Winter in Tennessee

This is winter in Tennessee y'all.  All last week our daffodils were blooming their little hearts out then...

On Saturday under a forecast of rain all day we began to see white puffs falling from the sky and landing on everything.

Sometimes the weather service just needs to look out the window.  LOL

It was glorious.  We love our snow, and the birds love their black oil sunflower seeds so we kept them supplied with their favorite food all afternoon. 

This is what a little over 2 inches of "rain" looks like on our deck rail.  Hope your winter is full of all kinds of white "rain".   To be fair we do live in an area where snow is not easy to predict.  

I got the skirt sewn to match the top I showed you in the last post.

I wanted to let those of you who may have joint, rheumatoid and some other types of pain know about an herb that is kicking pain to the curb for a lot of folks, Goodman and myself included.  Goodman used to have a lot of knee pain.  I used to have pain from arthritis in a couple of joints on my fingers.  We are now pain free thanks to Moringa.  Click here to see it on Amazon

source

I'm not a doctor, but I know this works for us.  I'm not going to wear you out with the facts, either., astounding ones though they are.  Of course you need to do your research, but to make it easy just start here if you're interested.  (I'm not an affiliate to any entity shared in this post.)
 Here is a link from the Big Family Homestead Youtube channel where I heard of it's amazing properties. 

Have a great week y'all!
Linking with Saturday's Critters

First Snow and Angioplasty

Hello from our snow covered hills!

Winter is on y'all!  (I know, not quite.)  It's been a long, long time since we had snow before Thanksgiving, and it'll be gone in a few days, but for now I'll take it. I love snow. ♥

That's not a mirage behind our pasture fence.  A neighbor's farm was sold and subdivided a few years ago.   It's sad for us because when we bought our place the hill was covered with 35 beef cattle.   Now there are that many houses.  Times change, they do. 

  We got a total of 2.5 inches of snow and very frigid temps, for us anyways.  It's a bit odd to see snow on trees that haven't dropped their leaves, yet.  o.O

 

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My mother-in-law was the kindest person on earth and is very much missed by her family.  Her story is a bit painful to recall, but here it is.  She had a scary episode of chest pain along with shortness of breath and was transported to the local hospital.  The small town hospital released her with no real diagnosis (imagine that) so the family arranged for her to go to the best hospital in the big city nearest her small town for testing.  An angioplasty was ordered and the family remained hopeful she would return home better off then when she went.  That didn't happen.  She had a major, life-changing stroke DURING the angioplasty procedure.  She spent weeks in the hospital then months in a therapy center recovering from the stroke.  Her heart condition took a back burner while she learned to speak, feed herself and walk all over again.   She never fully recovered, and one year after the angioplasty she died due to complications from the stroke. 

   A good friend of mine worked for a group of heart specialists at the time and kept close tabs on the situation with my mother-in-law.  She informed me that strokes were very common during an angioplasty procedure.   What?  Then why do they do them?  I think we all know the answer to that question. 

Eat healthy and exercise regularly, dear readers. 

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Stuffed peppers smothered with mozzarella cheese.  Goodman and I eat dishes like this very sparingly these days.  Just sayin'.

Have a great week, y'all!

Hello Snow

Hello from the hills!

The birds are keeping the feeder busy.

One of our granddaughters thinks the cardinal, below looks like an Angry Bird.

This is a quick, picture laden catch-up post. 

The James River at the Jamestown Settlement that we visited on our trip in October.

And the Glass House where they demonstrate and sell hand-blown glass items.

I purchased these two hand-blown apothecary jars to use for my tinctures and such.

One of our granddaughters requested a pair of Dragon Scale Mitts for her birthday so I...

Dusted off my crochet hook to fill her order.  She's happy now. ;)

I started a Granny Stripe Blanket after the mitts were done to use up leftover sock yarn.

There's been a lot of cookin' in these hills.  These Cornish Hens on a bed of vegetables were excellent.

We tried a Chinese Broccoli & Chicken recipe.  Not bad but not perfection.

And this Easy Egg Rolls recipe makes the BEST EVER eggrolls on the planet.  Youngest found the recipe here.  Btw, if you look for duck sauce for dipping and can't find it, just add a bit of water to a few spoons of apricot preserves, and you've got a sauce as good as any in the restaurants.  Great, now I'm hungry.

Snoopy says we got a total of three inches of snow on the back deck.   Hope you are enjoying a little snow with a cup of hot cocoa in your neck o' the woods, too.

If you would like to see more of our snow then have a look at the Ober Gatlinburg live webcam here:
http://obergatlinburg.com/webcam/

Goodman's Gaiter

A neck warmer that is so easy to work up even the newest knitter will have it finished in an evening. The directions are very simple, but for those who prefer pattern format…enjoy.

Knit entirely in 2x1 ribbing using chunky yarn your Goodman’s Gaiter will be completed before the next snow flies, and your own good man will appreciate that it is entirely handsome, not-so-bunchy, yet quite warm.

Methods:

Long-tail cast-on

Stretchy bind-off

Materials:

1 skein bulky/chunky yarn. Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky shown.

Size 10.5 circular needles, 16-24 in.

Cast on 72 sts.

Place marker. Join in the round.

Knit 2, purl 1 around.

Repeat until piece measures 8 inches long or until the skein is nearly used up.

Bind off using:

a. *Knit 2 tog through the back loops (or front, either or, but not both; just be consistent in which you choose.) Place this new stitch on the needle in your left hand and repeat from * until there is one stitch left. Cut yarn and pull the end through the loop & weave in the ends.
Poof. You’re done. Worn scrunched down, folded over or pulled up around the ears he will be comfy. Awwww.
Later, Gaiter.
Copyright © 2009 Toni in the Foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, All Rights Reserved

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Another goodly event here in the foothills, we're under a beautiful blanket of freshly fallen snow. The heavens opened up yesterday and showered us with unmatchable loveliness.