Beauty



Beauty is in the eye of the beholder . . . so behold some quiet beauty.   It would be a pleasant surprise if Mother Nature remained quiet and docile for a change but this year has been a 'doozy' with storms that came out of nowhere and left our nation one huge mess from sea to shining sea.    We are in our second week of relentless rain and wind here in the Northwest, but you already know that as I have been grousing and groaning over weather on a daily basis.    Well you know when there is nothing going on that is of interest, the weather is always a good subject.    My first thought is to pack a bag and leave the area but after this past year I don't think there are many areas to visit that are free of problems, all because of weather.  It just is everywhere and there is no hiding or running away from it.   Our earth is saturated so we have slides of mud covering the roads and some are impassable.    We have also had several earthquakes this week that have made news.  There was a big one in Anchorage Alaska yesterday, hopefully no severe damage but the shaking is going on for weeks  now right off our coast, and luckily we didn't have a tsunami wave come down and add to the already saturated earth here.     There was a program on last night about our weather and all the changes on going telling us there is not much we can do about the weather but be prepared for disasters as there are many coming our way.     Oh, and I did hear the earth is not going to end on the twenty-first of December.  I think they said something about an old wives tale .   see, good news, we are going to have Christmas . . . go on the premise that it is going to be a sunshine day . . . well, it could be if we do not have an unprecedented storm.

Go, check your supplies and make sure you have what you need for storm possibilities.    No electricity is like the end of our world.  Today is hump day, mid week, a day to make yourself useful.    Put on your best face . . . walk, walk, walk to the nearest exit and go on about your business for the day.   Buy a few extra goodies for the Food Bank;   donate a few pennies to the charities;    don't forget a toy for a tot and an extra 'used' coat for a children's box and you will add one more bit of cheer to someones life.  And . . . if you are baking take time to check the ingredients, don't forget anything as it means the difference of quality eating.  I made some date and nut bread yesterday and made sure I followed a recipe.  I am very good about doing it 'jean's way' and I wanted to double the recipe which is always iffy for me . . . I took it one step at a time and measured...the buzz word for success, and beat the batter well spooned into the prepared little pans, heard the oven bell say it had reached the right temperature and put in my four tinfoil pans only to find the beaten eggs in a cup sitting on the counter . . .isn't that what glues the whole thing together?   Well I couldn't pull the cakes out and I had to wait and see... they came out fine and taste pretty good . . . stop by and I'll share one with you.  Hugs to all. 

 Oh, and I got my first Christmas card, thanks Jock it is a beauty.  And, before I forget, I had some computer problems when trying to send out the electronic cards yesterday so redid the whole thing a couple of times . . . you may get two or maybe even three cards this year . . . read them and know I wish you a very Merry Christmas and  a Happy New Year.