Monday, April 15, 2019

4-15-2019 Monday 12:45pm

Good afternoon!
The grackles are back...
..and I saw a mourning dove, too, before the... 
...blizzard we had on Thursday. 
No birthday visit to McFamily's again--LOL!  I was home feeding the birds and rabbits who braved the horizontal snow for meals.  They came all day--fur and feathers pushed backwards and getting splattered with heavy, wet snow.  Half the time I couldn't even see the apartments across the way.
Within a couple of hours I couldn't really see outside very well anymore with all the snow sticking to the patio doors and screen.
I forgot to show you all the birthday cards I added to the frig.  :) 
By Friday the snow had melted off the patio doors. 
The world was white again. 
Snow plows were busy. 
My patio was white again... 
...and covered with footprints.  
Everybody was hungry... 
...and the snow was melting fast. 
I had a Gramma Day with Ian on Saturday.  After lunch we watched another two episodes of Our Planet.  This time it was jungles and coastal waters.  After that he wanted to watch a few more episodes of his PJMasks show.  (I forgot to take pictures again--duh!)  I'm glad Ian doesn't mind quiet days with Gramma when she's not up to much more than that.  ;)
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I even got back to the Julia Cameron book this week!  TaDa!!  This memoir period was 1982-1989--the Roger years in Wisconsin.  Country music, band practices, beer, visiting his Red Owl produce departments, the studio, sang three songs with the band a couple times...working at a handicapped school, Melissa, day care teacher (with the problem kids), adult mentally ill rec person and transportation...stone house in the woods by a creek, mobile home, the farm... 
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Answering the memoir questions is always interesting.  Like going over another lifetime every week--LOL!
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It's been above freezing every day...   
...so this is what it looks like today.
No snow left on or around my patio at all...but a few raindrops. 
Not much evidence left of the blizzard. 
That's good.  I actually have spring fever this year. 
Probably because of being forced to be so inactive for so long this winter between being sick and back issues.  I have flowers on the brain and am thinking all the time about sitting on the patio reading.  I've even been looking on Amazon for a headset to use for audio books.  Leah is helping me.
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In fact, this morning I scrubbed down the humidifiers and left them to dry so they're ready to go to the garage until next winter.
The bird feeder needs to come down (McFamily has to bring over the tall ladder), chairs and small tables back out to the patio, garden hose and the water dish for the birds to drink and bathe.  But--I am not planning on feeding the critters this summer.  I know--shock.  They eat waaaay less, other people feed them here, and I really want a cleaner more inviting patio this summer.  I am determined to spend some actual time outdoors this spring and fall.  Summers are too hot and sticky for me to stand it out there, so the opportunities are brief and I want to take advantage this year.  
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Also need to haul in the bins with my summer clothes.  When I do, I am planning to do a Marie Kondo--LOL!  I'll be going through all my clothes to see what brings me joy.  ;)  Or, more likely, see what actually fits and I have actually worn in the last couple years--LOL!
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Spring fever, I tell you.
And I am one of those people who normally hates to see the end of winter. 
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We're supposed to be in the 40s and 50s this week and possibly hit 60 by next weekend.  The snow banks won't last much longer.  I need to get my patio in order soon!  :) :)
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Till next time.  :) :)
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"One can never consent to creep
when one feels an impulse to soar."
Helen Keller

15 comments:

Rita said...

Comment to get comments.
Thinking spring! ;)

DJan said...

I am so glad to hear that the blizzard was short lived. And your impulse to spring clean and do a Marie Kondo are probably very timely. I like the idea of you being able to get some more fresh air, Rita. :-)

Joy@aVintageGreen said...

Another snow storm ! It has been a white winter indeed. You sound better than last week Rita. Today I weed-eated the small grassy areas in my front yard, swept grass clippings off the sidewalks, put things away and am enjoying reading your post and finishing my coffee. Today was busy - I made a list and worked my way through. Made me happy. Jobs done. Heading out in 20 minutes to pick my DGS up from school and drive him home to his Mom.
Hugs.
Joy

Far Side of Fifty said...

I did Marie Kondo my jammie drawer, my drawers are too deep so that was the only one I organized that way. I could do three rows of socks:) I am looking forward to the snow melting..it didn't happen today.

Janie Junebug said...

I Marie Kondo-ed before there was a Marie Kondo.

Love,
Janie

Bonnie said...

So happy to see your snow is finally gone! I'm glad too you were able to have a Gramma Day. I need to do some Marie Kondo clearing out. I have the ebook version of her book on my Kindle. I don't think I could ever do it all at once like she says - that is too overwhelming to me! Spring Fever is a good thing - it gets us excited and moving. Take care Rita!

Lady Fi said...

That was quite a blizzard. Hope warmer weather is on its way.

GrandmaG said...

Happy late birthday, Rita! Hope the rest of the year treats you better. I had my first cataract surgery yesterday and am doing very well. Second eye is schedule for 4/29. Looking forward to that as current vision is a bit wonky given the severity of my near-sightedness - LOL! Take care lovely lady :)

Divers and Sundry said...

More snow! It amazes me! I know how you feel about the warmer weather and the joys of being outside in it. Even if you don't feed the critters, I imagine you'll still see them outside. There'll be butterflies around your patio flowers, too :) Marie Kondo was an inspiration to me. I still have too much, but I approach the paring-down process differently now than I did before I was introduced to her. We're getting highs near 80 these days, but those are intermixed with rainy days when the highs are in the 50s. Still much warmer than what you're experiencing. Here's to pretty weather soon!

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

Never experienced a blizzard in my life, doesn't snow here in Newie but I like seeing photos of snow

Serena Lewis said...

I'm so glad you have kept the critters well fed throughout winter. I'm sure they will be back next winter and, as you said, other people feed them in summer. Sounds like you have some nice plans for the warmer days. I think we are finally done with the unbearably hot days...the evenings and mornings have been blissfully cooler.

Nice array of birthday cards on your fridge!

Bradley and I will start watching Our Planet this week.

Your memoir this week sounds very interesting.

I need to do another re-sort in this house. I feel like there are items that definitely need to go.

I hope your bad pain days have passed.

Have a lovely Easter!
Serena xo

Powdered Toast Man said...

Time to build a snowman before it melts.

Jon said...

Oh, wow!!! I haven't seen grackles since I lived in Texas! I love them because they are so feisty and assertive. I hope your snow will melt soon, so you can have a snowless Easter.
Or perhaps you can build a Snow Bunny.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I stopped by to see how you were and got caught up in your snow photos. winter just won't go away, will it? I was almost mesmerized by those humidifiers sitting like that (grin). I think it's a good idea to only feed the birds and critters in winter. They have plenty the rest of the year and it makes them lazy when they get used to people feeding them.

I also wanted you to know for reasons I won't go into, I have been locked out of blogger. This is a devastating problem for me, especially since I am in the middle of my recycle campaign. However, I have set up a HOPEFULLY temporary blog to get me through until I can reclaim mine. Please tell everyone you know, and please visit me starting tomorrow (April 20) at:

https://alteredbooksandmixedmedia.blogspot.com/

Even if you don't normally visit me daily, I could use the support right now. Thank you and Happy Easter, dear Rita.

Jenny Woolf said...

Rita, I KNOW I commented on your blog, but I can't see any comment here... that's so weird. But, rest assured that I did. One thing I didn't say in my earlier comment is that I didn't realise grackles are real things. I thought it was one of those words that people make up. Such a strange name, perhaps they have a call which sounds like "grackle" (I'm going to look it up now! ) I hope you and your lovely family all had a good Easter!