Friday Favorites: Goodbye January

 We had a fabulous week and managed to squeeze in a couple of hikes despite some freezing cold temperatures and a few days of snow flurries. 


I planned a short day of schooling on Friday for Evan and Ian since we were meeting friends for a hike just before lunch. Alec worked on his schooling but with the marking period winding down he didn't have much going on.  We had beautiful weather for a hike but I was busy talking and only snapped a few quick photos. It was so great to see our friends after such a long break; I don't think we have seen them since my surgery in September!!




Once we returned home Alec and I worked on schooling until 2 when his day ends.  We cooked dinner and enjoyed a quiet night at home.  

Saturday morning my husband dragged Evan and Ian to work with him while I took Alec to karate. 


We made plans to all meet up at Pub 99 for a late lunch.  Alec and I stopped at home so he could shower and then at the library to pick up books before arriving at the restaurant.  I was so pleased to see real menus, shared ketchup bottles, real salt & pepper shakers, etc. It made eating lunch out feel so normal! 

Sunday morning I got up at 7 to work on making our sourdough bread.  We had used our starter to begin making the dough the night before and after letting it rest for 12 hours I still had no idea if it was ready or not!  It took most of the day to get the bread prepped and finished and we were all less than thrilled with our final product.  We all unanimously agreed that sourdough is not worth the work.  If I'm going to put that much time into bread it has got to  be better than croissants or our favorite no-knead bread. 


I ended my day with a long Ranger ride with my husband through the woods.  I am so thankful that the guy we bought our Ranger from installed a heater in it as it would have been freezing without the heater! 

Monday was a busy day of me running between all three boys and their schooling.  Some days it just seems like they all need my help at the exact same time!  We got lots done though and by early afternoon we were finished with school. I went to get a hair cut and got a call that we finally have Evan's CAT scan appointment scheduled for February! 

Ian headed off to work on Tuesday and Evan and I started in on schooling around 9.  We were all finished up in an hour and then I hung out with Alec listening in with his classes; most teachers were just wrapping up work for the semester and Alec was all caught up so he had another long study hall feeling sort of day. 

After school Evan and I headed out for a walk despite the snow that began falling.  In no time at all it was really coming down and covering the ground. 








Ian headed off early in the morning to go plow then came home in time to start school on Wednesday.  Alec had a half-day and rather than cancel or delay for the snow the school decided to have them all virtual.  He had a pretty light day of schooling and everyone was done by lunch.  

I headed out to meet up with my husband and our lawyer to go over our will and revamp a few things.  Ian headed out to work on his jet ski.  The younger two boys spent an hour out in the snow.  I venture out a bit to take just a few photos but I had the wrong lens on for taking great snow captures. 





I mixed up a new ham and potato chowder recipe while Alec made some fresh bread for dinner. 

Ian was headed to work on Thursday and Alec was heading into school so it was just Evan and I at home.  We flew through his work and then headed out hiking despite the occasional snow flurries.  We hiked for an hour and 20 or so minutes.  It was rough going in a few places because of the snow but the views from the top were well worth it!









After hiking we quickly returned a few Amazon things at Kohl's and then had lunch at Subway before picking Alec up from school.  He had a great day in the building catching up with friends.  


Linking up with: On the Edge, 











Comments

  1. Yay to seeing friends! That is so, so exciting!! I hope Evan’s CAT scans go well! The snow photos are still beautiful even with the wrong lens! Hope you have a wonderful day, Joanne!

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  2. Love seeing what you see on your hikes. Prayers for the CAT scan and Evan. Looks like life is going well for you! Be well!

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  3. The pictures are stunning of the winter scenes! Have a great weekend!

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  4. I love that picture of the snow falling! It feels so peaceful. And is that an ice globe in that second last picture? Did you just find it like that?

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    1. It's actually a crystal photography ball so it's made of a smooth glass.

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  5. Those winter scenes are beautiful!! You’re so talented at photography!! I’ll be praying for Evan’s CAT scan!! Have a great weekend!!

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  6. Although I hate winter with a passion, you always make everything look beautiful! Love seeing the views from your hikes- Happy Friday!

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    1. I am not a big fan of winter either so I try and focus on the beauty of it to keep myself from going nutty.

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  7. Your snow photos are so gorgeous! They make me want snow here, ha! I am not a fan of sour dough bread, either. It seems like life is getting a little more normal for you now, with the restaurant eating and seeing friends. That's awesome. Our life is pretty normal now, too, other than wearing masks.

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    1. I like sour dough as a taste but making it is way to much work!

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  8. I always love your snow pictures! It's snow much fun (hehe) to take pictures in the snow. Prayers the CAT scan goes smoothly.

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  9. Your snow pictures are so incredibly beautiful! We are getting a big snowstorm Sunday and I’m so excited! sending prayers for Evan’s CAT scan, I’m sure everything will be fine! Have a great weekend my love!

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    1. We might get even more snow this weekend... only time will tell.

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  10. Good for you getting out in the cold and snow! Your pictures are beautiful. It was in the single digits here this week so I wimped out on my walks. I'm so relieved to hear someone else say that sourdough isn't worth the effort - I never jumped on that band wagon for just that reason!

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    1. It was in the single digits today and with the wind chill was in the negatives so we definitely stayed in!

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  11. I am in love with your snowy winter pictures.
    Have a great weekend!

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  12. Your nature pictures are all so amazing!! Really beautiful!

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  13. All of those snow pictures are just beautiful. What I wouldn't give for some snow right now!

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    1. Trade?! I'd be happy to.... just so you know I am wearing three layers and a scarf in the house today as our heat can't even seem to keep up!

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  14. Love the photos! I think the school should give a snow day, not a virtual day, lol! I want a lens ball!

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    1. I know so many people feel the same way but my son doesn't like to go outside in the snow anyway and is looking forward to getting out of school early in June.

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  15. Your photos are always so lovely! Hopefully I'll have snow pictures for next week! I've never had a good sourdough making experience either.

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    1. Thank you! I had no idea sourdough was so much work.

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  16. Love seeing the outdoors through your eyes and where you are at. It's crazy to see others with snow and we still don't have any. Hoping the scans go well!!!!!

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    1. We're supposed to get even more by the middle of next week.

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  17. That seems like a very busy and full week. Good for you on meeting up with friends AND for having a meal out! We still don't have table accoutrements where we live. Just the individual servings of things like ketchup, salt, pepper, and paper menus. Bummer about the sourdough bread too!

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    1. Thanks! It's the first time I haven't been handed individual servings of everything in a long time.

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  18. The photos from your hikes are very nice. Glad you had a fabulous week. Thank you, Joanne, for linking up #weekendcoffeeshare.

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  19. You always get the best pictures on your hikes! You have such a great eye. When it’s this cold, I think it needs to be snowing to make it worthwhile. Have a great weekend!

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    1. Aw, thanks! It would actually have to warm up some in order for it to snow!! LOL. I'd rather it be snowing than just freezing cold too.

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  20. Your photos are so good! I can tell that you have been focusing on your photography lately.

    Don't give up on sourdough yet! It absolutely is worth the time. I actually think it is LESS work than regular bread. It just takes a little longer to rise. Do you have a Dutch oven or cloche to bake it in? I would be happy to share my very easy recipe with you if you want me to!

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    1. I did bake it in a Dutch oven. I think my real problem lies in taking care of the sourdough starter itself.. it looked really great one day mid-way through and then it just didn't look quite as good the rest of the time.

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  21. What a wonderful coffee time together! Thank you!

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  22. As we swelter here, your snow shots are a pleasant distraction to look at. Thank you for that. Hope all goes well with everything. Visiting from Natalie's Weekend coffee share.

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    1. You're welcome! I'll have even more to share next week with lots of snow in our forecast the next few days!

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  23. Thanks so much for sharing your stunning snow photos. Snow is such a novelty for most Australians, and it's just beautiful. Not real hot a lot for us this Summer. We''ve been having a lot of rain.
    Hope you have a great week ahead.
    Best wishes,
    Rowena

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  24. Ooh, the snowy pictures are so beautiful, Joanne! And I love seeing Alec practicing karate in a dojo! Sadly, we made the decision to pull our boys out of karate because they are still not in a gym atmosphere and doing all practices via zoom from my living room. After 10 months of paying $250 per month for our kids to run around our living room with no new concepts introduced, we decided to call it quits for a while. Hopefully, we can get them back into it and interested again once they go back to a dojo. Thanks for sharing all this goodness with us!

    Shelbee
    www.shelbeeontheedge.com

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    1. Yeah we took most of last year off (from March until August)... We did zero online classes (though they were offered). We picked back up when they began meeting in the local park for outside lessons. Then switched Dojangs in October when Alec's favorite teacher decided to open her own. We paid a reduced rate for outside classes until the official opening of the new Dojang in Nov. Then when classes were shut down for Dec. we didn't have to pay... It's been a very odd karate year and he's busy trying to relearn much of what he's forgotten.

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  25. What a busy week! I would kill for some cold weather, it's been boiling here! The grass always looks greener, doesn't it? I love your snow pictures!

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  26. It is so good seeing and reading your recovery from surgery in your updates on the blog. As for the sourdough, at least you tried! Great wrap up and here's hoping for an unremarkable and enjoyable February. All the grandkids in our family (and a teacher too) are back at school for 2021 and one (my last grandchild) starts tomorrow.

    Thank you for joining us this week for #lifethisweek. Next time, the optional prompt is 6/51 Decision. 8 Feb. and I hope to see your next blog post there too. Cheers, Denyse.

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    1. That is wonderful that all the grandkids are back in school! I am hopeful we'll see that sort of trend in our state soon... I know of at least one local school that has had all the kids in the building every day (with a few short distance learning weeks after the holidays) and even though they haven't had any real issues none of the other schools are following suit. And yet part of me will be so sad when that does occur as I've really rather enjoyed having Alec home and hearing all what he's learning and doing.

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  27. Thank you for sharing some amazing photos! I was in awe of so many of them!

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