We have snow ... and mistletoe.. and,,, la la la...

.................oh....it's not mistletoe? .... alright then....it's Hawthorn berries..... but we do have snow!

... and blue skies and brilliant sunshine..... what a glorious day....

looking out the kitchen window yesterday...

my arm is still not up to shoveling...so I just took pics..... hey....this is not so bad.....it's usually me on the end of that shovel.  I may be able to get used to this.....NOT !!.... I love shoveling!

Pink Ribbon Grass.. in winter turns a soft golden shade.  I never cut it back til spring because I think gardens can still be pretty to see in the snowy yard.

The neighbour's Mountain Ash.  The birds seem to save these berries til last... well, I think they do anyway.

AND....for a day that is snowy and cold....what better thing to do than.... make soup.  Oh, of course and all the Christmas baking etc...but, what really matters is something tasty for supper, right?  Check my other blog for this soup...

photo of the week...

My thumb joint was beginning to bother me.... as I mentioned a few posts ago.... but, it also radiated upward .... more into the low forearm and wrist...even seemed a bit swollen. Then, the tendons began to be painfully tweaky and seemed even to jump over or get caught ... each on the other...ooooh... The same wrist also has the massive cluster ganglion...and carpal tunnel.

May I just say.........SH*t. ! !!!

and, at the top of my lungs too, dammit!

It is called DeQuervain's syndrome...and is so easy to diagnose I knew what it was before I even went to the doctor on Friday...just at the beginning of the blizzard. Got home in the nick of time. Luckily most drivers were very generous letting us in off the side roads... because it was a bit tricky and slippery and with big slushy soft ruts already...

Seeing as I can't hold any little bits of fluff or wool for some time....I am just playing with the little bears I do have ..... taking photos at higher resolution, which is why it probably took longer for this page to download today. Also the reason I only put up two of them... don't want to irk you or your patience...just wanted to post a couple pics...

Rest, ice, anti-inflammatories and also some anti inflammatory creams... in hopes of avoiding injections directly into the tendons ...acckkk ... as bad as surgeries.... guess that's it til way after Christmas for most crafting things..... I have discovered that I even vacuum left handed and it is annoying trying to do it with my right.... but, I must... and what else do I have to do anyway... ?.. Guess it is time for a workout ...to burn off the irritation... .

Some day I want to have cards made using my own photos... and will have to have some clearer photos than I usually post...which are mainly just VGA as they are just for posting and sending via email... and good enough for that.... but, for cards or perhaps calendars, I want better....

I would like them on a watercolour type paper.... but, have no clue about printers or people who print things..and the like...so some research will be the next thing. Of course...not for this year...as I am too much of a procrastinator for that....

I decided it is a good time to get the Christmas cards underway too.... that is a righthanded effort.... and the little guys offered to help...so I addressed a few... but, then they got more interested in a little picture of a bear that they found.... and wanted to hear a story...and, well....there went cards I'm afraid.....

How 'bout this one?..look... it has a bear on it... it's the best one...

hey, look...a bear with a thimble for a hat... what do the words say? is it a story?... why is he wearing a thimble anyway? ... what cards? ...oh. aren't we finished with those? .......

one of the statistics.....

The snow is beautiful... but driving on Sunday was hazardous. There were hundreds of accidents in the city, and sadly, Mr. BumbleVee was involved in one of them. As he was driving home from work, the car in front of him spun out of control. It turned a complete 360 and he T-boned it.... didn't have a chance to stop even if they were only crawling along. Everybody just kept sliding slowly forward til his stopped up against the curb. Luckily nobody was injured because everybody was going so slow. The most amazing thing was....the other driver was deaf.... but a lady who witnessed the whole thing parked her car and ran back to see if everybody was okay.....and she knew sign language. What on earth do you suppose would be the odds of that? She was also the only one with a cell phone. Thanks Moira.....

The other car was damaged enough it couldn't be driven away...and ours has a totally cracked and wrecked bumper and front quarter panel. Somebody was pretty ticked because now his perfect driving record has been blemished... I, on the other hand, was ecstatic...because nobody was injured or killed. To top it all off....today and yesterday he has been totally down and out with a horrible 'flu...not the beginnings of a great week.

The snow is still beautiful...but, the day has been steadily warming up..it's a balmy +6C tonight... it might be melting by morning... although later in the week we are gonna get it... yipes!... dropping to -18C.... oooooh.... get out the woollies, toques and fur lined bra.....














This was late Monday ... getting close to evening... pretty dim and I thought the colours were pretty...











By today, the sand and salt was kicking in and the roads were pretty good...some thick icy patches, but also some clear pavement beginning to show through. I went to mail some cards and drove to a nearby ritzy golf club... it's private, but the gates were open and I went in to take a few pics... nobody chased me out....




























Wouldn't this be a pretty hole to play? Little bridge over a creek and in the summer there is a big fountain spraying water high into the air just in front and to the right of it...












here you can just barely see the little bridge in the distance...