Now it can be told Mr. Pyrate went out of town on February 6 for some technical training in the wild suburbs of Chicagoland. Meanwhile the dogs and I had the adventure of facing the SECOND big snowstorm (sort of) alone. I was saved from being snowbound by our neighbor next door. We let him use our snow blower fairly often, and I asked for a favor this time…would he please clean up our driveway since I couldn’t run the thing? Yay! That made all the difference. Once in Ohio I got in a wreck sliding on ice, so I try not to drive in bad weather more than necessary. Still, we had some sunny days so I did get out a time or two. Walk around the mall, go to the library- just a change of scenery really helps.
So Pyrate returned all educated Friday night. Saturday, he did some snow clean up. Remember that one scene in “Dr. Zhivago” when he arrives at his old house in the country and it looked like the icicle palace? Our house had been looking that way! There’s still snow on the roof. We’ve had a gradual warm up, which is the best thing. So he cleared the gutters, restored the front walk and made a path wider for the doggies. (poor things can’t run out back because the snow is too deep) He also came home with a bad cold, so he spent the afternoon napping and trying to recover from that long drive.
Technical difficulties Our automatic washer is on its last legs. If I try to wash anything other than a very light load, it leaks from the bottom. We’re on a well with fairly acidic water, and it think it likes to eat metal! No kidding, we replace the water heater every three years or so. In some places a 30-40 year old house will have the original water heater. When we moved in here, we brought our old washer and it lasted about nine years before it kicked off. We’ve had this one, the “new” one for over ten years now. I have a mindset that a washer should last 20 years….not around here I suppose.
Sunday, we spent our morning at the lovely Washeteria! We had his and her clothes, two sets of sheets and an afghan which smelled too much like dog. As I fed over $20.00 worth of quarters (oy) to washers and dryers, I would say over and over, “I don’t like this casino- it never gives anything back!” There’s an idea: combination washer and slot machine! Hit the jackpot for a free wash!
But I always like the feeling of coming home with all the clothes clean and ready to put away.
After March 1, we’ll go washer shopping. There will be a Federal incentive program in place to give rebates if you purchase an “Energy Star” appliance. Hmmm, there’s more to the story. My daughter the Duchess looked up some consumer information about the new washers and a common thread is that some of these newer machines are rough on clothes. Really? I’m wondering if the trade off for using less water, is agitating the dickens out of the garment.
So will the consumer save money on energy, only to shell it out for new clothing? I need to do more research.
Carroll County Read-A-Long Our library system has an annual “all on the same page” reading event. This year, the book is See You In A Hundred Years by Logan Ward Its about a young couple who took themselves away from their life in Manhattan, to spend a year in rural Virginia living the way people lived a hundred years ago. Interesting book and the library will have discussions; I hope to make it to one, or fingers crossed there will be a “meet the author” event. He’s not a 1967, back to the garden type; this is a social experiment this couple chose to live, hoping to learn and grow as a family. I’m about halfway through the book now- excited to see how things turn out. Then I know I’d like to hear him talk about what life has been for them since then. After 9/11 neighbors offered them the use of the telephone, to check on family and friends, but instead they wrote letters and waited for news. Their neighbors brought them stacks of newspapers and magazines. Contrast that with how most of us were glued to the cable news networks for weeks! So, yeah, interesting.
Improvisational Cooking! I opened up a jar of pumpkin cubes I canned last July to make pumpkin bread. Unlike the Libby’s kind, there is a lot of water in the jar, full of vitamins so in the bowl it went too. It made a lot of batter. I filled a loaf pan, and still had batter left. So to the remaining, I added a bit more sugar and about 1/3 cup of cocoa powder and baked it in a pie pan; sort of a pumpkin brownie. I’m going to make a browned coconut frosting for it later. It will be dense for a cake, but chocolate-yum!
Please Fed-Ex me a Giant Anteater! Ain’t he cute? And it’s just what I need.
And this is the official “snow gauge” picture. That’s the picnic table on the deck, demonstrating how many inches of snow we’ve had in the last 18 or so hours!
corn as a spiritual symbol can often be seen in the hands of the “Yeh” spirit figures represented in Navaho rugs, in the rituals associated with the “Corn Maiden” and other Kachinas of the Hopi, and in various fetish objects of tribes of the region. (source Wikipedia) Small world, isn’t it?
I finished the first sock back before Thanksgiving and i’ve been noodling around, not progressing with the second sock. This is known as Second Sock Syndrome. It seems to happen when the sock pattern is repetitive and boring. Still, the Pyrate needs socks. I want to move on to exciting new patterns with some neat-o yarn I have in the stash. I’ll keep plugging away on the sensible gray socks. I kind of like this yarn- it looks “snake-y”
5.7
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