Yes, I'm very thankful that Friday is here! Weatherwise it's been a rough week, but there have been some bright spots too.
I'm daydreaming about a trip to my favorite nursery to buy this fuchsia
My good blogging buddy in Western Australia, Stuart, of Gardening Tips 'n Ideas, is off gallivanting in Tasmania for a few days (he says he'll be working....uh huh) and has asked Val of Val Has Her Say, Colleen of In the Garden Online, and myself to write a guest post to help fill the time he's away. I wrote about fuchsias and my post was featured on Thursday, March 8th. Pop over and have a look if you'd like.
Stuart shares a mine of information about all sorts of garden-related topics. He works hard to bring garden bloggers across the world together, and has recently introduced several new features, including a wonderful sitemap that features garden bloggers the world over. You may want to add your own blog to it. You'll find a link to the map in the top right corner of my blog.
Nasty weather
The beginning of the week brought us more wretched weather. In spite of a winter storm warning on Monday, our school was open. Like most schools in our area we had already used one more than our allotted snow days, making administrators reluctant to add yet another. This unfortunately turned out to be a huge mistake. The morning commute was fine, but as the day wore on the wind picked up and the snow squalls began. By dismissal time conditions had deteriorated badly, with 30mph winds and blowing snow creating dangerous whiteout conditions. Where snowbanks are high and the wind blows the snow across the road, visability can be zero. On my trip home I unfortunately drove into one of these spots and had an experience I never want to repeat!
We still have plenty of snow!
The only thing I could see in the mass of swirling white snow engulfing my car was a large vehicle a short distance ahead of me, which seemed to not be moving (it was hard to tell). At this point I became disoriented and drove into a snowbank. It's impossible not to feel terror as one sits there wondering if at any moment another vehicle is going to rear end your car. By backing up just a little and turning my wheels all the way to the left, I luckily was able to drive out of the snowbank (thank The Lord). Pulling up behind the large van I could see that it was a UPS truck, and it was stuck! Now what? There was no way I could drive around it, so I just sat there wondering what to do, and feeling scared to death, all the while waiting to be rear ended.
Finally the UPS guy walked back to me and offered to help guide me around him. He said it wasn't so bad once you got by the houses in that section of the road. I was afraid for him to be standing in the road and thought him a brave and gallant soul. Miraculously, there were no cars behind me, and none coming the other way, so off I went into the swirling snow, feeling my way like a blind person. A little way along I passed a line of 4 cars coming toward me. Thankfully, we were able to pass each other without mishap, and shortly afterward I reached my turn-off and was able to drive out of the bad spot. The rest of the trip home was comparatively easy. You can well imagine how glad I was to get home to my husband and a nice hot cup of coffee!
I told hubby that I was going to stay put until winter was over...or at least until the wind and snow stopped blowing! It didn't stop until Tuesday afternoon, and thankfully school was closed once again.
Poor Apple, who lives not too far away from us, had an experience even worse than mine on Monday when she was involved in an accident during a whiteout. You can read about it here. Thankfully, no one was hurt. Tonight the forecast promised warmer temperatures for the next several days and that's definitely a blessing to look forward to.
I've got mail! 
Last week a lovely surprise arrived in the mail....Lee-ann sent me an absolutely wonderful magazine from Australia, with a lovely note. While vacationing at the seaside on the breathtakingly beautiful south coast of Australia, she had an idea. As she sat on the beach with her hubby, soaking up the warm Aussie sunshine, she thought of her blog friends here in the freezing temps, surrounded by snow, and decided to share a bit of that sunshine with us. So she sent this magazine, filled with pictures of bright flowers, to a few of her blog friends here in the frozen northern US.
Thank you dear Lee-ann, for your sweet thoughtfulness and friendship. I'm constantly amazed at the warmth, care and concern that flows between blog friends.
Anita's heart
And while I'm thanking blog friends I must show you a couple of other sweet things that have come in the mail recently. Many or you have seen the gorgeous hearts that have been passed between blog friends lately during the Nostalgic Hearts Swap. Just before Valentine's Day a package arrived from Anita in Germany. In it I found not only the white marigold seeds she had most generously shared, but also this perfectly adorable pink embroidered tapestry heart. She's so talented and puts such fine detail into her creations.
See how well the card matches the Heart? Isn't that the prettiest?
Thank you so much dear Anita! You are such a sweet and thoughtful friend.
Wonderful Gifts from Marion and Anita
Another dear friend I'd like to thank while I'm at it is Marion, who lives in beautifully picturesque surroundings in Wales. At Christmas time she sent a package of Four O'Clock seeds, this very sweet little fabric covered green gingham heart (pictured above), and a lovely homemade Christmas card. Thank you so much dear Marion for that sweet, thoughtful surprise.
One last thing: A couple of blogger buddies had a happy meeting in Melbourne yesterday and there's a photo on Val's blog showing them in a cute schoolgirl pose :) There you'll find Frances ("Alice") of "A Growing Delight" and Val, happily disturbing the peace at the State Library of Victoria. I wish I could've been there with them!
I hope you all enjoy your weekend
