Horizontal Snow

That's how windy it has been all day, so windy that the snow that fell this morning flew by from west to east instead of from the sky to the ground.  Oh, I'm sure that it eventually hit the ground but when I saw the flakes they were headed east at a high rate of speed.  I decided to spend the day indoors in my hoodie and yoga pants watching endless episodes of Season 1 of The Great British Baking Show.  You see, Aunt B and P watch an episode of it every evening after they watch a taped rerun of Law & Order and I got hooked on the baking show.  The people are... interesting, and who doesn't like to watch people make custards that don't set and cake layers that slither apart.  They crowned the winner of Season 1 and his prize was a glass cake stand.  A cake stand.  Not money, not a new kitchen range, a cake stand.  Maybe it's Waterford...  


Aunt B loves to shop in antique stores and consignment shops.  We visited a few and her house is full of the treasures she's found.  She showed me one little box that she bought.  It's like a tiny cigar box but sized to hold calling cards.  Inside are a few photos, small notes on cards, a stack of calling cards that say "Mrs. Clyde Skinner," and a newspaper clipping detailing the elopement of the Skinners.  I exclaimed over it and she gave it to me.  That little box will be wonderful for generating stories, don't you think?




Another thing that I brought home from Ft. Myers was the urge to haul up one of the two sets of silver flatware stored in the basement and use that for everyday instead of the stainless.  Aunt B uses real silver and I liked that.  I asked DD a while back if she'd like one of the sets of silver someday, she said she would so I sent her pictures of the two patterns asking her to pick which one she'd like. I'll put her name on Mother Malcolm's Community Plate in its fitted wooden box and spend some time this week polishing Grandma Stephan's 1847 Rogers Remembrance for the silverware drawer.  Neither of them are sterling, they're both silverplate (I googled them), so I feel like they deserve to be used instead of stored in the dark.  Plus I'm calling those items my "toss" for the day.


Around 3:00 I put on my boots, coat, hat, and gloves and went out to move the snow off the driveway even though it was still blowing like crazy.  I talked to DS and he reminded me that it's supposed to only get into the teens tomorrow and I didn't want the wet, slushy snow that the plow shoved to the end of the driveway to freeze into a speed bump if I left it.  And that meant I could liberally sprinkle salt on the icy coating on the driveway so I'll have a chance to get into the garage the next time I go out.




I meant to fling laundry around today.  I didn't.  I caught up writing in my Bullet Journal and washed a sink of dishes.  I only knitted about three rounds on the February Seaman's Cowl.  The rest of the time I sat like a wart on the couch watching Brits bake.  It was a lovely day.






24 February--Tropical Obsession. 

Manning folded his arms across his middle and made himself as streamlined as possible. Periodically he checked his compass to make sure he was swimming in the correct direction and he glanced at his depth gauge so he didn't miss Santiago's landmark. Bubbles spiraled up as he laughed at himself. Landmark, ha. He wondered if something could be called a landmark if it was underwater. His blue eyes darted from the reef passing on his left looking for the "you can't miss it" stand of staghorn coral tangled with lush yellow tube sponges that, according to Santiago, marked the edge of the shipwreck, and the deep dark blue of the open ocean on his right. He had dived these waters many times without incident but there was always the chance of something coming out of the abyss.

I keep waking up around 6:30 and spend the day tired and dozy feeling.  Maybe if I get to bed before 11 o'clock I'll feel more rested tomorrow.  I'm trying it.  Besides it's still blowing like crazy and getting into bed sounds good.
--Barbara