Weeping Willow Art, and me loved ones: Snow Fell In Autumn

Part of living in Idaho requires a flexible attitude.
I am not physically flexible any more, but my attitude sure is.
It is a good thing, too.

Because the other day my darling niece and her two children came over to hang out with us. By "us" I mean two of my daughters and one grandson and two extra dogs were already at my house. So, we wanted more to be here. And the fact that I was canning stewed tomatoes meant I wasn't going anywhere soon, so why not fill the house with more loved ones!

It was a cold day. Cloudy, windy, and yep, cold. Rain was in the forecast for later in the evening.

But, what does a weather man know? In Idaho? Very little!

By lunch we had the beginning of a promising accumulation of snow.

One snowflake at a time began, and then it grew into many snowflakes, and they were big and they were wet!

My darling nieces son, Hagen, wanted to go out in the snow. Of course he did! It is magical when it s the first snow fall of the season. I wanted to go out, too. So we did.

Hagen: "Look, Aunt Tawny, I can leave prints."

Me: "Yes, I see that. Are you getting cold? Do you want some gloves?"

Hagen: "Heck, no. This is fun. Look Aunt Tawny, I can catch snowflakes on my tongue."

Me: "You are so talented, Hagen. Are you sure you don't want to wear a sweat shirt I have?"

Hagen: "Heck, no. Look Aunt Tawny, the snow is getting on all the dogs!"

Me: "Oh, crap. The dogs are getting wet and they will track the snow into the house. The floors will be wet and Asher will crawl and walk in the melted snow in my house. Oh, crap. What ever should we do?"

Hagen: "Aunt Tawny, just let Asher come outside and get wet with us, now!"

Why didn't I think of that?

I was right. The dogs, all four of them, did bring snow inside the house. Lots of snow. It was wet and heavy and stuck to their fur....until it got warm and then it turned into water. .... dripping water.... and every foot on every dog left it's mark. 16 furry feet stepping, running, chasing, dripping all over the carpet and tile floors. Puddles were growing faster than I could mop them up. Although, I should add a little disclaimer about the little dog who was visiting us from California. She is a wimp and stayed on the deck most of the time, so her puddles were smaller than the big goof who was visiting.

Throughout the day the snow continued to fall. Sometimes it was really heavy, falling and falling. Other times the flakes just got really big, the kind that I call "Charlie Brown snow flakes". They are beautiful, and my favorite. Then other times.....well, all the other time, it just kept snowing. All day. It didn't stop falling.

I ran a couple of errands and was out in the public for a short time. Everywhere I went people were talking about the snow. #1.The fact that it hadn't stopped all day and #2 that our neighbors 10 miles to the north weren't getting snow and our neighbors to the south about 15 miles away weren't getting any snow. That is just plain unexplainable. Weird, some were saying.

I stayed in my kitchen and stirred the simmering tomatoes on my stove. It smelled wonderful. All the spices, the oregano, dill seed (from my garden) the onions, the jalapenos, yellow peppers and all the stuff that I added. By late afternoon bread was baking. I cant tell you how wonderful it smelled. Heaven can not smell this good. Because I don't think there are any gas ranges in heaven. And who would be growing gardens in clouds, anyway.....?

When I realized the snow was not going to stop any time soon, I started to fret about the tomatoes that were still on the plants..... so I bundled up, and my sweet middle daughter did, too, and we braved the cold and the wind and the snow to go and rescue some of the little darlings dangling on the vines in the snow.

We picked and picked. We filled bags, the clothish ones that you take to the grocery store. We filled a few boxes, and even our pockets. We picked green tomatoes and red tomatoes, and the ones in between. All the while our backs were getting soaked, our gloves were soaked, and we were tromping in mud.

The middle daughter, who now resides in Southern California thought it was a great adventure. She actually stayed outside and pulled the tomato plants from the ground. The plants found a new home in my garage and in DH's shop. They are still loaded with tomatoes and I can bottle them when they ripen a little more.

Even the strawberries were buried under snow.

I know this sounds bad, but it was fun. The strawberries didn't seem to mind. I could hear them talking about the soft blanket being laid on them. They loved it. It is true.

I took a picture of the strawberries. Can you find the little green one sticking up out of the snow. He is a young immature strawberry who wouldn't listen to his parents and stay down and cover up. (Youth, they always do the dumbest things.)

By night fall we had 5 inches of snow.

My grandson wanted to go outside and play in it. His mom wasn't watching as I went out the front door with him. I leaned over and let him put his hands in the snow. He didn't really like to touch it.

So we played "team snowball throwing". It is a great game. You should try it!

Be sure to have a good photographer to document the game. The mother of my grandson grabbed a camera and did! She didn't even care that her 15 month old son didn't have on a hat or gloves or a coat. I guess she knew that "Nana" would come in out of the cold soon enough. (She is still in her youth, too)

Step 1. Get a snowball.