Friday, February 11, 2022

February is for Cold and Ice

 Good Morning!  The sun is shining.  No accumulation of snow or ice is in the forecast.  Right there in those three sentences are three things for which I am thankful. And I haven't even begun my Friday Fave Fives list.  The world is so full of blessings that everywhere I turn my mind or eye, there is something to appreciate if I choose to notice them.  If you are a repeat reader at Willow's Cottage, you will know about Friday Fave Fives.  You can read and rejoice with me and others when we post and link to Susanne's blog.

1.  Last Friday after I wrote my FFF, Younger Daughter had a disguised blessing.  The ice and snow were making driving difficult and dangerous, but she had some important things to do at work.  But as she pulled out of her driveway, her car got stuck.  Really truly stuck.  So she had to consort to Plan B and work from home (managing a major online conference!).  The blessings here are that she didn't have to navigate the horrible highway situation; she didn't have issues with internet during the meetings; her neighbors saw her car in the street and managed to get it back in to her driveway for her.  I am thankful she was safe!

2.  The Professor knows I enjoy photographing birds, but birds do not cooperate for me to photograph.  BUT.  One morning, he tiptoed into the kitchen and told me to grab my camera.  This time the hawk did not immediately fly away so I was able to catch a couple of pictures.


3.  The New Boy had a birthday!  Can you believe he is now FOURTEEN?  We celebrated with birthday dinner at Olive Garden.  And of course, since he is fourteen, there are no photos of him.

4.  Being stuck at home with snow and ice everywhere was a blessing in that I was able to organize my notebooks on my garden plans and herbs information.  It took me the better part of two days, but now it is done. For Now.

5.  The ice and snow are mostly melted.  That is a huge blessing because our street is dead end and usually doesn't get plowed.

That wraps up Willow's Week of blessings!  

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

My oldest grandson also turned fourteen. In January. It is truly something to be thankful for. Being in the UP, Michigan, they get snow almost every day. The good part of that is that he is building some impressive muscles since he has to shovel every day to keep it under control. Along with his dad, of course. I love that Iowa has a lot of sunshine along with the cold.
Your hawk photo is really impressive. What do you think he was after? Mary

Deb J. in Utah said...

Hi Willow. So glad your daughter was able to work from home and got some help getting her car unstuck. Also glad you don't have any new snow in the forecast for a while. I love the Hawk photo, especially the one of him flying away. Good photography! Happy birthday to your grandson. Hope you have a great weekend. See you again soon!

Terra said...

That turned out to be good that your daughter worked from home in those difficult snow conditions. I love hawks, nice photo.

Wendy said...

Working from home is so much easier these days although online communications can be a bit hit and miss so glad it worked out for your daughter. Sounds like a good week and hope the snow stays away so you can enjoy the weekend.

Monica said...

Wow! Your daughter is a brave soul. I was too afraid to venter out onto the highway to get to work last week. Working from home is not an option for me, wish it were.
I love planning the garden. I will be starting seeds next week so I have my soil in the containers warming up.
I noticed Wednesday that the Robins are back in Missouri. That is a sure sign around here that Spring is not far off.

Susanne said...

Your sentence about no birthday picture because he's fourteen made me laugh out loud. Teens are so funny. Wow, you guys really had a dump of snow! Glad your daughter was able to work from home and stay safe and how wonderful of the neighbors to help get her car back up in the driveway. Way to go getting a picture of your visiting hawk. I don't have much luck with photographing birds either.

ellen b. said...

Awesome hawk captures! Congratulations. Maybe the tides are turning. Good to read your thankfuls! It will still be a while until our ice and snow are melted. Happy Birthday to that new boy!!

Faith said...

hahah Loved that your grandson wouldn't allow a pic. CLaire was the same way last night. She took one of dave and I and then said NO way are you taking mine just to post on social media :)

LOVE the hawk pics!! Great shot of the one as he lifted off!

YAY for no more snow, ice or cold. Is downright balmy here today with SUN and blue skies!! guess who's going for a good walk in the state park??

Praise God your daughter could work from home and no glitches with the internet! and what a blessing to have good neighbors!! I can relate...my car was literally stuck in the driveway for 2 days!!

Barbara Harper said...

I am even later visiting for FFF! :-D I always prefer sunshine during the day to overcast skies, but especially in winter. So glad the snow and ice is melting. And that your daughter was able to coordinate the conference from home -- and that she got stuck at home and not out somewhere.

Wow, so hard to believe New Boy is 14. Funny about his not allowing a picture.

My thought with the first hawk picture was that maybe he was stuck in ice. I'm glad the second picture showed he wasn't. Nice of him to pose for you. :-)

nikkipolani said...

Plants and their notes. Sigh. I know just what you mean with that "for now" remark. I used to keep plant notes but by the next time I wanted to make notes, I'd've lost that notebook and start a new one.

Glad you are all safe and cozy in the midst of snowy and icy February. We had a teeny pinch of your cold (hail for us) this week. But we'll be back to our regularly scheduled 70s soon.

Karen said...

About the hawk, I am no expert!, but my guess is that it's a red tail. The Cooper's hawks have long tails that are rounded at the end, and wide bands of color on the tales. Red tails can be so varied, but the second photo makes me think it would be a RT because of the colors on the underside of the wings and the speckled breast. Great photos, by the way!!