Crop Circles from the Drought

OK, so these aren’t like the REAL crop circles.  But when I went outside to fill the bird feeder and saw my front yard I couldn’t help but laugh.

 

So what really happened was that I chose the cheapest sprinkler that the store had and apparently the factory didn’t do a  lot of testing before they deemed worthy to sell.

There’s a nice green circle in the center where the sprinkler sat, which I’m assuming meant that the silly thing leaked water.  Surrounding the green circle is a nice ring of dead grass where no water at all landed.  Then it’s all wrapped up by a beautiful green circle around that where the water actually fell.

Then if you look closely at the top of the photo you’ll see the rest of the dead yard.  ~ sigh ~   Not a good year for grass around here.  And now I’m hoping that any aliens that fly by overhead will not misinterpret the crop circles as an invitation to land!!!

 

Consider the many special delights a lawn affords: soft mattress for a creeping baby;
worm hatchery for a robin; croquet or badminton court; baseball diamond; restful
green perspectives leading the eye to a background of flower beds, shrubs, or hedge;
green shadows - "This lawn, a carpet all alive/With shadows flung from leaves' - as
changing and as spellbinding as the waves of the sea, whether flecked with sunlight
under trees of light foliage, like elm and locust, or deep, dark, solid shade,
moving slowly as the tide, under maple and oak.  This carpet!
-   Katharine S. White, Onward and Upward in the Garden, 1979

Baby It’s Hot Outside….

I really wasn’t going to post about the impossible heat wave we’re having in North Texas, but….

I’m one of those silly people that really does like weather statistics.  When the news is on I’ll be the one shushing everybody so that I can hear what the weather guy is saying.

And right now they are all saying that we’re on track to be one of the hottest summers on record. My theory is that if it’s going to be really, really hot we might as well break a record and give ourselves something to high five over!

Today was Day 26 ….. 26 days in a row with over 100 degree temperatures.  We hit 106 yesterday.  That is just not right. 

Now the email pictures have started being forwarded and I find them very amusing.  Here are a few for your viewing pleasure:

 

It’s so hot outside the ice cream trucks are melting!

 

Would this be considered the Dog Days of Summer?

 

Mentorship Class and Tornadoes

Last night was the first night of our much anticipated Mentorship 101 class at church.  It’s being led by our Pastor and Keith and I are both taking it. 

Pastor started us off by sharing how many years ago he was led to start teaching people to be mentors and gave a great personal story.  He then asked us all to introduce ourselves and share why we were there.

It struck me again as I listened to the many, varied stories how everybody is living lives that we just don’t know.  I’ve always tried hard to remember the saying “don’t criticize until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes” because it is so true.  Everybody is going through something and it was just amazing to hear why each person felt it was so important to be there. 

We did our introductions and Pastor did a brief overview and even with that short agenda we ran late.  I am so looking forward to the weeks to come.

And I’ll tell you, it was looking for a bit like we wouldn’t be able to go to class after all.  We were at home glued to the TV watching live  reports of tornadoes forming all over the DFW area.  Modern technology is a site to behold and all day long we heard about flooding from the remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine, then the tornadoes started.  I think I heard this morning that we had 8 tornadoes touch down across the area last evening and we hesitated to leave for church as there was one fairly close to our church.  In the end we went and of course had no problem.

I did find a brief clip on YouTube if you are into weather phenomenon like what I am.  I can’t really explain why I love this stuff, but I do.  :)

Sunday Chatter – and a Book Winner!

First I want to announce the winner of my drawing for the book Double Trouble by Susan May Winner …. Susan at Baking With Susan!  And I do encourage everybody to visit her blog as she has some great recipes and reviews.  This is definitely a plus to having a drawing – I got to visit some great new to me blogs.

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Tonight the family is sitting curled in front of the tv watching the US / Canada hockey game and my what a great game it is!  So fast paced and so happy to see these two teams play together.  We were somewhat disappointed at the announcers at the beginning of the game as they said that the US and Canada are “bitter rivals” and called this a “border rivalry”.  While we are indeed rivals, instead of bitter we see it as more of a “brotherly rival” in that if the US does not win we definitely want Canada to win. 

And as we watch, I’m busy working on three different knitting projects.  I have gotten so much knitting done lately, which is very satisfying.  Biggest reason for all the knitting is that I haven’t felt good all week, to the point that I’ve had to cancel plans on three different days this week.  So hard to do, but I knew that I needed the rest and I know it was the right thing to do.  I’m hoping for a better week coming up!

One last note, on the weather no less.  We woke up this morning to a good old-fashioned thunderstorm.  Honestly if you didn’t know better you would swear it was spring based on the thunder and lightning and the amount of rain coming down.  Stranger still, we have a very good chance of snow on Tuesday.  This is one of the most interesting winters in North Texas that we’ve seen in a very long time!

A Texas Size Igloo

Dallas got a serious “Texas Size" snowfall last Friday – a FOOT!  A new record for our area as I’m sure you can imagine.

The kids built this igloo with Brooklyn and she looks pleased as punch standing next to it.  James said there’s windows on the side and she’d be inside and look out the window and giggle at him, then run outside around and see him and giggle, then run back inside again.  So much fun how little it really does take to tickle one this age.

Granddaughters are so much fun!   :)

Sweet Snowfall

 

We had a record snowfall in the Dallas area today.  Last I heard it was 8.3 inches and it’s still coming down.  It’s the most snow for any calendar day ever. 

Love how this tree is lifting up to the heavens – all the glory for this beauty goes to God!  I enjoyed standing at the door and watching the big fluffy flakes coming down.  So quiet, so serene and so beautiful.

 

Walking into the room and seeing snowflakes and the dog outside brought a big smile to my face every time.

 

 

He may be old, but he still has so much fun in the snow!

 

 

And it’s even more fun when you share it with a friend.

Bracing for the Weather

All week long we've heard on the news about the Arctic Cold Front that is blowing through on Thursday.  Our low temperature will be about 13 degrees and we won't be back above freezing until Sunday.  But even more impressive, this is the longest and coldest cold front to hit the Dallas area in 12 years!

Now that's all well and good......except that I don't own a coat.  I've got jackets, some of them are even fairly warm.  But the thing is, 12 years ago when it was so cold, I weighed a lot more than I do now.  I finally donated the large coats several years ago and it honestly hasn't been cold enough to warrant me spending the money on a new one.

So yesterday I decided it was time for a coat.  During my lunch hour I went to two different stores and found no coats.  After work we ran up to Penney's and I found a rack that had two lonely little jackets - probably about a size 2 - hanging there...with the sound of crickets in the background.  It was starting to seem like a cloud of locusts had descended on the area and no more coats were to be found.

Next we went to Belk, which is a fairly new store in our area and there they were - several racks of coats just waiting to be chosen and come home with us.  The roof opened up, rainbows and unicorns appeared and there was much rejoicing.

Better yet - coats were now 50% off!  I found the cutest red wool coat and really couldn't have been happier.  I feel quite sassy in a red coat and now I'm almost looking forward to the cold weather.

Heavenly Father, we ask that you be with the homeless people during this cold weather.  Keep them warm and safe and offer up a place for their comfort.  Let us never forget just how blessed we are in our homes.