Snowy Day

 


This morning the snowflakes got together into big clumps so they'd make more of an impression when they fell.  It was powdery snow, not packing snow, but I'd guess there was a good 5" of it when I went out to clear the driveway around 2 o'clock.  *sigh*  While I was out there the plow came down my side of the street twice and on his second pass he dislodged an ice boulder the size of an ottoman that the snowblower couldn't grind up and I could barely move.  I finally got the ice chopper and broke it up into more manageable pieces that I kicked around to spread them out because the bank's too high for me to shovel them over and the street is a sheet of smooth ice so the footing isn't stable.  *double sigh*  I'm tired of winter and also thinking that last week Wednesday I was sitting on Aunt B's lanai reading a book and thinking I might put on my swimsuit and hop into the pool because it was hot and humid.  Why, oh why did I ever come home?  (because my ticket said I had to)




 
 
This photo is proof that I finished the Jumble, the Sudoku, and the crossword today.  Well, you'll have to take my word about the crossword but it is finished.  This is the last day of the week that I'm confident that I can finish all three.  After today the Sudoku goes to 3-star level and it's iffy whether I can figure it out but I try, I always try, because sooner or later I'll solve one that's a 4- or even 5-star.  Hey, I can dream, can't I?



Today's toss was a tote that I pulled out from under the shelves behind the Rubbermaids that I store my off season clothes in.  It was labeled "China Cupboard-Fragile" so I was curious as to what was in there.  There were some Christmas tablecloths (donate) and a bunch of glass and china stuff from Durwood's mom and things I'd picked up at estate sales, etc. (donate).  But then there was the scuba Santa & treasure chest salt & pepper shakers I got one year at TJ Maxx, three creamers not shaped like cows, a Noritake goldfish that was Durwood's mom's, some silver and cut glass I'd gotten when I was filling my hope chest (Grandpa Stephan called it a "despair barrel" but he did build me one that he shipped up here; it's one of the things I kept from the storage last summer), and a pewter salt & pepper set from Penang, Malaysia which was the first foreign place that Durwood dragged me to.  (yes, you can cry all the way across the Pacific Ocean when you leave your babies behind and your husband insists that you make wills before flying off)  So I sat and stared at those things for about an hour, then moved them to the top of the TV armoire to get a little distance.  Within another couple hours I'd wrapped up all of the items except the three creamers and the goldfish.  They get to stay (so far), the rest is on its way to St. Vinnie de P the next time I'm down that way.

Supper tonight (and three other nights) was Cauliflower Puree with Rotisserie BBQ Chicken.  It's a recipe I Weight Watcher-ized last year.  You pulse raw cauliflower in the food processor until it's pretty much rice sized, then you add a little cornmeal and some broth, and cook it until it's like grits.  Then stir in shredded cheddar and salt and pepper.  You make bbq sauce with tomato sauce, a bit of catsup, some yellow mustard, ancho chili powder, onion and garlic powders that you simmer for a few minutes, then you stir in chopped rotisserie chicken.  It makes 4 servings and is very yummy.  I hope it doesn't mind being frozen.





Tonight I finished the Teeny Tiny Purse except for finding a button.  I made it a bit taller and I think the handle is too long.  I'll make a few adjustments on the next one.  And there will be a next one.  Instant gratification, that is.




27 February--Tropical Obsession. 

Manning sat with his back against a boulder, black binoculars held to his eyes. His elbows rested on his bent knees. He was motionless, his gaze focused on the horizon. With his hair bleached pale blond by sun and salt water, his khaki shirt and shorts, and his tropical tan he looked like a part of the landscape. He had arrived in the cool pre-dawn picking a sentinel spot that would give him a little protection from the midday sun. As the sun rose, so did the wind, swirling the sea into a white blur on the shoreline rocks and sending a cooling spray over him that sparkled in the light. As the day aged toward noon, the surface of the ocean, flat at dawn, wrinkled and crumpled into chop and then whitecaps. Five-foot waves exploded in geysers as they met the coast, finally convincing him that no rendezvous would happen that day.

I have hopes that it stops snowing for a few days.  My haircut today got postponed until next week because my stylist had to go to Appleton to pick up his wife who returned from Florida today and he texted saying that the roads were awful so he wanted to reschedule.  I didn't want to be driving around on slick roads either so I only went to the grocery and pharmacy late in the afternoon after the plows and the sun had done their work.  Tomorrow I see my trainer at the Y.  I missed 3 weeks so I have faith that I'll be huffing and puffing tomorrow and sore on Friday.  And I pay for that.
--Barbara