My favorite salad, I finally found some acceptable tasting spinach. It doesn't taste quite as good as my garden grown but it will have to do for the winter time!

We went for another long walk today. The temperature was higher but it was very very foggy. We took a slightly different route today and had to climb out up the back side of the dam. It was full of brambles and the dogs kept getting tangled up but didn't seem to be hurt by them. At the top, I was able to get over the fence but the dogs had to walk with me on the other side until I could find a place for them to go under. This upset Chase a little but we finally found a place where he could crawl under.

Whenever we go to the lake, Charlie knows he will probably get to run. Today was misty, foggy, and chilly but we set off anyway. I let him off the leash and he ran about 3 circles around me in his purely full of joy way and off he went! Here he is happily bouncing through the tall prairie grass up by Rattlesnake Hill.

We are taking Mother home today. We are hoping that gas doesn't go up any further but afraid that it most certainly will according to the news reports.

Today was Julie's celebration day. We had a potluck for lunch, gave her a farewell gift of an iPOD, and had happy hour after work. Here's who showed up at Legends for some fun and conversation: Randy, Lisa Tena, LeAnn, Julie, Linda, Christy, Mindy, Lisa, me, and Joleen left before this photo!

I finally got to see Tena's new Uggs. She ordered them on a website before Christmas that was 1/2 off the usual price. She was very worried that she would never get them. She thought it could be a scam or something like that. She finally did get an email from the company (in China) and a tracking number. We tried to track the package but it didn't show up for quite sometime. I had a good time teasing her about how long it would take to get them because they were being sent over on a boat. They probably were and about 6 weeks later, she finally got the package!

I was curious about the ocean jasper that we saw at the bead show last weekend so I looked it up. Here is what I read:
This same material has been marketed with various names by others including Sea Jasper, Ocean Jasper, and Orbicular Jasper. It is all found in the same remote region in the north west part of the island. Madagascar owns and operates the largest producing areas of this material in Madagascar near the town of Ambolobozo. The material is famous for its unpredictable color swirls and color patterns; particularly the many small spheres or "orbs" in its matrix, which appear as circles or eyes on cut sections. It is this dance of coloration, occasional druzy cavities, and a mixture of opaque and semi-translucent gemmy layers that attract the collectors to this popular chaledony gemstone. Adding further to the romance and mysticism of the Sea Jasper is the means by which the material is transported from the deposit. First the jasper is carried by ox driven carts (or "charrettes") to small boats. The boats sail to the nearest city, Analava. From here, the Sea Jasper is trucked to the factory or straight to the port for exporting full 20 ton containers.

Rich went into town tonight to get us Chinese food for dinner. They only gave us one fortune cookie for the 3 dinners. I was complaining because Rich ate it before we realized there was only one. So, he brought me this to hopefully take it's place!

Believe it or not - today, we went to a bead show at Living History Farms. Lots and lots of pretties but we didn't buy a single thing!

Today, we decided to go over to Middle River near Spring Hill and check out the progress on the new bridge. The road has been closed since September and we haven’t been over there since. We just drive around on the detour to get where we need to go. When the wind is from the northwest, we have been hearing the construction noise and they seem to be moving right along considering it is winter time! The area looks so different now. They took out a lot of trees to do this construction.

The weather was still nice today but not quite as warm as yesterday. Rich decided that he should do a little spring cleaning. He headed out and had 2 fires going. Mother followed with her camera. This is quite a change from a year ago, the snow didn't melt until about one month from now.

WOW, the temperature today was 68 degrees! That only tied the record set in 1981. They had flood warnings out due to an ice jam where the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers meet. After work, I hurried home to get Mother and brought her back to witness the breakup. By the time we got back, the jam had freed itself and the rivers were flowing again. There were huge ice chunks left on the banks after the water went back down. I had Mother sit on this one so we could document it's size. As the sun went down, the water and ice mix was fascinating to watch - spinning, sparkling, bobbing and bumping it's way down river.

Mother has been looking all over for a pair of scissors like one of these since she got here. No one seems to have anything like this anymore. I'm not even sure where I got them. I told her to just take them home with her. I can do without them!

Here's my new piece of garden art. I got it at the home and garden show last weekend. The sun was out today so I thought it would be a good day to get a picture of it. The shadows remind me of the old game of "jacks".

For Valentine's Day, I got Mother a card and little Cyclamen plant.

Today, we went to the Home & Garden Show and then headed over to Red Rock Reservoir to go wildlife watching. The temperature was in the 50's so there were lots of people out and about.

Today, the temperature was around 40 degrees, a real heat wave! I set up my tripod with my new lens and did some experimenting. I've got a lot to learn but I still love this photo of this little chickadee.

I took the day off today. I got the boys' vet records together and set off to the dog park office to get their memberships renewed. We took last year off and they were so excited they could hardly stand the drive over. The price for us "out of towners" went up $10 for a total of $40 for each "boy". Oh well, they love it!

This frame belonged to my great-great grandmother. It used to hold a photo of her and her husband. It now holds these cross stitch foxes by my mother.

I was looking for our Superbowl party prizes and found them upstairs being photographed! Becky always has prizes at her parties. Mother got the Little Debbie "Be My Valentine" cakes for having traveled the furthest distance. Everyone else got the football shaped Oreos.

I am going to call this an Iowa refrigerator. You know, kinda like a "Redneck cooler"?

Charlie has always been content to stay outside in the snow when it is not too cold (below zero). He just curls his paws underneath and watches as the world goes about its business.

Superbowl XLV was today in Dallas. A rare snowstorm put a damper on some of the festivities there. The Greenbay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25. It was a great game, one that had you on the edge of your seat the whole while. We went to Becky & Denny's for the evening. Becky always has a huge spread of food. We took some sausage cheese dip and nacho chips.

Rich didn't want to but we celebrated his birthday tonight since Mother and I were in Indianapolis last weekend during his real birthday. He didn't want to celebrate and especially didn't like the numbered candles on his cake!

He looks much happier after he changed the numbers around, doesn't he?

Rich took advantage of the not quite as cold temperature to cut up some of the larger logs so they will fit better into the fireplace.

Sierra's diploma arrived in the mail today!

So far-so good with the snow this year. I was convinced that if we bought a snowblower, it would not snow anywhere near as much as last year! Today, Rich worked on the 7 inch snow that we got. A big snowstorm was forecast but did not arrive.

Mother and I have had our last three photo books ready and uploaded. We were waiting for a sale. The sale email finally came and our books arrived today! One was my last 4 months of 2010 and the other two were Mother's last 8 months of 2010.