Snowed In?

I thought I'd show you how we began 2015.  We got 10 inches of snow and lost our electricity for around 62 hours.  As you can tell by the photos, it was very beautiful.  My little shed is going to be the star of many of my photos.  It was especially lovely covered in snow.

 Isn't she pretty?

My husband is a hiker which I'm sure you remember.  He has a lot of necessary supplies that helped us survive the power outage.  He was loving his Jet Boil, but our gas stove worked fine and we made do.  We also used our charcoal grill for some delicious steaks.  I even popped popcorn in a pan on the stove the way my Mom use to do it.  It was delicious.

The headlamp came in handy at night when I wanted to read.  You won't be seeing any photos of me with the headlamp on.  Not happening.

 I was reading Unbroken, which is so good.  My little annoying difficulties were nothing in comparison to what Louis Zamporini endured.

 Yay for powered up Kindles.

 Seriously!  Isn't it gorgeous?

We have long ago gotten rid of our snow shovels.  My husband ended up shoveling our very steep driveway with a regular garden shovel.  We still could not get out, because we live along very steep hills and our city does not have equipment to plow snow.  So we waited.  We finally got out four days later.

 Our new refrigerator.

 So many trees in our area were shattered.  It's really sad.

My beautiful Aeonium tipped over and so these pieces are going to friends who want to start their own.

Yesterday (less than a week later) it was 82 and so we are back to normal California weather, if not a little warm for the month.  Big changes are on the horizon at our house.  I'll try to keep you up to speed a little better in 2015.  Hope your New Year was wonderful and not as eventful as ours. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wanderlust

 I woke up Friday to this lovely, foggy view. 

The day started with another fun antique outing.  This time they used a travel theme.  I've really got to move my stack of suitcases tomorrow.  Wouldn't they be perfect with my globes, bus route sign and travel pictures?

 Pretty in pink.

 I wish I could've captured how beautiful this gown was.  It is sitting inside a MASSIVE armoir.  They've placed the mirrored doors inside and hung a little chandelier inside.  It was stunning, but very difficult to photograph with a phone.

 I loved this little Paris crown, but didn't need it.  

A couple of other crowns I looked at were E X P E N S I V E.  Who needs a crown anyway?  

 If you have a media room, this would be a great addition. I'm pretty sure my Papaw had one of these.

 Look at this beautiful collection of windows! The chandelier isn't too bad either.

Somebody bought the two arched ones while I was standing there.  

I only went home with these two yo-yos.  Silly, I know.  I use to love playing with yo-yos  Did you?

Success!

I had some new instructions on how to take pictures of the moon.  

Since we had such a lovely subject the other day, I decided to try them out.  

I'm pretty happy with the results. 

I think it was a success! Use a fast shutter speed, set your camera to spot metering, use a telephoto lens, a tripod and I set my White Balance to daylight.  (I'm not sure about that last setting). Any other suggestions would be welcome.

What A Sight!

I know you probably come here to see a little craftiness or maybe antiquing and decorating.  There has been some of that going on, but what has really captured my camera this week has been some beautiful and crazy weather patterns.  It is an ever changing entertainment.

 Sunrise on February 2nd.

 Sunrise on February 5th.

 Fogged in on February 7th.

Rain, sun and rainbows on February 7th. This is Rainbow #1.

Rainbow #2

 The photos above and below are from the same rainbow, #3.  

I love how you can see the colors all the way to the ground. Isn't God creative?

I apologize for having to go back to comment moderation.  The SPAM has been ridiculous. 

Country Life

You might've heard a little about a wildfire last week out my way. It was in my neighborhood on the west side.  Thankfully, we're on the east side. The trick is, there is basically only one way out of the area.  The fire got very close to that access road.  Sadly, one family lost their home.  As you can tell by the photos that it's the dry season here.  It's very, very dry.  It was definitely too close for comfort.  

 I'm very thankful that the fire department worked so hard for days to keep it under control. It only burned 355 acres.  Not nearly as big as the Colorado, Oklahoma, or New Mexico fires this year.

VERY THANKFUL!

 Today I had a visit from a little roadrunner.

Yesterday, I watched two Egrets check out my neighbor's yard.

And the moon was beautiful over the Valley.  

My Country Life.

Good Morning

Good morning, Thursday. Hope it's a splendid day!

Good Night Moon

There was a beautiful moon tonight.  Thought you might enjoy it.  Have a great weekend! 

It's going to be a busy one here.