“Dust is a protective coating for fine furniture.”
Last night it rained. It was unexpected. The morning started as a leftover, cloudy day, a warm day at 45°, but the sun has broken through and the blue sky spans the horizon. The Globe had an article about this winter’s heat. January’s average temperature was 16° above normal, and they are predicting an almost snowless, warmer than average February. Soon enough, okay not so soon, New England is predicted to have weather similar to present day Florida’s winter warmth. I guess that means a return migration. They’ll be back, all those Floridians who used to be New Englanders.
Yesterday I outdid myself. First, I cleaned the yard and was quite surprised by the treasures Nala chose to steal. One was the wastebasket from upstairs. It is made of Ghanaian cloth and is lined with plastic from water sachets which are heat sealed plastic bags filled with sanitized water. They are sold by small girls from trays carried on their heads. They are the trash everywhere in Ghana. Surprisingly, there was no damage so it is back upstairs, but I don’t know for how long. I also found the jar of my Colorado blueberry jelly. The cover was still on. Empty cat food cans filled with water littered the yard. Gnawed, torn pieces of paper were all over the yard. My prisoner stick worked well on those. I found stuffing from cloth Christmas decorations which looked like snow, fluffy white snow. When I finished, I treated myself to coffee and toast with blueberry jelly.
My next chore was to bring down to the cellar the bins filled with Christmas and those decorations too big for the bins. I made 5 trips going slowly one step at a time as I do have a near tragic history with stairs. Think broken bones. On two of those trips I took only one decoration at a time, first the block tree then the pine cone tree. No animals were hurt during this activity. I replaced the front door wreath with a wooden snowflake then I took another coffee break.
Last night I was tired. All that cleaning is unnatural. I am a sloth.
Explore posts in the same categories: Musings
January 30, 2023 at 6:44 pm
Hi Kat,
This morning was a cold 28° under cloudy skies. To our west in Ft. Worth the bridges were icing in the freezing drizzle. Here near the big airport we have hardly had a few sprinkles. The forecast is for more freezing precipitation over night and through to Wednesday morning. I plan on driving to work in the morning. It’s only three miles and one overpass. I haven’t turned on the local news to discover how many wrecks were going on during the day.
Nala, has interesting choices to drag into your yard. Have you tried a pet physicist? Maybe they can analyze her from her variety of items stolen. 🙂 Her choice in jam flavors is superb, but she can’t figure out how to open the jar. At least she didn’t try to break the jar and injure her mouth. After all a dog will eat anything including poop with glass shards.
Be ultra careful going down the cellar stairs with the boxes.
January 30, 2023 at 9:47 pm
Hi Bob,
Right now, at 9:30, it is 38°. It will get only a degree or two colder tonight, but tomorrow we will get rain and maybe snow. I have to go out tomorrow so I’m hoping for nothing, but I’ll pick the rain over the snow as long as it doesn’t get below freezing.
When I got Henry, he wouldn’t let me touch him. He was also afraid of sudden noises and other people. My vet recommended a dog shrink so I had her see Henry. It was expensive but worth it. She also put him on medication; however, I think Nala helped Henry the most.
He still jumps a bit at noises, but he doesn’t run away. He always wants to be patted and follows me around. He even lets my cleaning lady pat him.
Nala chews pine cones and sticks. She even brings them in from the yard. She doesn’t usually break anything she steals, but rather she tears apart cardboard and paper. Yesterday she tried to steal a frame with Gracie’s picture in it but dropped it at the dog door before she could escape. That dog is a pip.
I was most careful down the stairs. I was willing to take as many trips as I need so I wouldn’t over load myself carrying stuff.
January 30, 2023 at 11:30 pm
Our January was 4°Celsius too high which is an average March temperature. Normal amount of rain for a change but the ground is still too dry after several dry years. Not much hope for reasonable climate policies here despite a partly green but dysfunctional 3-party government.
Have a good rest after all this work!
January 30, 2023 at 11:54 pm
Hi Birgit,
For a good part of the rest of this week, the days will be cold, but the nights will be frigid, down to the mid to low 20’s and even lower. We have had so much rain this winter and more tomorrow that the drought of the last couple of years has pretty much been washed away (Don’t groan. I like my pun).
Today I did nothing except to put the trash in the car for the dump Wednesday ( closed today and tomorrow).
I am happy my house is clean and back to its old self!