in Central Texas.  I got up early Friday morning to see how much snow we had actually gotten.  It wasn't much (about an inch to an inch and a half), but it was enough to close the area schools.  For Madi, the cancellation of school Friday also meant the cancellation of her choir's Valentine's dance later that evening.  She was a little bummed about the dance being cancelled but, since she has two other dances scheduled over the next week, she was okay with the cancellation.  She's attending a friends Birthday party/dinner/dance later tonight and next Friday is the Middle School Valentine's dance.  So, she's gonna have plenty of time to get her groove on! :)

The day before it snowed, I was talking to my best friend, Eric, on the phone.  We were talking about the weather and the birds I've been photographing in our front yard recently.  Eric was commenting on how beautiful it would be to see the Cardinal in the snow and I agreed.  So, when I got up on Friday morning, the first thing I did was look out the window to see if the Cardinal was there, in the snow.  He was! As soon as I opened the blinds, I saw him on the bird feeder...

 ~ Eric was right.  Beautiful!

Madi and I were lazy, we didn't really care (not at first anyway) to go outside and check out the snow.  We kind of admired it from inside the house; which is what I prefer - I live in Texas for a reason you know.

Madi took advantage of her free morning. 

~She didn't even bother with brushing her hair.

~She's trying to hide her face

~This is suppose to be her giving me a mean look.  HA!

Bella dislikes snow and cold weather ~ sort of like her Momma. 


She was biting on her "dolly" just before I took this picture.  I told her to "be nice to dolly" and so she started licking it instead.

Momma Cass ~ on the prowl.

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Tex ~ super annoyed that I'm taking another picture of him.Just before noon I decided to go outside and get a few quick pictures of the snow before it started to melt.  

~Just outside our front door.  See, not a lot of snow.

One of the bird feeders



~Snow covering a flower bed and our little squirrel rain gauge.

~Our Oregano.  Not sure if it's going to make it.

My nephew, Jason and Madi's friend, Erin came by later in the morning to play in the snow with Madi; so that got her out of the house for a little while. 

While Madi, the pets and I enjoyed our snow day, poor Jack was having to drive home from Dallas after a very stressful attempt at flying home the day before. He had gone on travel to Arkansas on Wednesday morning and was suppose to be home Thursday night. However, due to ice and snowy conditions on Thursday, he couldn't get out of Dallas (which is a long story, but he didn't find out that he wasn't getting out until after 1am Friday morning) so he had to spent the night.  The next morning (Friday) after learning that his 10:40 am flight was canceled (along with all the other flights that morning), he and his co-worker/friend rented a car and pushed their luck on the roads.   His Mom and I were worried to death, but thankfully, he made it home safely yesterday afternoon. 

Today, the sun is shining, temperatures are in the 50's and the snow has just about completely melted away. We're thankful for all these things but especially thankful to be back together, safe and enjoying this beautiful Saturday!  

A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word

As promised in my last post, here are a few pictures of the House Finch (we think it's a House Finch anyway) that has been hanging out in our front yard enjoying the bird feeders.

Remember, all of these pictures have been taken through our window, so they are a little "filmy" looking.

The Cardinal's (male and female) are still hanging out, but a Mockingbird is constantly chasing them, as well as any other bird who dares to come around, off so that he/she can have sole possession of the Crape Myrtle tree. Darn Mockingbird, they are so mean!  I still haven't gotten over seeing that Mockingbird eat our new born butterfly back in May.

 I took this picture to show a little bit of the view (focusing on the bird feeder hangin' from our tree while also showing the inside [blinds]of the window) I have as I sit at our desk and look out of the window.

All my bird watching/bird picture taking has got me signing an old 60's song (I do love 60's music - so this happens a lot!)  by The Trashmen called "Surfin' Bird".  The title of this post is a lyric from said song.  For a laugh, I've attached a video clip of Peter from the TV show Family Guy singing "Surfin' Bird".  I thought it was pretty funny, even though I don't watch the show.  Enjoy, but I'll warn you, you'll have "Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow" stuck in your head all day. 

Well, I just noticed (a day after posting this) that the video did not attach or somehow disappeared from.  Anyway, I can't get the video to show up here (I'm sure there's a way ~ I just can't figure it out!) for some reason, but if you would like to see the video clip, click on the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WNrx2jq184&feature=player_embedded#t=0s

Through the window...

Jack put out bird feeders in our front yard on Saturday evening.  He carefully  arranged them so that we could see the birds through our office window when they came to feed.   I was thrilled and on Sunday morning,  I was up at 7:30am hoping to find some feathered friends hangin' out in our front yard.  I wasn't disappointed.  Within an hour of  "bird watching", I saw and photographed a male Cardinal, a female Cardinal, and a Yellow-Rumped Warbler.  I also got a quick glimpse of a house wren but, didn't get pictures of it.

I took tons of pictures, but since they were all taken through the window, they aren't as crisp and clear (just a tiny bit filmy looking - our window could use some cleaning obviously!) as they would be otherwise.  Even so, I'm happy with the pictures; they turned out pretty good. 

Male Cardinal on our Crape Myrtle tree.

~The female Cardinal.   You can see the male Cardinal in the background.

~enjoying his breakfast.

~And last, but not least, a cute little Yellow-Rumped Warbler. 

Yesterday, there were even more birds that stopped by to enjoy our feeders.  I saw a pair (maybe the same pair) of Cardinals, a Yellow Rumped Warbler, two or three wrens and one house finch.  As I write this post, I can look out the window and see a house Finch resting in the Crape Myrtle tree.  He is just setting there all puffed up (it's a really cold morning - only 25 degrees) and is as cute as can be with a red head and chest.  I've taken several pictures of him/her that I would like to share later in the week.

So, all thanks to Jack, I can now see a bit of nature without actual going out into the cold! :)  I know that sounds lazy, but I really do dread the cold.  For now, taking pictures through the window is just fine with me!  I'll be waiting for Spring in the warmth and comfort of my house.  

Furry Friends Friday!

I guess because the weather has turned off cold, I haven’t really been interested in going outside and taking pictures of nature. Since cold weather and I are not friends, I avoid the relationship altogether. I like to be warm and therefore enjoy warm weather and the feel of the glorious sun.  We havent' seen much of the sun, which is really depressing to me, since December. So, I haven’t really taken many pictures of nature since before Christmas.  I have, however, been taking lots of pictures of food (some I have posted here and some I have not) and of our furry friends.

It wasn’t until yesterday when I was going through and organizing the pictures that I’ve taken over the last couple of months that I realized how many pictures I have of the family pets - not just ours but our parent's pets. There are tons! So, I made up “Furry Friends Friday” as an excuse to share these pictures. Plus, they deserve a post all about them from time to time.

Most of the pictures are outside sure, but taking picture of the animals is so much easier and less time consuming then getting the perfect macro shot of a tiny flower. I spend less time in the cold and I’m close to the house where I can run when the cold has gotten the best of me.

Also, most of the pictures are of Jack's Mom and Dad's sweet doggies; Max and Sammy.  I've been trying to take more pictures of them, because I really didn't, up until now, have any. 

So, without further ado, here are our furry friends...

~ This picture of Bella cracks me up.  When I look at it, I'm reminded of the movie, "Meet the Robinsons" when the T-Rex says, "I have a big head and little arms. I'm just not sure how well this plan was thought through".   I'm sure you have to see the movie to understand, but Bella does have a big head and little arms in this picture.  Funny and cute!



 

Tex with the tie to one of Madi's shirts.  He's always into something.

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

"am I in trouble again?"

~Madi and Sammy playing through the fence.  It was driving Sammy crazy that she was outside of the fence and he was inside so he began to run in circles...

~Madi throwing leaves at Sammy.

~ Bella does not like this game!  In the middle picture she's looking at Madi like "Really?!"  Funny stuff!

~Bella actually running and playing with Sammy - a rare thing.

She's so stinkin' cute!  When Bella has her ears laying like they are in this picture, Jack refers to them as her "jester's" (like a jester hat). It always cracks us up.

~This picture of Cassie isn't real recent.  I took it back in October, but I feel bad because I don't have a recent picture of her and I really wanted to include her in this post since she is one of our furry friends.  Well, she's furry, but she's not friendly and she's as crazy as a mad hatter.

~This picture of Sammy and the ones that follow where taken on a different day than the ones above.  As you can see from both sets of pictures, he never stops running around!  And he's always carrying his ball, hoping someone will throw it for him.  Look at his hopeful expression - hopeful that I'll put my camera down and throw the ball.

~OK, this one really cracks me up!!  Sammy running with the ball in his month and his tongue hanging out, flappin' against the ball...hilarious!

"Throw it, I'm ready!"

~Big, sweet ol' Max,  Jack's Mom and Dad's German Shepherd.  Such a handsome fella.








 
~He's watching Sammy run around.  I picture him thinking - "What's wrong with that fool!"

~ I finally got him to look at me.  He doesn't hear so well, so I had to wave my arms around and do goofy facial expressions to hold his attention for this shot.   It's funny, dogs seem to like goofy faces just like babies do. 

~My Mom and Dad's Bichon Frise, Leo.  He prefers to be referred to as, "His Royal Cuteness".

 ~This is an old picture of Madi with Max and Sammy, but I had to include it here.  It's one of my favorites.  I love how Madi showing Maxie some major lovin'. 

And, I had to include Blue in this post.  He's not a "pet" per say and he's not "furry", but he's always hanging around.  I guess we can call him one of our "feathered friends" instead.  Every time I look at this picture, I start singing "Setting on the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding.  I love that!

We are so thankful for our furry friends; they make life so much more enjoyable.  Their love and devotion is something to be admired and modeled in our own relationships. 

"Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to."

~Alfred A. Montapert

~My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am.

~Author unknown.

 

I hope at least on of these pictures brought a smile to your face and that you have a fantastic Friday! :)

Blueberry Yum-Yum!

~Blueberry Yum-Yum

Please allow me to introduce you to a family favorite, Blueberry Yum-Yum.  Blueberry Yum-Yum is a dessert that my Grandma Lewis (my Dad's Mom) was practically famous for. I don't know exactly where she got the recipe; if she created it or copied it...but I do know that she perfected it! 

I remember visiting my Grandparents home in Savannah, Georgia when I was a kid and how Grandma's Blueberry Yum-Yum was a special treat for my sisters and I.  There was always massive amounts of good ol' southern cookin' to be had on these visits, but her yum-yum was always the star of the show.  I also remember that she use to bring it to the Lewis family reunions and folks would literally line up to get some of the blueberry goodness.  My sister, Melanie, a confessed Blueberry Yum-Yum addict was always in that line.

Grandma was nice enough to share her recipe with my Mom many years ago and this past weekend Mom decided to make it for the first time in in quite a while. The picture at the top of this post is of Mom's latest version of Grandma's Blueberry Yum-Yum.  It looked just like it should and even though Mom complained that she has never been able to make it exactly the way Grandma did, I can honestly say it tasted like perfection to me! 

Mom has passed the recipe on to me and has given me permission to share it, so you're in for a real treat today!!  Thank you, Mom! And thank you Grandma Lewis!

The really great thing is that the recipe that Mom has was handwritten by my Grandma years ago.  How awesome is that!? She passed away some time ago but, when I look at her handwritten notes on making this classic family treat, it is like she is in the kitchen making it all over again. I would scan it and attach it to this post, but my scanner is broken. :(  

I'm really happy to share this recipe and hope that if you try it, you will let me know how it turned out and if you enjoyed it.

Blueberry Yum-Yum

2 Cups fresh or frozen blueberries

2 Cups sugar (Divided)

1/4 Cups water

1/4 Cup cornstarch

3 Tbsp water

1 Cup all purpose flour

½ Cup margarine (softened)

1 cup walnuts (chopped fine).

1 8oz pkg cream cheese (Soft)

1 8oz pkg frozen whipped topping

Combine flour, margarine and nuts. Press dough in baking dish. Bake 20 mins. at 350. Let cool.

Combine berries, 1 cup sugar and ¼ cup water in small sauce pan. Cook over low heat until berries are soft. Approx. 15 mins.

Combine cornstarch with 3 tablespoons water in bowl - stir to dissolve. Add mixture to blueberries stirring constantly ‘til thickened. Set aside to cool.

Combine cream cheese and 1 cup sugar. Beat ‘til smooth – fold in cool whip. Speed this over cooled crust and then pour blueberry mixture evenly over top.

*Grandma’s end note says:  and that’s it!

This is what I get for asking Jack to pose with the Blueberry Yum-Yum...

~ He acts like he's going to give it to Bella...

You can imagine my frustration with this man, I'm sure!

Finally, he acts right!  It really shouldn't be this hard! :)