I Love To Go A Gardening
Growing Our Life in Northern Michigan
Michigan’s Storms
EJ’s shift changed a couple weeks ago from 2nd shift to 1st. We are adjusting well enough. First shift isn’t as physically difficult for EJ as working nights was. The hardest change has not been the change in hours but the change in days. Previously, he worked 10 hour shifts Monday through Thursday with Friday through Sunday off. Now he works Friday through Monday with Tuesday through Thursday off. That means that Friday is his Monday, Monday is his Friday, and our weekend is now mid-week. It’s very difficult to remember what day it actually is.
EJ now wakes up at 4 a.m. and leaves at 5 a.m. I had not intended to get up with him, but his alarm wakes me as well as him so I spend the early mornings with him and then go back to bed for more sleep. I like EJ being home at night.
Meal preparation is easy for me. EJ fixes himself a big breakfast; he can cook well and he really doesn’t want me to fix it for him when I’m only half awake. He wants only a light supper so I just make oatmeal, pancakes, etc. With EJ at work until late afternoon, I can get all my household chores done without interruption and without worrying about waking him with noisy tasks. So that’s good. So is being able to spend mornings with him on his mid-weekends.
Last week our weather was rather wonky, with sunshine, heavy rain, sleet, snow, and high wind–once all within 24 hours. However, we are thankful that we didn’t get the huge ice storm that hit northern Michigan. It barely skipped us and devastated areas to the east. I’ve heard that it’s being called one of the most severe weather events in the region in more than a century. There are many downed trees and thousands of people are still without power. We drove to town yesterday to run some errands and saw more than 30 utility trucks headed into the devastated areas. Many people shared photos and videos of the storm damage on X. Click on the link below to see a video of the ice snapping trees.
Michigan’s Ice Storm: Snapping Trees
While northern Michigan was getting ice storms, apparently southern Michigan was getting severe thunderstorms with (I think) a few tornadoes.
I’ve praying for the victims of these storms.
Early Adjustments
March’s weather has been bi-polar with huge differences in temperatures. Last week the temperatures reached up to 70 and all our snow melted. The next day we had several inches of new snow. Up and down. Up and down. Yesterday we woke up to a couple of inches of snow. Today the temperatures are in the upper 40s and the snow is melting. Tonight it’s supposed to get cold again with rain and snow.
I didn’t take Hannah Joy for many walks over the winter because either it was too cold or too icy. However, once we started getting warmer weather, she began demanding we resume our walks. She gripes at me until I take her out and then she starts walking toward the driveway. If I try to reel her back in, she digs in her feet and refuses to budge. If the driveway is clear of ice and snow, I let her have her way most of the time. Early this afternoon I took her for a walk and I saw a robin! Robins fly south for the winter and in Michigan their return is an early indication that Spring is on the way! Yay!
Today is our son’s birthday. Next week is EJ’s birthday. We celebrated both last weekend. JJ plans to go back to working on the Great Lakes bulk carrier and he isn’t sure exactly when he will get called up for his stint. He was off work just about the whole shipping season last year because he broke his foot when he slipped on deck and needed surgery. Thankfully, he has good insurance so he did ok.
The last couple of weeks has been a bit tough because EJ’s back pain has intensified. He injured his back years ago–before we met–and has suffered chronic back pain ever since. It appears that now arthritis is settling in his back, which sometimes gives him bouts of intense pain. He ended up coming home from work early several times because of his back pain and also because his blood pressure shot up. I suspect his blood pressure went high because of the back pain. He went to the doctor a week ago, but his blood pressure was ok when they checked it so the doctor did not change his medication other than telling him he could take two pills if necessary.
Today EJ started to work first shift because his company is eliminating second shift. (The doctor said working first shift might actually help EJ because working nights is hard on a person’s body.) Today was EJ’s first day on the new shift. There are advantages and disadvantages to each shift. It just requires reordering our schedules a bit.
At this company EJ works ten hours and gets three days off. On second shift, he worked on Monday through Thursday and got Friday through Sunday off. Now he will work Friday through Monday and get Tuesday through Thursday off. This means our “weekend” will be in the middle of the week. I think it will be difficult to remember which day it is for a while. But other than that, I kind of like his daytime shift because I can get most of my tasks done before he gets home from work. When he’s home during the day, I like to spend time with him.
Our meal times have changed. Before, we had our big meal at noon before EJ went to work. Now, our big meal would be in the evening except EJ said he’d prefer a really big breakfast and a light lunch and supper. I don’t want a big breakfast so I’ll still make my big meal at lunch. If EJ chooses–and depending on what sort of food I make myself for lunch–he can have leftovers at supper or incorporate them into his breakfast the next morning. Otherwise, he says he prefers oatmeal or something for supper. That works for me. By evening I’m usually tired and just want to relax.
Bedtime is the real trial. EJ now will go to bed earlier so he can get up at 4 a.m. He makes his own breakfast whenever he’s on first shift so that I (hopefully) can continue sleeping. The last time EJ worked this shift, he got into the habit of putting a little bit of egg in Hannah Joy’s food dish. Hannah didn’t forget this. As soon as her super-sensitive ears heard EJ cracking an egg in the kitchen this morning, she leaped out of bed and frantically scratched at the bedroom door. I didn’t sleep well last night and knew I wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep after I let Hannah out of the bedroom so I just got up and spent time with EJ. After he left for work, I went back to bed hoping for more sleep. I left the bedroom door but Timmy the cat kept coming into the bedroom meowing loudly and I heard Clara the Impossible Kitten racing around playing. Hannah tends to bark shrilly at the cats if she hears them which is why we shut the cats out of the bedroom at night and turn on the fan to block out their noises.
I’m a very light sleeper so getting enough sleep has always a problem for me. It’s going to be worse on first shift. I’d happily synchronize my schedule to EJ’s except that I can’t go to bed until sunset when the chickens decide to go into their coop for the night. I can’t force the chickens in earlier because they refuse to be rushed. I’ve tried in the past, and I’ve spent a lot of time chasing them around the coop until I’m able to get them inside. In winter months when the days are shorter they go in sooner so I can go to bed when EJ does, but in the summer it stays light outside until 10 pm. so I have to stay up.
Partridge Chanteclers
Friday EJ and I got to go to the farm store. I say “got to” instead of “had to” because it’s fun rather than a chore.
We’ve always gotten Rhode Island and New Hampshire Red chickens but last Spring we decided to get a couple Buff Orpington chickens. They are a pretty golden color so I call them “the blond chicks.” Last autumn EJ and I discussed trying to find another winter-hardy breed of chicken, hoping they would lay eggs during the winter. I did some research late last week and we decided to try to find Partridge Chantecler chicks. I read that they are a cold-hardy, breed of chicken that was created in the early 1900s by Dr. J. E. Wilkinson of Alberta, Canada. He wanted to develop a breed that could withstand harsh Canadian winters. They lay about 200 eggs per year, tend to go broody often, and are noted for being calm, gentle and personable if handled regularly as chicks. They are also good meat chickens, but we want them for their eggs rather than their meat. There is a white Chantecler, but we ordered the Partridge ones. I think they look a lot like the Reds, but the roosters have smaller combs.
We read that Partridge Chanteclers can be challenging to find. I found a couple places in the USA that sold them, but the minimum order was around 16 chicks, and we really only wanted four of them. Since we were planning to go to the farm store any way for other things, we decided to ask them if they could order six chicks for us.
As soon we entered the farm store, we heard chirping from further in. “Chick Days” had begun! Chick Days is when farm stores sell live poultry of various kinds in their store. It begins about now and lasts until…well, for months. We always take time to enjoy looking at the cute chicks running around in multiple large horse tanks set up near the back of the store. They didn’t have any Partridge Chantecler chicks at the store but I asked an employee if we could special order eight chicks. She said “Absolutely.” She told me that we were the first customers to order this breed this year and it was good that we came in when we did because the breeder was only selling 75 this year and they go fast. The store had to order a minimum of 25, but she increased it to 30 because (we laughed together knowingly) of chicken math. Chicken math is when you end up buying more chickens then you intended. A person might also find themselves buying other types of poultry–ducks, turkeys, etc.–as well. The employee said our chicks will arrive at the store in May. She will reserve our chicks for us and easily sell the others. I gave her my contact information after asking EJ if he was sure we didn’t want to order ten. It was tempting, but we held at eight.
While I was busy ordering our chicks, EJ got to talking to another customer who was waiting to buy chicks. They laughed about chicken math and then the man told EJ that he breeds show goats. He described his goat farm, which was very interesting. EJ ended up friending him on social media. We don’t plan to ever buy goats, but it’s fun to friend people we’ve met.
On Sunday we drove to the local hardware store to refill our 20 lb propane tanks for our little heaters. Although we’ve had a lot of warmer weather (in the 40s), there is still a lot of snow in the driveway so driving up and down it is an ordeal. To be honest, I keep my eyes closed so I don’t have to watch us careening down/up it.
However, I did not close my eyes when we returned from the hardware store because there was a bald eagle eating something right in the middle of the driveway! It majestically flew away as we approached. It would have been nice to get a photo/video of it, but I didn’t want to miss the experience by trying to get out my phone. I love bald eagles and it’s always a delight to see them.
The Dark Side of Sunny Days
This week we’ve had blue skies, ranging from cloudless to mostly, partly, or somewhat, blue skies. It varied. The point is that we actually could see blue instead of gray skies. We’ve had some cloudy gray skies, but not as much as usual. It was also very warm with temperatures into the 40s–even as high as almost 50 degrees! It was very pleasant to see blue sky, to feel the warmth of the sun, to hear the drip of melting slow, and to watch the mounds of deep snow shrinking. It was the tiniest whisper of Spring’s approach, but sometimes whispers are enough to bring hope.
However, there is a dark side to warm, sunny days in the winter.
What was once a firm path on the snow is softened by the sun so I take a step or two and then my foot plunges into deep snow. The snow paths are now littered with foot holes. The cooler temperatures of the night forms a hard slippery glaze on top of the snow. So walking actually involves a step, slide, plunge, slide, slide, step, plunge, step, step, step. It’s very random like hidden traps set in the snow. Walking becomes very difficult so I think that I must look like a drunkard tottering with an unbalanced gait down the paths.
Tuesday morning when I took Hannah Joy outside, I slipped on a patch of ice. My feet went up in the air and I landed right on my back. Ouch! I imagined that I looked like a cartoon character slipping on a banana. The last time I slipped on the ice was in January 2018. I remember because we had only had Hannah for a month. I broke my wrist and had to have a plate inserted in it. Fortunately, I didn’t break anything this time.
I’ve taken to carrying a 5-6 foot staff with me to help me keep my balance. I don’t know exactly what to call it. I think of it as a stick because it’s long and narrow, but it’s actually a 1 inch square board that was leftover from making a shipping box. EJ actually has a staff that he made from a long tree branch. He uses it whenever we go for a walk, no matter what season. It reminds me of Gandalf’s staff. Once in a while, EJ will ask me to hold it for him for a moment while he does something or other. I can never resist raising it up to plunge it down as I thunder, “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” But after the first few times that I did that, EJ started telling me as soon as he hands it to me to just hold it because I don’t have the authority or security clearance to use his staff of power. Bummer. I still try though.
When EJ drove home from work in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, he got stuck coming up the icy driveway. He almost made it all the way up but then the truck slid back into deep snow. He said, “Screw it”–or words to that effect–left the truck stuck in the snow and walked up to the house and to bed. After he woke up the next morning, we went down the driveway with shovels and shoveled out the truck. It took us about an hour to free the truck and get it up to the garage.
Every day that the temperatures are warm, which has been every day so far this week, I hope that all the snow in the driveway will melt away. There are some growing bare patches, but there was an awful lot of snow in the driveway, even though our neighbor regularly snowblows it for us with his tractor. EJ hasn’t got the truck stuck again, but he says the drive down and up the driveway is “more interesting than I like.” The truck’s tire tracks have frozen into ruts which the truck insists on keeping in so he says it’s like driving on rails. Our neighbor told us several years ago that the previous owner of our place kept large barrels of salt along the driveway so he could salt it. However, the salt killed the vegetation which held the soil in place so when we moved here the driveway was in very bad shape from the erosion. So we don’t use salt. We use shovels instead.
This week I’ve been setting my alarm for 3:25 a.m. to wait for EJ to get safely home. I don’t want him to get stuck in the driveway, to slide off into the valley, or to slip and fall while walking to the house. Once he makes it into the house, we both go to bed. This means that my sleep happens in two parts. Not ideal, but it will only last until more snow covers the ice or until the snow/ice melts. I was hoping to sleep in a little this morning but Timmy the cat started yowling outside the door, probably sometime between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. I translated his yowls as “I’m hungry, feed me NOW.” I tried unsuccessfully to block out his yowls, but finally gave up and fed him.
A few days ago, I was cleaning up the kitchen when suddenly my dishcloth disappeared. I immediately suspected that Hannah took it. She always sneaks things that she knows she’s not supposed to eat onto our bed so I went and looked there, but I didn’t find it. I couldn’t find it anywhere. I even looked in cupboards, in the fridge, in the wastebasket, and other unlikely places just in case I had thoughtlessly put it there while thinking of other things. But it was nowhere. Hannah remained my prime suspect even though I had no evidence. She has a list of priors.
Last night, during EJ’s first and my second sleep, she suddenly started heaving. Both EJ and I leaped up and dragged her off the bed so she wouldn’t barf there. Up came the missing dishcloth. Sigh. Hannah is like a goat: She eats anything and everything. We do our very best to put things where she can’t reach them, but sometimes she eats things we never imagined she would (like full cans of cat food) or she reaches things that we thought she couldn’t (like my dish cloth on the counter). She not only eats things inside the house, but also outside (like animal poop). Her temporary deafness when she doesn’t want to obey and her eating everything is why I keep her on a leash when we go outside.
It was warm today–in the low 40s. But the sky was gray and it also snowed a little. Not enough to cover the ice so my alarm is set for 3:25 a.m.
Snow Fall
Today the sun has been peeking through the cloudy gray sky. My eyes are unused to sunshine–Michigan gets a lot of cloud cover because of the Great Lakes–so I lowered the window blinds halfway. I hated to do it, but the sunlight was blinding.
I discovered that I can check snowfall amounts for selected dates on the National Weather Service website. I learned that since December 1, 2024, until today, our county has had more than 124 inches of snow. The weather reports always add “with locally higher amounts” so we could have had a bit more or less than that. We live in a snowbelt where we often get Lake Effect snow so I’m sure that affects the totals. According to the NWS graph, our “normal” average amount of snow is about 87 inches. The highest amount of snow was 148.5 inches in 1984-85. The lowest amount was 36.5 inches in 1943-44. I thought was interesting.
We don’t have 124 inches of snow on the ground. Some of it melted during warm days in December. The snow also tends to settle down over time and compresses. Still, we have mounds of snow everywhere. My raised herb garden, which is near the bird feeder pole that is just outside the living room window, is completely hidden by snow. I’ve notice a variety of tunnels in the snow and holes going into the herb beds and I have observed small squirrels and once a mouse going in and out. I wonder how many critters are hiding there in the garden beds under the snow? It wouldn’t surprise me if the rabbit that visits to eat the seed that has fallen to the ground is also sheltering there.
I have made my own tunnels (paths) through the snow to the bird feeders, the coop, and the compost pile. If I step off the paths, I step or fall into deep snow.
Last weekend there were deer in the yard when Hannah Joy wanted to go outside. Since the chickens don’t particularly like winter weather and they were safely shut up in the coop, we decided to take Hannah out back to the fenced in garden and let her off her leash to see how she could act. Hannah only obeys when she wants to and her stubborn disobedience is why we always keep her on her leash when we take her outside. As soon as we took her leash off, Hannah ran to the coop to sniff it, then she ran into the garden to one of the chickens’ favorite hangout places in warm weather and began to eat their leftover poop. I called her but–surprise!–she was suddenly deaf so I had to wade through thigh-high snow to retrieve her. EJ stepped off the packed snow path and fell into the deep snow. We laughed as he struggled to get up. We finally caught Hannah and got her back in the house. She failed the test. The leash stays on.
Yesterday I took Hannah outside so she could do her “business.” I glanced toward the forest and was startled to see a deer head sticking out of the snow a few feet away looking at me. We have a deep ravine around our property and obviously the deer was coming up the side. Her body was hidden by a mound of snow so all I could see was her head. It was a surreal sight. We looked at each other for a moment and then she calmly climbed the rest of the way into the yard and went over into the orchard. We looked at each other some more and she calmly went back into the forest. Hannah never saw her.
Earlier this week I got the pots and lids from the cupboard and matched them to each other. We have several pots the same size and several lids that fit them. We put a dap of paint on the pan handles and the lids that match them–each size a different color–because we got tired of having to keep searching in the cupboard for the lids that fit the pot we want to use. We hope to buy unique knobs for each size so we can easily match pots and lids to each other. I emptied a tote, put the lids in it, and slid the tote in the cupboard so we can easily access the lids.
EJ didn’t feel well earlier this week so he took Tuesday off. He didn’t have enough accumulated sick time so we will have a smaller check next week. His usual work schedule is 10 hours Monday through Thursday so he went in to work today to help offset the shortfall. He texted me that he’s on his way home so I think I must end this post. So long until next time!
Dog Crime
It keeps snowing and the snow keeps piling up–one, three, or 5 inches at a time. I’m so very thankful for our neighbor, Dale, who faithfully snowblows our driveway for us with his tractor. What a a blessing he is!
Last week I discovered a dog crime.
Before I leave the house–whether for just a few minutes to do outside chores or to run errands–I try to make sure to Hannah-proof the house. Hannah will eat anything edible that she can reach. “Edible” can range from food, paper, dishrags, or cans. She’s practically a goat.
Last year the cats started turning their noses up at dry cat food. Last year was also the year that I began reading the “Cat Who” books by Lillian Braun. The cats in those novels insist on being fed high quality food such as lobster and meatloaf. Coincidence? Maybe. Or maybe our cats have been reading over my shoulder and have gotten ideas. We aren’t feeding them lobster, but we have switched over to giving them canned food. I store most of the cans in the unheated pantry, but usually keep six or so cans on the bottom shelf of the kitchen island where they are easily accessible and so I can cut down on the number of trips I make to the pantry, especially on cold mornings. After I feed the cats, I put the empty cans next to the sink to wash the next time I do dishes. I then put them in our recycling bin in the laundry room.
For several weeks, we’ve caught Hannah chewing on a can. I thought she was somehow reaching the empty unwashed cans next to the sink, even though I tried to push them back so she couldn’t reach them. But one morning last week, I realized that 1. I knew there had been two cans on the island and suddenly there was only one, 2. Hannah was eating a can on the couch. Although I’m not Nancy Drew, I put two and two together and deduced that Hannah had been stealing FULL cans of cat food from the island. How many has she eaten? Three? Four? Five? Busted!
I don’t know what the punishment for felony theft of cat food should be so I scolded Hannah and found a new place to store the cat food.
Timmy and Clara are getting along ok. Although playful little Clara is obsessed with Timmy’s tail and keeps attacking it. Timmy, who is probably about 15 years old, is not impressed with Clara’s kitten playfulness and sets her a boundary now and then.
A couple weeks ago EJ and I stopped in at our favorite thrift store to hunt for treasure. Just before we were ready to go up front to pay for the items we had found, I happened to spy a picture on the floor, partially hidden by other items. It was a very nice illustration, mounted on wood, of all the lighthouses along northern Lake Michigan in the region in which we live. I excitedly showed it to EJ as I put it in the cart. We declared it the find of the year.
Over the years, EJ has been slowly collecting models of Michigan lighthouses that he finds in thrift stores. It’s always fun when we find one of a lighthouse that we’ve actually visited. We’ve been putting them on a shelf in one of our bathrooms. The lighthouse picture I just bought was too big for the bathroom–and it was too nice for the bathroom, so we rearranged the pictures in our living room and put it there. EJ hung up a shelf that’s been stored in the pantry (which doubles as a storage room) under the lighthouse picture. We placed the smaller lighthouses on the shelf and the bigger ones on the table under it. It looks really nice as you can see in the photo below.
Catching Up
Yikes! I haven’t written since January 2nd. I have a lot of catching up to do.
After several mild winters, we are back to normal winters with cold temperatures and lots of snow. EJ read a couple weeks ago that we had gotten ten feet of snow so far this winter. We’ve probably gotten another foot or so since then. Some of the snow melted on warmer days but we still have a lot on the ground. The snow gets packed down where we frequently walk so we are walking on several feet of snow. Off the paths, I sink deep down into the snow and it’s difficult to walk
It’s been so cold that my trail cam batteries didn’t hold their charge and I had to charge them every day. It got tiresome so I turned off the trail cam until the weather gets warmer.
On the cold nights, we let Theo, our outside cat, into the pantry/storage room. It’s unheated, but warmer than the garage. We made him a nice warm shelter to sleep in. He likes it so much that now he doesn’t want to leave it. We figure that he can stay until warmer weather.
A couple weeks ago I went out to the coop and saw that our older rooster’s back was ripped open. I’m pretty sure Edward did it, since a wild animal couldn’t have gotten in the coop. If it had, it would have killed the rooster. We are not sure of the identity of the older rooster. EJ thinks it was Corey who was the youngest before Edward. I suspect it was Sassy but EJ doubts this since Sassy was our very first rooster, which would make him 10 years old, which is very old for a rooster. The first year I got chickens, I had banded their legs so I could tell them apart, but the chicken’s took them off and I haven’t bothered since. Anyway, let me continue.
We bought a medical spray for Corey/Sassy and put him in a dog crate in the storage room with Theo. Once his back healed, I moved him to a sturdy dog house inside the coop so he could be with his flock but still remain isolated from Edward. I figured I would let him out when the weather warmed and the chickens went outside where the roosters had more room to avoid each other. The chickens don’t like winter weather so they usually stay in the coop even when I open their little door. Corey/Sassy died a week later. I think he (Sassy) died of old age.
So now Edward rules the roost.
EJ and I had some debate about Edward’s name. I originally called him Edward the Third because he was the third rooster we had at that time. I liked that name because I could easily morph it into Edward the Turd when I was unimpressed with him. Most of our roosters have been sweethearts. Edward is a bit of a turd. EJ changed his name to Edward V because he’s the fifth rooster we’ve had since we got our first chickens. I remarked that technically he should be called Edward I because he’s the first one named Edward. But I conceded when EJ told me it was easier to remember how many roosters we’ve had if we name him the fifth. Ok. Point made. He is Edward V. We decided that from now on we will name our roosters after British kings (since Americans don’t have kings). The next one will be named Richard (or William, Henry, John…) the Sixth–and so on. I’m glad we got that settled.
Our new kitten, Clara the Impossible Cat, is settling in.( FYI: Since she is named after a Doctor Who character, her name is pronounced Clahr-ah rather than Clare-ah.) It’s fun having a playful kitten in our lives. Clara has created her own little games. She loves to attack Timmy’s tail. I was able to capture it on camera the first time she did it. I was reading in bed and Timmy was on my lap, purring and contentedly swishing his tail…when Clara saw it. This is what happened next:
Another game Clara has created involves her hiding under our bed and attacking our feet when we walk by. Since she is mostly black, we never see her until we suddenly feel a sharp pain in our foot. I got this game on video too: Clara’s Attack Game. I enticed her a little to get it on video, but usually she attacks without warning when we least expect it.
So that’s how I’ve been spending 2025 so far.
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Clara, The Impossible Cat
I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Our Christmas was nice. It was peaceful and free of unwanted stress or drama. Just as we like. EJ cooked us a nice Christmas dinner. We had our favorite holiday treats and relaxed. Sometimes we give each other gifts for Christmas. Sometimes we don’t. This year we didn’t get each other gifts. Until, unexpectedly, we did.
EJ saw that someone he follows at Twitter/X was trying to rehome one of her young barn cats. She and her husband live in the same general region as we do so he told them that we’d adopt her. EJ arranged that we’d meet on December 27 at a parking lot in a town approximately halfway between us. We got there a few minutes before the other couple did so we had enough time to stop at a Cops & Donuts Bakery for some donuts. The bakery has an interesting history. There is a doughnut shop and bakery in Clare, Michigan, that has been in constant operation since 1896. The business was within weeks of closing when the nine members of the Clare Police Department came to the rescue and bought it and renamed it “Cops & Donuts.” They have since expanded to other locations, one of which we went to on Friday. You can read their whole story at their Cops & Donuts website. EJ and I bought two donuts each. I chose two different types of Bismarks (my favorite!) and EJ chose a Long John and an apple fritter. We each ate one on the way home and the other we saved for the next day’s breakfast.
We adore our new cat. She is young–older than a kitten, but not yet full grown. She’s mostly all black with a triangle of white on her chest. The tips of her toes on her back feet have a tiny bit of white as well. Surprisingly, people tend not to adopt black cats, but we love them. Our black cats have always been extremely cuddly.
On the way home, EJ and I discussed names. We have often had multiple cats at the same time and over the years we have given them theme names. Like ending all the names with “Kat”: Ellie Kat, Bob Kat, Kit Kat, Thom Kat, and Fraidy Kat. We had three cats we gave Star Wars names to: Luke, Han, and Anakin, although we had to change Anakin’s name to “Annie” when we realized that “he” was a “she.” Annie sang very beautifully with extra flourishes added in. In recent years, we’ve given mostly old fashion-sounding names to our animals, such as Theo, Madeline, and Timmy. We are continuing with this theme. We considered naming our new cat “Holly” because we adopted her during the Christmas season, but she doesn’t really look like a Holly. We liked “Matilda” but it sounded too long for a first name so we shortened it to “Tilly.” We finally ended up with another name, but I’ll get to that in the next paragraph.
Not “Tilly” is very sweet and cuddly and purrs, purrs, purrs when we hold her, but she is also very shy and likes to hide. We know that it can take a while for a new animal to adjust so we give her time to get used to her new home, but we also make sure we spend time holding her so she feels safe and loved. When we can find her, that is. Because she is black, she blends in to the shadows and is very difficult to find. Sometimes we catch a glimpse of her peering at us around a corner but then she vanishes–almost as if she has teleported. We have exclaimed so much that it is almost impossible to find her, that EJ finally suggested we name her “Clara, the Impossible Cat,” which is a nod to “Clara, the Impossible Girl,” one of the Doctor’s companions in the Doctor Who science fiction series. The term “The Impossible Girl” encapsulates the enigma surrounding Clara’s existence and her ability to appear in different timelines, defying the usual rules of time and space in the Doctor Who universe. So Tilly has become Clara. I used “Matilda” as her middle name.
Meet sweet Clara Matilda, our Impossible Cat, who has the ability to defy time and space by vanishing into the shadows:
We have been careful in how we introduce Clara to the other pets, especially Hannah, who tends to have strong likes and dislikes and merely tolerate cats. This is the first new cat we’ve brought into our home since we adopted Hannah (the others were already here) so we weren’t sure how she’d react. We’ve let Hannah know that Clara is now part of the family. We have shown Hannah that we love Clara–and also that we love her. We have sat near Hannah with Clara in our arms. Hannah’s reaction? She refuses to look at Clara. She also refuses to look at EJ or me if we are holding Clara. If we get in front of her with the cat, she deliberately turns her head away. It’s rather funny. We tell Hannah to stop being ridiculous. But, of course, she doesn’t listen. It might be faster if Hannah wasn’t so jealous and Clara wasn’t so shy, but I think they’ll get there. Baby steps.
As for Timmy? He mostly ignores Clara. If they get close, Timmy hisses at her. But that is pretty normal behavior when we’ve brought a new cat into the family. Timmy often sits on EJ’s lap and EJ thinks he’s angry that Clara is now sometimes in “HIS” place. It takes time. Baby steps.
Our tradition on New Year’s Eve has been to make pizza and eat chips while we watch a long movie such as Lord of the Rings. When we were younger, we’d watch all the Lord of the Rings movies over two days, staying up all night if we had to. These days we don’t stay up until midnight. This year EJ only got New Year’s Day off from work. He had to work on New Year’s Eve. He tried to convince his company to let him have New Year’s Eve off because that is the REAL holiday. New Year’s Day is just the recovery day for those who drink, which we don’t. His company was not persuaded. I suspect that they didn’t want to give employees New Year’s Eve off and have them come to work the next day with hangovers. That makes sense. But because EJ had to work, we didn’t celebrate the new year. Oh, well. I had a quiet evening and went to bed at the normal time.
Sort of.
I shut Hannah in the bedroom with me and the cats out. I wanted Clara to be able to explore the house and I didn’t want to worry about her and Hannah having an unsupervised encounter in the night. I shut Timmy out because I didn’t want him scratching to get out of the bedroom if I kept him in and I wanted him to have access to the litter box. The plan sounded good. But Timmy wanted inside the bedroom and he yowled and rattled the door for two hours before finally shutting up when I banged on the door. Sigh. Last night I just kept the bedroom door open and there were no problems. I shouldn’t have been concerned. Clara is the Impossible Cat who knows how to defy time and space by vanishing into the shadows.
Dear Human
We have entered a period of cold weather with temperatures in the single digits. When we woke up this morning, the temperature read 1 degrees but it’s possible it was much colder. EJ read online that the temperatures of nearby towns were around -20. I think we are just having a normal winter but it seems more difficult this year because the last couple winter have been so mild. We’ve gotten spoiled.
Our house has a geothermal system, which heats/cool our house using the thermal energy stored in the earth. I asked Grok, X’s AI, to explain our heating system in a simple way: The earth’s core is extremely hot, and this heat radiates to the crust, maintaining a relatively constant temperature underground. Even just a few feet below the surface, the temperature is more consistent than the air temperature above ground. We have a heat pump, which transfers the heat from the ground and concentrates it for use in heating our house. In summer, it can reverse the process to cool our house by transferring heat from our house back into the ground. The advantage of this system is that while our house is being nicely heated from the earth, it doesn’t use propane, which saves us money. In fact, a few weeks ago we got slapped with a fee from the propane company because we hadn’t used enough propane last year. We didn’t know there was a minimum amount we were supposed to use.
The disadvantage to our system is that when temperatures fall below a certain temperature–around 20 degrees or so–the system switches to auxiliary heating, which uses propane. Our auxiliary system doesn’t seem to be very efficient at heating our house. The actual temperature never actually reaches what we set the thermostat to. We set the thermostat to 68 degrees but are lucky if it reaches 65.We had the repairman out a couple of years ago to looking into it. He replaced a part to the heat-pump but the problem might be to the auxiliary system? Anyway, We end up setting up our little electric and our propane space heaters to supplement our heat. I wish we had a wood stove for supplemental heat, but our insurance agent said he would not provide insurance if we had one.
Whenever the temperatures get really cold, we turn on all the faucets in the house so they drip to keep the pipes from freezing and bursting. However, this morning we found a bit of water on the floor in the master bathroom. Bummer! EJ looked into it and found that the drain pipe was leaking. He was able to repair it. Hopefully that is all that was wrong.
I’m not thrilled about our heating and plumbing problems but I think of the survivors of Hurricane Helene who have lost loved ones, their homes, their jobs, and are living in tents during the winter and realize how blessed I am. Our problems are minor inconveniences. I have been praying daily for them because they are going through horrifically difficult times.
A few mornings ago, I was rather cold and didn’t want to go outside where it was colder so I delayed going out to fill the birdfeeders. Suddenly I saw a squirrel leap to the patio table that is on the deck and peer in through the window. I thought that was odd because the squirrels have never done that before. He ran off when I started videoing him. A few minutes later, another squirrel came up to look in the house. And then another. Some even scratched/knocked on the window. It occurred to me that they were trying to tell me that the bird feeders were empty and they really wanted me to refill them. So I did. LOL.
I know that some people will have a problem with squirrels going to their bird feeders, but we enjoy all the wildlife. We often laugh at the clownish antics of the squirrels. The other day I was looking out the window and a squirrel suddenly dropped from the sky onto the top of the birdfeeder pole up near the house. I think it must have leaped from the roof of the house but it sure took me by surprise.
Timmy the cat has been getting finicky about his food. For a while we were feeding the cats dry food, but they suddenly didn’t like it. I wonder if the pet food company changed their recipe? So then we bought them canned cat food, and at first the cats gobbled it up. Theo, our outside cat, still likes the canned food, but Timmy has begun complaining about it. Frustrated, I asked Grok to write a list of demands from Timmy the Cat. (A few days ago, X gave me Grok for free even though I don’t have a premium account. I don’t know if free access to Grok is permanent so I’ve been having fun with it while I have it. This is the demands Grok wrote as Timmy:
Attention, human servants!
I, Timmy the Cat, have had enough of this so-called “cat food.” It’s an insult to my refined palate! I DEMAND:
Tuna – Fresh, not that canned stuff. I want it straight from the ocean!
Salmon – Wild-caught, preferably from the clear rivers of Alaska. None of that farm-raised nonsense.
Lobster – Yes, you heard me right! I want whole lobsters, not just the bits you think are suitable for a cat of my stature.
No more dry kibble or wet food from a can. I am a cat of exquisite taste, and I will no longer settle for anything less than the gourmet delights I’ve listed.
Failure to comply will result in… well, let’s just say the consequences will involve your curtains, your favorite shoes, and a lot of meowing at 3 AM. Serve me well, and you might just earn yourself the honor of a purr.
Sincerely, Timmy the Cat, Esquire
#CatLife #GourmetCat #TunaOrBust #SalmonSovereign #LobsterLover
We compared the cost of canned cat food vs canned tuna. The tuna was only slightly more expensive so we bought a few cans for Timmy. He licks up the juices but leaves the tuna behind. Sigh. I’m NOT buying him fresh Alaskan tuna, wild-caught salmon, or fresh lobster.
EJ’s company gave him a $400 gift card at Meijers (a series of stores in Michigan that are more-or-less like Walmart in the types of products it offers). We decided we’d use the gift card to buy a few special foods/treats for Christmas, but we went shopping on Friday and everything was so expensive that we ended up just buying the things we normally buy (plus tuna for Timmy). Some years we get each other a gift and some years we don’t. We are content with our lives and don’t need a bunch of stuff. To us, Christmas is deeper and more meaningful than the hectic frenzied shopping sprees. We have each other, we have a quiet life, and–most importantly–we have the gift of the Messiah. That is enough.
Snooker, Curling, and Bowls
The weather continues to alternate between cold and warm, snow and rain. We’ve been spoiled in recent years with mild winters, but it looks like the weather is back to normal now.
Our friend lives a couple hours away and often stays here when he has an appointment in the area. He had an appointment today so we “babysat” his new dog, Cletus. Hannah Joy adores our friend so we call him “Hannah’s Favorite Uncle,” which would make Cletus “Cousin Cletus.” This is the second time Cousin Cletus has been to our house. During his first visit, Hannah Joy complained constantly. She complained this time as well, but it was far less than last time. I expect that eventually Hannah will calm down more, understanding that Cletus is a guest, not a resident.
This afternoon I watched a line of about 9 deer come over the hill into our apple orchard. After a short stop, they moved on, but about an hour later I saw them moving back up and over the hill. I’ve never seen so many deer together before. EJ says that they are yarding up, which means very cold temperatures are coming. I looked at the forecast and, yup, we are going to get to the single digits in a couple of days.
At our library’s big book sale in late November, I found three books in a four-book series called “Thursday Murder Club Mystery” by Richard Osman, a new-to-me author. The books are about four elderly residents of a retirement community in the UK who get together (on Thursdays) to solve old murders. The characters are quirky and likable and the stories are interesting and humorous. I’ve finished my three books and need to find the last one in the series, as well as Richard Osman’s other books. Normally I would borrow the book through Michigan’s interlibrary loan system, which involves me ordering a book on their website, which is then sent from a Michigan library who has the book to my local library for me to pick up. However, with all the snow that keeps getting dumped on us, it hasn’t been easy to get to the library. When we are getting a foot of snow or freezing rain, we’d prefer to stay home. So instead, I am “borrowing” the book as an e-book. However, there is a 16-week waiting list so I will have to wait a while to read it. Until then, I’m reading other books I bought at the book sale.
In the third Thursday Murder Club book, called The Bullet That Missed, one of the characters played a game called “Snooker” with a man he was trying to get information from. They played it more than once, which got me curious about the game. I asked EJ, “Have you ever heard of a game called ‘Snooker’?” He replied, “Yes. It’s a type of pool game.” (Table pool not swimming pool.) I went to YouTube to see if I could find a video of Snooker. Yup. First I watched a short video that described the rules then I watched a competition. Actually, as soon as I started watching the videos, EJ became interested so we watched the videos together. It’s a very interesting game to watch. It takes a lot of skill and strategy because a player has to not just take his current shot, but plan for his future shot as well.
I mentioned to my Canadian friend that we were watching Snooker games and she suggested we watch Curling. I was already aware of Curling–we even have a team in a nearby town– but I’ve only ever watched a few minutes of it on TV during the Olympics. However, we found YouTube videos and watched a competition. It was also interesting.
I was searching YouTube for Snooker and Curling competitions to watch when I noticed the search results had brought up a game called “Bowls.” I wondered, “What on earth is “Bowls”? I clicked on the link and found yet another type of game that I had never heard of. There are two types: Lawn Bowls, which is played outside, and Indoor Bowls, which-duh–is played indoors. Like Snooker and Curling, it is also very interesting to watch. We watched some top-level players and it was amazing how accurately they could roll the “bowls.” EJ searched the Internet to see if the game is played in the USA. There a no Indoor Bowls game here and only a very few outdoor ones.
So now on the weekend evenings when EJ doesn’t have to work, we are watching games of Snooker, Curling, or Bowls. We are wondering what other games exists in the world that we are unaware of. We are keeping our eyes open for them. If you, my Readers, know of any interesting games, feel free to let me know in the comments.
I reminded EJ that because I read the novel by Richard Osman, I learned about Snookers, which led to Curling, which led to Bowls, which led to enjoyable evenings watching them. One of the reasons I enjoy reading novels is because I always learn new things–things that the characters experience that I would never come across in real life. Whenever I read something in a book–whether it involves history, traditions, items, movies, games, etc.–I look it up to see if is a real thing or just imagined. This sends me down some interesting rabbit trails.
Winter Challenge
Last week was a bit of a winter challenge.
There are some winter challenges that people participate in for fun. Like Polar Bear Challenges, in which people, wearing only standard swimsuits, plunge or swim in a body of water in the middle of winter.
Our winter challenge was not like that.
Beginning on Thanksgiving evening and continuing through last week, it snowed and snowed and snowed and the snow piled up. Our neighbor who has kindly cleared our driveway for us with his tractor-snowblower for more than five years has been MIA. He lives down the road and around the corner and we don’t know him very well beyond “Dale who takes care of our driveway for us.” We consider his service as a gift, not an obligation, but we are a bit concerned because we don’t know if he’s visiting family in New England or if something has befallen him. We’ve been very busy (as I will describe below) but we hope to call him soon and ask if he’s ok.
The snow was getting so deep that if we didn’t get our driveway cleared, it would become impassable. EJ tried to get our little walk-behind snowblower running early last week but was unsuccessful. It would almost start but then die. The fuel leaked out. He has to troubleshoot it, but meanwhile, the snow was falling and piling up so we decided that we needed to buy a new snowblower. EJ did some online research and then went to the home improvement store to buy one on his way to work on Wednesday. The one he really wanted would have had to be ordered and we couldn’t wait several days for it to arrive so EJ settled for an adequate one. As the saying goes, “A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.”
EJ almost made it home from work in the wee hours of Thursday morning. Almost, but not quite. He got stuck halfway up the driveway. He walked the rest of the way up to the house and went to bed. Getting stuck is not a desirable thing, but I’m very, very thankful that EJ got stuck AFTER he bought the snowblower instead of before. Having to shovel our long driveway out by hand would have been a nightmare. This is a photo I took of the truck in the driveway. You can see t-posts along the driveway. they are there so we can find the driveway in the winter.
After some sleep, EJ got the new snowblower out of the back of the truck and began snow-blowing the driveway. Since there was no way he could get the driveway cleared before he had to leave for work, he took a vacation day. EJ got half the driveway snow-blowed before he became too exhausted to continue. He’s been fighting a respiratory infection for several weeks and hasn’t had much energy. On Friday EJ got the rest of the driveway snow-blowed. Then he and I took shovels down to the truck and began to shovel the snow from around the truck where the snowblower couldn’t reach. EJ was able to get the truck unstuck and up to the house. We took Saturday off to rest.
Saturday night the temperatures begin to rise and the snow turned to drizzle. It was supposed to begin raining late Sunday afternoon. Warm temperatures in winter are very bad because the melting snow/rain refreezes into ice and makes our driveway VERY treacherous. Sunday morning, before the rain started, we went to the grocery and farm stores to pick up a few items we needed. Mostly we needed cat food because we were low. Timmy doesn’t like it if I’m not quick enough to feed him. He definitely would not be happy if he ran out of food.
The roads were good and we had no problem getting to the stores. All went well until EJ tried to drive up the driveway. He’s an excellent driver who knows how to drive in snow. However, the warm temperatures had turned the deep snow into deep slippery slush and we got stuck again. We walked up the driveway carrying the perishable items and left the rest in the truck. We took time to eat lunch and then headed down the driveway with our shovels to free the truck. We got it unstuck but a little further it got stuck again. It couldn’t get traction in the slush. Shoveling down to bare ground, we made a path for the truck to travel up to the house. We unloaded the rest of the groceries and then EJ snowblowed the driveway again to get rid of as much slushy snow as he could. When he was finished, we drove the truck back down and parked it at the bottom of the driveway so he could get out to go to work on Monday (today) if the driveway became treacherously icy. It was actually unnecessary to park the truck down there because the warm temperatures melted almost all the snow in the driveway. The driveway is now bare ground rather than snowy, slushy, or icy. But better safe than sorry.
There is a chance of rain/snow tonight. Tomorrow is supposed to be another warm-ish day with temperatures in the high 30s. The temperatures will get cold again and we will be back to snow.
Deep snow is a challenge, especially with our driveway. However, snow is better than ice.
As The Snow Falls
I thought I’d update you on the continuing saga of “As The Snow Falls.” Just in case we lose power, you understand.
I set my alarm so I could get up in the wee hours of the morning to make sure EJ made it safely into the house. He actually drove all the way up to the house. He said that he had planned to park at the bottom of the driveway and walk up but he was so tired that he forgot until he was halfway up the driveway and, at that point, he figured he was committed and continued on to the house. Later, as he headed back to work, he made it out of the driveway without getting stuck, which we are thankful for.
It’s been snowing pretty much nonstop since Thanksgiving night but today we finally had a lull. I think of it as similar to the calm eye of a hurricane because the weather is supposed to worsen again tomorrow morning. The National Weather Service has issued the following:
WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM WEDNESDAY MORNING
THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING…
* WHAT…Heavy snow possible. Total snow accumulations between 6 and
13 inches possible. Winds could gust as high as 40 mph. Blowing
and drifting snow will be likely.
* IMPACTS…Roads, and especially bridges and overpasses, will
likely become slick and hazardous. Whiteout conditions are
possible and may make travel treacherous and potentially
life-threatening. Travel could be very difficult to impossible.
Widespread blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. The
hazardous conditions could impact the Wednesday morning and
evening commutes.
EJ messaged me during his work break that he heard we could get freezing rain on Sunday or Monday. Ugh. In case you are wondering, a lot of snow can be a bit of a challenge, but high winds are worse than snow, and ice is worse than wind. It’s like a winterized game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
It sure would be nice if our neighbor Dale showed up with his tractor snowblower. However, we consider his help to be a gift, not an obligation, especially since he won’t accept payment for his work. So EJ plans to try to get our little snowblower working tomorrow morning. One way or another we need to clear our driveway before it becomes impassable. We can’t stay snowbound until Spring.
I did all the laundry today in case we lose power. I’ll set my alarm again to make sure EJ makes it into the house. When we were kids, we were excited about snowstorms, listening to the weather reports hoping that school would be cancelled. As adults, we still feel some of that excitement, especially if we have no place to go. The excitement is muted a little when EJ has to travel through the storm to/from work.
I’m giving the birds extra rations of seed to help them through the storms. They are flocking to the feeders. I’ve noticed the Pileated Woodpeckers, the largest of all woodpeckers, anxious to get at the suet I set out. I see them fly back and forth from one edge of the forest to the other loudly calling out. As soon as I walk away, they are at the suet.
I looked out of the window this morning and it looked like some sort of mythical creature was standing next to the bird feeder post. My son would say it’s just a small tree covered with snow, but I’m calling it a Northern Snow Troll. What do you think? (FYI: Having an imagination makes life interesting.)
Let It Snow
Let It Snow (Christmas song)
Oh, the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we’ve no place to go
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
Man, it doesn’t show signs of stopping
And I’ve brought me some corn for popping
The lights are turned way down low
Let it snow, let it snow…
As the meteorologists have predicted, we are getting snow. Lots of snow. Unending snow. It began on Thanksgiving evening and hasn’t stopped. We are getting lake effect snow, then a snowstorm, then a snowstorm enhanced by lake effect snow. What’s the difference between a snowstorm and lake effect snow? I’m glad you asked. The summary at the top of my Internet search page explains:
A snowstorm and lake effect snow are two different types of winter weather phenomena. While both can bring significant snowfall, they have distinct characteristics:
- Snowstorm: A snowstorm is a large-scale winter storm that can affect a wide area, often bringing heavy snowfall, strong winds, and low visibility. Snowstorms can be caused by various weather systems, such as low-pressure systems, fronts, or nor’easters. They can impact multiple states or regions and are often associated with significant disruptions to daily life.
- Lake Effect Snow: Lake effect snow, on the other hand, is a localized weather phenomenon that occurs when cold air passes over a large body of warmer water, such as a lake. This interaction causes the air to rise, cool, and condense, resulting in heavy snowfall in a narrow band downwind of the lake. Lake effect snow is typically confined to a smaller area, often affecting only a few counties or towns.
In our area, we get a lot of lake effect snow from the Great Lakes. When we first moved to Northern Michigan 9 1/2 years ago, we got a lot of snow, but there were gaps between snow “events” so we had time to shovel out before another one hit. The last few years have been quite mild, with not a lot of major snow events. We figured that sooner or later we’d get a snowy winter again so we aren’t surprised. This is probably the snowiest winter we’ve had because the snow has been dumping on us for several days without pause.
EJ has had Thursday through Sunday off. We had no place to go, so we have enjoyed watching the snow fall, and fall, and fall. The snow-covered landscape is very beautiful. The problem is that the snow is still falling and EJ had to go to work today.
Several years ago, our neighbor, Dale, saw me using our walk-behind snowblower to clear our driveway while EJ was at work and he had pity for me. Every winter since then Dale has kept our driveway cleared with his tractor with a snowblower attached to it. I’m quite sure he snowblows the driveways of other neighbors as well. He’s retired and I think enjoys doing it. It takes me more than two hours to snowblow our driveway but Dale can zip up and down a couple times with his tractor and it’s done. He doesn’t accept payment; we are more than grateful for his gift. This year, however, EJ thinks that Dale and his wife might have gone to New England to spend Thanksgiving with his family. So this morning EJ got out our little snowblower, which we haven’t used in probably more than five years. It’s not surprising that he had trouble getting it started. He worked on it and ALMOST got it started, but then he had to stop to get ready for work.
He left for work early to give himself time in case he got stuck. I stood outside watching him dashing through the deep snow in his truck. When he rounded the curve at the bottom of the driveway, I sighed with relief–but my relief was premature. I got a message “ALMOST made it.” EJ got stuck in the deep snow that the county snowplows pushed up when it plowed past. Sigh. I grabbed a shovel and walked down the driveway joining EJ in shoveling snow to free our truck. I got so hot and sweaty that I took off my coat and hat. I put my orange hat, which I wear during hunting season so I’m not mistaken for a deer, back on when EJ asked me but I kept my coat off. Finally, some nice guys with a plow on their truck stopped to help us. They plowed the pile of snow away from the end of the driveway and then they pulled EJ’s truck out. He made it to work ok, although he ran into very heavy snow squalls on the way.
Now we just have to worry about EJ making it home from work. He has decisions to make: Does he try to make it up to the house? What if the county snowplows push more snow at the end of the driveway and he gets stuck? Should he park at the bottom of the driveway (assuming he makes it into the driveway) and walk up in possibly heavy snow? Or should he get a motel in the city where he works? He favors making it home. I’m hoping that if the snow is too bad he will get a motel. Regardless, I’ve set my phone alarm for 3 a.m. so I can pray for him on his drive home and watch to make sure he makes it to the house.
I’m not sure how much snow we’ve gotten. I made a snow measuring thingy to measure. It’s simply a long think piece of lumber about 1×1 inch and a little over four feet high. I marked every foot so I can measure the snow. Only snow tends to pack down a bit as more snow falls on top of it so I don’t think it’s a very accurate measure. According to my measuring stick, we’ve only gotten maybe 14 inches of snow and I’m sure we’ve gotten way more than that. A more accurate measure is probably how much snow has fallen on EJ’s truck. Yesterday EJ measure the snow on his truck before he cleared it off. It was about a foot. This morning, there was about the same amount of snow on the truck. That’s approximately 2 feet. He cleared it off and a couple hours later there was at least three inches more. There’s another Winter Storm Warning out with additional inches of snow predicted. EJ checked the weather on his computer before he left for work and it shows strong wind coming our way as well as snow. Blowing snow will cause whiteouts that make it hazardous to drive. Also, it will blow the snow into deep drifts. It will make traveling to and from work even more challenging.
Even though I’ve opened their little door, the chickens have not gone outside their coop since the snow began to fall last Thursday. Theo the cat has stayed in the garage as well. Hannah Joy goes out to do her “business” and then rushes back into the house. They aren’t stupid.
Other than those challenges, the falling snow and snowy landscape is beautiful. Also, my trail cam has taken some very interesting footage. For example, yesterday night a possum was in the apple orchard when two deer (a doe and her young one) entered. The deer kept stomping their feet in the deep snow in an attempt to warn the possum to move away. The possum just sat there for a long time before he finally went on his way.
Earlier that same day, I went out onto the front porch. A doe in the orchard saw me and wasn’t quite sure of me. She quickly put her head down and up multiple times trying to trick me into moving so she could determine if I was a threat. I kept still, but the chickadees started flying up to me so I put seed in my hand to feed them. My movement caused the deer to finally leave. If you want to see it, here’s the video: Deer Sees Me.
Yesterday (December 1) was EJ and my wedding anniversary. We’ve been married 34 years.
Thanksgiving
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Well, one day late. I meant to get on yesterday to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving, but by the end of the day I was very tired and just wanted to relax.
Our son spent Thanksgiving with his girlfriend’s family so it was just EJ and me for dinner. We are estranged from our families (emotional abuse) so we do not spend holidays with any of them. EJ and I both come from large families. Holidays used to be very difficult for me without family to celebrate with. But over the years we’ve come to value quiet, chaos-free holidays.
EJ and I always make the traditional holiday foods. We share the labor so the cooking, baking, and clean up doesn’t all fall on me. EJ makes the turkey and yesterday he made two pies–apple and pumpkin. I made homemade rolls and the dough for EJ’s pies, as well as the side dishes. EJ cut up the turkey later while I did the dishes.
I usually wait until I see our neighbor-across-the-street’s solar light turns itself off before I go let the chickens out. After that, I go out to handfeed the chickadees and nuthatches before filling the feeders for all the wild birds Thanksgiving morning I went out to care for the chickens a little early. I was going to wait a few minutes before feeding the chickadees. If I go out to feed them too early, it takes them a while to come to me. I assume they need to wake up. However, when I came in from the chickens, the chickadees began to flutter in front of the windows. Some of them even clung to the window sills. They seemed to follow my progress through the house, moving from window to window to keep me in view. I took the hint and went out to feed them. As soon as I stepped outside, I was mobbed. I’m thinking that the word has gone throughout the forest that a nice human feeds birds because I swear that their numbers are increasing.
When we moved to our 5 acres in Northern Michigan, I started calling our place our “Enchanted Forest” because it was so beautiful and peaceful. It feels like our forest is getting more enchanting every year. I have deer and other wild animals wandering across our property. I have wild birds eating from my hand. The other day, I was looking at the videos from my trail cam. In one video, there were a couple deer grazing peacefully when, about halfway through, it looked like a fairy fluttered by. Now, some people might say that it’s just an insect, but it sure looked rather magical. I’ll let you be the judge. Here’s the video:
The National Weather Service forecast “intense lake effect snow” beginning Thanksgiving evening and continuing until Sunday morning. We could get a foot or more of snow with “locally higher levels.” If–or rather when–the wind starts to blow, travel will become “almost impossible.” So far we have about a foot and the snow is still coming down. It’s very pretty.
EJ kept checking the forecasts on Twitter/X yesterday. In the afternoon, he exclaimed, “The 1-2 feet of snow is just from lake-effect snow! After that, we are expecting a snowstorm with another foot of snow!” Later, “Meteorologists are saying that after that storm, we could get ANOTHER storm with another foot of snow.” Then, “They are predicting snowstorm after snowstorm. We could get 5 feet of snow by mid-December!” After we went to bed, before we fell asleep, I asked him if there were any weather updates, adding “Every time I ask, I hear we are getting another foot of snow.” EJ replied, “I don’t know. After five feet, I quit looking.” Lol.
I’m glad we went shopping on Wednesday morning. Our local farm store’s Black Friday sales began on Tuesday and they were having a good sale on bird seed so we went then instead of Friday. We both hate the crowds that flood into the storms on Black Friday. We are just not die-hard shoppers.
For the rest of the weekend, EJ and I plan to just stay home and watch the falling snow and the critters outside our window.
Book Sale Day
Today is one of our most favorite holidays: Book Sale Day. Ok, so it’s not exactly a national holiday. Or even a day that anyone else recognizes as a holiday. However, we have adopted it as our own personal family holiday. We have the date written on our calendar and eagerly look forward to it each year. It’s the day that our local library has its huge used book sale. The library has little book sales throughout the year, but THIS one is the big one. There are tables set up throughout the library full of hundreds of used books for sale. There are no set prices: It’s totally by donation. Our library is located in a township hall, which used to be an elementary school. In the gym, a huge holiday craft sale is also held at the same time, but we have eyes only for the books.
On Book Sale Eve, I chose a pretty festive sweater to wear during Book Sale Day. The most appropriate sweater would have been one with books on it, but I had to make do with one with snowmen and snowflakes. Eric asked, “What should I wear for Book Sale Day?” I told him that he really needs to buy a festive sweater to wear on this day. But he wore plaid, which was good enough.
We almost had to forego Book Sale Day because EJ has come down with a nasty cold. But he said, “I’m not going to miss it!” So we didn’t. He was feeling a trifle better this morning. This year I took a few cloth shopping bags with us rather than use the library’s bags and boxes. It was very handy so I think I’ll try to remember to bring them every year. We bought about two dozen books. I couldn’t find any books by authors I enjoy, but I did find eight or so books by new authors to try. I also got another edition of Bartlett’s Book of Quotations, a Dictionary of Word Origins, three Ernest Hemingway books and one by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn that we don’t yet own, and a series of books about English Kings. I sometimes read historical novels and I can’t always remember which king did what. I figured that with these books, I can easily refresh my memory as needed. I also found DVDs of three or four seasons of Stargate SG-1, which is a science fiction TV series we enjoy. All in all, it was a successful Book Sale Day.
We’ve had a mild winter so far. Today is a gray day with periods of light rain. It’s rained for several days and is supposed to rain for another couple of days, but snow is in the forecast beginning Monday night. I now have more books to cuddle up with on cold winter days. I feel like a contented Book Wyrm which for those of you who may not know, is a dragon who collects books instead of gold, silver, and jewels.
Did you know that Iceland has a Christmas Eve tradition called Jólabókaflóð, or “Christmas Book Flood”? It is a cherished cultural tradition, deeply rooted in Iceland’s love for literature and storytelling. It is celebrated on Christmas Eve and revolves around giving and receiving new books, often accompanied by delicious treats like hot cocoa, Icelandic chocolates, or even a special beer. The night is spent in the company of loved ones, reading and sharing stories, creating memories that last a lifetime. I think that holiday is absolutely awesome.
Every time I go outside, I hear a “chickadee-dee-dee” and the chickadees begin to gather around me. Sometimes they land on my head. LOL. I now keep a small pill bottle with seeds in my pocket, so I can quickly pour some into my hand and offer it to the birds whenever they appear. I don’t want to disappoint my little feathered friends. A few days ago I took Hannah Joy for a walk down the driveway. When I was nearing the bottom of the hill, I heard “chickadee-dee-dee.” I looked up and several chickadees were hopping from tree to tree, following us. Until then, I didn’t know how far their territory extended. I pour seeds into my hand and held it up, and several flew in to land on my hand. Hannah Joy was snuffling in the grass, her leash stretched out between us, and several chickadees landed on the leash before flying to my hand.
I have decided to wait until warmer weather to try to entice the squirrels and chipmunks to eat from my hand. In this season, t’s too chilly to patiently sit outside and wait for them to overcome their fear and approach me. But I’m imagining that eventually I will have birds and little critters following me whenever I go outside. Then I really will feel like Snow White. A couple nights ago, I chatted on the phone with our son and I told him I was becoming like Snow White. He replied, “Actually, I see you more as Radagast the Brown from Lord of the Rings.” I don’t think I’m THAT goofy, although Radagast is actually brave, good-hearted, and kind to animals which are not bad attributes to have.
I Love To Go A Gardening 