3-11-2019 Monday--7:30am

Good (but painful) morning.

I thought my back was gradually improving but then I woke up early this morning with it just as bad as a week ago.  Slept wrong somehow?  Didn't do anything I can think of to set it off.  Been being careful and doing gentle stretching.  Oh well.  Such is life.  

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Anyways, we had snow early in the week.  The grouse were determined that if they dug down they could find some of that buried seed...which they did.  :)  

 Do you see that head peeking out in the middle of the picture?  That is how deep we are talking that the girls were digging holes--ROFL!

You can see how deep the snow drifts had become on my patio.  The walls of snow banks across the way have really changed the wind game out there.  

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While one covey was on the patio another was waiting over under the pine tree. 

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Meanwhile, I know I mentioned in a couple of letters to people how my one eye had been watering so much but I can't remember if I said anything about it on the blog.  Well, turns out I think I also have a mild case of pinkeye.  Since I knew that McFamily had it I had been being very careful to use a clean cloth or tissue to wipe the tears from that eye and tried not to rub my eye.  But if I gave in and rubbed because it itched it was soon puffy and blood shot and pink.  I have had a little crusting in the corner of my eye--but I never sleep very long at one time so it was minor.  

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Dagan was coming over with seed from Fleet Farm on Friday so they sent me over the leftover eye drops they had...in case it was bacterial instead of viral.  So I have been doing the eye drops since Friday.  Still watering, but not as much and not as itchy or crusty.

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They're all sick again at McFamily's--or still.  Leah and Liam have strep throat and are on antibiotics.  I didn't know they sell test kits for strep throat.  Leah was getting a kit for Dagan and Ian when she picked up the meds for her and Liam.  Dagan was still coughing a lot when he was here and blowing his nose.  I haven't even heard if they tested positive for strep or not.

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Myself--pinkeye, back pain, and still stuffed up and blowing my nose.  But I have had strep years ago and it don't have any of those symptoms.  Nose doesn't hurt as much now with the new humidifiers, either, so that's something.  Very tired from lack of sleep and having to try to sleep in my chair some days.  Watching a lot of good shows.  Rented season eight of Vera (love how she calls people "pet" or "love") and Bohemian Rhapsody (which  has made me want to rent Live Aid and Woodstock).  On Netflix streaming I watched Russian Doll and Luther.  On Amazon Prime I'm still watching the British detective series from the 90s called Wycliffe.  Oh, and on Netflix streaming I am still watching Heartland little by little, too. 

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On Friday night through Saturday we had another winter storm.  The drifts on my patio gained another foot or so.  As you can see in the early morning light, I can still get the patio door open several inches to toss out seed... 

...into the valley between the 3 foot drift by the door and the next 4 foot drift.  I'm guessing...could be higher than that.  You can tell how windy it was because the empty bird feeder is now filled with snow--LOL!

The electricity was also off from about 4-9am Saturday morning.  So I switched over the clocks early since I had to reset them anyways. 

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Annie has been in a lovey mood.  I think she knows I don't feel well because our normal routine has been kind of out the window this past week.

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Yesterday digging critters and 20 degree weather started packing down the snow a bit next to the patio door. 

So odd to see a rabbit be able to stand up and check out the bird feeder.  No, I didn't catch a photo of that.  Only one rabbit checked it out--no food so no interest.  Good.  I don't want them gnawing on the wood. 

Annie can no longer see CatTV unless she jumps up to sit on the little tan recliner or on my chair with me.  This definitely frustrates Annie.  She goes up to the patio door and stares into a wall of snow...she can hear them but can't see them...suddenly she'll race around the apartment and beat up her toys with great ferocity.  Out of desperation, she's taken to jumping up on the curio cabinet in my bedroom to peek out the bedroom window.  But she can only see a small tree with maybe a few sparrows or juncos if she's lucky.  And not close up like she's gotten used to--LOL!  Annie is more than ready for some melting weather.  

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Me--I'm more than ready to be feeling better.  Snow doesn't bother the housebound much--LOL!  I have grown used to the endless lower back pain but this mid-back stuff is worse.  Sharper.  More debilitating when it is in a testy mood.  

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So, that's it from here.  No work on the book this week.  No calligraphy.  Only able to write letters...or type...here in my chair...when I am able.  So, I didn't even respond to comments last week.  :(  I read every one of them and appreciate them so much.  I still plan to at least go through and answer any questions.  Not sure if I will get around to much online this week, either.  Here I thought this week would be better...well, maybe it will be.  Things can shift around with this touchy back stuff.  I hope I am in much better shape next week when we chat.  

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In the meantime, so many good shows to watch and I look forward to reading every single comment.  Annie is happy to spend more chair snuggling time.  Have fallen in love with my heating pad.  The sun is shining.  We have critters to watch from a new angle--LOL!  Caroline comes to clean tomorrow, so she can bring my trash out for me--and Dagan brought out what I had waiting most of the week when he was here on Friday (so grateful).  So, see you next week!  :) :)

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"I felt in need of a great pilgrimage

so I sat still for three days."

Kabir