Cough, cough....hack...hack!

The inmates of Casa Manana have contracted the flu/virus/misery/you name it! I came down with it first and now himself has entered the realm of the "wish I were dead," very sick people. The worst part is the racking cough that prefers night time to make one miserable. The good thing is that one will definitely lose the Christmas cookie weight 'cause who wants food? Today the newspapers warned against pneumonia from it as that is what it eventually gets to be. Oh, the joys of winter.

This collection of icicles is from a couple of days ago....in the last two days we've gotten about 6 more inches of snow. Lovely to look at and very wet! Spring should be glorious this year if this moisture keeps up. I'm tempted to go out and spread wildflower seeds in the snow even if it is a little early. There is no guarantee that we'll get more snow like this again. Some of the tulip bulbs have poked their leaves up due to being too near the surface and the warm weather we were having a couple weeks ago.

What I do when I'm sad...

My dear wonderful friend Kim died last week of meningitis...she was just 60 years old and one of the most talented people I've known. It is very, very depressing to lose someone who had so much going for them.

She could write wonderful stories, take the most incredible photographs, nothing was beyond her!
The New Yorker magazine turned down a fantastic story she wrote about her trip to Paris on behalf of the fishermen and women of the USA.  Their loss. I doubt they ever read it or they would have published it. I treasure my copy of the article.

I tried but I couldn't stop thinking about all she won't be doing for all of the people who depended on her and whom she loved and helped. Instead of becoming totally depressed I turned to the one thing that cheers me up. AND THAT IS BREAD MAKING. So today I made baguettes and a huge banneton of rye and wheat bread. The rye is resting in the refrigerator until tomorrow. The baguettes are here:

Miss Kim, these are for you!

Have a happy, healthy and peaceful 2015

This wonderful cloud formation occurred one day recently at sundown. The double rolls of clouds stayed for almost an hour before breaking up when the winds came up.  It was one of the first times I'd ever seen this configuration from the North. They usually are seen around here in the South and East. One of those things that happen and if you are lucky one can sit and enjoy them. I did.

We never got around to cleaning up the perennials in the gardens this Fall as life was too complicated. And, I am so glad that we didn't. I will never cut them down in the autumn again as we have been rewarded with the most bird activity that I've ever seen here. The variety of birds is amazing. We provide water for them all year around and now they have discovered the seeds and critters that abound in a messy Eden.
We also built storm shelters for them over the summer. The rabbits like those too.
It all makes for some interesting viewing.