Sunday: The temperature has been steadily dropping since this morning. We started the day at 60. It's now 30. All I can say is 'Brrr!'
We went to second service this morning at church but I extracted an agreement that we'd not linger talking to folks but actually scurry for the door so I could spend some real time with Taylor. We arrived a good half hour before service started and so we were able to visit with and see a few people before service. I told John that was like the best of both worlds as far as I was concerned.
At Katie's we found the middles (as they refer to Caleb and Bella) were wild wires. Katie finally sent them outdoors to play. Had you heard the giggles and seen how much energy they burned you'd have wondered why she hadn't bothered to send them much earlier. It wasn't cold then, just cool and they were so busy playing they worked up a sweat.
Even Henry had energy to burn and jumped about in his little jumper thing until he almost passed out with sleep. The moment he was put in his swing, he went right out.
Taylor is fast approaching that stage where she is too old to play (in her own mind you see) and too young to be a sullen teen. Eventually she went out to play on the trampoline with the middles and you could see she was very much enjoying her time making them laugh and giggle. I suspect that everyone felt much better after that little bit of time outdoors. I even felt a bit better myself (today was my turn to watch them play. Caleb decides this matter each week). I sat in the sunshine and smiled as I watched the children play. Katie came out to crochet and Taylor joined us before going to play.
But boy, when the sun moved over the porch and left me in shadows...I got chilled fairly quick.
Caleb shared his knowledge with us today. He told us all about Dr. Martin, the King and how Monday was his day, and Caleb had a dream about him...John straightened his thinking out and explained it a bit better and quoted the opening line of "I have a dream..." I remember when Katie was little John printed out the entire speech and brought it home to read to the children at the supper table. Funny how that memory jumped up from the recesses of my mind.
Katie told us later that she'd been trying to correct him all week long about Dr. King. In Caleb's mind, because his teacher called it a holiday it is something like Easter Bunny, Santa and Halloween all rolled up into one...Yes, he is confused, but it apparently caught his attention and that's a good thing.
On the way home we ran by Publix. I planned to go in to pick up something quick for us to eat (it was 3pm and we hadn't eaten lunch), replace my broken clip-on sunglasses (didn't find any) and to get half and half. I can face a snow-in without milk since I have plenty of powdered milk on hand, but coffee and tea are a lot nicer with some cream! We got three other items: a whole chicken that has been on sale all month for $1.59/pound, a mango that was just beginning to soften and bananas. Nothing to complain over. The chicken weighed nearly 7 pounds! It's quite a large roasting chicken. No, I'm wrong we had a total of four other items. John and I walked down the meat case, and he pointed out a nice thick piece of sirloin steak that was reasonable enough. It certainly looked reasonable compared to all the other things we were looking at, anyway! I hadn't planned steak in our menu this week, but it is rare that John points out much of anything. That steak weighed in at 1.75 pounds so about three meals for us, I think. No harm done there. We should get two steak dinners and one stir-fried dish from it. Nothing to fuss over about that.
We opted to get fried chicken as a quick dinner because the deli was packed with a line that ran around the deli cases and one clerk working. We have leftovers of that as well. I shall have to go replan my menus to include those items.
We spent $56 today.
And worth noting about Publix today. There was one dozen eggs in the egg case. That was it. The whole case was empty. I don't know if that is due to the suspected incoming winter storm or if it is due to avian flu.
I scratched together a very quick and easy meal for us when we came in and then I went about and picked up the house. It was nearly 4:15 before we had lunch. Needless to say, I'm not planning on making supper! John can always make himself a PBJ half sandwich if he feels he wants something more.
They are predicting some fairly cold and messy weather for our area. I think I'll fix Rufus up a shelter of some sort on both porches since he likes to move between the two. The cat has done what Misu did. She took over the space we'd originally fixed up for Rufus.
I shall attend to that tomorrow when I can get into my shed. I did have bubble wrap to put under the cat and dog's rugs in their shelters, but I have a feeling I no longer have that. I might just run into town tomorrow and buy some. I need to get birthday cards for February anyway.
For now, I am off to read through my bloggers reading list and see what they have been up to over the past week.
Monday: I've not been as productive today as I could have been. I'll plead that it's cold and I have hit a key part of the book I'm reading, The Diary by Eileen Goudge. I wouldn't say that the book is terrific, but it's caught my interest enough to make me want to go on with it. I'm a bit over halfway through and yes, it's taken me this long to make up my mind to continue with it.
This morning John was looking online and saw a notice of Avian flu hitting Georgia farmers. I asked him, if there's no eggs, does that mean chicken prices will rise, too? I've tried to research this but can't find any info on anything but laying hens, so I don't know.
I did discover though that if the chickens are eliminated, it will be five months before new chicks can reach the age to lay an egg. So, I guess we'd best get used to high egg prices, I guess.
Like all other things, we'll get through this...
I've just done a pantry and freezer inventory and can say assuredly that we've food aplenty. I do wish I was better stocked with chicken, and I am absolutely out of ground meat. I have a solitary half pound. I knew I was low, but I confess I thought I had a bit more than that.
I have some older things I would really like to use up. For instance, the ground chicken I'd initially planned to use this week is older than I realized. I might substitute that this week and plan to do an Asian meatball of some sort rather than having the Porcupine meatballs. It's just a matter of changing the vegetables and starch I'd planned for the Porcupine meatball meal.
I did pretty well with the pantry inventory. My expired foods list is much shorter than the inventory I did in the summer. I had two cans of tomato soup expire. I have a funny feeling that grilled cheese and soup will be on the menu this week for lunch or the one supper I failed to plan.
Rufus has steadily refused any sort of shelter. I made him up a box today covered it with plastic to waterproof it, then faced the opening (one whole side left open so he needn't feel claustrophobic) away from the wind direction. I then draped some of my old flaky blackout curtains with the white waterproof backing over a chair that he sometimes likes to lie under and slid the box up to the chair, so he hopefully has a dry entryway if precipitation makes it down this far southwest. He and the cat both got some older towels as extra padding in their houses.
John said, "You know that Sassy is going to take that box over." "Then maybe he'll force her to share with him. I've done the best I could." We'll see how it goes. The weather is all over the news, right up there with inauguration highlights today.
Speaking of the inauguration, I think Melania Trump looked beautifully classic in her Navy with white accents outfit. I did note her heels which look like they were killers. I noticed as the day went in that there was a chair on each stage for her and the Vice President's wife to sit in while speeches were ongoing.
I'm going to go read some more of my book.
Tuesday: I woke in the early hours of the morning fretting over the upcoming doctor's appointment. I never worried with our usual doctor, but my mind raced with all the scathing remarks I've heard from doctors in the past. I finally shut my brain off and went back to sleep.
I don't know this doctor. I have no idea what he's like. That's the real source of my anxiety.
All that worry and loss of sleep was for naught. Before we were well awake this morning, they'd called and cancelled our appointments for tomorrow. I'm now rescheduled for the first part of February. I can't help but wonder if this third appointment will be the charm.
Funny enough, the pharmacy called shortly thereafter to ensure that I had indeed got an appointment with the doctor (explained weather cancellation and rescheduling) and they offered to hurry my prescription through (another extension) but warned they were closing at 2pm. I told her I had enough to last me a week at this point and would pick up over the weekend when we'll be in town anyway.
Then Katie's pediatrician called to cancel Henry's appointment. She'd just changed her phone carrier yesterday and got a new number. We are back-up contacts. It was a little whirl of phone calls first thing in the morning.
We've just had gas delivered. The company we are set-up with are very good about running their customers and checking tanks, so no one is without propane when weather is predicted. I told John, if this does turn into anything we're well set. I have fresh water drawn up and if we actually see snow accumulation, we'll fill the tub in the guest bath and a few more containers. We have heat, a means to cook, food and such. We'll do just fine.
Predictions are all over the place. 1/10th of an inch of ice accumulation? 6-8 inches of snow? 1 inch of snow? I wonder if we'll even see a flake of snow! The birds have been busy at the feeders the past two days. They are intent on filling their bellies and are once again at the point of getting loud and calling out if the feeder empties. For some reason they favor one feeder over the other.
I finished The Diary by Eileen Goudge. I wouldn't read it again, but it wasn't a horrible book. I didn't expect the final little twist in the plot but had already predicted one thing that came up. It was okay. I'll try another Goudge book and if that one is about the same, I'll move on to other authors and not repeat the process.
Wednesday: We got snow! I was messaging with Josie yesterday afternoon and she said, "Take care in the snow!" I told her we weren't even meant to get any...After we'd finished our conversation, I was getting up to go into the kitchen and glanced at the kitchen window, the only one we had shades and curtains upon on yesterday since it was so cold and miserable. I thought, "Uh oh...that looks like snow!" I told John, "Maybe we better go look out the window." Sure enough, snow was falling. It never got very thick or heavy, but it was steady for about five or six hours.
It didn't get thick enough on the ground to be pretty until dark, so no pictures then, but I got up a bit early this morning to try and get a picture or two before it started to melt. Mind you here at 1:30 it's only just 32F, so while some of it has melted some is staying put.
It was so cold last night we slept with the propane heater and the electric heat running. At some point in the night, I woke and thought, "Maybe I just better start the faucets dripping." I'm glad I did. When we got up at 7 it was 15F.
I fed the birds yesterday morning, but they'd emptied the feeders by 4pm, when it was snowing the heaviest. I took another measure of seeds out the front door and just threw them over the porch rail in the direction of the feeder. The birds were happy with that. This morning, John very sweetly took food out to the feeders for me and filled them up again. The birds were very happy about that.
Katie said Caleb got up this morning and got dressed straight away to go outdoors to play. He didn't even stop for breakfast and that's something of a miracle right there. She made him some oatmeal when he came in to warm up a little before he headed right back outdoors. Sam walked over from his hat to borrow something and told me his kids had been outdoors all morning, too. Snow is such a rarity here that we want the children to get all the enjoyment they can from it. Adults too. Notice I said Sam walked over. John's been out this morning and walked the yard a little bit, before he checked mail and took off trash. I haven't been out yet, but I'm going here in a minute. The back porch should be thawed enough now that I can safely get down the steps.
Later: I did it! I got out there and made myself a snowball and threw it a tree. I walked up to the opening between the two properties and back down to the house again. I felt secure doing that since I know there are no potholes along that edge. It also happened to be the only shady part of the yard with any real snow left. Gosh but it's pretty.
If it sounds silly that I'm so exultant over getting outdoors it isn't frailty but a bad habit of not doing the things I very much want to do. Are any of you like that? I think "Oh that's childish! Oh, you're being silly! You're 65 not some kid!" But you know what, in all my life we've had snow less than 10 times and doggone it I'm just as excited about it as any other kids. And I'm awfully tired of missing out on the things I really want to do and convince myself I'm silly for wanting them.
I had a nasty little shock this morning. My credit card balance went boom! and though I'd been keeping track of what I was spending and where, I wasn't keeping a running total. I don't spend money I don't have, but it still can send a shock through your system to see the total. If nothing else, it cools my jets!
I think some of my faultiest thinking is that when I need something, and I know it's something I need to attend to, I think it has to be bought right now. I don't feel that way about impulse things, only the things I've already planned to purchase. I knew I needed bras and tennis shoes and a couple of clothing items. But I might have paced my spending a wee bit better. That's something to keep in mind for the future.
Thursday: The snow isn't totally gone but for all intents it is. And it's cloudy and warming enough to give us cold rain in the next day or so.
Katie had texted me on Monday that Cody was ill with what appeared to be the flu. I thank goodness that schools were closed on Tuesday and Wednesday following the Monday holiday because Cody is not the sort to let illness keep him out of work. Well, he must be more ill than I'd reckoned because he didn't go to work today. Katie messaged me this morning to tell me he was home and that she and Caleb now have fevers...
Amie messaged me yesterday that she and her household are all sick. It was about 2pm or so when she messaged me, and she said the house was eerily still. Not one child was on an electronic device anywhere. They were all in bed sleeping off the illness. Lily was sick enough to warrant an ER visit where she was diagnosed with bronchitis on top of the ailment.
I have not been busy, but I've gotten a few things done. Mostly the extreme cold makes me want to stay near the propane heater. Yesterday I got the toy box cleaned up in the guest room. I sorted things back out. I doubt they will stay that way. I still have a toy that is completely missing and I've no idea where it might be. I probably should look under the bed again, but I don't recall seeing it there.
Then I made breadcrumbs. I'd noted I was nearly out when I did my pantry inventory on Tuesday (or was it Monday?). I had enough bread in the freezer to make 2-quart jars of breadcrumbs.
Today was sorting out the checkbook once again. The lack of going into the grocery shows clearly. I have half my grocery budget at the moment and there's an extra sum that is almost equal probably due to lack of impulse spending. I'm very pleased over that.
There are a few outages and few low items but I'm thinking at this point that I probably can manage until February if I just buy eggs, milk, cheese, celery, and onions. I'm thinking about $40-$50 if that much. I have enough of other things to carry us through without any issue.
John was amazed that the birds had emptied the feeders since yesterday. Today he filled them all the way to the top full. I wouldn't normally do that but honestly, they eat so much and so quickly that it's doubtful that will last more than two days or so.
I got my little walk in by going out to the compost bin and taking time to walk around the yard and pick up a few sticks. It was plenty cold out yet, though a lot warmer than the past two days. Rufus felt positively giddy in this weather. I think sleeping in his warm little shelter has helped him tremendously, though he's always been very persnickety about shelters of any sort.
And that's another day here in wintry Georgia.
Friday: It's beautiful and sunny outdoors. I've worked hard today cleaning our master bedroom. I am not done with that room. I had no idea it was so terribly dusty and dirty. I was cleaning walls, blinds, moving furniture to get under and behind things, and even took pictures down off the wall. Honestly, I was pretty upset that things were that bad. I clogged the vacuum! Ugh. I got overwhelmed, very overwhelmed at two or three points today but I rested, then went back and started again. I'm by no means done. But I called it a day this afternoon. I think three hours of work is enough (not counting rest periods just actual working periods).
When I was resting, I looked at the living room long and hard and decided that most likely when I'm finished with my room (I think on Monday), then I'm coming back to properly tackle the living room and do a deeper cleaning there than I'd done last week. After seeing how much dust and dirt and grime was everywhere in the bedroom, which we seldom use except for sleep, I'm determined to come back to the living area. We are in this room for hours every single day.
I've brief plans for the weekend, nothing too heavy. Tomorrow morning the children and I are going to the library to swap our book. I never did read The Guest Book by Sarah Blake. It may well be an excellent book, but I simply couldn't work up any interest in it. I even skipped forward into various chapters, and I still didn't get intrigued. I may come back to it after another time. It's supposed to be on the NYT Bestseller List.
I think what I want to read is something gentler, and slower, and more domestic.
After the library, we'll come here to have lunch. I'll send them home after an hour or two here.
I've loosely planned meals for tomorrow, and possibly Sunday.
I am tired. I had an anxiety attack hit this afternoon. I should have checked my blood sugar, but I didn't. At the time the anxiety attack hit we were watching a 1945 film, "Pitfall" which was rather good. John wondered if the movie set off the anxiety, but I don't think so. The movie was intrigue but not horrible.
We've watched two other really good movies in the past week. Last Sunday morning, we watched "Mr. Winkle Goes to War" which was actually a feel-good film with a happy ending. And then we watched a movie mid-week with William Holden called "Boots Malone" that was quite good, as well. I highly recommend all three movies.
I hope you all had a great week and will have a good weekend.
And just a quick note to Rhonda to say Thank You! I received the package and loved the bags.
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