More Snow Pics (Lots of 'Em!)

Please humor me as I share more snow pics. I know that many of you are in parts of the country where you're sick of seeing snow, but I live in a part of the country where this much snow is a monumental occasion. I think the last time I saw this much snow here in North Texas was in the 80s when I was in college. That's a loooonnnngggg time ago, folks! Here we go!

My across the street neighbor's pretty snow covered tree.

Our tree, loaded down with snow.

Our house from the other side. You can see the snow on the roof.

The end of our street. The big oak tree was so heavy with snow this morning, you couldn't drive under it.

Our covered area in the back and DH's shed. See the snow piled up on top of the awning?

The neighbor's crepe myrtle tree along our driveway.

The oak tree in our front yard touching our roof! Yikes! I'm really surprised one of these branches didn't snap under the weight of the snow.

A tree on the corner of the overpass on my way to work.

Our house. Notice Trusty Steed in the driveway. I gave him the day off today!

My boss shoveling the snow in front of our store. He actually had a real snow shovel! He's from Baltimore originally and has also lived in Missouri, so he has LOTS of experience shoveling. He said it was just like riding a bike. I bet he'll be thinking something different tomorrow! LOL

Our store from across the parking lot.

Looking at Mimi's from our front door at work. I always love the way Mimi's looks in the snow.

Looking across the service road to I-20 from the front sidewalk of our store. It was soooo pretty!

SNOW!

I woke up to a couple of inches of snow on the ground this morning, strange for North Texas, but not totally unheard of. It continued to snow NON-STOP all day and we have had about 6" so far. They're predicting it to continue all evening, so no telling how many inches we'll end up with. It's going to be in the upper 20s tonight, so all this slush is going to turn to ice and that's going to be a nightmare in the morning. I'm so not looking forward to the mess on my drive to work in the morning.

Here are a few shots from our snowy day.

These are the winter sowing jugs I posted on yesterday's Wordless Wednesday post. That's how much snow we've had!

There was very little wind today so the snow pretty much fell straight down. There's no snow under the eaves of the house, but where there is snow, it's deep!

Our house in the snow. I'm hoping those limbs on that tree don't snap! Notice my truck parked under the tree. That's my Trusty Steed! He got me safely to and from work today. :)

One of the snow covered crepe myrtles in our backyard.

Lastly, the view down our street after I got home from work this evening.

Dry Hand Blues

When the weather turns dry down here, my hands protest. I get hangnails and rough skin and it's just not very attractive! It also makes stitching a bit more difficult as the floss will snag on my rough skin, especially silks. To help combat this problem, I use a homemade skin exfoliator followed by a homemade hand cream. To keep my cuticles nice and soft, I use Sweet Oil after bathing and after exfoliating. Both of these would make nice homemade gifts if you packaged them in fancy little jars. I store my exfoliator in on old glass jelly jar and the hand cream in old lotion jars.

Winter Skin Exfoliator
2 Cups coarse Epsom Salt
1 C olive, grapeseed, or almond oil

Mix together and store in a container with a tight fitting lid. Stir before using because it will separate.

To use, place a heaping teaspoonfull (I use a regular tall glass spoon) onto just dried hands. Rub on back of hands, around fingernails, and on calloused or rough areas. Rinse with a mild hand soap and warm water. Pat hands dry and apply sweet oil to cuticles. Apply a nice, rich, thick lotion.


Homemade Hand Cream

1 (16 ounce) jar Clear Basics Vitamin E Skin Cream
1 (13 ounce) jar Petroleum Jelly
1 (15 ounce) bottle Baby Lotion

Mix by hand or with electric beater on medium until creamy.

*I used a hand mixer. I like it more creamy rather than "fluffy" so don't whip it too long.

I found all the ingredients at my local dollar store. If you can find Delon Vitamin E Skin Cream, use that. I also added a bit of glycerin to the mix. Because it has Vaseline in it, I use it only at night so that my skin can absorb it and so that the greasiness doesn't get all over everything.

If you don't want to make your own hand cream, you can use a lotion with shea butter as a main ingredient or AmlactinXL works great. It stinks, but it really helps with dry skin.

Not sure I'll have a Wordless Wednesday post tomorrow since I have to work, but I'll be here on Thursday for sure with a special Thanksgiving post.

:o)

More Ice Storm Pics (part 2)

Here's a few more pics from our big ice event. (I'm laughing at that!)

Frozen rain gauge. When it melted, we ended up with about 1/2" of the wet stuff.



Icy tree tops over my neighbor's roof in the early morning light.



Frozen droplets on my Savannah Holly Tree.



Frozen water droplet on a leaf.



This is how Callie spent her morning inside with me. I put an old toilet lid cover on the wooden stool by my computer and she's adopted it as her spot when I'm on the computer in the mornings. I love this cat!!