Could It Just Not

5? Really? 

I am just soooo completely ready for spring. 

Mixed Bag

I found it was a good week to stay off of FB as much as possible. Plus, too much worrying about my friends and family hunkered down in Florida. I offered my extra room, but...

The Clusterf*ck That Is

Oi, what a week! The Twitter feed has been oh so active. 

And This Week's Public Service Announcements.

The Difference A Week Can Make

 Last Monday I took a picture of my neighbor's flowers as I walked to work. And this morning they're covered in snow. The sad thing is, our little pigeon left her nest long enough for snow to gather there, and when we looked, we found out the eggs had hatched and the chicks had died. And to make it even sadder, she came back and she's sitting on them again. As soon as she leaves, we're rebuilding the feeder and putting a back on it and turning it into a bird house. Then maybe she'll come back and we'll get a happy ending!

Busy Making Plans

I haven't posted lately. Not exactly sure why not, other than I just haven't taken the time. Plus-- January and February-- not much seems to happen. It's kind of a holding pattern. It's been rather mild, actually. A little snow, then a couple of unseasonably warm days, then snow again. I've got two trips coming up in March, so I've been trying to get everything ready for that. The first is in Florida for a week and a half for my cousin's wedding. My best friend lives down there, so I'm excited that I'm going to get to spend a few days with her.

Then on Easter weekend, the hubby and I are going to Chicago to see fantasy man (and comedian) Noel Fielding. (I'm still squeeing about that!)

Then I'm going to spend the rest of the year working to pay for it all. But it will be worth it!

But for now, here's a picture of Squirt watching it snow.

Garden Diaries

So I took this pic last weekend after I had (most) of the weeds cleaned out, to find I really don't have much left. So the question becomes replant or call it a night? What has survived is stunted and yellowed. Although it isn't really obvious here, the sunflowers aren't any taller than me. Usually they are at least 10 feet tall by now. The strange thing is, after all of that rain we had, the ground is hard as a rock and dry several inches down.

Chances are, I'm just going to let it go. I think I've about lost interest at this point. There's always next year!

Garden Diaries

So, after a month of record-breaking rains, this is what my garden looked like. Half of it died and what has survived is severely stunted, and a bit yellow. In fact, in this picture, the weeds are taller than the vegetables!  Although Saturday was too hot to breathe and yesterday featured some spotty light rain, I managed to get out and clear some of it away. I'm hoping to get more damage control accomplished  through-out the week and do some replanting next weekend. It may be salvageable, although I seem to have lost some (a lot) of my interest in the whole thing. I always start the spring with such good intentions!

Look, It's Raining Again!

I've got more green weeds then yellowing vegetable plants, but I was able to pick some green beans this morning before the rain moved in. Hey, it hadn't rained in 40 hours or so--things were starting to get dry! (my poor garden-- the weeds are starting to grow taller than my plants.)

We're All Going To Eat Well

I've had this violet for 14 years or so, and it hasn't bloomed for a while. It's nicely decided to share its color with us during these frigid winter days. It's been a crazy week--subzero temps with snow and the promise of major nastiness tonight and tomorrow. We have been busy every day at the store-- I can't imagine that there isn't a house in this town without an overflowing pantry. Just how much milk and bread does everyone need? But my boss is happy.

Morning Coffee

 The weather has (finally) turned warm and appears as if it might stay that way. Jinx and Roscoe are taking full advantage of it. Roscoe (the yellow one) barely comes in except to eat or when it rains. Jinx, on the other hand, is like a kid-- in and out, in and out! I would put in a kitty door, but with our luck, we would end up with opossums, skunks and raccoon making themselves at home.  

Morning Coffee

Jinx finally got to go outside and run around (the rain melted almost all of the foot deep snow) until he came in, exhausted. It's amazing the positions cats get in, all twisted around. He slept all afternoon!
(yes, that's a box with a piece of carpet on in-- so he can look out the window in comfort.)

The Sun Rises on a Brighter Day!

We have water! The plumbers got here yesterday afternoon and it was an easy fix. My husband said he got done in less than an hour. While one plumber was under the house fixing the problem the other one was in the drive way, getting his truck unstuck! We have a narrow drive way and he slid off of it. Anyway, got home from work and was able to take a hot shower. Best shower of my life! It's supposed to get warmer today, maybe into the low 40s (heat wave!) with rain. My concern is the fact that there is no where for it to go. Somehow, I don't think the City crew is going to drive around this morning digging out the sewer drains. I had almost hoped to wake up to freezing rain and use it as an excuse to not show up to work. I could use a day off--such a long week!

Just for a taste of the fun we've been having, I'm sharing this video. I think you have to go to YouTube to watch it. The last 30 seconds or so are our stretch of road. People have talked about the "Snow of '82" for years (18" that year) but I think this is worse, just because of the colder temps.

I Need a Little Less Reality, Please

Well, the earliest we can get a plumber is Friday, maybe. When I was little, my Grandparents lived in the boonies and had no indoor plumbing. If they did it every day, I can do it for a few days. But that doesn't mean I'm happy about it!

My husband made it to work yesterday, but he said he's never seen anything like it. When he got into Effingham there was so many Semi's lining the roads, he didn't think he was going to make it through. The authorities were directing them to every large parking lot in town until every one of them was full, eventually they parked them on the sides of the road. The truckstops kept running out of diesel and the fuel trucks couldn't get through to refill the tanks. It may be days before they get it all sorted out. Things started to get back to normal at the store yesterday, most of our delivery trucks got through and were able to get limited orders to us. We still look a bit picked through, but at least we have the staples again. Unfortunately, they are predicting more precipitation for today and tomorrow. Every one keeps saying, yes, but it's supposed to be rain tomorrow and it's going to be in the 40s. But they aren't thinking about the fact that the rain has no were to go! I think it could be a whole other bunch of problems!

I'm keeping my sense of humor in all of this. Because it's that or roll up in a ball and cry. So, laughter all around, my dears!

Mark Your Calendar!

The continuing saga of Winter Storm Ion is making my life miserable interesting. I live10 miles from where I70 and I57 crosses in Illinois. It's a trucker's haven, lots of truckstops and restaurants. The authorities have asked people to avoid parts of the town because of the congestion caused by the truckers getting off the Interstate to rest and refuel which has become a problem all on it's own. Check it out here and here. My husband works at Menard's, which is in the middle of all of that mess. He hasn't gone in the last two days (we couldn't get the car out of the drive) but he's tried it this morning.

On other fronts, I've decided people are just stupid. We have been asked to stay off the roads--so of course the store was nuts busy all day yesterday with people who just wanted to get out and see if they could! We did get milk and bread (but no eggs) but they were both later than normal. I stayed in a good mood and handled it well but its stressful and gets exhausting. And then a half hour before the end of my day, my husband called to ask me to call the City office and see if they could turn off our water-- we had a pipe break. Oh lord. I was almost in tears by that point. We had left our facets dripping, hoping to avoid such an occurrence. One good thing, we had been collecting that dripping water into jugs so we have water to drink. I've got snow melting on the stove right now so I can flush the toilets, but no shower. I left a call with the local plumber--hopefully he doesn't have too long of a back list. I'm trying to keep my sense of humor, but it's a wispy thing right now!

Wonderful Winter Weather

When I walked into work yesterday, my boss looked surprised. The head meat-cutter, the only other person there except for the boss' son, told me no one else showed up and they didn't expect me, either. I live 3 blocks away, for heavens sake. I was going to show up. To be honest, I was a bit pissed. If they didn't want me, they should have called! How was I to assume that he would assume I wasn't coming?  The store was sold out of milk, and bread, and eggs, and assorted other staples. I've never seen the shelves that empty, and there is no guarantee we'll get any today. So I worked 3 hours then they sent me home because they closed early. I could have used one of my personal days, now I'm just going to have a short check. Oh, well. So anyway, I'm going to bundle up and do it again this morning (unless he calls. Surely, he'll call this time). It's 13 below right now. It's going to be an ice-cream headache the whole way! My husband's home again. He works 15 miles away and we still can't get the car out of the garage. Hopefully, things will be better tomorrow!

Because the Stupid People Need Those Cigarettes!

I haven't heard anything official, but I'm guessing we got close to a foot of snow yesterday. The drift is bad and the temps are sub-zero. The authorities have declared most of the roads closed and dangerous. I live three blocks from work, so I'm sure here in another hour or two I'll be trekking my way to the store--most of my fellow employees live in the next town over or in the country so we'll be working with a skeleton crew. Ideally, we wouldn't even open because people shouldn't be out! But, and I know this from experience, I'll have customers come in for one thing. Milk, a loaf of bread (I'm sure we're out of both) or a pack of cigarettes. It's not so much that they need them but they simply have this itch to challenge the elements. Not me--I'd be quite happy to stay in! I'm holding on to the tiniest flicker of hope that my boss calls and tells me to stay home. (Not going to happen, but a girl can dream!)

Spring Fever!

The first of the week the weather was so nice- high in the 70s. Every Spring I get this feeling, like I want to jump out of my skin. I feel like I'm 20, not amost 50. Actually it's kind of painful. Tuesday was really bad. I was in a manic good mood. If I could have found someone to go "road-tripping" with me, I  might have called work during my lunch hour and told them I got suddenly sick and wasn't coming back. (as if they would have believed me!) Even though it got cold and wet at the end of the week, I've stayed in this good mood. I wish I felt like this all of the time.

Persimmon Prognosticator

In the Fall I split some persimmons and they showed spoons, which, according to local lore, means lots of snow. Well, there has been a good amount of snow across the country over the Winter, and we, ourselves, have had quite a few days with snow, but we've had very little accumulation. Until now. When we're all ready for Spring. The seeds didn't say where or when so I guess I'm going to say the seeds predicted right. From now on, I will trust the seeds over the groundhogs!

Spring?

Last year at this time we were having record highs and the flowers were blooming. Today it barely got above freezing and there is talk of snow (with possible accumulation) for the weekend. I'm so cold! And tired. It takes me half of the Summer to adjust to the time change. If it wasn't still light out, I would go snuggle up with my comforter and go to bed. I might, anyway!

There's No Place Like Home

We made it home Wednesday afternoon, a day ahead of schedule. The original plan was to spend the day in Denver at the hospital because both my brother and sister-in-law needed to go into work for awhile, so we were going to take the shift. But. My niece had a bad night Monday and into Tuesday morning, so tests were ordered and my sister-in-law called and told work she wouldn't be there. We spent the morning at the hospital, but with the weather reports coming in, we decided it might be best to head home. It was hard on Mom. I know she wanted to stay. But she has back trouble and this trip was not kind to her. My niece's recovery is going to be long--there is no way Mom could stay the whole time. Maybe 10 years ago, but her health just isn't up to it anymore. There have been times in the past when they were going through rough times and Mom went and stayed and helped around the house and took care of the other kids, but she just can't, anymore. The spirit is willing, but the body just can't do it. It hurts to see her like this. She was always so strong and active. I almost think it's harder for my brother to see her like this because he only sees her once or twice a year, whereas I have seen her gradually going down-hill.

Anyway, the whole point of this, before I got off track, was that we left just a few hours ahead of "Winter Storm Q". We stopped for the night in the middle of Kansas, got up early (with some nudging from me) and got back on the road. If we had stuck to our original plan to leave Wednesday we would probably just be getting started. As much as I wanted to be there, it's good to be home!