58 posts tagged “weather”
Here's one of the shots I took yesterday while I was playing with my new camera. I played around a little bit with the color and saturation.
I got called in to work today, so that kept me from doing anything at home. I took me twice as long to drive home tonight as it should. My car had two inches of snow on it when I walked out to the parking lot. At least it was light and fluffy and didn't have any ice under it. The four-lane still had one open lane, but the secondary roads where completely snow packed. It was still snowing but not blowing, and it was warmer than it was when I left this morning. I can't tell if it is still snowing or not. I want to go out and get some snow photos tomorrow.
I had posted some time ago that I wanted to get some shots of hats at Wal-Mart. I finally had a chance on Sunday to take a few. This shot is fairly typical, especially the stocking cap.
Not sure what is going on with this hat. Do you think the shape in the back is so it doesn't hit the headrest in his vehicle?
I know I have some bad hair days, so I try not to be too critical, but this one is in serious need to a major makeover.
I did find my camera manual for my new camera today, and so far I have fixed the day/date setting. I've also played around with it here while these photos were downloading. Sorry! You'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if I got any good ones!
It was a bit warmer here today, and the sun was shining. I was even tempted to put on my boots and got out and walk around with my camera. I got some new gloves for Christmas that turn back so you can use your fingers. Maybe I'll get out there tomorrow before the next snow comes in!
I made creamed tuna again for lunch today. Yum. I had some leftover grits, so I warmed those up, but that wasn't a good combination. I should have made brown rice instead. Now I need to go work on dinner. I'm going to try meatloaf again. I also have some broccoli that needs to be used, and some spinach and some mushrooms. Wonder what I will come up with?
But first, a photo from the Wednesday before Christmas that I forgot to post earlier. The rain was blowing in from the east, which it rarely does. It was running down the glass of the window, and the window screen. From across the room, it looked like ice. This is both cropped and resized.
We had 10 degrees this morning, our coldest day so far this winter. The sun was shining most of the morning, but gave way to clouds this afternoon. Never did warm up very much.
We watched three of our grandkids last night so their parents could enjoy a night out at a concert. They were fine until it was time to go to bed, then they wanted to be home. After three stories, I managed to get them all asleep in my bed. Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well. The first thing I did after they went home was take a nap!
Haven't accomplished much the rest of the day, but that is okay. I need a little down time. We are invited to a party tomorrow. Hope I feel better than I do tonight. We are going by ourselves so we can always come home as early as we want to.
The plot thickens with my camera issues. The Christmas picture that I like so well was taken with my new camera. I thought it was taken with my old one, but I looked it up tonight. It was set on Auto mode with the flash turned off.
Think I'll go watch some football, then go to bed early. Toodles!
I should have had this photo for a recent Photo Quest, but I didn't take it until this morning. I like the contrast of light and dark. I'm sure the slow shutter speed accounted for the blurring, but I think it adds to the interest of the shot.
Another cold day today. I wore three shirts, but was cold all day today at work. Our counters are close to the front door, plus most of the store is kept cool enough that you can comfortably leave your coat on while you shop. I bought a sweater/jacket to wear while I work tomorrow. I don't like being cold. I don't mind for a few minutes, but not all day.
We were busy again today. There were three of us, but we still didn't finish all of the orders for tomorrow. Mostly birthday cakes. We have gotten a few holiday cake orders, or orders for birthday cakes with holiday decorations. We are selling a lot of cupcakes with holiday decorations. Last year, I made a lot of cupcakes with poinsettias on them, but this year I haven't had time to make any. Yesterday, we had an order for a cake with spring flowers. That was weird! I made daisies, daffodils, and tulips. It was very pretty, but it looked out of place. This year, we have a dark green icing that they call Winter Green. I used it and a dark red on a couple of cakes for the case this afternoon. I should have taken pictures. I was in a hurry to get things done so I could leave early. My original schedule was for 31 hours. It got bumped up to 40 hours, but they don't want you to ever work more than 40 hours a week. Didn't hurt my feelings to leave early!
I was sure it was Saturday night when I got home tonight. I have been confused all week. Glad I will get to sleep in again in the morning. I stayed up until 12:30 last night so I could finish reading my book. I was reading Echoes by Mauve Binchy. She is one of my favorite authors right now. I need to go back to Amazon and order another one. Maybe I'll wait until after Christmas. I need to get my cards in the mail, and presents wrapped, etc. Plus I'm way behind on my magazines. Not much point in getting them if I'm not going to read them.
Have all of you seen the photos on the web of "Walmart" people? They are unbelievable! It is hard to believe that people go out in public looking like that. We always have a few who are underdressed, but we have just about as many who are "yesterday" dressed.
This woman is a regular. She must come in every week just after she gets her hair "done". Do they still teach this style at beauty school? She usually has the head scarf, too, to keep it in place, very high and piled on top of her head. We do have a set of regulars who are lost in the 50's. I'll try to get some more photos. Do these ladies exist in every town or just here?
We are being discouraged from making up our own designs for cakes, and encouarged to use the Walmart style book. They do have some nice designs, and it won't hurt us to try to make some of them. This isn't exactly like the book. To me, cake designs are a lot like recipes. You use them for a general outline, but you add your own touch.
I worked by myself again today, so I didn't get a lot done. But we weren't rushed, so it didn't matter. I was going to try to leave an hour early to make sure that I don't work over 40 hours this week. That is greatly discouraged. But I took a last minute order, so I only got out the door about 15 minutes early.
I also had to "remodel" a couple of cakes that didn't get picked up so they could be served at the company Christmas dinner tomorrow. We always joke that the true test of a decorator is if you can take an orphan cake and transform it so it can be reused or put out in the case. Most of the time I can come up with something. We did have to throw one cake away today. Cakes don't sell well on the mark-down rack, and they take up a lot of room.
It was bitterly cold today, but we didn't get very much snow. Some people were talking about slick roads, but I didn't have any trouble.
I am finally finished with my Christmas shopping. I think I spent at least four hours trying to get the last two magazine subscriptions figured out. First I tried to go through the publisher, but they kept telling me my address was wrong, or I hadn't selected a country. I finally gave up and filled out a paper subscription form, only I couldn't find the envelope, and the address was no where on the form. Ugh! Then I tried Amazon. They had both magazines, but since I wanted to send each one to a different child, I had to do the whole process twice! I could enter one alternative address, but not two. If I had wanted to send the same magazine to 7 different kids, I could have done that, but I couldn't send two different magazines to two different children. Mercy! I may have to pick up a few stocking stuffers, but candy or craft supplies will work in that department. I haven't started on my cards, but I don't mind waiting until the last minute to do that. I did check my schedule for that week tonight. I work until 6:00 pm Christmas Eve. I think I may wait until Christmas Day to put up my decorations. I'm going to be home all day, with no company. It will give me something to do.
I warmed up some leftover potato soup and added some shredded cheddar cheese tonight. I also fixed a bunch of fresh broccoli with a cheese sauce. And we had homemade cheesecake that I had fixed yesterday. I ate mine with a bit of cranberry sauce. Yummm! It really hit the spot. The wind is still screaming around the house.
Another moon shot from sometime, I'm not sure. Recently, to be sure. I remember it was cold. Perhaps it was Friday after I got home from work. I used to just collapse as soon as I got home, but I'm trying to make myself cook a wee bit so hubby will have something good the next day while I'm gone. On Friday night, it was just garlic toasts and pudding. I can't remember what I did Saturday night. Last night I just watched Sunday night football. It was a good game, even though I did pass out before it was over.
We were cleaning out the top part of the frig this morning. Found a pie crust that I had forgotten about, so I made a pumpkin pie. And turkey a la king. Yummy! I ate mine with brown rice. I've spent the entire afternoon on the computer, just trying to catch up.
I worked by myself on Sunday. Not much time to be creative. I wanted to get started on our Christmas cupcakes, but never got around to it. On Friday, we had decorated four racks of cakes for Saturday. That is a lot! We got most of Sunday's cakes done on Saturday, just a couple left for me to do on Sunday, but then several more came in late, so I was busy.
I need to finish putting our records on a spreadsheet and order some magazines for the grandkids for Christmas. I won't do much shopping this year. Doing Christmas activities and cooking and decorating help me get in the Christmas spirit, but there won't be much of that this year. Bummer! We did get a dusting of snow last night. It didn't last very long. It has been a grey, dreary day.
It was cloudy this morning when we got up, and by 9:00 it was raining. We had to leave to drive to the city to go to Grandparent's Day at the school our granddaughters attend. We got to visit each one's classroom, meet their teachers, and see some of their work. We also filled out worksheets comparing how school today is different from school 50 years ago. This school is pretty informal with small square rooms without walls. There isn't room for more than 20 students per class. Certainly a lot different from the straight rows of desks with a teacher's desk in front. It was interesting, and the girls seem to really like it. No complaining about having to go to school. Some moaning about homework, but not too much.
We stopped by our daughter's house for a little while after we left school because it is easier to visit with her without the kids jumping around. The 2 year old was taking a nap. We didn't stay too late because we didn't want to get hung up in afternoon traffic. The sun had come out by the time we left.
Got home just in time to fix dinner. I knew what I wanted to fix, so it wasn't too bad. I wasn't trying any new recipes!
I need to pay a couple of bills tonight. I don't have to go to work until 11:00, but I need to fix some more food in the morning. I also need to find some new batteries for our phones. Ours won't hold a charge any more. Hubby is always getting cut off. It doesn't bother me, 'cause I rarely talk to anyone on the phone. I tried getting some at Walmart, where we got the phones, but they didn't work. Ugh!
Sounds like it is going to feel like winter by tomorrow. Time to get out the long johns!
I actually took this photo on Monday. It's a take off on the other tye dyed cakes I've made, but with a little twist.
We weren't too busy today, which is nice. I unpacked our orders from our suppliers, placed new orders, and made cakes to go out in the cake case. I made up three of our new kits: Nemo, Pooh, and iCarly. I took a photo of the Pooh cake but I forgot to bring my camera home.
The sun was shining when I left for work this morning, but sometime this afternoon I realized that it was cloudy. We work close to the front doors, but we have to make an effort to look outside.
I'm working again tomorrow. I don't think we will be too busy. It's nice to have time to make extra cakes for the cake case. It was full when I left today, but we didn't have any extras in the freezer.
It's bedtime already, but that's what happens on days that I work. Oh, well. I am thankful that I have a job, especially one that I enjoy.
Here's the four things I use most often as I prepare my soft foods. I make all of my cream sauces in the microwave in one of these Pyrex bowls. I use the spiral whisk to stir everything I cook in the microwave. If you ever see one of these, buy a dozen and let me know. I've had this one for years, don't know where I got it, and can't find another one like it. The hand held blender is my new purchase. It is so handy to puree a whole pot full of hot soup, or one cup of vegetables. Mine is a Hamilton Beach. I still use the big blender for some stuff like cauliflower and sweet pototoes, but this little one gets used lots of times every day.
It finally stopped raining, after several days and four inches, but it was still cloudy yesterday and today. I got a couple of shots of the clouds.
This my my version of a cake with teal, lime green, and brown flowers. It didn't get picked up before I left on Monday so I'm not sure if this is really what they wanted or not. But I'm happy with it. Brown flowers are hard, but I like the way these turned out.
This is my favorite cake from Monday. My directions on this one was yellow and peach roses. I made another one almost exactly like this one to put out in the cake case.
We had a cloudy, cool, windy day today. I didn't go outside except to water the dogs.
I spent most of the day today cooking. I did take a nap and wash a couple of loads of clothes, and catch up on some computer stuff. I finally took time to check my iStock account, and was happy to note that I had sold another photo. It was one of the tomato worm from last year. I haven't uploaded any photos in a long time. Too time consuming. I should go down to my sewing room and do some sewing tonight, but I don't know if I will make it. I will more than likely go to bed early. There is always tomorrow!
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