Missing Snow

Will Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow today or not? Click on his name to find out. I am more concerned about General Beauregard Lee from Stone Mountain Georgia as he is our official weather prognosticator..

I snapped a picture of this groundhog above outside our hotel while visiting Gatlinburg . As you can see there were shadows that day. I am hoping for spring weather soon so please let it be a cloudy day today.

Now let's move on to todays topic of Missing Snow...
Down here in the Deep South of Georgia, we don't really see much snow. In the 9 years I have lived here, I have seen one snow fall and one ice storm. As a child growing up in Tennessee, we had some really nice snowfalls. Some would be so deep that we would be out of school for days at a time. We would sled and build snowmen until our pants froze to our little rubber boots! Ah, those were some fun winters and I miss my Tennessee Snow falls!

Each winter I set up a snowy display on our Georgia front porch. I cannot take full credit for this design as I borrowed the idea from my Mother in Law. She is so creative and so nice to allow me to copy her ideas! Thanks Mom B...

I have two small trees to the left of the front door with a wooden snowman. To the right of the door, you will find 3 additional small trees. I place artificial snow (fiber fill for pillow making) under the trees. I also tuck a bit here and there amongst the tree branches which are filled with birds. This gives the effect of a nice little snow fall. We enter and exit the house through the front door using it daily. I enjoy seeing my snowy filled evergreen trees filled with birds throughout the entire winter months. The past 2 winters I have had a little problem keeping the snow under the trees. No, it is not melting. It is not real snow! The wind? The wind does blow onto the porch and I must keep clay bricks on the base of each tree to hold them in place. But the snow sticks together pretty well under the trees and rarely blows around. This is last years trees to show you how ugly things were under the trees with the missing snow exposing the bricks.

The same thing is happening with this years snow. At least I was smart enough to put a white sheet under the trees to hide the bricks this year. See the one small piece of fluffy white snow remaining behind the snowman? What could be happening to my beautiful white fluffy snow?

Ah, ha, caught you in the act again this year, you little snow thieving rascal you! Bad squirrel... Shoooo, go away you stinker! Stomp, Swish, stomping feet and shaking fist at squirrel... As you can see the squirrels are really scared of my foot stomping and fist shaking. Ha, This one stopped to pose for me in 2007. This picture was posted I believe around Christmas time and so fitting since he looks like Santa with a white beard. Maybe he was trying to fool me into thinking he was Santa leaving me a gift. A squirrel fluffs up its nest every morning and builds more than one within their territory. Over time, the fluff will fall out of the nest with constant construction. I find little pieces of it in the woods all year long. If you look carefully, you can see the little stinker climbing up one of the trees with a mouth full. He or she, will fluff up their home and make it soft and warm for a cold winters night. (This may be a repeat picture from last year's posting as well) These little pest drive me nuts but they are so darn cute doing such funny things. They do keep me laughing.. I saw a squirrel up on the porch looking for the fluff long before I had the display set up. I put this fresh snow in place 2 days ago and as you have guessed, some is already missing today as I post this! I reckon those little critters need to be warm so I will continue to refresh the snow as it disappears. Soon, the snow display will be replaced with Easter Bunnies.

Gee, I am sure MISSING SNOW, In the Garden....