Lola Has Grown

In early December, I posted photos of the newest family member, grand puppy "Lola" taken by her owners, daughter and son-in-law.

During our recent PA holiday visit, we met Lola for the first time and she posed (briefly). Still very much in the puppy stage, she is growing very quickly and is no longer the lap dog of just a month ago.

Afternoon napping, however, is still a favorite activity. 

Last Christmas

This will be the last family post for the recent holiday. In fact, it's the first family post of the year. 

Grandson's gift list didn't include two front teeth, but he was very happy with other gifts.

Can you tell that granddaughter enjoyed some chocolate before opening gifts?
Both grandkids dressed up in their holiday best, which included new footwear.

Grandpa wore his holiday best when posing for a photo with his daughter who showed grandson's handmade ornament.

Snowy PA Weekend

Snowy and cold best described our weekend road trip to PA for the last of the holiday season visits with family. Since mid-December, we've spent time together and separately in several eastern states (NJ, RI, CT). This trip we traveled together and in one vehicle.

Lancaster area farmlands were pretty even though covered with a blanket of white and a horse and buggy easy traveled a back road.

The PA roads were snow covered and curving as this lone cyclist pedaled along.

This red barn against a crystal blue sky and covering of snow complete with shadows was my favorite for a picturesque scene. 

(FYI, all these shots were taken with a Canon digital Elph while Grenville carefully navigated the sometimes tricky and winding back roads.)

Post Holiday Birthday

This past weekend, Grenville and I continued our holiday visits to family members. We safely traveled snowy roadways from the VA eastern shore through parts of MD and DE to our final destination of PA. 

We celebrated a late holiday get-together and the birthday of son-in-law. A bamboo skewer served as an improvised birthday "candle." The dark chocolate and peanut butter cake was specially made and was deliciously decadent.

It's in the Cards

We had a wonderful surprise on our arrival home from our unexpected and sudden road trip. As many of you may know from previous posts, my mother was hospitalized in NJ before Christmas. She's currently in a rehab facility to regain strength. 

Here's what was awaited us in our mailbox . . . Christmas cards from friends, family and blogger friends. While our sudden departure meant putting a halt to one of my favorite pre-holiday activities -- writing and sending holiday cards. And, another favorite is receiving and displaying them. Here's the display above our fireplace.

We are grateful to all who sent these greetings and special thanks to the fellow bloggers who mailed a card. The Christmas season may be "officially" over for retailers, but these cards will remain displayed for the next couple of weeks. They bring us great joy.

Thanks, Everyone.

A Chilly Update

This morning in lovely Manhiem Pa. it was a balmy -0.6 degrees at 7Am. Now I'm sure that many of you are saying "Wow,,, that's warm!!!!". But for us this is really really cold. Luckily we will be inside most of the day.  I did have breakfast with a girls field hockey team. They were getting ready to play in a tournament, in doors. One of the parents told me they hoped the place had heat!!!!!!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

So goes the title of a 1944 song and it was certainly true as the first winter storm of 2014, dubbed Hercules by The Weather Channel, struck the northeast with anywhere from a few inches to a couple of feet of snow, depending on the location.

On the VA eastern shore at The Frog & PenguINN, we scraped by with less than half an inch overnight. It was preceded by several hours of rain and then very cold temps. Friday, as we drove through parts of Maryland and Delaware these were some of the road scenes. Roads were clear in some spots; snow and ice covered in others. Tonight, at our final destination in Lancaster County, PA, temps are in the single digits, which is nothing compared to temps, that fellow blogger Elaine (Artic View) posted about recently.

We were heading for a post-holiday family visit with family in Lancaster County, PA and another visit with fellow blogger Doris (Fun Fahn Times).

The overnight snow had stopped, but high winds were blowing it onto roadways. Sub-freezing temps kept the snow frozen in place on most of the trees.

More about the song that inspired this post title . . .

Baby, It's Cold Outside is a song with words and music by American songwriter Frank Loesser, who wrote words and lyrics to Broadway shows, most famously Guys and Dolls.  

The lyrics are a duet sung by a man and woman, referred to on the printed score as mouse and wolf. Returning to the wolf's home after a date, the mouse plans to leave; the wolf invites her to stay as it's cold outside.  

Loesser wrote it in 1944 and performed it with his wife (Lynn Garland) at the end of evening parties to let guests know it was time to leave. She considered it "their song" and was mad when Loesser sold it to MGM in 1948. It was used in the 1949 film, Neptune's Daughter; Loesser won an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Duet versions have been recorded by many singers including: Dinah Shore and Buddy Clark, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan, Johnny Mercer and Margaret Whiting, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Carmen McRae, Ray Charles and Betty Carter/Dionne Warwick, Brian Setzer and Ann-Margaret, Vanessa Williams and Bobby Caldwell, Dolly Parton and Rod Stewart, Barry Manilow and K.T. Oslin, James Taylor and Natalie Cole.

Loesser, who died of lung cancer at age 59, was the lyricist for over 700 songs, you may know, such as: Standing on the Corner, A Bushel and a Peck, I Don't Want to Walk Without You, Heart and Soul, On a Slow Boat to China, Two Sleepy People, Spring Will be a Little Late This Year, Inch Worm, Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition, and timeless for the recent holiday season, What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? 

Friday Funnies

Seen on a doorway in Chester, CT last November . . .

This was a leap year and sleuthing online, I learned that Feb, 29 was the 60th day of the year in 1776 and fell on a Thursday. 

And, nothing much happens on that day of the week, does it ?

Seems Like Yesterday

And it WAS and now Christmas 2013 is just a memory.

What a difference one week makes, especially in retail. According to our calendar, it's barely January with weeks of winter left and snowstorms forecast for many areas. Even that well-known PA groundhog hasn't yet emerged.

But, at our local Walmart this past Tuesday (New Year's Eve) all holiday decos

Were discounted 50 percent and their former space replaced with (ready or NOT) . . .

Rows of outdoor and warm weather stuff, including grills and beach chairs . . .  

Are you feeling the love for Valentine's Day yet? If so, cards are already out for sale.
If not, some holiday wrappings and bags were right across the aisle.

Today, the Christmas "season" arrives about Halloween and exits by Dec 26. To me that's just sad because in my childhood it started after Thanksgiving and lingered until at least New Year's. Perhaps, I was viewing the holidays through a child's mind and not in reality, but they did seem more jolly years ago.

Somedays, I think that the Grinch may have been right in his assessment of Christmas.

Welcome 2014

Here's to the start of a New Year, which we hope will be wonderful for everyone.

Best Wishes from Dorothy and Pat 

Grenville and Beatrice extend their good wishes too.

MANY THANKS for the holiday greetings we received from several fellow bloggers. ALL were much appreciated as we read your messages of caring, support and cheer. They lifted our spirits when we returned home after our 2-week trip that with an unexpected pre-Christmas road trip to NJ when my mom was hospitalized. She remains in a rehab facility there and while there are good and no-so-good days, she is in capable hands, receiving needed care and therapy to get her strength back. There will surely be some rough times ahead in 2014; your thoughts and prayers are always welcome and much appreciated.

THANKS too for your visits to The Frog & PenguINN blog over the past years, whether or not you've left a comment. We welcome drop-in visits and hope y'all come back anytime!

We'll see you in "blogville" in 2014.