Hoarfrost

We don't see it very often. I'm not sure that I've ever even seen it myself. I think the only time I've really heard much about it was when I was younger reading the Little House on the Prairie series. It seems to me that it came up a few times then!

Yesterday I was out driving through the countryside with my dad and a friend and all the trees were covered in a white substance and I couldn't remember there being any freezing rain to fall the night before that would have covered the trees with anything. Then my dad said he thought it was hoarfrost, something he'd never seen before. It happens when white ice crystals are loosely deposited on the ground or exposed objects, and these crystals form on cold clear nights when heat losses into the open skies cause objects to become colder than the surrounding air. It's absolutely beautiful to see! Breathtaking actually. Luckily I had my camera with me.

Go Sally Go!

This week we got, oh I don't know, maybe four inches of snow, before the temperatures plummeted into the single digits. Which of course was accompanied by high winds, with a wind chill of negative 20 or so. It's hard to say really. Anyways. I've got Sally out here with me these days and, well, this was a hard first round for her. She just isn't used to these cold temperatures. Virginia can get cold, but it's fairly mild, especially when compared to this!

Tonight I needed to take her out and I knew it would be a bit of a challenge, but goodness it took me a good thirty minutes to scrape all the ice off and to dig through the snow so she could actually get somewhere. Luckily for me, one of my housemates, Cheryl, came to my rescue and she was such a huge help! It probably would have taken me at least fifteen more minutes if she hadn't come out and helped me out! I should have known it was going to be a bit of a task when I tried to open the door and it was frozen shut on that side! I had to get in on the other side and crawl across. Not the easiest thing to do, and also not the first time I've had to do it!

Slowly but surely we made progress and finally Sally was able to beat the weather. And now she's resting safely in the garage. But just to be on the safe side, here in the next few days, I think I'm gonna take her in and have her checked out. It's best not to tell her, she doesn't like heights.

More Weekends Like This

I have decided that I need more weekends like this one in my life.

Friday spent with one of my closest friends in the city. Sitting. Laughing. Talking. All over pizza and a movie in the comfort of her home. Knowing that I'm welcome there anytime.

Saturday spent sleeping in. Lounging around. Venturing downtown to the Field Museum with another friend that lives in the city. Having a carefree afternoon. Getting all dressed up for a friend's birthday party. Going and relaxing and letting go and being myself. No stresses. Just plain ol' good fun.

Sunday spend sleeping in (again!). Relaxing. Being in no hurry whatsoever. Having no agenda. Nothing planned. Just being and doing.

Yep. A girl could use more weekends like this one.

But then again, if every weekend was like this, then it wouldn't be so special when it does happen. Or would it?

Cooking!

Tonight I prepared my first meal in my newly set up kitchen! It was a bit hard to get started when I first got home, but once I got going it was a ton of fun! I cooked up a bit of pasta with pesto. And then sauteed mushrooms in garlic and olive oil and added a few diced tomatoes. Throw those together and top it all off with a bit of Parmesan cheese and voila! A fabulous dinner! One of the best parts was I think I ended up cooking more mushrooms than pasta! Which might not seem quite right, but for me it was perfect!