Butterflies in a Snowstorm

It was Super Bowl Sunday, and the snowstorm had begun before we even woke up. We were expecting one to three inches, but then they upped it to two to four. Where I live, we probably ended up in the ballpark of six to eight inches of fresh white stuff, so when it comes to snow, you could say this: we were well blessed.

I love to take pictures outside while it is actively snowing, and the best way to do that is to go out with an umbrella. So I put on my big snow boots and my coat and grabbed my favorite butterfly umbrella, and out I went: off, into the snow!

Above is a picture of the road that runs in front of our house. To the right outside of scene is our house. To the left outside of scene is our mailbox, which is still standing, but I don't give it good odds to stay that way (it's apparently like waving a red flag in front of a bull to the snowplow guy).

Along the road to the right you may also see some of the trees that I planted when I first moved in, back in 2004. I think this picture was taken right around the mid-point of the storm, so you can see a few inches on the ground; there was quite a bit more to come.

I usually try to avoid including my umbrella in my snow and rain shots, but please know it is always there, keeping myself and my camera safe and dry. My usual approach: one hand for the camera, the other for the umbrella. But in this case, it seemed so cheery to see my butterflies out and about in the snowstorm.

So here is this shot which includes the umbrella for once, just for fun. If you are one who hates "bad" weather, here's a tip: buy the prettiest umbrella you can afford. It will make you smile, no matter the weather. This particular umbrella was a thank-you gift for a small donation I made to the World Wildlife Fund, so even better: it was free!

What also happened on this day: I made a batch of Grandma Colyer's famous peanut butter fudge. My husband brought home marshmallow creme from the store the last time he went, and I took the hint.

The recipe only requires four ingredients: peanut butter, marshmallow creme, milk, and confectioner's sugar. I was fortunate to discover we had some confectioner's sugar in the larder, and of course, we always have peanut butter on hand.

Before making the fudge, I went back and read the Blip-story of the last (and possibly only) time I ever made my Grandma's fudge, and I had a good laugh. I made it sound so complicated then, when this time, it was just so easy. I guess what I have now is what I lacked last time, which is to say: perspective.  :-)

Here is the recipe, in case you'd like to try it yourself:
Ingredients: 2 boxes (about 32 oz) confectioner sugar, 1 cup milk, 12 oz creamy peanut butter, 7 oz marshmallow creme.
Instructions: Cook confectioner sugar and milk until it forms a soft ball in cold water. Then add peanut butter and marshmallow creme and mix it up well.

By 1:30, I had the milk and confectioner's sugar mixed together and heating up on the stove. By 1:45, it was bubbling nicely. Shortly after 2, I lowered the heat and stirred in the peanut butter and then the marshmallow creme. By 2:15, it was all mixed together and placed in a 9" by 13" pan to cool. (You may see a photo of the fudge in the extras.) No biggie!

And then we sat down to watch the Super Bowl. And while everyone else was having nachos, we had fudge. OK, so we had pizza too, but that was later. Those not located in the U.S., please know this: the Super Bowl is a huge snacking event, maybe the biggest of the year.

"What do you think of the fudge?" I asked. "It's good," he said; "do you think it's as good as your mom's?" And I took a bite and thought about it, and replied: "No, it is not. But it's still pretty darn good!" That's what it's like having a mom like mine: I always have something more to aspire to.

We did not have a favorite team in the Super Bowl, as we are Steelers fans at our house, and they weren't playing on this day. So we cheered on the Pennsylvania team, the Philadelphia Eagles. It was a very good and interesting game, and our adopted team won! Hooray!

A song to accompany this posting . . . I was standing in the middle of the road to take the shot above. This is a thing I do not recommend, except that there was no traffic at all during this time, so it felt safe enough to take the risk. Here are the Pretenders with Middle of the Road.