Here We Are

 Here we are......The weather outside is frightful 
but the fire is so delightful and since there's no
place to go.....let it snow (rpt. 2X").  Words from an
old song that no one knows anyway.

My mailman says this is the worst winter of the 32 years he's worked.
Yesterday, I just gave up. I even said it out loud...... "I give up...... no more
shoveling or driving.  Depression babies are the original "preppers" and I
actually haven't been to a store for at least two months. I can even easily make
it into spring.

I suppose some of you are wondering how long I prepare for this. I don't.
D. babies are just natural hoarders. I have one room upstairs that I use
for (ahem) extras. Fresh fruit for my morning smoothie can be a bit of a
problem but I have learned how to ferment blueberries and pears. I
grow flats of microgreens and have many jars of various seeds. Potatoes,
carrots and turnips keep well in the cellar. The onions do well in the front
porch but will freeze in the back porch. Fifteen lbs. of organic oats from
Wisconsin, alone could keep one going all winter. I actually ferment that
too, with kefir.... yum and finally cook it in a crockpot.  There is a good
supply of Einkorn flour. Also bags of brown rice for the pups along with
their bags of food but Amazon prime will deliver quickly if needed.
The freezer hold their hamburger and bacon but in weather like this I
could just as easily put their meat on the back porch. LOL

Fresh organic eggs from the chickens and the tool shed has a good supply
of organic chicken feed. The hay shed is brimming with the sweet smell
of grass hay. When I put new hay in the coop, the hens love to peck through
it for seeds. Sorry chicks, it's the nearest thing to free range that you'll
get in the winter weather.

Everything is organic..... no GMO's. I even make my condiments. My
fermented catsup is dynamite.

The dogs get exercise from a treadmill. The poor little pups can't even
walk in the yard. They sorta "hop and lunge through the deep snow.

Am I bored? Never.... I learned how to make wifi from a wire coat hanger
and also how to make my own TV antenna. Ha..... maybe now I
can get rid of that expensive cable bundle.

If you stuck with me this long,  congratulations.
It's a boring subject but actually I love winter.  I could do with a warm day
once a week. By warm I mean anything above 32 deg. Yes, I'd settle for that.

18 below forecast for tonight. I have to turn on the 2nd heat lamp in
the chicken coop in spite of the fact that the coop is pretty well insulated.
Why don't I move to a warmer climate? I did live in
Florida for 25 years and I far prefer this to hurricanes and snakes.
I don't mean for this to sound like I'm complaining...... just showing
some of you what it's like to live in a snow country.

Marilyn's mother's motto was "Make your own sunshine." In case some
of you don't know, Marilyn is my best friend of over 60 years.  She
is the oldest of ten kids. I often mention her.

Take care of yourself, stay clear of the flu and make sunshine.

For the Love of "Pi"

Sweet Little "Pi"

I was just happily
going along in my
own world, loving 
my life as it was, 
training my almost
2-year old herding
puppy, when a little
elderly dog named
Pi appeared in my 
life. 

Who could resist those pleading
black eyes.  Here was my
argument with myself......
She needs a home, but, but, but
I stammered, "She's old. The vet thinks she could be over 10."  She'll become a
bright love in my life and then she'll die, just like my Cody was stripped away from
me a year ago.  I don't need another empty hole in my heart. But alas, the argument was
useless as she had already wiggled her way into my love circle.

"I'll get you, my pretty, you and your little dog, too."
My son thinks she looks like Toto. Ha

Life is pretty amazing, isn't it? Each day something magical and illustrious happens.
When the garden paths are frozen over with ice and snow flakes swirl, the indoor
attention-grabbing chores can be attended to.  I don't need the prodding of a Mercury
retrograde to finish the mittens I started knitting last winter  or to finally finish the new kitchen
curtains.  Ummm, it's also time to think about summer gardens and get the seeds started
indoors.  I'll never plant pumpkins again. They are space thieves.

I've also been eating my way through many flats of microgreens that are grown in
doors. See, I can have dirty finger nails all year round.  And books...... oh my goodness,
I have so many books waiting to be read. Here's one I'm reading that someone might
also find interesting..... "Nutrient Power,........Heal Your Biochemistry and Heal
Your Brain" by William J. Walsh.  This is one of my favorite subjects as I'm seeking
ways I can bring my invalid daughter to live with me.  Not a popular subject to very
many.

5 weeks since I last posted. Tempus really does fugit, what say?