It's Been A Long Time Coming....

I will not even try to challenge who has had the worst winter (Boston, you win), however, here on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee, we get ice storms.  This last one was a doozy (I love that word).  Four days without power, winds that equaled an F1 tornado, and so many beautiful trees down or damaged.
So, what does this have to do with art and interiors, you ask...I am referring to the art of survival.  

  Thank goodness for our wood-burning stove in the lower level (which is also my office/studio/tv room/ and our cat, Winky's very own apartment).  She wasn't thrilled when our dog, Missy, my husband, my 93 year-old mother-in-law, and I moved in for the duration.  Oh, and thank goodness for my red, rubber boots (from Nordstrom's Rack Room).  They turned out to be a literal life saver.

Our dog, "Lil Missy", aka "Mistletoes" did not like the crashing limbs, the howling winds, and the trees falling over.   I didn't like sleeping on the sofa cushions on the floor.  But, we were relatively comfortable.  At least, at first.  I literally was crawling on my hands and knees, (my husband had a very bad sprained ankle, due to being pulled down on the icy driveway by Mistletoes) so, in order to bring in enough wood (there was a wood pile, covered with ice about thirty feet from the house.)  Our new neighbors were watching and just when they were going to try to come help me. (you have to understand I had a red tote, held onto it with a bungie cord, along with my red boots, my black jacket, black velvet (yes, velvet) pants, and my black hat with the conch shells on it, and red gloves....) when they saw my husband, hanging onto a post, and reaching out with his cane, which I grabbed, and he pulled me to the house. My neighbor said (later, after we had met them) ' You were a ice storm fashionista!"

 And this is the way we spent the next four days...I will spare you the part about the fire department having to saw trees that were blocking us in, and then, rescuing my mother-in-law, and carrying her down the hill to our house (we live on a lake, and it's a steep incline to our door). There are only four or five houses on our cul-de-sac, and two were empty...but, we did have an emergency regarding our neighbors, who are in their 80's and literally freezing and starving...but, we all pitched in and they were well taken care of.
The first night, I prepared chicken breasts in white wine (cooked on the top of the wood-burning stove, but by the fourth day, we were eating Progresso soup and glad to have it.
Other than survival mode, I did get an opportunity to hand-paint (with special oil paints) one of my black-and-white photos from years ago...

I am exhausted just reliving all that...which was just the first part of March...
Now, the forsythia is blooming, and the daffy dill are, as well.
All's well that ends well...Hello Spring!