Monday, January 10, 2011

the snowstorm that wasn't

For days, the weather forecasters in our area have been calling for a snowstorm to hit our area today. In anticipation, school were cancelled in most of our surrounding counties before the first flakes ever hit the air (which is a typical reaction in the south especially counties with lots of rural schools). We had a relaxing morning with Custardy Popovers from The Moosewood Cookbook and a glowing fire in the fireplace...and we waited.

At about the time school should be getting out for the day, the table on our back porch had barely a dusting. Several of the counties around us had a few inches already so it seems the storm itself was a little unpredictable.


Elizabeth and Paulie didn't mind. They spent a while examining the flakes, a la Snowflake Bentley, then they laid in the backyard waiting for the snow to blanket them. When that didn't seem to be happening very quickly, they just opened their mouths and had a snack.


We did spend some time tackling a few winter projects that I've looked forward to trying. A couple of them needed to sit overnight so I'll have to share tomorrow, but we did manage to string some dried orange slices that were finished today.


The orange slices took about 4 hours in a 200° oven to dry and only about half of them were completely dried at that point. I decided to let the rest completely dry after they were hung. Paulie and Elizabeth strung the dried slices on doubled sparkly thread.


They were so beautiful hanging in the window with the last of the afternoon light beaming through the translucent sections.


And I enjoyed them hanging in the view of the kids running around in the falling snow this afternoon. You can barely see the kids in the yard between the orange slices and the window coloring.


I didn't even notice until after the oranges were hung that they made a winking smiley with the stars in the window.


A winking smiley in the window might just make up for the lack of snow outside. ;)


8 comments:

  1. Love your oranges. I have always wanted to do that but running the propane down for 2-3-4 hours would be a bad thing, esp in mid-winter. We're due for the snow tomorrow. I hope it's just a dusting too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, no snow can be a bit frustrating after so much expectation... but I just love the picture of the two lying down out there waiting for it to come down! Winking smiley is cute!
    Luciana

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love that smiley face! We got snow in GA - 6 inches!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, I love the wrinkly smiley face. And I think the pictures of the children laying in the yard waiting for the snow to blanket them is absolutely precious! We've been waiting for the snow here too and were excited to finally see it this evening. Here's hoping there's enough for Frosty to make an appearance in the morning... :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. those custardy popovers have been taunting me--i must give them a try. & those oranges really are beautiful! Like nature's stained glass...

    ReplyDelete
  6. That's a cute little face in your window! I've never tried stringing dried oranges before. I might have to copy you. They look so pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love the photo of the snowflakes scattered on the deck. I have never seen them like that before.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beautiful! That would make me smile every morning! Kerri

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear what you think!