Day 74/365 Nessie in the Snow

Finally we get snow in Virginia, the first amounting to anything at all in the last 3-4 years. Like many other places, it started yesterday and continued all night (went out on the front porch last night and it was almost a whiteout -very mystical with the wind howling). This morning we woke up to 8-10" this morning.

Actually, we woke up to a guy out front yelling at his truck for getting stuck in the snow. He totally discounted the possibility that he wasn't paying attention and drove into the huge snow drift himself.


Just before we started shoveling and throwing IceMelt everywhere, I took these photos of Nessie. The top one is early last night, when Nessie was slithering and circling around the wintertime Swing Garden.

I brushed her nose off a little. She appreciated that.

But this morning, her snow hat is back again, along with a pillow-y effect on her main hump.Everything else is disguised as well, even the yuccas.

A couple hours later, the driveway is cleared so DH can get back up it this evening when he gets home (he goes to work, no matter what). Plus being the homeschoolers we are, we used the icy, snowy driveway as an opportunity for DD to experience driving on snow and sliding into a snow bank.

Weather forecast: 70 on Saturday.

Day 55/365 All I Want For Christmas Is the Loch Ness Monster

We always have a traditional Christmas at our house, you know, the kind with a concrete Loch Ness Monster circling your tree. This Nessie was my Christmas present from my daughter and husband, destined for either my Swing Garden or the new wetlands pond in the backyard.

It seems they have been hiding it all over for the last couple months or so - first in the brush pile (which, after 5 years, I decided to clean up this fall -meaning they had to quickly smuggle it off to another hiding spot), then upstairs, disguised under blankets.

This sunny Christmas morning Nessie finally got to come out and swim around the Christmas tree. Eventually in the spring she will have a new pond just for her.

She's got a beautiful face, complete with little ears, and detailed scaling, just like the real Nessie in Loch Ness, Scotland. Yes, I do believe, I do believe......

Even though Seri played Catzilla earlier this week, she backed down when faced with a real monster.

After a few contemplative moments, she decided it was best to make friends, possibly form an alliance, and then snuggle next to Nessie.

From our Celtic home to you and yours - we hope all your Christmas' were bright!