Kathleen's Korner at TheStidhams.com

The dogs needed to go out at three-thirty this morning. And there was a thin layer of white stuff all over the ground. Grumble, cold, grumble.

At five-thirty they wanted fresh water — their bowl was empty. I looked out the window. Still white stuff, and the floors were so cold…

At seven-twenty T was talking to the boys who were thinking they might not have school today… What? I pulled myself out of my much-interrupted slumber and sat up. Yep. Snow.

So I hopped online. While the now very fluffy snow fell increasingly thick and insistently. School hadn’t even been delayed [sigh of relief], and T poked his nose outside and said it was not going to stick.

Obviously, we still have power. Snow continues to fall in flurries, now sounds like it’s mixed with some rain. It’s not sticking to the roads or driveways, and is melting pretty well on other surfaces also. Which pleases me, because I really want enough plums to make jelly this year! And with the blossoms appearing yesterday, the timing of the cold could hardly have been worse.

We’ll see how the garden fares. Hoping my happy little pollinators won’t be set back by this weather!

Meantime, on my agenda for today is transferring most of my business’ website to the server that hosts our family website; dishes, laundry, sweeping; and working on my handwriting. Yes folks, I am doing the old-fashioned handwriting drills in a drive to make it easier to write by hand, and to make the lettering I do for art projects a little neater. We’ll see how that goes, too.

Signs of Springtime abound!

The red-flowering currants are blooming, bright crimson against the pale yellow walls of the house. This morning, the plum tree’s white blossoms have burst open, and on the drive toward town, through yards and forest and fields, ornamental plums and crabapples are exuberantly anticipating the vernal equinox.

Dogs are not happy that it’s cold and rainy today, but it is not as bad as earlier in the winter and late autumn when the rain blew into the house every time we opened the door.

Today is our 15th anniversary. Wish that all people who are so inclined could make their unions legal… Maybe someday, when our children are old enough, they will.

Actually, it’s our 15.5 anniversary of becoming a couple! I never could have imagined all the strange, scary, wild and wonderful years since then, and wouldn’t trade my life today with anyone’s.

Blessings abound!

In like a LION and out like … well, we’ll see.

It was fairly warm the last few days, a few sprinkles here and there, nothing to get excited about. And then THIS morning! Wind, wind, and more wind. The wind blew through the miniature canyon formed between our bedroom wall and the trees on the other side of the driveway.

The sun shone between the clouds, which thickened as the day wore on.

A bright yellow crocus is up in the planter outside the front door.

There are some garden beds ready to weed, others that are good enough as is.

And the wind blew.

A quick trip to school to take medicine to one child, another trip later in the day to have coffee with my paternal unit. Took along Lucky, who hadn’t seen their house since the tree fell on it… he went racing around and didn’t recognize Dad at first, barking at him threateningly as if to tell him to put the house back the was it’s supposed to be! Anthropomorphic? Perhaps, but his intent was clear.

And the wind blew.

The elder son had a banner weekend — on Saturday his team placed second in the regional middle school Knowledge Bowl, the other school team came in first; on Sunday the student orchestra had their second concert of the year (quite nice!).

The younger son is inspired to try some new art, after speaking with a talented and caring artist on Sunday. Margie Jackson created a lovely piece titled “Memories” for a SOGO fundraiser, and spent at least ten minutes talking to us about her process, and her growth as an artist. A link to her website is in the link section, please do check out her and her family’s work. Her kindness to a young boy fits well with what I see of her pieces.