Powdered sugar

I remember sitting under the awning at Café Du Mondé in New Orleans a few years ago (pre-Katrina) enjoying café au laite and beignets with friends. Everything there - tables, chairs, floors, silverware - everything was sprinkled with a fine layer of powdered sugar. That's what it looks like in our garden this morning, January 27, 2009.

Sunset on the prairie

Kansas is famous for beautiful sunrises and sunsets, but we've had some that were absolutely stunning this month. And the days are growing noticeably longer. Can spring be far away?

Mid-January snow

Brrrr! It's cold in Kansas! I don't think the thermometer hit 10 degrees today. But it was a pretty day just the same. Snow flurries this morning. . .and a bit of it stuck, making a pretty pattern on the deck. But we're leafing wistfully through the seed catalogs. . .

Oh, mister moon, moon, bright and silvery moon. . .

January 11 and the moon was HUGE last night. This photo doesn't do it justice as it was taken early in the morning. Astronomy sites called this Hunger Moon, a name from Native American folklore. In the Northern Hemisphere, this was a time of snow and deep winter, when hunting was poor and wild dogs would roam by moonlight searching for food. (If our Sundae's thick coat is any indication, we have snow and deep winter in our forecast!)