Thursday, December 15, 2016

Today's a day.

To give you some background, we have an area nearby that is being logged, so there are log trucks and gravel hacks running past our place regularly.  This is a temporary thing, I keep telling myself, temporary.  Then another truck rumbles by, and I sigh, as it practically rattles the windows out.  Then, to add to the enjoyment, for some reason, they are hoot-owling.  This is a term for loggers who go out very early in the morning (read: usually about 3 a.m.)  Hoot-owling is normally a summertime thing, they have heavy restrictions in the forest, and have to stop at 1 p.m., because of fire danger.  So they start way, way early, to make up for it.  So, we’ve enjoyed rumbly trucks early, too!

So this morning, I was awakened by a really LOUD truck…  Blrgle??  Thought I, that truck has a PROBLEM.  It sounds like it’s dragging somethi- (flash)(flash)(flash)… Yellow lights? My brain was slowly moving from total fog to, well, less fog.

I finally clicked.

Snowplow.  Sure enough, when I dragged my semi-conscious self to the window and blearily looked out, there was the unmistakable bunch of snow, with a black ribbon of pavement visible.  The weather folks had been mentioning snow, I wasn’t sure if there would be.  There had been freezing rain and sleet the whole afternoon the day before. That is no guarantee of anything but more of the same, here.  I suppose I have to apologize, they were right on the money this time.

So, having been awakened, I got up, and was deciding on what was important to do.  I read some news, then was getting motivated to feed.  I dug out my “moon boots” which are (a-HEM) years old, but still do the job of keeping my feet both warm, and under me, when it snows.

Husband decided to go out and get some firewood, when he came back in, he said I really shouldn’t go out, it was slick.  Oh, yay… (It may have been mentioned that I no longer have bones of rubber… Yeah, thanks, rub it in, there, Husband…) I prepped the food for Rudee, with warm broth and a bone from last night’s dinner.  Husband fed the llamas and chickens.  He then took out the dog’s food, while I fed Buzz her breakfast on the front porch.  Ding, the indoor princess, was feeling very abused by this time…

I decided to have a breakfast of popcorn, for no particular reason.  I just wanted popcorn, and had the time to futz with it for a change.  I made a huge bowl for some reason, and ate about maybe a scant fourth.  Husband noticed this, and asked if I was going to finish it.  I told him, no, I’d made too much, perhaps the chickens would like it.  I’d also contemplated stringing some for the tree, when I do it up, but just didn’t really want to… My Meh level was pretty high, I guess…

He took it out, and yeeps, yes, they did, the fight was on! I worked on knitting some mittens that I am going to felt.  It was a nice, quiet day.  I decided that I was going to bake some cookies, make some bread, but what for dinner?  Hmm.

Chicken soup.  Easy, warming, and we’d not had chicken for a while. And there the thought stayed.
So, I started the cookies.  Now, talk about special order.  Both Husband and I like chocolate chip cookies.  However, I prefer oatmeal chocolate chip, he prefers traditional Toll House style.  So, one batch was Toll House Traditional, the next, oatmeal.

Now, in the midst of all this, Husband gets out the leash for Ding.  She knows that means she can go outside, and she was almost ridiculous in her meowing and jumping, to the point it was hard for him to get the leash on her.  Then they went out.  I had to watch, knowing she’d not seen snow.

Trot, trot, trot.  Right into the snow.  Then a sniff.  ?... Hmm.  She takes a few steps, confused by the noise, especially the crunching Husband makes walking behind her.  Well, that wasn’t going to stop her, she goes right around to the lilac, and starts her Hoover impression.  Then just as suddenly, she decides this is NOT fun, and bolts to the front door.  We let her in, and she starts frantically shaking her feet to get the snow off, and licking her toes.  She went right up near the fire, and glared at us for a bit.  Until Husband brought out the leash again.  This happened about 3 times, then I think she figured out that that white crap wasn’t all that much fun.  The rest of the day saw her dozing on the couch, hidden under an afghan.

So, had the bread baking, finished the cookies, and made myself a cup of tea, to relax before I started anything else.  So, I just had taken a big swallow of tea, and Husband pipes up, “You know what we should have for dinner?  Chicken soup! We haven't had that in a while.”  Nearly sprayed the poor man, I burst out laughing.  Then had to explain why I was laughing…

Mom called, and one of our friends was the subject of the discussion.  The friend had gone out, and the wheelchair she was in had tipped over, dumping her face first on the concrete.  Her daughter managed to get her upright, and demanded she go to the ER.  Very begrudgingly, she did, only to find out, she had nearly broken her nose, and had a concussion.  Yes, boys and girls, ice is SOOOO much fun. (Pbbbt!)

On the bright side, the same friend had received a call to come and pick up her layaways, they needed to be picked up immediately, yada yada…  Well, she thought she had more time, they were for Christmas, after all.  She went in loaded for Grizzly bear on what she thought about needing to take care of her account early.

She arrived at the counter, and the clerk said, you owe us a penny.  Not quite grasping what the clerk said, she pipes up, no I owe Xity x, so what’s the problem here?  The clerk then explained that someone had come in and had paid off her account, except for one penny.  She could pick up her items.  She was very happy, to put it mildly…

I haven’t seen much Christmas Magic in the wild lately, so that was wonderful to hear.

I nominated a friend for volunteer of the year at the Sheriff’s Office, have been listening to the very casual net that was set up to BS monitor the snow situation, and wrote this blog. Then I will probably knit a bit more, and go to bed.

Hopefully, not to be awoken tomorrow by yellow flashing lights and a godawful scrunching sound…

4 comments:

Sharon said...

Most definitely a day! Sorry about your white stuff, and the icy conditions. Usually we get the icy conditions. A snow plow would be an exotic animal around here. Wish I could whip up some of your baking ambition!

messymimi said...

Ding is hysterical, and i pray the lady who fell out of her wheelchair recovers speedily. Happy Holidays with no more snow plows!

stephen Hayes said...

Chicken soup sounds delicious right about now. Have a terrific weekend.

Sharon said...

Happy New Year, Cat!

How did felting the mittens go?