Under a Cozy Blanket

It's so cold today.  After being on the road in the bad conditions yesterday, Mr. Cozy and I are just staying in.  Izzy, the little one doesn't seem to mind being buried in the snow when she goes outside.  But Piper does.  He just panics.  He's very sensitive, you know.  Can you tell which one is the boss of the applesauce.  Sorry for all the cords. Usually the little fireplace hides them but someone moved it closer. The plastic bag at the bottom of the steps is a package we saved from the conditions, and is one of our neighbors.

I may have posted this one before.  I was just looking at my Kindle photos and thought I wanted to use it again.  Thanks Jenny.

I wanted to make robots with the candy hearts.  Mabel just wanted to eat the candy.  So I put all the heart candy, star bursts, and raisins in baggies for the four grands that live here.  I am sending my daughter a Valentine  of Lucy and money for a pizza night.  My daughter did and still does remind me of Lucy from Charlie Brown.

This was the other day. I went to sit down on the sofa at my sons' home and this deer about scared me silly.  You can't tell how close he was but if the glass wasn't there I could have patted his little head.  I love the hill they live on.  You can see for miles.  At night it's fun seeing the lights.  Since it is a small town, really a village, there isn't a ton of lights.  Oh this deer, he had many friends with him.  I haven't seen the fox that lives there lately.  That was a surprise as we don't have many.  We used to have a ton of rabbits but they are scare anymore.  There are coyotes around but not very many.  There was an article on Facebook this week.  It told of the 10 best places to visit near big cities.  Granville, Ohio was number 4.  Amazing, for such a small place.  There were places in California and Texas. 

 

I am hoping that everyone is okay in this weather.  Spring will be here before we know it.  And that means fairy garden time.

Warm HUGS

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day

Just a few of my loves.  Mr. Cozy got me these pretty roses.

We went to Goose's basketball game.  The guy with the perfect hair had two games later out of town.

Rudy said to tell you he is one now and Happy Valentines Day.

We had white out conditions today.  It was crazy windy and snowy.  Poor Izzy 's next step had her up to her neck in snow.  You can barely see the chair behind her.......it was on the other side of the patio facing the other way.  I opened the door and snow fell in. 
It's a good thing I got all those groceries.  After we got caught in the white out we barely made it home.  Of course, the entire family was out in the storm.  We had lunch with one son and his girls and Mabel.  We were to take her to an ice skating party.  It was close to our house.  We were only about 3 miles from where we ate to the rink.   She was an hour late.  But everyone is safe and home.  Now on the other hand our daughter in Colorado was wearing shorts and had all her windows open.  It's been 70 there all week.  Tomorrow it is to be minus 30 degrees here with the wind chill.  It's supposed to be below freezing all next week.  And once again the East Coast is getting blasted.
Stay safe and I hope your day was full of love.

Hotties

There is a Facebook page for the school that I went to.  This photo popped up on it this week.  Even though the picture was tiny on my Kindle, I knew it was my Mom.  So I got on my computer and enlarged it.  She is the one on the top left sitting down.  We aren't sure but her sister may be the second from the right behind the steering wheel.  My Mom could only see a tiny picture on her phone but was going to try to enlarge it.  She will know if it is my aunt and will know others.  I know a couple of them. 
These girls worked at Beatley's On The Lake.  That's a hotel in the back of the jeep.  They worked as waitresses in the restaurant during World War 2.  I think she was 19 or 20.   My Mom will be 88 in April. They could only serve sandwiches as there was a shortage of meat  You always hear the sad poor stories of wartime.  These ladies were making the best of the situation.  This hotel was at Indian Lake in Ohio.  It's a teeny town.  The hotel was demolished and the property sold for trailer lots.  It was almost surrounded by water.  There were even boat docks  That looked like little houses.  I can't begin to tell you what a great hotel this was.  Beautiful.  When I was about 14,  I would stay with a family that came down for vacations .  I can't even tell you how I met them.  If you can believe this, I don't ever remember my parents meeting them.   The father was a dentist.  He and his wife had one daughter about 10 years older than me and a son a few years older.  I literally spent the whole week with them when they came down.  Even overnight.  I kept in touch with the daughter for many years.  She lived in Hawaii the last I knew.  They were wonderful people.   I was just a part of their family when they came to the resort.   The owners of the hotel knew my parents well and they knew who I was.  I don't know why these kind people took me in like that.  It was an amazing experience. 
Across the street was a swimming area at the lake.  Huge, with a big sandy beach.  Lots of playing areas, and so much fun.  That's not there either.  There is another place down the road called Fox Island.  My husband and I lived across the street from that one for a few years.  It hasn't changed much over the years but the ducks have taken over in a really bad way.
Two of my cousins and a good friend now live on that island.  They didn't grow up there but their mother did.  There was also a small amusement park.  One of those that used to have all the Big Bands.  There were some amazing things going on in this tiny little town.  I think it's sad that it is mostly just gone.  The lake is still nice but nothing much to do unless you live there.

On a closing note......why did I wait til their was a whiteout going on and frigid temps outside to get a ton of groceries.  It is supposed to be freezing for the next couple of weeks.  We are talking a minus 30 wind chill on Sunday.  I know we are so much better off than Boston.  But the groceries are in but not put away.  We have to walk clear across our length of our house and up steps to the kitchen. 
I think I will stay under my COZY BLANKET for awhile.

Sweet and sour

Check out my swap items from Jenny.  There are Minnie Mouse socks that didn't show up.  I guess the little ice cream cup behind the card you can't see either.  It's cute.  It has a large heart that looks like a balloon.  There is some candy and a magnet.  See those conversation hearts.  I saw some robots made from them ad I hope to make them for the grands.

This little chest was from Mary Holley in a miniature one on one swap.  It's made from matchboxes, the tiny ones.  Each drawer was full of teeny tiny things.  This is the swap that I made the antique wagon for my swap partner.  So sorry about the quality of these photos.  I took them on my Kindle to save time.  Not good.

Poor Izzy isn't feeling well.  Her tummy, her bladder and her legs just aren't working up to par.  It looks like she is going to fall over the ledge here.

And this is Rudy.  It's blurry because he never sits still.  He is such an adorable puppy.  He has the funniest personality.  He just turned one.  I love how he loves me.

I am headed to the post office with 10 boxes.  My husband took the other 5 with him this morning to mail at a different post office.  This was for the mini swap.  This was a lot of work for me.  I do think I am swapped out for awhile.  I used every box that I could find to mail everything.  Just hoping that everything arrives okay.  It was a bit difficult making sure everyone got one of each 19 things.  Some things were in similar packaging.  They were all to be mailed last Monday.  Some people set their own deadlines.  That's all I am going to say about that.

So sorry for those on the East coast.  That is way too much snow, even for someone who loves snow.  Our snow finally melted but just heard on the news more snow is coming.  It is really cold.  It will be fun carrying all those packages up the huge steps at the post office.  It's funny, they clear and ice the steps but the arm rails are covered with ice and snow.  If you have to hold on you can't. I am trying to time the trip to the post office.  Not early morning or lunch time as I found the mail people aren't always in their best mood.

We went to see American Sniper this week-end.  My family members didn't think I should go.  Mostly because of being a mom of a soldier that had two tours of duty.  I think what got to me the most was the PTSD that happens.  It's real life for sure.  It doesn't end with the wars either.  Right here in the USA we have such awful things to deal with.  Just going to a movie is stressful for me.  Having a family member (same one) that was involved in the after math of the Aurora theater massacre, you tend to think of things others wouldn't.  Sometimes you wonder how people handle all that they do.  So many bad apples out there.   Sometimes it's a mental health issue or one of religion. 
I am feeling so sad for the family of Kayla right now.  I will admit, I'm almost afraid of posting things to do with the government since there is so much internet hacking right now.  Just waiting to see what happens from being an Anthem member.

Are you sensitive to smells.  My daughter has such a strong sense of smell.  Things really bother here.  I am usually the opposite.  I noticed that my pantry smelled like cat ---.  I don't have a cat anymore.  I couldn't imagine what it was.  I found it....a rotting sweet potato.  Yuck.  The other night when both dogs were on my lap the little one woke up and acted all weird.  Mr. Cozy put her outside.  I kept smelling something.  It was driving me crazy.  Finally when I got up I knew what it was.  My pour incontinent doggy had an accident on me.  It has happened before.  You would think you would notice it but you don't til you get up.  What a lovely thing to happen.  I hope you are laughing instead of being grossed out.

My house is upside down right now.  I have to go to the post office and the grocery before I get M and M at the bus stop.  I also watched a couple of cuties over the week-end and yesterday.  I don't have them often but I enjoy it when I do.  They have a Great Dane puppy.  He was upstairs in his crate.  The mom said no matter what noise that was coming from the room to not let her out.  Well, she almost came through the floor.  You would have sworn that the house was shaking.

HAPPY THOUGHTS HAPPY THOUGHTS HAPPY THOUGHTS........sometimes it is just hard to stay above everything.

Swapping away

I was in Viv's Valentines Swap.  I showed you the heart candy box that I made for my partner, Lynn of Life on the weinie ranch.  She was much more generous than I was.  First is this magnet.  I saw it at Hobby Lobby, picked it up only to put it back down. 

 

 

Now, the two pictures in this shelf are ones that she cut out on one of those machines.  I just love them.  They look so cute in the shelf.  For some reason this shelf never takes a good picture. 

 

This is the whole box minus the magnet.  Lots of candy, a heart mug, some pretties for Valentine's Day.  She made an adorable card as well, and threw in some vintage Valentines. Wasn't she a sweetie.  I had hoped she would send me one of her Weinie dogs but she didn't.  The last picture is what I have been doing all this week.  I was the host of the mini swaps this time. Here they are ready to go into the boxes that you see piled up.  Actually there are 5 swap items not added when this picture was taken.  Yep, its a lot of cute minis.  I will post pictures when they are mailed and received.

I haven't had a migraine in many months.  When they come back they stay and stay.  This the third day.  Yesterday I had a crown done.  All in one day as the 3D machine makes the crown.  I have a small mouth which makes it uncomfortable.  Yes, I didn't make that up, all dentists say this.  That with the headaches have kinda knocked me for a loop.  I am thinking of walking to the mailbox just to get some fresh air.  So that's about it for now.  You all have a nice week-end.  Hugs

The winner is

I tried to get Piper to pick the winner but he said he just wanted to take a nap.  So his little friend stepped up to the plate.  I asked if he would pick a fish, oh I mean a name.

Isn't he a cutie.  He goes with a book, that I will tell you about another day.  Can you see who he picked.  No, me either.  So here is a close up.

The winner is Musings from Kim K.  Yeah, I will be sending your gift to you this week.  Please send me your address Kim.

Okay, what were your thoughts on Super Bowl Sunday.  No parties here.  It snowed all day and then during the night we got freezing rain.  It is getting colder now so everything is icy.
Commercials:  Bud does it best .  Love that commercial.  There has been so many adorable pets on videos lately. 
There were some commercials I didn't get.
Now the one about the boy that died.  That was a bit much.
Did you like the half time.  Yes, it was clean and cute.  I also liked the singing of America and the Star Spangled Banner.  Good job.
The game.....wow, that last play was something, wasn't it.
So that's about it for now.
Congratulations Kim.

A winter walk down Shady Lane/ Valentines Swap

 

This is our house down Shady Lane. I am standing by our mail box.  This is the snow we got last week.  Our forecast keeps changing for tomorrow.  We are either going to get a ton of snow or a ton of rain.  With the rain comes ice.  I vote for snow.

Now this is from our front door looking down at the mail boxes.  They are to the right of the stop sign.

 

 

Our mailbox.  There are three boxes here.  You have to look through the pines to see our house.  See the little fence on the right.  It still has the wreath from the boy scouts on it.  I didn't like the wreath so I put it there.  I had hoped someone would take it or it would blow away.  Nope it's still there.

My little bug.  You can see where Hubby parks.  We have a 2 1/2 car garage but hardly ever park the cars there.   One reason is if you park in the garage and go into the house from there you go down a few steps, then across the family room and then up a flight up steps to the main level where the kitchen is.  That's one reason we want a house without steps. Can you see Mary and Joseph.  I did put them in the garage after this picture.  to the right of my car by the door to the garage is where the mail lady used to put our packages.  Or just throw them in the snow.  In front of Mary and Joseph is a box.  Now that's where they put my packages.  I have been getting a lot this past week.  Mostly because I am hosting the mini swap this time.  Or sometimes the mail lady stuffs the mail box as in the picture below.

 

This was all in my standard size mailbox.  That gray package was big.  I had a hard time even freeing those packages.

 

I made this Valentine box for Lynn for Viv's Valentine Swap.  That's an old valentine and the bottom closes up.  The little cupid has wings and is in a diaper.  The scrabble tiles fits over the small letters on the bingo card.  I wrapped ribbon around the outside of the box.

 

 

This box was made for Jenny.  We exchanged at Christmas and decided to do another swap for V. Day.  It's a little different with the wood slice and a corrugated heart with the heart paper clip. 
I can't wait to show you all the minis that are being swapped.  I have to wait until everyone gets theirs.
Remember when I said I didn't even have a doll house.  Well I do now.  I bid on one on Ebay this week.  Talk about quick delivery, it came today.  It's still in the box.  I will open tomorrow to see what it all looks like. It's unfinished and has some furniture.  I will have lots of accessories from my mini swaps.  My husband said it was great that I had a new hobby and it would be something else we have to move.  I told him it's a MINI hobby and it doesn't take up much space.  I know he is so excited to help me put it together.
Well everyone have a good Super Bowl Sunday.  I hope the northern part of the US doesn't get buried in snow tomorrow.  As long was we have electric, that's okay.

OOPS, Last chance to sign up for the giveaway.  I will draw this week-end.