HOPE

One morning in mid-February I looked out my front window and saw this. It was a beautiful sight for my eyes, but not so much for my winter weary heart. Of course we always get a snow around Valentine's Day, but this has been an unusually cold and snowy winter for East Tennessee. Sometimes it seems that it will last forever.

But a couple of days later, when the snow melted, I saw this.

Last fall before the snow came, I planted some daffodil bulbs. I forgot all about them through the long cold winter. And then these little green sprouts popped up just when I needed them. Spring is still weeks away. There will probably be more cold gray days. But now I remember that Spring WILL come. I have hope.

"Hope" is the thing with feathers

"Hope" is the thing with feathers—

That perches in the soul—

And sings the tune without the words—

And never stops—at all—

And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—

And sore must be the storm—

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm—

I've heard it in the chillest land—

And on the strangest Sea—

Yet, never, in Extremity,

It asked a crumb—of Me. 

Emily Dickinson

Still Snowing

If you are in Michigan or Colorado reading this, you will probably get a good laugh. I am not amused. Here in Tennessee we usually have one or two snows a year that actually stay on the ground for a while. Even then, they don't usually come until February. This year we had snow for Christmas. It was fun. It isn't fun any more. It stops snowing for a couple of days and, just about the time the snow starts to melt, it starts snowing again. The highway department has run out of salt and had to get in another shipment. Businesses and schools are closed. The grocery stores are low on supplies. We are simply not well prepared for that much snow in this part of the country.

At this point it is nothing more than a minor inconvenience, but I hope we thaw out soon. I feel a bad case of cabin fever coming on. I don't like being cooped up in the house, but I'll just have to make the best of it. I've made a big pot of lentil soup. In a little while I will put some corn bread in the oven and light some candles. Then I will put on some music, snuggle with my sweetie, and enjoy a big bowl of home made soup while we wait for the snow to melt.

I haven't been able to get out of the house so I didn't get to the thrift stores to look for goodies to decorate my mantle. I scavenged some things from around the house and this is what I came up with.

 

Not exactly what I was hoping for, but at least it's cheerful. The tray is one of my favorite thrift store finds. It is vintage and hand painted. The teapot on the right is a Mary Engelbreit, a gift from my daughter. The one on the left is thrifted. The photos are of my adorable grandchildren. Looking at them always cheers me up. What cheers you up when you are feeling blue? What ever it is I hope that you have plenty of it around to last until the snow melts!

The Gingham Girl

Grey or Gray???

I am a Florida girl. I like sunshine. East Tennessee is quite sunny from April to December, but the winter months are grey (gray). However you choose to spell it, it is not a very cheerful color. Add to that the bare corner where I took down the Christmas tree, and the bare wall above the bare fireplace mantle where the wreath and garland used to be, and it is downright gloomy around here! If there is one thing I won't put up with for long, it is gloomy surroundings.

Well, I can't do anything about the winter weather, but I can put up some cheerful decorations to make the indoors a bit brighter. So, that will be my next project. I will post more when the project is completed. 

The Gingham Girl

Out With the Old, In With the New

So, here it is. The last day of 2010.  How the year has flown!! It was an eventful year for my family.

 My beautiful little granddaughter had her first birthday a few weeks ago.

 My eldest grandson turned 13. (I can't believe I'm old enough to have a teenage grandson.)

Matthew, the middle  grandson got braces and Ethan, the youngest of the boys, is learning to read.

 I took lots of pictures, but I neglected to journal as the year went by. For that purpose I decided to start this blog. I wish I had done it at this time last year. I thought about; I just didn't do it. But that is the wonderful thing about a new year. You get another chance to start off fresh. So here are my resolutions for this year. 

1.) I will be diligent about blogging about our everyday lives so that my grandchildren can look back some day and remember.
2.) I will not put off until tomorrow what I can accomplish today.

3.) I will lose a few of those extra pounds that I resolved not to put on last year, but did anyway.

I will also be sharing some of my craft and sewing projects, some recipes, and some fun ideas for your home and garden. I hope you will come back and see what is going on in our paisley world. 
 Happy New Year!