The Sweet Month Of February

 It's February, and one of our coldest months here!  V. at the grocery store told me it was 17 degrees one morning.  Every time I want to go out and have a little adventure, the cold air has kept me inside.  This is my car one cold morning. 

I seem to cook and bake a lot when we have these frigid temperatures.  Here's a meatloaf I cooked for dinner one night.  You know, I've been cooking for 46 years - that's a long time, so I don't do strict recipe following, I go by looks and feel.  If I'm baking and it requires precise measuring, then I'll follow the recipe, but most of the time, I just wing it.  So, you will never see a long written recipe on here, but I will tell you the ingredients I put in....ground beef, a little ketchup, onions, garlic salt, pepper, one egg, and bake at 350.  (I cook mine for about 50 minutes, but it depends on how much meatloaf you make).

Lumber was delivered to my house, and they are starting to build a new fence in the back yard.  Part of the old one crashed and fell when we had a great wind this last Fall.  A portion of the newer fencing is intact, so it will look nice when it's finished.  I will miss the deer roaming in my back yard that sometimes come through the large opening from the woods.

Despite the cold, I managed to get out and drive to the little pink eatery on the main street of my town.  My son treated me to a hot pastrami sandwich, crisscut fries, and a coke.  They have the best pastrami subs ever. 

We are in the heart of winter here, and not many birds are coming around yet.  Everything is bare, but these woods around me are still beautiful and haunting, as I think about all the ancestors who came before and lived in this area.

I got a surprise in the mail from my blog friend, Susan.  It was a Valentine card with the cutest Snowbaby.   I saw it on one of her posts, and mentioned how much I loved it, and she thought it belonged with me.  It was wrapped nicely and tight so there was no breakage, and it was such a thoughtful gift.

You are probably familiar with the Snowbabies, but if not, here's a little about them.

*Snowbabies are porcelain figurines that were popular in the mid-80's (when my girls were growing up).  They originated in Germany in the late 1890's.  They are cherub-like children in snowsuits that appear to have flakes of snow over them.  My sister used to collect the Snowbabies, and I'll have to ask her if she still has any.

I have been gathering little things for the kids' goody bags, and having a fun time with that.

I made a batch of brownies to warm the house one cold afternoon.

Every year, I send out the Valentine cards to my adult kids, and now I send them out to the grandkids.  I have so much fun doing this.  I used to love giving and receiving them when we were in school, and I have kept the tradition alive.

Mia making pizza with daddy.  Renecke makes the best homemade pizza. 🍕🍕🍕

Francesca and Mia are into Squishmallows right now.  These are popular ultra-soft plush toys known for their marshmallow-like and huggable designs.  When I saw this cereal at the grocery store, I had to pick it up.

Many of you are anxious for spring to arrive, but we have long winters here, and sometimes we can get snow until April.  So I will try to enjoy the cold and the snow and the rain for a little while longer.