Hello all...........

 

I usually don't blog during the evening but I just looked at my portfolio and swallowed hard.  Who ever thought that China would have this kind of impact on the world economy let alone impact on our confidence in such a way?  Another awakening. We are becoming so inter-dependent.  Well.....I did have Chinese this evening.  All for a good cause.

 

I'm an ABC watcher so of course much of their programming  these past few days has been the return of Bob Woodruff. Watching the grace and courage his family has shown  the past 13 months has been so emotional.  Having lost Peter Jennings and then seeing this happen to Bob takes this into the realm of the unbelievable. I was particularly taken by his wife and children - thinking this should never happen to anyone. I am very glad that he has taken up the cause of the soldiers who also suffer from traumatic brain injury. They most definately need a voice and what better person to speak up for their cause than Bob.

 

So what did you think of the Oscars? I usually don't watch them and actually didn't watch much of the programming this year except to watch the first 15 minutes.  I was curious to see how Ellen would handle the task of Emcing and I think she did rather well.  I had to wait until Monday morning to see if Helen Murin got her Oscar and was rooting for "Little Miss Sunshine" and "An Inconvenient Truth."  I actually enjoyed a lot of the "after-programming," Good Morning America and the Opray Winfrey Show. Nice coverage on that front.

 

Each morning I seem to be waking up to another inch or two of fresh snow.  It keeps the landscape pristine and I now see we might have some interesting snow expectancy Thursday into Friday.  Interesting way of saying that huh!  In other words, more snow.  Ok.....I think I've had it.  Enough.....I'm looking forward to spring.

 

I hope you all sleep well.  Good night from Bittersweet on-the-hill.

 

 

 

 

It is the morning after our blizzard and the world is just beginning to move.  We did get 24 hours of snow and probably close to 20 to 24 inches of snow. There aren't too many cars on the road but that is fine.  It was a morning of reading - "The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop," and soon I'm thinking about an omlette for lunch.  I bought some wonderful salsas from Jardine's in Texas and thinking something hot with cheese to clear out the sinus's.  Still struggling with this headcold and congestion but it is starting to exit from this aching body.

My orchids did get their weekly/weakly feeding and so they and I are content. I'm especially excited about trying one of these hot salsas for lunch and then I'll survey the birds and and hope they are finding the seed that seems to get blown on with some light winds.  But it is sunny and just glorious with the beauty of a pristine and crisp winter day.  Until.......Bittersweet

Finally!  We're getting our first snow storm of the season and it is a blizzard.  At this point we're half way through and I suspect by tomorrow morning we'll have that two feet.  The kind of day you look out the window and marvel at the drifting snow, the lack of vehicles on the road and the fact that for one or two days you can let the world close in around you. 

 

I spent part of the morning reading "The yellow-Lighted Bookshop" and it brings back so many memories of early reading habits.  I was not an early reader nor did I enjoy reading until later in life - and that is one of my big regrets in life. What I do remember enjoying  was the Nancy Drew Mystery Books. I'd sit in my bedroom on the floor and just get lost for hours reading these mysteries.  I don't recall too many other books but really began to understand the enjoyment of reading short stories for 9th grade English.  I think part of the problem was having attended a parochial elementary school where there was no library and very little opportunity for reading.

 

I do remember the Scholastic Magazine and the Weekly Readers but that was a Friday afternoon after thought.  If there was a little time left over, we quickly got a few minutes to browse or read.  I don't ever recall that we were encouraged to purchase a small paperback for reading pleasure. I guess that's what happens when you have 60 kids in one classroom and everything is rote and routinized. But it is a sad statement on what some of our early educational experiences have been.  But I feel fortunate that I have learned to enjoy reading and it is a big part of my retired life. 

 

Well back to the Yellow-Lighted Bookshop.  Stay warm   Bittersweet on-the-hill.

They say that we will get 12 to 15 inches of snow tonight into tomorrow.  Our first real snow for the season.  Better late than never! My brother noticed that the snow drops were almost ready to pop and I told him not to fret - they will do just fine protected by the snow.

 

Later I will make my last trip to the post office to pick up my remaining billet-doux.  Do remember that tomorrow is St. Valentine's and all my admirers will have posted their romantic words by now.   How I wish..............

 

I just received C.S. Lewis's "Till We Have Faces - A myth retold."  I don't recall having read any of his works before and then realized he also wrote "The Chronicles of Narnia."  All I could think of was ....here is a man before his time!  Thank you "c" for the introduction.

 

I think my orchids are happy.  I only have two in bloom and of course the young ones won't bllom for another 12 to 18 months. But the grow lights and a better feeding program is starting to pay dividends.  I am seeing lots of root growth and they are physically growing as well. I finally have a handle on the heat and light although I think it is a tad warmer than it should be.  What I do need to do is improve the humidity with perhaps a few more humidity trays.  But I just found a new blogging friend who just might have a wealth of growing tips.  You should never have tipped you hand CAS!  I'm lining up my questions!

 

Anyway.....I'm looking forward to my box of chocolates.  May have to settle for my half dozen jars of Texas salsa.  That's what happens when you listen to the food network. You buy all varieties of hot and spicy salsa from Jardines.

 

Have a good one and Happy Valentines Day.   Bittersweet on-the-hill.

Oh baby, is it bitter cold.  Teens during the day, zero at night and with the windchill even colder.  Now I am waiting for March.

 

I have this notion that you blog with a certain group of blogging friends and every now and then a new face comes into the picture and if you don't comment more than once, that person is soon lost to your memory.  I thought it might prove interesting to go back and check on all the people who responded once and faded into the past. There is always something that catches your interest; someone who has one orchid, another a field guide in Spain, another who's pictures of 9/11 were stunning - some of which I had never seen before, etc.  So on a day when I have the luxury of a few hours I'd like to go back and check what is happening in peoples lives.

 

Today I'm going to charge my digital camera and take pictures of my orchids, especially those that have been stressed. I have 8 or 9 very young orchids that I want to follow closely and three very stressed phals and two very naked dendrobiums that in the process of a winter delivery lost all it's leaves.  The odd thing about the stressed Dens is that they are beginning to grow new spikes after having just lost the leaves and spikes from frost and cold.  They do look odd - naked canes and new spikes starting to develop.  I've started my orchid journal......please stop snickering, and want to keep close tabs on when I nourish them, when they start growing spikes and when and how long they flower.

 

I've started thinking about a dog!  We put down Mr. Woolberg about 6 months ago, (maybe 5,) and I vowed that he would be the last dog but the thought of a dog on the homestead has creeped into my consciousness. Prior to Mr. Woolberg we had an Australian Shepherd called Sydney and he was just a wonderful dog. Attentive, intelligent and obediant. And while I know it makes more sense to pick one up from the pound, I just can't let go of the idea of raising a puppy from scratch.  I have my heart set on a female puppy from a litter due in March which means a May delivery.  The question is do I want to spend $1000. for a dog?  Not sure yet.

 

So....I shall go about my day and struggle with should i or should I not.    Bittersweet-on-the hill.

Yes, I will be watching the Super Bowl but haven't decided who I'm rooting for! I love Payton, I love the Bear team, I love the two coaches, I want Peyton to have a good game, I want Rex to have a good day, so maybe I'll just hope hope for a good game.  Talk about a cop-out!

 

Well it is cold outside. Temps drop to zero tonight and the wind-chill will bring it down to minus 20.  One thing is for sure, the faucets will be dripping tonight!  That is something you learn early when living in old country homes.  Let the water drip on cold and windy nights! I have no intention of thawing water pipes on Monday so the last thing I'll do is let the kitchen and bathroom drip a bit.

 

Last night I prepared a creamed curried chicken served over buttered noodles. The creamed chicken was excellent but I could have used more curry in the sauce.  I'm inclined to like a hot sauce so that part was disappointing. But it was well made.

 

I've finally figured out why I brush-hog the fields 4 times a year.  I have a wonderful hill in the far back corner and since I'm part of the over-the-hill gang, I don't think of it as a sleigh riding hill.  But it is the perfect hill. So a woman I know from down the road and only enough to wave to if she drives by stopped by the house and asked if she and the kids could sleigh-ride.  Sure!  They had a ball all afternoon. Pete came home from doing some shopping with a great smile on his face.  "Do you see all the kids on the hill?" We had our first snow of three inches, not much of a snow but since the fields are trimmed with no weeds or tuffs, it makes for a great hill for sleds and saucers.  It's a steep hill with a long run and I'm sure I would have given my arm for a "sleigh ride hill" like that.

 

So.....good Super Bowl and stay warm   Bittersweet-on the hill.