Ladybugs in January...

We're having a warm and sunny week... and the ladybugs have come out to play. I have no idea where they hide during the wet and cold weather, but as soon as we have our normal 'winter' temperatures, there seems to be ladybugs everywhere you look.

"Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home... your house is burning and you must save your children..."  I have no idea where that little song came from originally, but I do remember that we all sang it when we were kids. If a ladybug landed on us, we would get the ladybug on the tip of our finger and then sing those words and blow the ladybug away as if we were blowing out birthday candles. Silly little song it was, with such a horrible thought....

As we're enjoying such beautiful weather here, my cousins on Long Island are bracing for the worst snowstorm to hit the northeast in many years. Depending on the location, NY can expect anywhere from 24 to 40 inches of snow.... and my cousins in Suffolk County have already been told to prepare for nearly 40" of white stuff. Plus ice, and very high winds... the works. Living in Texas for over twenty years now, it's easy to forget just how ridiculous the weather up north can be during the months of November, December, January, and February. One of my cousins has been eMailing me with the weather updates for Long Island. I keep resisting the urge to suggest that she's living in the wrong zip code. (Been there, said that.)

Our little friend Miss C will be here at the end of the week....... it will be so nice to have her here. We didn't see her for our Halloween and Christmas parties... she's been busy with her 'big girl job' since graduating from college... plus her horse Tallahatchie takes up a lot of her time. She's been training him with a saddle these days... putting a blanket and saddle on his back for a little bit every day so he can get used to both items. She eventually plans to ride him, and has enrolled both the horse and herself in training classes.... C is determined to have a well-trained horse that she can depend on, and I have no doubt that she will accomplish just that. Owning a horse is certainly a bigger job than having a dog or a cat... and C knew that when she bought Tallahatchie, so there are no regrets. I'm sure that Tallahatchie is a much-loved and much-respected horse.... I would expect no less than that from Miss C.

Well, there are no horses here... just one inside cat, two outside cats, and that one ill-tempered orange stray cat who still refuses to go elsewhere. And... we have ladybugs. And should I count the dozens of turtles that are out in our pond? They've been sunning themselves on the rocks at the edge of the pond... heaven knows where they were hiding when it was so cold last week, but just like the ladybugs, the turtles have come out to play in this beautiful weather.