snow in the yard

 

 

 

 

The snow in the yard yesterday (vs. a non-wintery picture of the same igloo in use during the rest of the year)  Lyffan the cat, and Melody the mostly blind goat.

 

 

 

 

The downstairs dog yard was nearly entirely melted today, although this was yesterday.

I obviously didn't go into the post office yesterday, and some places around here got historic snowfall on Friday.  We were recorded as having about 3.5 inches.  The upper driveway was quite deep, where the snow gathered at the top of the hill, but 3.5 sounds about right for the rest of the yard.  

The snow half-melted here yesterday, and it is supposed to get up to 40 F today. Mark wants to try to go out to town at that point and refill the propane tank. I had a bit of a slump yesterday, very tired, didn't feel like doing much, and napped. Then I went up and checked out the asphalt road (mostly clear), started the truck's engine for five minutes and cleaned the snow off the truck.

I went over all the steps of making oven grilled cheese with Esme again. She said it was a good refresher because in school they still aren't allowed to actually use the stoves for anything - the teacher has to do the stove part for them.  She said things like this 'recipe' would actually be useful, vs. making a cake with replacement materials like Splenda and vegetable shortening - which she would never want to make, or eat, and wasn't allowed to do the baking part on, anyway.  We've made cakes since then, and talked about the importance of ingredients, mixing with a mixer vs. mixing with a fork (still possible, lots more work but don't discount it as a process)  and order of operations (butter and sugar) etc..   She talked about how it is tough for them to learn when they aren't allowed to do things - and I told her I've burned my knuckles on our stove before (and showed her how) and she did all the process on the grilled cheese, using the hot pads and turning the food etc etc..  If she just keeps up practice, it will become second nature to her and she can use whatever facilities are in an apartment or dorm to the best of her advantage.  We were allowed and even expected to do the whole process from ingredients to finished cooked or baked meal, and cleanup - in our home economics class.  Things have changed on that, and it's not helping our kids out.

I've done laundry and dishes today and a little cleaning. Should do some more laundry this afternoon while it's warm because it dips back down with the cold tomorrow. All of our animals are quite upset it is still cold. Mark lit up a chicken coop lamp in the corner of the office and the little elderly cat has been basking under it.

 

I went out around noon, and got propane.  The roads were a bit touchy in a few places - I've got decent hope for tomorrow, though.  The top of the drive was the most worrisome thing I could do something about (as there was no stopping at the highway entrance, where there was another good patch of snow in the shade of some trees).  Then I made an omelet, and convinced myself to take a wide concrete floor squeegee out to the road and push off most of that deep snow.  I took the truck and made a new set of tracks afterwards, while the temperatures were still in the forties (Fahrenheit).  It's going to be freezing temperatures 30-32 degrees at the very most tomorrow... so if that gets a chance to get the road clearer, I was going to try it.  I've done a bit more laundry, towels and blankets.  I've got to turn the laundry taps off again here after the load that is in there finishes.

Lyffan cat, sleeping on one of the other blankets that is on the table by the laundry baskets.

Mark wanted me to take Esme to town with me to get the propane, but I didn't really even want to take ME out there, with the potential for ice and so forth.  He said how is that different than wanting her to cook food and use the oven etc etc that no one lets her experience at school because of 'safety'?   I couldn't think of anything to say to him except 'It's different.  I'll tell you how later, but I'm not taking her out with me today.'  I explained it later to Esme like this : Let's say the ice is like a bear in the yard.  It might be there, but we're probably not going to go fight it unless we have a really good reason to.  I'm definitely not going to take her out there to fight it with me unless there is an actual reason for her to be out there.  The ice isn't a bear.. but there will be a day when she says she WANTS to be there and see how to drive on it, or when she has to - and needs more advice etc.  But I am not going to just take her out when I'm doing something risky - getting propane on an icy day - because it is an 'adventure' and a learning opportunity.  If he wanted to go, that would be different for him - because he is an adult and can choose to go out there with me.  Cooking food in the house is different, yes, there is still inherent risk and she needs to do it to learn more, but it is a constant event and not a 'hey right now it's really risky to drive, let's go do it while we have the chance'.... *sigh* 
 

January Snow

 And our eighteen year marriage anniversary, as well!

We had said we might go have a cheeseburger like we did the first time we went out - but all of this snow is still falling, and the weather service forecasted four to eight inches.  

This was seven am

Sweetie and Loki looking at me asking me why I haven't fixed it.

This was 11:30, going on noon

you can see several inches stacked on top of the porch rails and pipe caps.

 

Esme was home from school.  And Mark told me I had already been stressing over this forecast all week - I should just stay home.  I got up and got ready and looked at it... and decided it was a bit like Lethal Weapon, where Murtaugh says he is too old for this ..... yea.  Last year was very stressful, getting stuck and walking home and not being able to get the truck for a week.    I did call out first thing this morning with it falling fast before dawn - and I might also have to tell the post office I can't get in tomorrow.    The place with my office job has shut down for the day and gotten people home.  I'm sure the postmaster is already having a 'wonderful time' with all the trouble today is causing - I will give him a text or such later on today.

carrying too many bits while running

They're still forecasting snow for us on Friday - and it keeps getting bigger and bigger... the mechanic has not come and gotten the little car to look at the coolant leakage and overheating issue yet. I have been driving the mail truck - and did the bank yesterday after work, the feed store today (it was closed yesterday) and going to have to figure out some way to get a 20 lb propane cylinder tomorrow since the little car is down and Mark will run out sometime over the weekend otherwise. I've termed all of these extra chores on top of work 'quests for humans' to Esme in a conversation recently and boy... there have been a lot of extra 'quests' this week, and the quest time is limited because I get off work at 3:30 and everything closes by 5. And it's not even Friday yet.   

 

I really wish the car was working as well because Esme has to wait at the cold bus stop now with no shelter a half-mile from the house and the temps are in the 20s, and being a teenager she won't wear a coat (I'll just put my hands in my hoodie and use my breath). Most of all, I wish the cold weather would back off and we could have Spring.  Sure.  Yea.  Grandma was saying the birds were telling her it was going to finally be winter the other day.  Work is going well if I can just keep getting there every day - and then there is the post office on Saturday to get to, as well.  GROWL (at weather).  When I got home tonight I tried to clean out the back of the truck because Mark was sure if I just removed some of the junk there I could transport the 40 lb propane cylinder in it. But I could not find a way to strap the 40 lb. one securely, even empty, because of the topper brackets. I succeeded in cleaning out junk and soaking both of the knees of my jeans with questionable oil, mud, battery acid and who knows what else from the back of the truck bed.  

 

Esme took the 150 lbs of feed down to the garage for me using the sled, and had lots of paperwork to sign for her new semester which includes Spanish, Criminal Justice and Chemistry. I was in a 'frantic mood' (batten down the hatches, back off because she's spinning and getting it done but she's obviously a firecracker waiting to blow)  while I made the rest of dinner for Esme and I to go with the leftovers Mark already had started before I got home. I said 'en trousse se quoi' a bit louder than I expected and had Esme come out of her room and ask me if I was really okay.  I told her it felt a bit like I had been a fox chased by hounds all day, and that was the essence of what I had said - a bit like 'now what else in the world is chasing me'.  She said she knew that was a frustrated saying but she didn't know what it really meant.  Once I had eaten something, it was a bit better.  

 

It has been years since we called and tried to find out how much getting a large propane tank in the yard they would come and fill up was -- and the plumbing required to get the line put down near where the heater is in the house.  As I recall the price was very prohibitive for it being the only place we have propane in the house.  But then, it was easier (but not easy) to transport single tanks in the other truck before its engine blew up.  If I have some time on lunch tomorrow I might call them from work.  It will be another cold hectic morning tomorrow.  I've done French and Japanese today.

fuzzy

 

 

a fuzzy pair

Lyffan and Loki enjoying a rare moment together at the foot of the bed today.  Lyffan moved just as I started to snap the picture - and she is extremely hard to get a photo of most of the time.  I got a few others of her the night before on my phone but they are refusing to transfer to the computer.  

Had a chance to speak French to a cashier at the grocery store - they were talking about being able to speak 'really good French' in a dream, but they can't speak it well.  He did a better go of remembering sentences than I did, although I understood all of what he said.  I remembered a lot more I could have said to him later - just like in English.  I am still thinking of maybe getting a Babbel subscription or taking some of those online lessons because speaking is still the hardest thing.  Just figuring out what you want to say, in any conversation, is one thing.  Then you have to translate it over.  Trying to figure out if I even should speak in Spanish to the truck drivers at work who keep saying 'no english' to me is hard enough.  I did write up a card in what I am sure is awful grammar to give to them with the dock instructions when they tell me that next time.

 

I did the walking route yesterday at the post office, for the first time in about four months.  I normally have my own route to do on Saturdays, but they had circumstances with people quitting and being out on surgery and I had to be shuffled to make sure they had someone there that could do every route.  In the middle of the day I stumbled off one of the porches - not a very tall one, but concrete steps - and somehow did a 'ta-da' type Spiderman crouching catch at the end and stood up surprised that I hadn't actually fallen on my face, instead.  Happy, yes.. but definitely also surprised.  I didn't get hurt, not even tearing up my hand because it was on grass - but I knew I'd feel the extra muscle work today.  I felt ALL my leg muscles today, because I haven't walked that fast for that far for a while - but I definitely feel the opposite knee and thigh muscle responding to the catching pose that I ended up in.  I am not Spiderman.  repeat after me... *ha*  

Being hypermobile is sometimes a good thing, maybe a bit more 'rubber' when it comes to some sorts of falls and catches - and the knee or ankle that might fold up and give out one moment instead of breaking will hurt like a * but 'snap back in place' and be usable - but also you definitely feel it later, comes back on with a vengeance the next day like 'WHAT did I do to myself.. oh right, and that could have been worse, so suck it up and also be more careful'.... and you really have to be more careful with it until it has time to heal, because now it is less likely to have that rubber-response as it has already used up that flexibility and now will tear easier.. and when you tear the skin up like catching with your hands and knees on the ground that is always taking longer to heal up than a 'normal' person would etc.

 

It has been fairly warm and raining all day - but it is supposed to get down to freezing and maybe snow a little tomorrow and the next day.  I am not terrified of driving in it but I have not been looking forward to when that will come and I have to try to get into the new job in that weather.  Mostly, I worry about the hills being icy.  The start time is before dawn, and I don't like the idea of having to be out there trying to get up hilly roads in the pre-dawn ice.  The post office would often understand if I said I didn't want to leave before first light - because as long as I got there and got it done it really wasn't an issue.  The office job is much more linked to timeclock time and being there consistently on time.  They go by 'the points system'.  ie: A late punch counts for as many 'points' as an absence.  The only way to get the minimum amount of points for not being there exactly from 7 am to 3:30 pm is to attend in the beginning of the day and have a doctor's note for an appointment in the afternoon - and that is still a quarter of a point off.  It's one of those systems made by people who don't have to live through it etc... but it is what it is and so far I haven't had to have any 'points' knocked off - because I knew the ice was coming I have just tried to do it all correctly and hope the weather cooperates.

 I'm going to get to bed and let tomorrow 'be tomorrow'.... I was quite tired earlier today and took a nap for a few hours while the rain was falling the heaviest.  Esme went out to do chicken feeding about that time and two of the dogs came and told me they were worried about her and she was 'out in the weather' and I had to let one out and calm the other one down until Esme came back in a few minutes later.  We've all had dinner now and the rain is off-and-on, so they are laying down now.

I have done some French on my phone Duolingo, and Japanese on my computer.

Happy New Year

Doing Catalan and Japanese lately.  Taking a financial literacy course with Esme - wish it could be more driver's training but we'll take what we can get because she does need to know more about this as well.  She is learning about CD's, interest calculation and bonds and much more.  I'm auditing the course with her so I see exactly what she sees and it is also getting some things straight that I might have mixed up telling her about otherwise.  She is taking some extra Spanish, as well.  

Working.  All the changeover to the new year things in the files - yay, but glad the holiday season is getting over because that was messing with the logistics scheduling and rates.  Hoping the snow in the forecast this weekend goes far far away from us or just isn't that bad.  I can keep up with this schedule (six days on and sometimes lately seven days on per week) if the weather keeps cooperating - but if we get snow and ice I'm anxious about missing work (and late clock-ins count as absences).  We need to get a few grocery things before that hits but I used my time after work to go to the auto parts store in the other town tonight. 

The little car needs coolant again - again?  Why?  We just had it filled a month ago?  Probably has a slow leak somewhere. Last time the light was on for a week or two weeks before it actually showed any tendency towards overheating (and we got the coolant replenished before it actually even overheated once).  Also, that coolant light only comes on for thirty seconds or so when starting the car, and then goes off - until the coolant actually gets quite low and shows overheating tendencies, then it comes on more often.  Yet another thing for the to-do list learning how to upkeep the little car.  Mark and Esme helped with putting in the brake fluid the other day and that light has been off since.  At least we have more of the correct coolant now in the vehicle to add to the system when the car is cooled down, although that doesn't help much when I've driven it to town and dark falls almost immediately when I get home.  Come to think of it, should check the oil in the mail truck as well, another thing I don't think to do as often as I should and that one is an older vehicle it really doesn't have the warning lights it's all 'by ear' (listening to the engine) or by the calendar type maintenance.

Coffee.  Working.  Thinking about the budget.  Staring into the middle distance.  Scrolling way too much on the news sites in between other things.  Going to sleep when it's cold and dreaming confusing dreams.  Tiny twinges here and there that I should work on my dachshund book or read another of three books that are hanging around but .... *coffee*

The Japanese is new material - that is good.  The Catalan is review, but I haven't done it in many months and then just started again so I'm happy with it.

bits

coffee pots

Mark had to label my new one properly so we won't mix them up.  Ha.  Languages - doing Japanese and Catalan.  Esme walked into the room as I was watching the coffee pot and doing Catalan on my phone after taking this picture.  She says : I heard a voice I didn't know and I got worried! Duolingo voice.

We went to town today to get this coffee pot and a few other things.  I talked with her about budgeting, estimating, planning and skills we should make sure she knows for college etc. We talked a little bit about body language, as well.  

I don't get to have conversations with her as often now that I'm at my new job.  And I know I info-dump on her when we do have conversations like this - and she gets to see my anxiety mathematical nerd side.  But I hope she will be able to use some of this when she is older.  It is hard to believe that she will graduate in just a few years, and then maybe technical college to see if what she has expressed interest in is the way she wants to go.