Honey Bees and Bee Hives

Honey Bees and Bee Hives

I talked yesterday to my sister in law,Esther Gariety, who told me that a lady that has bee hives and honey bees said that you can tell when in the next 30 days or so a big snow or cold event is coming because the bees begin to close up their bee hives to keep the cold and snow out and the honey bees safe on the inside of the bee hives. Interesting concept. So get ready folks for some bad weather.

Our First Snowfall of the Winter

Our First Snowfall of the Winter

Jack and I woke up to a winter wonderland of snow and ice.

By late Tuesday afternoon it had all melted e

xcept for some very shaded areas of our yard.

Weather Update

Weather Update

Northern Virginia lucked out. Just a dusting of snow and ice. But we have friends up in PA who have been without power since Sunday afternoon and may not get power back until this Wednesday. They are cuddling up with their dogs by their fireplace. Good luck Mary and Phil!

Cold Outside With Rain, Ice and Snow Pellets

Cold Outside With Rain, Ice and Snow Pellets

Is this the way to celebrate Halloween?

I don't think so.

The Underachieving Hurricane Irene

The Underachieving Hurricane Irene

Some newscaster on TV described Irene as the underachieving hurricane. For everyone in northern Virginia and Washington D.C. it was. Jack and I had no home or garden damage and just got one inch of rain. Thank goodness. I think the people hit hardest are those that experienced flooding from the back up of water in the rivers and streams. This would be especially true for folks living in New Jersey, New York and New England.

Hope everyone has a good start of this work week before Labor Day. I know lots of kids are trudging off to school. Two big counties in northern Virginia don't go back till after Labor Day: Fairfax County and Prince William County.

No Recent Blog Posts

No Recent Blog Posts

Reason: Spent Last Four Days

At Prince William Hospital For Medical Tests/Evaluation Of My Leukemia

I'll Write About Within Next 24 Hours

Stay Cool

Going Up To 102 Degrees Today

Heat Index Will Be Around 120 Degrees!!

Holy Cow!

Look Down To See Spring

Look Down To See Spring

The plants in our flower beds are coming up!

Take a look.

Look Up To See Spring

Look Up To See Spring

Our trees are budding.

Take a look.

March 20 First Day of Spring

March 20 First Day Of Spring

These little tet-a-Tet yellow daffodils were at my doctor's office

Sunny yellow flowers in March put a smile on my face

There's A Big Moon Rising March 19

There's A Big Moon Rising March 19

A Super Perigee Moon

Biggest Moon In Almost 20 Years!

Check It Out!

We Have Been Busy Outside

We Have Been Busy Outside!

Since the beginning of March on all our nice days we have been getting our yard in shape for spring and summer. We have done all of the the following: raked and picked up leaves and debris, mowed the lawn short to rid it of old grass and inbedded leaves, pruned roses and trimmed hollies and crepe myrtles, fertilized plants and lawn, put down weed preventer in beds and on lawn, edged all our many flower beds and finished putting down 12 yards of mulch.

Whew! A lot of work but the yard looks great now. So we were ready yesterday for some Irish food and beer to celebrate our three weeks of work. Today we should reach 75 degrees! I love it!

Hope everyone has a great weekend and has time to watch a little NCAA basketball.

Newsflash: Flooding In Ohio Valley

Newsflash: Flooding In Ohio Valley this morning because of heavy rains and snow melt. My relatives are baling water from their basements. Sounds like a real mess. I'm so sorry to learn of this recent development.

Skywatch Friday = Rainy Weather and Grey Skies

Skywatch Friday = Rainy Weather and Grey Skies

The spring rains are here in Virginia. We need them to green up the grass and to refresh our dry flower beds.

Jack and I raked and picked up leaves the other week and pruned almost all the rose bushes.

Now we need to let mother nature make it look spring like.

Pitter patter falls the rain.

That's all folks. Have a good weekend. Remember that the oscars are on Sunday night.

Even if you haven't seen most of the movies, it is fun to see the stars in their outlandish outfits.

Go to the right and click on the Skywatch Friday sign to see more Skywatch Friday pics from around the world.

A Snowman In Your Life?

A Snowman In Your Life?

The students in Prince William county didn't have school yesterday. It was a snow day even though most of the county had less than 1/2 inch of snow/ice on the ground. I think the county powers that be that decide when to call off school made a wrong call late Monday night. Oh, well it is a good thing that inclement weather days are built into the school calendars around the nation.

I saw on the news that somewhere someone in a recent snow event had made a very lifelike snow cat. That was cute. Do you have enough snow to make a snowman? I don't but I do have this photograph of a cute artificial snowman. Where did I take this photo? Up in Canada last August where I found him hanging out in a Quebec City food court. Isn't he cute? His name is Bonhomme and he is the mascot for the winter carnival in Quebec City. Learn more about Bonhomme by doing a google search of winter carnival of Canada.

I like Canada a lot but only plan to visit it in the warmer months. The older I get the less I like the cold winter weather. But I do like the quiet winter months for reading books and catching up on photography projects. I guess we need to remember that every season of the year has its good points and bad points. And yes we might appreciate some cold weather in the '50s when the high '90s return in July and August but right now a '90 degree day sounds greaaaaat!

Nice Weather

Nice Weather

Jack and I worked outside yesterday doing some pruning of rose bushes and some raking of leaves. We plan to do some more gardening today since we should reach a high of '70 some degrees today. So I'm signing off. I want to get an early start on today's chores. I hope everyone has a nice weekend and I know some of you will have a three day weekend because of President's Day on Monday. Here in Virginia a lot of schools will be in session on Monday to make up for a missed school day because of snow. Sorry kids. You had your day at home now you must go to school. Remember those big SOL tests will be fast approaching this spring and you want to make your school proud when those tests are given in May and June.

The Snow Is Melting, Joann Is Blowing

The Snow Is Melting

Joann Is Blowing

I've got a cold. I think I picked it us at mass on Sunday. Jack and I sat next to a young family with six kids who were sneezing and they all had runny noses. And guess what. I've got a cold now. So I'm signing off for now. I'll write more when I'm feeling better. Isn't the situation through out the middle east scary?

We Dodged Ice/Snow Bullet

We Dodged Ice/Snow Bullet

Four things to cheer about:

#1 Didn't get the snow and ice that our relatives in Ohio and Missouri got.

#2 The groundhog didn't see his shadow means prediction of early spring.

#3 My indoor narcissus are still blooming.

#4 Just twelve days till Valentine's Day.

Friday News Flash

Friday News Flash #1: Go to my blogroll on the right and click on the first blog listed. An English Girl Rambles lives in northern Virginia and she did lose power in our recent snow storm. Her post today is called "Necessity Is The Mother Of Invention". Go take a look.

Friday News Flash #2: I learned yesterday that my brother-in-law, Jerry Thobe of Tipp City and formerly of Houston, Ohio had emergency surgery early Thursday morning for a ruptured stomach ulcer. If you Ohio relatives and friends would like to send him a card, here is his current hospital address:

Jerry Thobe, Patient

Grandview Hospital

405 W. Grand Avenue

Dayton, Ohio, 45405

Have a good weekend everyone and stay warm.

Skywatch Friday = Heavy Snow and Long Commute

Skywatch Friday = Heavy Snow and Long Commute

This recent snow in the Washington D.C. area was worse than both big blizzards last winter. People spent hours and hours stuck in traffic. It took six hours for our son-in-law to go from Fall Churchs to Haymarket. It took our neighbor ten hours to go from the DEA headquarters in D.C. to his home in Haymarket. He made it home by 2:00 A.M.!

Jack and I really appreciate that we don't need to leave home to go to work or try to figure out how to get home from work since we are both retired. We just sit in our warm home and listen to the horror stories on the local news and read about them on Facebook. Another big problem was power outages. Over 300,000 homes in the D.C. area lost power and not all the home have power restored yet. It will take several days.
It is a pretty winter wonderland to enjoy as long as you don't have to venture out in the snow.

Thank you for stopping by for Skywatch Friday. Now go visit some more Skywatch Friday folks by just clicking on the Skywatch Friday picture over on the right.

How Is Your January Diet Going?

How Is Your January Diet Going?

I hope everyone has found the will power this January to make some healthy changes to their eating habits and have lost some extra pounds. Look at this photo. This is what just one pound of fat looks like. If you have lost five pounds, picture five of these fatty globs off your body. If you have lost ten pounds, picture a heavy sack of these globs of fat off your body.

Just looking at this fat glob that I photographed at the local cancer center last year keeps me trudging onward. That and the fact that extra weight on the body can cause those cancer cells to grow. Years ago I didn't know that fact. I just thought extra body weight was bad for your heart. But now I know that extra weight can lead to many cancers like esophageal cancer, pancreatic cancer, etc.

Post Note: It is so very cold here in Virginia and we might finally get more than a dusting of snow Tuesday or Wednesday. Everyone stay bundled up. I'm living in my heaviest sweat shirts and sweaters these days.