History Was Made

 Historical. Unbelievable. Bizarre. Surreal. Exciting.

Those are just a few of the words that could be used to describe January 21st and 22nd. 

I have never in my 64 years EVER seen anything like this. I know there will people from other parts of the country and even the world who will read this and just wonder how can this be such an important event, but folks I am telling the truth... The Gulf Coast of the Panhandle of Florida witnessed an historical event.

I have been super busy since Friday, but I feel like I have to document all of this as it is still fresh on my brain.

Snow was predicted for the Gulf Coast and like everyone else around here, it was a little hard to believe. Jeff said he would believe it when he saw it. He never could have dreamt this one up.

School was canceled in the expectation of it and it was being hyped on all the local news sources, but still could what they said was coming really happen.

On Tuesday, I fell in love with Facebook. I have never been a fan, but it was so fun seeing all my cousins and high school friends from Brewton sharing pictures. But then... we were seeing it everywhere but here. Sadness tried to creep in for our family. The radar was saying we were getting a wintery mix, but no we were not outside our windows.

That little oval purple blob was not showing up anywhere near us. It must have been up in the atmosphere. WE were all seeing nothing despite the radar. I was seeing pictures from Brewton and Atmore where family and friends live. Pensacola was snowing.

Then around 2:45 yesterday it began. Snow ---not ice, but real snow started coming down hard. Hip hip hoorays started going up from everywhere. It continued until almost 10:00 PM and gave us 6 inches. Y'all I have never seen that much snow in my life. 

I honestly realized I had seen ice and a dusting of snow with maybe and inch in Auburn back in the 80's, but not genuine powdery snow such as this. Can you believe it?

I am going to share the pictures that don't do it justice at all. 6 inches here and 8 inches in Brewton. You can see it on the above map. The old record was in 1895 with 3 inches recorded in Pensacola and Mobile.

By the way, with such an event I put on real winter clothing and embraced it. I went out multiple times and took walks yesterday and today in it.  

This picture was my first trip out with Gus. About 4:00 yesterday.

I walked out of my cul-de-sac to look down the road.

This was looking back to the house.

Down by the water... even snow all the way to the water.

One thing I loved about Facebook was all the pictures from everywhere. You couldn't tell snow from our sugar white beach sands. CRAZY!

This morning... I took more. Why not?! This is history here.

Spanish moss mixed with snow.

The little cottage two doors down.

Out my front door this morning before I went out.

Down on the deck...

From my bedroom window of the downstairs.

It is all just incredible. Real snow ----people----real snow! On the Gulf Coast of Florida. That is the Choctawhatchee Bay people. Do you understand how rare and odd this is?

Here are pictures of the kiddos? Who by the way have had the time of their lives. I wish you could read my family's texts messages from the adult children who have never seen this.

Lindsay and family in Destin. BTW, we couldn't go see either kid because the bridges were closed. I have to cross bridges to get to both.

The much too large gloves are compliments of Paw Paw who made it to Target before all of this started and got what they had. 

Paul Allen and family in Shalimar. Yes, that is little Valerie for a quick trip outside to get her picture taken in the snow. 5 days old.

This one was yesterday when it was coming down.

WOW ---truly amazing. I needed this recorded.

The other big news is that sweet baby girl up there who came Friday morning early and was safely home before the crazy cold came.

7 pounds and 5 ounces with a perfect birth. Mommy and baby are doing great. Her head is covered in jet black hair. Valerie Layne (I spelled it wrong in the last post).

Lindsay, Tyler and the boys made it over to see her on Monday before the snow.

Palmer is so smitten with her. Miles could probably be fine with her going back:)

I will stop there, but will be back soon with just other stuff. It seems I have lots to share. I had my cousin take a picture this morning of the little church in my sidebar and a source of inspiration for one of my stitched samplers. It is my family's church in the woods. All of my cousins live around it on the little dirt road. I texted my cousin to take a picture of it for me this morning,

Just beautiful!

I am closing for now, but I will catch up tomorrow with everyone. I have my small group coming in a few hours. I didn't think anyone would get out since the roads are going to be an icy mess tonight, but most said they were coming. 

Be back soon....from the snow capped flat lands of the beach...

Sandy

She Is Here

Each and every time I write I a blog post, it seems that I open myself up to a possible chain reaction of unforuntate events. I can count on not being able to keep up with reading or mingling with friends. The mingling with friends is as hard in person as it is in BlogLand. When I left off last, I said I was hoping Mama wouldn't come down with the flu. It happened and from that moment on I have had trouble staying on top of anything but the basic necessities.

Said flu really caused an unnecessary hospital stay. A doctor's visit would have been much nicer, but she awoke to not being able to catch her breath good which sends her into panic. It would anyone, but I can usually calm her down and we move forward, but she hit her button and the facility was ready to call an ambulance. I will spare all the other details ---let's just say the week was taken up with all of that. 

Miles was sick first with the flu and then an ear infection. Honestly, both Paul Allen and Katie were worn down from being pregnant and so much sickness, but what a difference a new baby can bring.

Valerie Lane Palmer arrived early this morning at 3:30 AM. She is healthy and Mama is doing great. They come home tomorrow and we are keeping Miles and letting him recover to see his new sister. FaceTime is amazing. 

Blessings followed a very chaotic week. I have held my latest little one... a girl. Three grand boys are so excited about a girl -even the cousins. I am pretty sure Palmer is the most excited since he asked Santa for a baby this year and was not happy with the stuffed dog with puppies.

When I left off last I was sharing things that I have done past tense...nothing new here - just trying to catch up on sharing.

The Florida Lighthouse stitch was in holding. It did get moved. Not so much because I didn't like it where I had placed it, but that I liked what I had removed to put it there. With a few days to think about it, I landed on a new place to hang it that is sticking.

It is now in the hallway that is traveled by everyone who enters our home. The garage to kitchen hallway. Very heavy traffic!!! I replaced a chalkboard with a similar shaped frame. I had no real attachment to the chalkboard. 

Here is the new location from both directions. I am pleased with the new home for it.

In one other bit of old news I made a change in the guest room (aka - Lindsay's old bedroom). I haven't loved the bedspread in there. Didn't hate it, but more than anything I just didn't like the bulkiness of it and how it laid. I have tried to come up with a color to use in there and finally one day I was looking at the 2 large pieces of artwork in there...one some colorful birds which matched the old bedspread and the other the Swiss Alps painting that has been with me since my babyhood purchased overseas in the early 1960's. I swapped the location of them and took a cue from the greens in the painting and purchased an ultra cheap spread to see how I would like it. 

I think it works for me. I found a throw with matching colors to put at the end and I am calling it a win. The pillow at the top is from the old bedspread which I am holding onto for now.

One morning this week I walked out on the lower deck and took a picture of the full moon. It looked like the sunrise, but it was the moon and notice the reflection in the water. So pretty.

That is it for this week and I am praying for a calmer next week. Of course, they are predicting possible snow in north Florida. I doubt it will make it to the coast, but I do think the state will get some. Tucker has prayed for it too. I am not looking forward to the cold at all. We are predicted to have 4 nights to hit below freezing. Can't even imagine the deep freeze some of you are in.

Stay warm,

Sandy

Plotting My Comeback

  

I started out strong after Christmas. I got all my decorations put away and with my time I started thinking about all the things that I had put off like hanging stitching. I was planning and moving and grooving. We went to Auburn and I thought I had recharged. I came home and busily started cleaning and decorating ---not so much decluttering. Then along came last week when I knew I would have the boys because work started back for the parents but not all schools and daycares were open. 

AND....one of those little boys brought me the flu. I haven't had that in at least 15 years. I honestly think I felt as bad for him as myself. To think he hurt all over like I did broke my heart. As of now, it has taken me, Palmer, Tyler, and possibly Miles as its victims. I am praying really hard no more especially Katie and Paul Allen since the baby is due on the 20th. Of course, I worry about Mama with anything like this at her age.

I was reading blogs and commenting and just really having a good start to the new year when this hit me like a ton of bricks. 30 hours of intense body aches and 6 more of a nasty headache and now just extreme fatigue.

When I finally got over the headache and realized all I could do was sit around I pulled out some videos to watch. I really didn't even want to commit to a TV show. My mind wasn't that strong. I pulled up a YouTube video and the girl had been sick with pneumonia. She said she had used her rest time to plot her comeback...hence, the title. 

That is about all I have the energy for ---thinking about what I might do once I am over this awfulness. I haven't really been able to think too clearly yet, so mostly I am laying around wishing I could get up and do something productive. I will share some of the things I did before I got bulldozed.

I finally started to think about where to hang the latest 2 stitches that I had framed. No, they were still not hung which shows that it was going to be an issue.

After Christmas each year, I always want to lighten the look. I love Christmas and I know everyone always wants to leave up the lights to counter the darkness of winter and I get that, but for me I just like the clean of a new year and always find myself pulling things off of shelves and counters and making it a little less.

That notion hit me with the walls this year. Not good when you have new stitches to hang. 

I did come up with some solutions. My ideas have changed on some things. I should know never to post what I plan because my plans always change. 

I ended up scrapping my Florida wall. It just wasn't coming together. All of the stitches were pretty but they didn't go together and were looking too cluttered. After 2 days of moving things around and laying them together I just decided on another route all together. So let's take a look at what remained and what got moved and what is still being thought out.

This wall in the bedroom got a redo. I had 3 stitches up where the 2 are now. The books of the Bible on the right was one of the three. It was moved back to where it once hung. The Springer Spaniel stitch that was hanging on that wall got moved to the kitchen hallway where it looks great.

              

I moved the Surely Goodness and Mercy stitch off this wall and added the Florida Sampler. Now, 2 of my most favorite projects ever are together. The Thirsty Hart where I added the church I grew up in and the initials of my ancestors buried there in the church graveyard. 

The amount of things there is pleasing to my eye. This is going to sound bad, but when I tried to hang too many there all I could think of was it looked like a cross stitch store with framed pieces on display. I love all the gallery walls I see on social media, but in my own home it made me stir crazy.

Sometimes I think it is more than a gallery wall, but how are the stitches related and the frame choices. Something I didn't think through and I am not sad about that because I loved all the stitching.

Where did Surely Goodness and Mercy go? It went to the Auburn house where I originally intended it to go, but when I finished I wanted it to stay here a while. 

It looks good for now in the Auburn downstairs bedroom wall.

There is is on the top right. All of those changes seem right. I don't think it needs anymore stitches.

Now that leaves one more --- The Pensacola Lighthouse. It is still to be determined. I am trying it out in the guest bathroom. I am not sure it will stay here mostly because of the coloring, but I have lots of thoughts running through my brain now, so I am plotting on that while I recover.

I will stop there with all that and share some of the other things I did in the home in that little bit of time in my next post. 

Katie has finished the baby's room. I have started stitching the name. I can't wait to show the color choices I made and some of my progress in the next post. 

For now, I am trying to learn to rest. I pretty much don't have a choice about it, so I will keep dreaming and planning.

Oh and my great plans for strength training that I had all printed out and was raring to go got held up too. Plans well made but on hold until I have some actual strength to do anything. I didn't even complain about the cold. Can you believe it? It is very cold. Jack Frost has visited and the bayou had some ice early this morning. Those are all not my thing at all. Bring on Spring, but I think the month of January is planning on being cold.

Anyway, I am here and grateful to be over the worst part. 

Be back soon I hope:)