Until this week! Almost a foot of beautiful fluffy snow has fallen and the entire North Country is outside doing the happy snow dance on skis, snowshoes, skates and sleds.
And I .... am sitting here by the fire nursing a sore throat, headache and overall icky feeling.
As I watched the rest of the family leave to enjoy the best XC ski conditions of the season, I was tempted to throw a huge pity party involving chocolate and a chick-flick, but instead, I took a look through my camera to see if there were any "blog-worthy" happenings to report.
What I found was a lot of normal life! Simple mornings, afternoons and evenings stringing, one after the other, into chains of time - precious, ordinary, life. I found myself smiling as I remembered silly, cozy, touching and beautiful moments - little gems tucked away on otherwise ordinary days.
So to cheer myself up (and maybe to make you smile too), I thought I'd share a few moments of Random JOY.
After almost FOUR years, I have finally coaxed some very self-sufficient birds to accept my humble offerings of suet. Seriously, these Adirondack birds would not eat anything I put out! So far, I've only enticed chickadees, but it's been fun to watch them flit in and out of the bushes and to awaken to their cheery "Chicka dee-dee-dee-dee!" each morning.
During a recent family visit, my little, bitty, baby brother cooked breakfast for the whole family! It's one of those things where you know in your head that he's all grown up ... a husband, a father, a real adult ... bit still, I just couldn't get over that my baby brother could cook!! I was in awe!
Oh MY! I love this goofy girl ... she makes me laugh every day!
One of my favorite places on earth - the Keene Valley library. I attended a "Learn to Knit a Sock" class, but quickly discovered that you actually have to know how to knit in order to "Learn to Knit a Sock." So I gave up and crocheted and it was still fun to sit with the other women and hear their stories.
Braiding hair is a great way to pass the time when there's no snow outside ... sadly, a common problem this winter
Katie flew home in January for several days of wedding planning. It was fun to have all of the girls together for a few days. It's hard to believe that they were 14, 3 and 10 days old when this journey began.
One night as I worked on a pot of homemade chili, I glanced down and saw that I'd inadvertently created this beautiful spice display in my bowl. I just had to take a picture before I dumped the spices into the pot.
I love this picture of total concentration as Sodie peels apples for her first ever "all-by-herself" apple pie.
Speaking of apples ... this Apple-Pecan Skillet Pancake is my new favorite breakfast entree. Unfortunately, our guests love it too so there are very rarely any leftovers! It is so good that it's worth the trip to NY ... I'm just sayin' ...
"Who are these little creatures?" you ask? Why it's a snowman convention waiting to be transformed into ....
Snowman Cupcakes. Hey .. when there's no REAL snow, you have to be creative!
Ha .. this one makes me laugh! I bought mud masks for Sodie and a friend to use during a sleepover. Sodie, never one to waste time reading directions, missed the part about avoiding the mouth and eyes. The upside was that once the mask hardened, she couldn't talk for 20 minutes!
We did have one glorious little snow squall a few weeks ago and when the sun rose the next morning, the trees were absolutely glowing. No photo can capture that moment, but I tried anyway.
I love when my girl is all bundled up to go outside. First, because she look adorable. And second, because if she decides that she has to go to the bathroom, she can now undress and redress herself!
Last Sunday, we went skiing although the little bit of snow on the ground was mostly packed ice. The girls didn't really want to go, but once they were on the trail, they became partners in crime and had a great time squealing, giggling, racing and crashing spectacularly.
And the best part of the day, celebrating a day of fun and adventure with steaming cups of hot chocolate at the Cascade Ski Lodge. Mmmmmm...There ... I feel better now. I think I'll go make some of that hot chocolate and find me a chick flick! Happy Sunday!
