weather
Another Winter Storm
Here in the Willamette Valley, we don’t usually get much snow. Maybe a dusting a couple times a year. Somethings none at all. We already had a big snow storm that hung around for a few days back in December. (Photos of this here and here) This week brought another winter storm system.
We woke up on Thursday morning to a couple inches of snow on the ground. It kept on dumping snow all day and we ended up with about 5 inches. Alma, unfortunately, was sick, so we didn’t get to go play in the snow this time. By the end of Friday, we had 8 inches! Luckily, Alma was feeling better by the time Jesse got home from work, so we went for a quick walk in the snow.
While we were walking, the snow turned into freezing rain. The freezing rain kept up all night. We could hear it pattering on our window. In the morning there was a quarter inch of ice covering everything. The freezing rain is still falling, and coating everything with a thick layer of ice. Outside, you can hear tree branches creaking and cracking. I’ve heard stories of fallen trees and power outages all over town.
The freezing rain can cause some spooky things, but it’s also really beautiful. I have gone out a couple times already to take some photos.
Here’s our weeping cherry tree at 8:00 am:
And again at 11:
January Colorful Mantel (because the outside has no colors)
Every year this happens. The fog descends and it just hangs out. I’m an Oregon girl through-and-through. I love the rain. I love the crazy days that are rainy, sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy, and rainy all in the span of an hour. I do not, however, enjoy the fog. It’s depressing. I would take an overcast day over a foggy day no question. There’s something awful and claustrophobic about not being able to see the house across the street.
So…. I decided to brighten up my living room by creating a colorful mantel! I pretty much just grabbed everything around that is colorful, threw it on the mantel, moved things around until I liked what I saw and called it good. Easy-peasy.
Obviously the lighting is bad for photos, since there isn’t a whole lot of natural light coming through the windows.
Here’s my favorite part. A corn candle that my friend Kelsey gave us. She’s from Iowa, so it’s the real day. Something of such distinction clearly needs a decorative glass case.
Here’s a question for you. I’ve been toying with the idea of taking out the old wood stove, painting the bricks, sewing a cushion, and adding wood to the fireplace. Some examples of this can be found on this Pinterest board I have. I don’t want to paint the wood paneling because I love it and how cozy it feels. Do you think it would look good to paint the brick white?
Here’s another photo that shows more of the fireplace (Alma is standing on bricks with red tiles):
