I’m going to call this the Storybook Chair. It looks like something that would be in an illustration from Hansel and Gretel  or Heidi  or Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Perhaps someday soon the weather will be warm enough for me to add a couple of layers of protection so those wonderfully chippy areas stay just as they are. No more chipping allowed. In the meantime, this coming week promises warmer temperatures and it’s about time!

Yesterday found me outside digging out the gutter extensions at the back of the house from the three feet of snow in which they were buried, which led to the realization that they were filled with ice. That led to several trips back and forth with a kettle of boiling water, which I poured into each extension to melt the ice.

It took a long time. I also grabbed our trusty roof rake and raked some of the snow off the kitchen roof. (After last winter’s adventures with both a rented roof rake, as well as Tina & Noble’s roof rake, we decided to invest in one this year.)

It felt good to be outside doing something other than shoveling. The hint of warmth (this is all relative, of course) in the air was just what I needed.

What else? I washed the slipcover that is on the sofa in the den. Then I spent quite a while wrestling the cushions back in the slipcover, cursing the whole time. I guess I was pretty vocal, as Don finally came to my rescue.

And we watched My Favorite Year  (a gem of a movie) and finished off the 3rd season of House of Cards. Since some of you have yet to watch it, I’ll hold off on any detailed opinion. Don and I have discussed it in great detail, as you can imagine, and we both feel that it wasn’t as good as the previous two seasons. Still good – but not as good. That’s all I’ll say for now.

Don stood by the Doily Swag Lamp the other day and said: “I really like this.” He’s said that before, but this time he was more specific. He likes the doilies; the airiness that comes from the surface of a crocheted doily, the way the light shines through it.

I put this particular project together three years ago. But Don’s like that. He’ll suddenly ‘see’ something that’s been around for a while as if it’s for the first time. That, in turn, helps me to see it with fresh eyes. Thanks, Don!

I don’t know if you can tell, but the blackboard is now being used to write the times that Dame Scout has taken care of her ‘business.’ Because sometimes, if certain business hasn’t been taken care of, one of us has to get up in the middle of the night to ensure that an accident doesn’t happen. It’s what you do with an older dog, isn’t it? We did it with Riley, too.

She’s a good girl. We don’t ever want her to feel stressed about that sort of thing, though it’s inevitable at times. We just try to make sure that it happens as little as possible.

This time change is throwing me off! I’m getting to my post a bit later than normal. Sorry for the delay, my friends.

Carolyn Marie is the winner of a copy of The Swimmer. Congratulations! I’ve just sent you an email.

By the way. Don got a spammy email from me today and some of you did, too. I think it’s the same idiots that hacked my email in December. They tend to store the list and use it again. Sorry for the inconvenience. Nevertheless, I’ve changed my passwords, just in case.

Of course, it goes without saying, DON’T CLICK ON THE LINK.

Happy Monday.