off topic: mid -Atlantic stitchers and snow

Wow - that's always scary, glad they could use the adapter. We have crank little motorola flashlight/radios that also have USB ports. They have AA batteries, but work well with just cranking, and the good thing is that we can plug our cells into the USB for charging if we had to.

There are a lot of trees down in DC that we saw. Not so much on the roads, but all around the tidal basin, down or broken. Our yard....we'll see what the results are. As we were doing errands today we saw the crew on the roof of the Ashburn Ice Rink - shovelling off the snow. And they're a peaked roof, albeit not very steep. The roof at the Prince William (Dale City) rink collapsed Sunday - it was on the news. Fortunately, the staff heard a creak/pop - one of the vertical I-beams twisted and then a big noise - so they had evacuated the rink with the first noise and quickly a big boom and it came down. At least it wasn't open for public, there was a speed skating meet going on. Some interesting and scary pix on the ref news list.

Still hasn't really hit here, but the sky is that very heavy wants to snow greyish. And of course we're just on that band of expecting the most snow - oh well. DH figures depending on the snow, he may just have liberal leave tomorrow, then back to no work Thurs/Fri. Seems this storm is arriving a bit later than expected, now supposedly to last well into Thursday. The big issue for the fed govt is the state of commuting to DC.

We tried to get Donna & her DH to come out for lunch with us today (we have CAPS tix stubs good for 10 free wings each 'cause the CAPS scored 5 on Sunday). But, she was stuck with their home crises. I told her & DH that I need some more people....all this togetherness just with DH and the dog.....BUt, the restaurant closest to us (Glory Days) doesn't open til 4 during the week - who knew - although the one by Donna does. SO....we still have that option for later in the week...

Hope all are doing well and warm.

Ellice

We bought a battery-powered nebulizer last year. We haven't had to use it yet but it's comforing to know that it's there.

Mine work on battery or electric and can be run off the car battery as well.

One of them works with AA batteries and the other a rechargeable battery pack.

Guess this isn't the time to complain that the gardener woke me up Sunday morning with the lawn mower??

just me, Cathy from KY in CA

grumble grumble it was -30C here yesterday. Accordingly, I only want to hear you brag about the weather if you caused it.

Dawne

LOL that would be funny. We were kind of laughing on Saturday when the neighbor was out there before 8 trying to unbury the cars parked in the street that shouldn't have been. We did get woken by the front-end loader coming into our street in place of a plow at 5:30 am on Sunday.

Today -it's really, really blowing snow right now. Almost a white-out. I can see the front of the house across the street, but not their backyard fence line at all. The dog rambled out about 3 ft, and very quickly turned back. It's icy, big snow. Storm was delayed, so now I think frommy measure on the deck we've had about 7-8" - but at this rate expect another 10". Woohoo.

Coffee made. Doing a lot of cooking. Today...Tuscan Bean Stew from recipe in Cook's Ill. Beans soaked overnight, got fresh kale yesterday at Wegmans (a miracle - we were in & out in less than an hour, didn't even wait in cashier line), thick sliced pancetta (much better to dice for recipes). But, for now, I'm looking at this snow blowing across at a 45degree to nearly horizontal angle from the office windows. Neighbor's mail box almost completely buried now.

Ah, I remember those sunny days of gardeners and fresh mown grass.....

Ellice in blustery No Virginia - where school is out all week, and DH is still off.....

Poor Dawne, but I know you have the stuff to stay warm! Amazingly I was talking to someone from Minn yesterday who said, no, they don't get this kind of snow except on the border with Canada. Just cold and wet. I was surprised.

Ellice

Wow - that is cold for you....but not freezing. My DB & DSIL are going to your fair city for Mardi Gras - from South Fl. She was telling me about the cold there (50s) the other night, as she had to go blanket their little ponies. I wonder how they'll handle it if NO is actually cold.

Ellice

It looks amazingly beautiful this morning out there in my backyard as I sit here on the computer. Snow falling at a furious pace. Wind blowing it around in circles. Near white out conditions. The news says the wind will be picking up. I am glad that Reston had the foresight to bury all power lines forty plus years ago. It would take an area wide outage for us to lose power.

As beautiful as it is, it's also dangerous. I am resigned to being in my house for days. Will try to maintain my sanity with stitching and finishing my game of Professor Layton and Diabolical Box on my Nintendo DS. Never got to the library and my books were due yesterday. Good thing I've got an emergency book stashed away - The Madonnas of Leningrad.

New recipe for the day - Lemon Tart. Now if I could only remember where I saw the recipe...

Donna in snowy, snowy Virginia

Hugs Donna.

Here the major amusement are the folks in their high end SUVs with "all wheel drive" that end up in the ditches/embankments because they've assumed that they can still drive at/above the speed limit.

DS has been learning to drive in the snow. It's harrowing while he's gone, but oh do I have some stories now....

Cheryl

Be quiet. Isn't this an El Nino year? I recall what they are like and while they're not like the snow we've had the past 5 days.... just you wait.

As Ellice said, a slow start and while it looks like we won't get nearly as much as those in DC/Philly etc., it's bad enough. DB was supposed to come for dinner last night but at 5 pm just as I noticed the flurries had changed to a steady snow he called to cancel.

The bird feeders that had lost their "hats" have new ones. The official new snow was about 4 inches at 6 am with 2-4 more by the time it's over. The way it's coming down I wouldn't be surprised to get more. They had backed off the 6-10 last night. I can't wait for the winds to pick up.

I did manage to get some stitching done yesterday. Another

Stay warm and dry everyone.....and Joyce I hope it cools off for you.

Nancy

Your stories about the weather are the only thing that makes living here in FL a really good place to be. I know that as much as I loved the cold and snowy weather in NY, I couldn't deal with it today.

Lemon Tart sounds good. I haven't made one in years. If you find your recipe and it isn't too hard would you mind sharing it?

Another request, What can you recommend as a good read? Something light and airy that doesn't require a great deal of thinking. I'm catching up on missed books from the alphabet series by Sue Grafton and I need a diversion from them.

Thanks everyone.

Lucille

Lucille wrote: > Another request, What can you recommend as a good read? Something

If you haven't read "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society," get it! It's a delight. Also the Adriana Trigiani "Very Valentine" from last year, and "Brava, Valentine," just out. Right up your alley.

when you're ready to go into something a little heavier, try the Millennium series by Steig Larsson: "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," "The Girl Who Played With Fire," "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" (the third isn't out in the U.S. yet, but is available through amazon.co.uk if you don't want to wait until May.) But make sure you read them in order! Not light and airy, but very, very good!

sue

Thanks. I'll look for them.

If you enjoyed the James Herriot books, "All Creatures Great and Small," etc., you might enjoy Patrick Taylor's "An Irish Country Doctor," "An Irish Country Village," and "An Irish Country Christmas."

Nancy

Have you read the Diane Mott Davidson series about Goldy, and her catering business in Colorado?? She is forever falling over bodies.

I am also enjoying the Sana Stabenow series about Kaye Shugak, a native Alaskan, and a tough lady. Her characters are good, and I enjoy reading about the life in the villages etc.

Gill

Try the books by Gervaise Phinn about his experiences as a county inspector of education.

Davidson I used to read years ago and liked her stuff. I imagine I missed some of the newer ones. I was only reading a little and mostly heavier stuff that was recommended by friends for the last couple of years.

I'm back to reading a lot and finishing a book quickly and need some good recommendations.

As usual, this group comes through.

Davidson I used to read years ago and liked her stuff. I imagine I missed some of the newer ones. I was only reading a little and mostly heavier stuff that was recommended by friends for the last couple of years.

I'm back to reading a lot and finishing a book quickly and need some good recommendations.

As usual, this group comes through.