Baby, It's Cold Outside...

Talk about getting into the spirit! Last Sunday, we awoke to snow and got about 4" and it has definitely stuck around. I LOVE SNOW...it's so exciting and beautiful. Every time it snows, I'm still like a little kid in a candy shop! We don't get snow very often and when we do, it's a big deal here! Usually our snow is very wet and doesn't stick around for too many days and we often get freezing rain. But we've had an "arctic blast" hit us since Sunday, and other than the temperature warming up to a balmy 37 yesterday afternoon and this morning, we are back to cold weather tonight through Tuesday next week with more snow in the forecast. Our highs will be back in the 20's again starting this evening. I was beginning to wonder if we might have a white Christmas this year or a very cold one, but they are saying we will warm up on Christmas Eve. Well, you never know!

Thought I'd share some snowy pictures with you. The first two are shots off the deck. They were taken Sunday, and some snow still remains in the yard and on roofs.

This is a shot into the far corner of our backyard. You can see the squirrel feeder in the corner and the wind chime on the ginkgo tree.






This is a shot of our black bamboo holding its own in the frigid weather and our three graces fountain filling with snow. No water from the fountain for the birds or squirrels now. Only what they can get from the two bird baths. As a matter of fact, yesterday I witnessed one of our squirrels sitting on the fountain bowl where she normally comes to get a drink of water and sat there at ate the snow...I never have seen that before! Mark pulled the pump out of the fountain this year because we lost our last pump due to the freezing weather.

The Christmas lights are shining outside, the tree is decorated, the house is decorated, and the stockings are hung. I'm all done shopping and have begun to wrap some gifts. It's been a great few days with snow falling, music playing, and feeling more in the holiday spirit.

I haven't completed anything to share with you, but I have been beading and doing a few other things. I have been paying most all my beading attention to an art doll that has been sitting far too long and being neglected. Since this is a gift, I shouldn't show this but I sure didn't want you to think I'm just sitting around and sipping hot chocolate!!! So...I thought I'd share another sneak peek with you. It will be the last peek before she flies to her home. I will share pictures in full (front and back) when I'm done and I know she's arrived to her destination.


She is getting lots of texture right now with moss stitch and is finally really filling in and coming alive. She is getting that nice weight to her and I just love that!

I have started beading on my November BJP and December is laid out and ready, but they've both taken a backseat of late. I'm not too worried, as my bead journal pages are fairly simple. The holidays, of course, have been the other focus lately.





Thought I'd share another project that I have been working on occasionally. It has been sitting around in a zip-lock bag for at least a year now and I thought it was time to get it done. I have two antique beaded purses that are in sad shape that I've wanted to harvest the beads from. The bags each have holes and the threads are disintegrating. Every now and then I go sit for awhile and cull through the pile of beads, selecting and sorting the beads by color and remove any that are not healthy. This bead pile is one side of one of the purses. The beads that are in bags are what I already sorted from the other side. I don't know why I enjoy doing it, but I do. In a way it's like shell or treasure hunting to me. They are valuable little beauties and it's wanting to save them. Soon it will be another thing checked off my to-do list!

Well...the temperature has dropped while I have been writing this post and it is 10:15 a.m., and it is snowing!!! Big, lush, beautiful flakes!!! The cold air wasn't suppose to be here until this afternoon or evening! It's going to be an interesting five days! I hope you are well, staying warm and feeling the spirit!!! ~Lisa ;-)