First flakes of winter

I came home from swimming this afternoon today to find this on the ground. Who wears shoes to the pool? Not me. My barefoot child.

Welcome to our neighborhood, and Merry Christmas too.

Primroses do not do well in snow.

What a nice warm house.

Oh, and don't forget the forecast for the next two days:

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A POWERFUL WINTER STORM WILL BRING THE POTENTIAL FOR STRONGWINDS ...SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS... DANGEROUSLY COLD WIND CHILLS... AND BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW THIS WEEKEND. SNOW WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON... MAINLY ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 90...AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT. THIS STORM SYSTEMWILL ALSO BRING THE THREAT OF WIND GUSTS OF 35 TO 40 MPH TO PORTIONS OF THE COLUMBIA BASIN THROUGH THE PALOUSE THIS EVENING..

DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

SIGNIFICANT SNOW WILL PERSIST INTO SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT AS A STRONG ARCTIC FRONT MOVES FROM NORTH TO SOUTH OVER THE REGION. BEHIND THE ARCTIC FRONT... BLUSTERY NORTHEAST WINDS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. THE GUSTY WINDS WILL PERSIST INTO SUNDAY... CAUSING DANGEROUSLY COLD WIND CHILLS.

Warm activities for a cold day

When the weather outside is frightful, it is a good idea to wrap up in a blanket. When the house needs a blanket, we go to the local do it yourself emporium to look for house blankets. What you see in the back of a Fit is about 240 square feet of R30 house blanket which is intended to separate the cold air in the crawl space from the warm air in the living room and kitchen. Out of the car it looks like this.

Out of the package, some of it looks like this. There are 11 of these lovelies in each of the plastic bubbles, and no, the pink cat did not come and help with the installation. We will be warmer now.

Emptying that camera phone again

When I am out shopping, sometimes I see something that I need to share with my girl, like this lovely cake, which she may or may not want for her next birthday. Then there are the things we do not wayt to buy, but we want to take them home in some way.

It goes with different hats on different boys.

I saved a few of these guys with my phone too.

They can even swim in the phone. For the record, this guy took a wrong turn after a long swim upstream, and he is going back downstream to join his friends in the pool that is deep enough to submerge his gills.

One way or another, I have a picutre of my boy and the man in the red suit. He had four ladies helping take pictures that evening, and we were the only ones there.

Swimming upstream

In addition to an excess of food, fun and shopping during our sojourn to western Washington, we took a side trip to Rusty Cock Ridge last Saturday afternoon. As soon as we arrived, Jerome let us know that the salmon were active in the creek on their property, so we hiked down the hill to see them. I have never observed this phenomenon personally, so it was quite a sight. It was an interesting olfactory experience as well.

Thanksgiving joy

Some things never change. It is still fun to gather with family for a holiday feast. Some family members are farther away, so once upon a time we called them on a phone, the old fashioned kind with a cord. Now phone live in pockets and only have cords when they need a charge, and the once mysterious picture phone call that was a treat one year for my grandfather's birthday is a regular occurrance. I wonder what my children will think is old fashioned from their childhood 30 years from now.Will they look back on the primitive laptop computers.Giggling with a toddler long distance is more fun than ever.Some technology never changes.Today we still use the same tools to carve the bird as in the good old days.

Managing food and pictures is an old art, which will never change as long as children are allowed forks at the table.

Eating with one's fingers works the same charms.

Sometimes I manage to catch them with smiles.

Finally the cook finds time to eat.
Glowing coasters are very entertaining.