What a week!!
Bitter cold temps here in the eastern part of New York State. But no significant snow yet. We did have a pretty dusting last weekend.....but....it didn't last....just the temps of 11-20 degrees depending on the time of day. But thankfully, most of the days this week were sunny!
I'm joining in with the community of Believers who link up at Susanne's blog to share our FIVE FAVES from the past week. Most of them this week center around staying warm and cozy. I never want to take these things for granted.
FIVE FAVES
- COZY(er) NOOK: Last weekend, I was cleaning the kitchen and decided enough was enough. Ever since we built the house in 1994 and added a 2nd child to the family, there have been a pile of shoes/boots/flip flops, etc in the nook by the garage door leading into our kitchen. We have no mud room like some of the larger colonial homes around here. Because I have a sign on the door in the shape of a foot that reads "Please be neat, take your shoes off your feet", this area gets piled up. So, while running errands, I picked up 4 colorful cloth/board bins and assigned everyone a color. In go the boots, shoes, clogs, etc. Each bin can hold 3-4 pairs and the rest must go in the person's closet or in the little utility closet. Now it is cleaner, neater and much cozier. (is that a word???) When the bins get dusty or grimy I can just have each person empty it out by shaking it over the deck railing and maybe wiping down the inside. Why it took me 21 years to figure this out, I don't know. But I am so thankful those bins were on sale!! (the blue plastic bin on the bench has held our mittens, gloves, hats, for many years in the winter months).
- THICK SOCKS: I am so thankful for thick, fleece socks to put on after work. I love wearing them around the house....our floors tend to be cold due to the bamboo, tile and stone. (we only have carpet upstairs in the bedrooms and hallway and on the stairs. As I write, the living room carpet is being torn up as the bamboo is going in tomorrow!!) But thick socks are a blessing and really do work to keep the feet toasty warm.
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| my new flannel pillowcases! |
- FLANNEL SHEETS: Well, winter wouldn't be winter without breaking out the flannel sheets. My oldest daughter no longer uses them for her bed as she has a very thick comforter. My youngest daughter has never liked flannel sheets so she just uses cotton ones with an extra fleece blanket. My husband and I have made it throughout the autumn and most of this winter with just the cotton sheets, a fleece blanket, and our heavier quilt as it has been so mild. But this past Monday night, I took out the flannel ones. Boy did they feel good!! We have our heat set to go down to 62 after 11 pm so the house gets fairly cold at night. I'm very thankful, too, that last weekend I was able to get new flannel pillowcases from LLBean on sale!
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| heading north on the Zim Smith Trail from Round Lake, NY |
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| trail heading south on the Zim Smith from Round Lake |
- COLD HIKE! My next door neighbor, Melissa, and I are good friends and we love to hike together because we have a similar pace. Well, we haven't hiked together in about 2 years so since we had Monday off due to the holiday, we decided to bundle up in our winter hiking gear and do a power walk on a new-to-us bike trail in the town north of us. It's only about 10 minutes north and they had about an inch of snow on the ground there. It was lovely but cold. We started out with the temp saying "20" with a wind chill of 7 (F). But we had the right stuff on so were perfectly warm. The only part of me that was cold was my face. Heading north was brutally windy so after 1.75 miles, we turned around and headed south for 20 minutes. We ended up doing a total of 4.3 miles and it was glorious!! That makes 2 hikes for me so far this month!
- HOT COFFEE: Melissa treated me to a hot coffee from this fave place after the hike. I had a caramel coffee with skim milk. She said it was because I drove. Seriously, she is a sweetie....she really didn't have to treat me but I'm so thankful she did! We enjoyed the time together and I'm thankful I could get this hiking work out in! Hot coffee afterwards is the perfect beverage on a bitter cold day.
Those are just some blessings that made for a warmer and easier week.
What about you?? Do you have a couple of blessings you can share with me? Leave a comment and I'll be share to read it!
HAPPY WEEKEND!!
10 comments:
Bitter cold here in western NY as well and we got snow---so come on over...smiles (and I think you guys over there might get slammed this weekend with snow, wink).
Many things to be thankful and blessed this week. Have a beautiful Friday, friend.
I was really cold here last week but this weekend is supposed to be darn right balmy. Very back and forth weather here in Southern Alberta. I like my bed sheets cool and crisp feeling so don't like flannel sheets though I do like flannel jammies when it's really cold out. My girls though adore the flannel sheets.
I've really missed my "fancy" coffees since I've cut sugar way out. I won't use the phony sweeteners so that means the fancy coffee has become a real once in a blue moon treat and I usually ask for half sweet and even that is starting to taste too sweet. I did get a chance a have a couple of "Caramel brulee" coffee fixes in during the season.
My back door entry is the bane of my existence. It is so tiny that I cannot find anything that would work for shoes back there so it's always a mess.
Stay warm, Faith! I'll be wearing my warmest socks, too. :)
Neat solution to the shoe dilemma! I know what you mean about occasionally getting a good idea for how to do something and wondering why I never thought of it before. I guess we were thinking of other things. :-)
I've never tried flannel sheets - I tend to get hot at night as it is and have been afraid they'd be too warm. But they do sound cozy.
Stay warm. Great post. Hope you have a great weekend. :)
That is a great idea with the different colored bins for shoe collection.
I guess I'm a weenie. I don't like to get out and walk if it makes my nose run or my eyes water! I'll wait for warmer days.
We're expecting snow tomorrow, but not nearly the amount that you're getting. I love your favorites, all about staying warm -- flannel, hot cocoa, thick socks, being cozy;)
Hello - hope you are staying safe, warm and cozy in all that snow! It was only 70 degrees here today - rough - I had to wear a jacket when we went shopping ;-) Seriously, I do miss having a snow in the winter - and I miss cozy snow days - those are the best! Sounds like you have had a good week. Flannel sheets and pillow cases are wonderful on cold nights. Your snow hike looks so much fun. Hope things warm up just a bit for you next week.
Great idea on the shoe bins! I also love wearing thick & fuzzy socks during winter. I enjoy hiking but only in nice, warm weather :).
Thanks for visiting my blog and for your kind words about my son's piano playing! Have a blessed day in the Lord!
You will laugh at this: we use our flannel sheets from October through May and we live in Southern California!! Love those flannel sheets!
I keep telling myself that walking in snow would be fun. If I visit my kids on the east coast during the winter I'll have to try it. That wind though...
Have a great week! Stay warm!
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