A Rainy Day Read...

Today I'm joining Chari over at

Happy to Design for her

Sunday Favorites.

I will give her link at the bottom.

~~~

I first wrote this back in the Fall when we

were having a spell of rainy weather.

Well... we will be having a few stormy days

again and it made me think of this post.

It is the beginning of our tornado season here

in Texas.  Something I don't look forward to.

You can go here to read about my

experience with tornadoes.

~~~

It's another rainy day here in North Texas.

A very good day to curl up and

read a good book or blog...

(or two... or three.......).

So, If you don't mind...

I thought I would show some brighter decorating this time.  Not that I don't LOVE the warm and cozy Autumn colors.

The following pictures were taken before my

 dining room fell into Fall!

All I need is a cup of tea and biscuits.

The dining table was moved so that I

 could show you the china hutch.

This is my Spring dish collection.

That green display stand is from

HomeGoods. Love that store!

This silk flower arrangement was a gift...

From my dear friends at Ethan Allen in

Northern California, near the Nappa Valley.

It was given to me at my farewell party

when we were moving to Texas.

Here are some of my Mary Engelbreit 

pretties. Do any of you like ME?

The Garden Angel is by Jim Shore and was given to me by my daughter Angie.  Her wings fell off... so I guess she is a "fallen angel"!? 

DD also gave me the Mary Engelbreit

(ME) grandmother cup,

before her daughter was born.

The cat represents my yellow cat Norton. 

He was big and acted more like a dog

than a cat. He followed me everywhere.

I lost him to the Coyotes in California.

This is a favorite picture.

"When a child is born,

so is a grandmother"

I bought another ME picture in our little 

town's gift shop in Rancho Murieta, Ca. 

(Before we moved to Texas) 

It is a private golf community and is built

on a game reserve... or is it a preserve?

It was full of deer, wild turkeys, bobcats,

rattlesnakes, AND coyotes! 

The shop owner was an artists and

she painted the flowers on the matting

before she framed it.

~~~

Anyway... My tea is brewed so...

back to my afternoon

of relaxing and reading.

Now... where are my glasses?

~~~

Now don't forget to go visit Chari 

over at Happy to Design.

Thank you Chari for hosting

this weekly event.

Yes, it is COLD... and I Live in DFW Texas!

We have strange weather in North Texas.

It can be in the 75 one day and 35 the next.

We even had SNOW on Christmas!

(it had been 73 degrees the day before)

~~~

It got down to 17 degrees last night with
a wind chill of Zero. We may even
break a 20 year record tonight.


This is our pond this morning.

I spent the early morning

melting some of the ice.

I just boiled some water and sat the pot

on the ice until it melted enough to

scoop out of the pond.

You shouldn't try to break the ice because the

noise can sometimes harm the fish.

The ice needs to be removed so that gasses
don't get trapped and kill the fish.

Hope I didn't disturb the fish too much.

~~~

 A $25.00 Giveaway!

Have you met Marla over at Always Nesting? I just want to share her with you... especially if you enjoy reading someone who has a great sense of humor!

I guess that I should tell you that she is having a

TJ MAXX giveaway for her 100th post. It is a gift card worth 25.00. Anyone here like TJ MAXX???

Then get on over there fast, she is picking the

winner on this coming Wednesday.

Good luck... kinda....

Christmas Eve in Texas

Morning snow flurries...

A White Christmas is very rare

in the DFW area of Texas.

Still need to finish the tree.

Snow blown against the window turns to ice.

Someone coming to visit?

Come on in where it's warm!

All snuggled in for a long Winter's night...

~~~

Edit: fish pond on Christmas morning.

COLD!

Late afternoon and the ice on the water is melted.

~~~

Hard to believe that on the 23rd it was 73 degrees.

(It snowed on Easter Morning a few years ago.)

Not really very warm but at least it's sunny.

Kinda looks like a TORNADO! (for real)

I was out looking for a faucet and light fixture and when I walked out of Home Depot this is what I saw.

Not sure what to think about it.

I have been freaked out about TORNADOES ever since we move to Texas five years ago. Spent the first two years gathering up all the animals and sitting in the bathtub every time we got a tornado warning.

 
That meant I had two Poms (one was blind and one was deaf), a 14 year old cat, and two Cockatiels in a large cage...all in a hot, muggy bathroom.

 
Of course we have air conditioning... but with two panting dogs (with bad breath), a restless moaning cat, and a smelly birdcage... even the air conditioner didn't help.

 
Did I mention that as soon as the

barometric pressure changes

I GET A MIGRAINE!??

I really don't need all those sirens blaring

or the pesky phone calls from the city...

I pretty much know before them.

Yes...I am in the tub, with the dogs,

and pillows, AND a migraine!

Well... by the time a got home (5 min.), I totally forgot about that weird cloud... after all I have treasures to unload.

I had shopped at Ross... Yes, I know that Ross is not nearly as cool as the other "cheapie" stores, but mine is not really so bad, well not too bad). I got a fabulous set of Laura Ashley king size sheets for under 30.00, and a sumptuous sage king size blanket for under 20.00.

Anyway... I never got the migraine so...

I guess that cloud was just that

...a cloud.

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