The morning snow on the ground gave way to brown grass by dinner time (at 1:30.) But the air is still chilly so I prepared to cook some soup while I was home.

But first I gave the dogs a little extra food, put some more bird seed out for my cardinal and other bird friends then zipped some tea into the microwave. How do I cook tea in the microwave? Well, to two cups of water I add four small lipton tea bags. I cook this for six minutes (I have a 900 watt microwave.) When it finishes cooking I let it set for a couple or three minutes in the little oven then pour it into the pitcher and add two more cups of water. PERFECT tea. Hot or cold. 

Back to cooking soup. I am going to cheat with this batch because CardinalSon has drama practice.

I put a bit of oil in the bottom of my soup pan and thin sliced about a cup of cabbage, washed and diced three medium potatoes and cut up a medium sized onion. I generously sprinkled some chicken seasoning on these veggies while the oil was on them so it would stick. I let this cook in the pan while I stirred it often, sipping on my tea and watching my birds eat.  I briefly turned the eye on high and let the pan of veggies get even hotter and then poured just enough water in the bottom so it will steam, then put the lid on the pan and turned the eye off. These will continue to cook even when I leave home.

This afternoon CardinalSon will add one can tomato paste, one can tomates that already has organeo, garlic and onion in it, a beef bullion cube, a can of mixed vegetables, and two cans of vegetable beef stew. This makes a canned soup taste more homemade. A hot pan of cornbread sticks will help to make this soup even more hearty on a cold snowy night.

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Well, we managed to dodge the snowballs again. I'm not happy over it either. North Mississippi got it Monday, South Mississippi got it Thursday, maybe our turn is coming. Hopefully Sunday will bring a better chance of the fluffy white stuff. Oh well ... there is always spring break.

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One of my fondest memories of home is the old tire swing on the hickory tree. The fat white buds on the tree spelled the end of winter and the beginning of spring.As the spring came on the hickory tree was the first tree on the hill to get new green leaves. The large tree wore a giant green wig until fall when it turned the whole hillside into a golden glow then crinkled up to a pleaeant brown, creating great drifts of leaves for us kids and the dogs. This drawing is my memory of the tree in early spring.

Ice here means many fire places will be burning

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What do you need with an ice storm on the way?

A warm kitty cat,

A nice red sled,

a pile of wood,

And don't forget

the milk and bread!

moon rise

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The moon rising in the sun set was pretty this brisk winter day. Of course it also helped that old glory was flapping in the breeze too. This was taken by the Pontotoc Public Safety Center on Liberty Street.

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Soon you will be able to click on individual staff blogs and the mayor's blog to comment. Please bear with us while we are under re-construction. I think you will enjoy it much better. :)