Snow & Cuddles

We have been enjoying winter, as always!
We haven't had much snow, but the temperatures have been chilly, which is nice!

The cats love having the fire on.

All the Christmas things got put away and now everything is tidy and back to normal.

Here's the library without the trees.

Here's the sitting area without the tree:

I've been reading A LOT, trying to read rather than play on my phone or watch TV.
I got a good number of books for my birthday and Christmas, plus I bought some secondhand while shopping with my nieces!

This one was absolutely beautiful and lovely.  It's the newest by the author of one of my favorite books ever, "The Lost Art Of Keeping Secrets," Eva Rice.

I did some outside things after shoveling snow the other day.

I hung up and filled the new ceramic bird feeder, though I realized that it's going to need a rubber stopper at the top to hopefully prevent moldy food. 

I wrapped our front tree that has a crack in the bark.  Hopefully this will help the tree heal!

I guess the extreme cold in winter plus the bright sun shining on a tree can cause the trunk bark to crack, which can ultimately make things hard for the tree.  I'm trying to assist by giving the tree a little sweater!

Then I sat outside for a while and enjoyed the view.

Ivy slept the whole day in this chair and I put crumpled paper all over and around her, which made her like it even more!  We liked seeing her adorable little pink nose poking out!

Greg shoveled on a Sunday while I was getting ready for church.  It's still a novelty that WHITE FROZEN RAIN falls out of the sky and builds up on the ground!!!

The roads were a bit tricky that morning, but I made it there and back (Greg watched from home).

Of course there have been lots of naps.

One time Nora even snuggled me! 

Ivy likes to sit on my lap when I'm at my desk.

Allistair has realized since moving here that warm air comes out of these grates in the winter!

I've been making yummy food lately.

This is my new favorite balsamic pasta salad.

And I have a wonderful recipe for a remoulade, which goes great on bean burgers or the crabless crab cakes from Plantiful Kiki's new cookbook!

Here's a crabless crab cake with sauce and cucumbers and a couple of sprigs of greens on a gluten-free half-bun.  I ate another one after this one, of course!  I prefer these with a slice of tomato, but I didn't have any.

Greg and I finally were able to see his Dad and Step-Mom Karen for our belated Christmas celebration!  Because of our long long drawn-out flu (or whatever it was!), we missed all our Christmas celebrations and had to arrange later events.  

But we were happy we still had some time together!

I'm also proud to say that I repotted the aloe babies that have grown and now I have SIX instead of TWO!  Last time I tried repotting some babies, they died, I suspect because I wasn't careful enough with the roots.  This time, I took everyone out of their pots, carefully separated everyone, and decided on which thrifted pots were the best size for each plant before replanting.

It was fun and I'm very proud!  Everyone is growing like crazy now that they have their own spaces.

My favorite color is blue, and I wear quite a bit of blue . . . and this beautiful vintage lapis lazuli pendant has been on my list for many months.  I decided when it went on sale that it was a good time to pounce!  I've worn it every day since.  It's fun to pair with blue things, but it's also nice with black and white outfits if I just want a little bit of color.

My dear friend Paige came over and we cooked a feast!

I checked what I had in the kitchen and decided to make what I call Easy Burgers and potato wedges plus chocolate chip cookies.

The burger recipe is my own creation.  I tried many different veggie burger recipes and they were either too boring or too time-consuming.  These are easy, quick, AND tasty!

Yum!

And Paige brought delicious Christie-safe pickles!

We had a lovely time chatting and eating and catching up.

This time of year, I'm thankful for the treadmill!  I need to MOVE all year 'round, but sometimes it's too unpleasant (or unsafe!) to exercise outside.  The treadmill is wonderful!

And the view can't be beat!

Neat line of clouds coming in:

Ice on the deck:

Our little lady, Nora:

I got one run outside in January.  After the flu, lots of coughing, and recovery runs on the treadmill, the sidewalk path with HILLS was a bit tough!

But what a joy to run outside in such beautiful surroundings!

Ivy is a beautiful surrounding, too.  :)

Not only beautiful, but helpful!

And Nora is working on her job in recycling!

Checking the goods . . . 

Then it's time for a nap!

Allistair is good at napping, too.  He's now been told by the vet that he's too round and he needs to eat less.  We have a new regime.

He's got lots of amazing skills, as well as being squishy and round.

Keeping me company:

Enjoying the fire:

Cuddling:

The sky has shown some lovely colors.  The camera has trouble capturing the purples and pinks, but I keep trying!

Another pretty color is my new blue fan!!!

Even the knobs are blue!

Our favorite place with SNOW!

Greg enjoying a warm behind.

We are awaiting a snowstorm, hoping it's a biggie!

We hope you are warm and cozy!