Antique Valentine

This is a valentine dated 1847 in an old scrapbook of mine. The papercutting around the flower expands.

To reveal another print inside.

Happy Valentine's Day.

The Morning After the Second Storm

We got another several inches overnight but it's warm and a big melt is underway. I had to take the animals out and show them there was a sheltered place for them to "go" in the grove of evergreens that protect my cottage from the road. I had Tabitha in my arms and she immediately knew what to do when I put her down. Webster wasn't about to go in there behind her so he dug himself another path farther up the driveway. Success!!

I took this photo when I first got up from my bedroom window. The "snow people" are buried. I hope you all are in the process of digging out and don't have any horror stories to report. I have a busy day of digging out my balcony ahead of me. My car is covered again but I don't even care. I don't need to go anywhere, so I'll just let the sun melt it for me. See you later. Webster is whimpering to be fed. xo

Snow Day Today @ My Cottage

I know this looks like a watercolor, but it's not. It's one of the first photos I took this morning when I woke up to heavy snow.

This was what I saw from my front window.

When I went out to shovel a path one-shovel wide, this is what my front yard looked like. That's my pantry window.

Webster is very tuckered out. We got at least a foot of snow on top of what we already had. It has stopped but is supposed to start up again this evening. My driveway has been plowed and my car is clean, except for the top. I'm pretty worried about my balcony. I have never seen such deep snow on it. I think I should start shoveling out there but my arms are too tired at the moment. We are fine and hope you are too. Tabitha is hiding.

Murray-arity versus Benedict Sherlock

I'm ignoring the elephant in the room (the coming snow storm) in favor of Benedict, Murray, and The Count.

This is so adorable. What a cute way to introduce PBS Kids to Sherlock Holmes. Click here if you can't see the video above. Benedict Cumberbatch, as himself, is quite comfortable with two of the Muppets, isn't he? Now I love him even more.

Another Frozen Snow Photo

Click photo to enlarge.

This is a reblog of a photo I took looking outside by guest room window of a snow swag suspended in mid air. This phenomenon was captured January 28, 2011. You can see that I took the photo through a window screen. Thankfully, I took all the screens off my windows when my house was painted in September and never put them back in. I had no idea this winter was going to be so brutal and that I would be leaning out my windows so much to show you what was going on here at the cottage. I hope you will be able to find some beauty in the weather that's enveloping the South and is headed this way. The news is showing all of the horror. Be safe, stay home, and keep warm. Fingers crossed that you don't lose power. xo

Good Night Bloggerville

Webster is sleeping in this watercolor and in real life too. I have all my nightly chores finished and I'm just about ready to jump in bed to watch Father Brown followed by Scott & Bailey on PBS. Now that's what I call a perfect weekday evening. See you tomorrow. xo

Another view of the Snow People in Chairs

This is the view of the chairs taken from my bedroom window which is on the second floor from the back since I have a walk-out lower level. Can you see the two eyes and a nose buried in the snow behind them? This photo was on my Instagram.

Snow People

The snow arm on the right started to melt but froze before it could break off and fall to the ground. That's how cold it is!! I went out the back door with Webster after he ate his supper yesterday and waited while he walked all the way to the rear of the property and back for the first time in weeks. I still can't go with him because of the ice layer that caves in and makes walking so difficult. I was finally able to get close to these chairs for a head-on shot instead of a photo from my upstairs window. Be safe. Stay warm. I'm off to an office meeting this morning. xo