snow — Page 26

Is It Spring Yet?

January 17, 2018 at 9:09 am by Claudia

Don’t even.

There’s at least 8 or 9 inches out there and it’s still coming down.

And it looks like it’s heavy and wet.

We have to shovel and snowblow all of this. Oh, and remember – there is a huge, thick slab of ice the size of a small pond where I normally park my car. It’s so thick we can’t chop it up. Trying to get from the cars into the house is like avoiding a minefield.

Something tells me this winter is not going to be an easy one.

So we’re waiting it out at the moment. When it looks like the snow is tapering off, we’ll head outside. Oh, joy.

Vegan macarons from our local vegan eatery. Don brought them home yesterday.

They’re gone now.

I have a new nephew:

Meet Hank.

Hank is an Irishdoodle – which is a combination of an Irish Setter/Poodle.

I cannot stand it, he’s so cute! Mere found an ad in the paper that intrigued her and on the weekend, the whole family went to see the litter of puppies and Hank came home with them. Everyone is in love with him, including Little Z, who called last night and shouted out, “I have a new puppy and his name is Hank!!”

You can read more about it on Mere’s latest post. I’m so happy for them. And dare I say that we are a proud aunt and uncle? Look at those eyebrows! And that brown nose! And those green eyes. Scout had green eyes.

Okay. I have to have some oatmeal to fortify myself for the Big Dig.

Happy Wednesday.

Snow: Shoveling, Snowblowing, Baking & UPS

January 5, 2018 at 9:01 am by Claudia

This says it all. We had a heck of a snowstorm yesterday, with wind and lots of snow. I guesstimate it at 8 inches. It fell all day long and we couldn’t get out to shovel until around 3:30. The snowblower was hauled out of the shed and while my newest batch of linzer cookies was cooling, I grabbed a shovel.

We were out there for a long time.

And today, our aches and pains attest to it. Thank goodness, the snow wasn’t the heavy, wet variety. That certainly helped. Now we have to contend with high winds and dangerous wind chills for the next two days, with the nighttime temps going down to well below zero.

Winter officially came on December 21st, but here at the cottage it feels like it’s been going on for months. I’m over it.

But, speaking of ‘over it’ I shared a little story on Instagram yesterday. For those of you who don’t do IG, let me share it again.

I was expecting a package from UPS, but since the snow was falling heavily and the visibility was bad, I expected it would arrive today instead. I was in a not-very-great mood, having had my fill of subzero temps and snow. I was sitting in the den when I heard the UPS truck stop on the street with a little tap of the horn. I couldn’t believe they were actually delivering! So I threw on my jacket (I was still in my flannel pjs) and went out on the porch to meet the driver. He jumped over the culvert, ran up the lawn to the porch and greeted me with a smile.

I said, “I can’t believe you’re out in this!”

And he said, with another big grin, “Oh, it’s okay! I’m having an adventure!”

He was so cheery and so positive that my mood changed instantly. What did I have to complain about, right? If he could be positive, so could I. The universe sends you teachers when you need them.

See that great smile! He’d also grabbed a ride with a snowplow at some point during his day so he could get back to his truck after having parked on a hill. He was having an adventure.

I moved this lamp, which, for some reason, had been stashed on my bookcase in the bedroom, down to this little table/stool by the sofa. I think I thought there was trouble with the cord, but when I changed the light bulb, it worked. I love these lamps and Don needed a little bit more light by his preferred daytime seating. Plus…the shade!!

Part of my “Riley Plant.”

I have three new leaves coming on the rubber plant.

And this new growth on the larger of my two ZZ plants.

Happy Friday.

Potpourri on Thursday

January 4, 2018 at 8:37 am by Claudia

• I’m officially ‘over’ Winter and it’s only January 4th. These sub-zero temperatures and, now, more snow, with freezing rain and ice in the forecast for the beginning of the week are too much. I’m over it. Don: “Look at the snow falling, it’s really pretty.” Me: “Don’t like it. Don’t want it.”

And we’re not even getting the brunt of this storm, which will hammer those who live nearer to or on the coast. We’re far enough inland that we’ll just get 3 to 5 inches of the white stuff.

The house is so dry that Don and I are constantly complaining about it. And before you ask, yes, we do have a humidifier and we use it every day. It isn’t making much of a difference. Rick and Doug have two of them, and they say the same thing: Nada. It’s been a tough winter so far.

Okay, enough kvetching.

• I entertained myself yesterday afternoon by taking photos with my big girl camera.

Paperwhites.

New growth.

Baby pileas. Or is it pileae?

More new growth. This schefflera has finally calmed down. For the longest time after I bought it, it kept shedding leaves, and since the previous schefflera that I had bit the dust, I was beginning to think scheffleras and I were on a collision course. I cut back on frequency of watering and it seems to have acclimated itself to the conditions in the cottage. I’m very happy about that!

• I managed to snag a copy of The Hidden Staircase, number two in the Nancy Drew series. This one is pretty hard to find, especially in fairly good condition. Once again, it was all in the timing. I happened to do a search right after someone had listed this as a Buy Now. It was a really good price, so I jumped on it.

Isn’t that a fabulous illustration? I love the clothes and the cloche hat.

Two more to go. They are from the last of the series that Tandy illustrated, with darker covers, and they’re fairly easy to find, so I should complete this collection soon.

• And finally, last night’s sunset:

Happy Thursday.

Is It Spring Yet?

Snow: Shoveling, Snowblowing, Baking & UPS

Potpourri on Thursday

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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