CRAZY snow!!

See that crazy pattern of Holstein / Rorschach blobs? They are moving fast, disappearing, reappearing like a summer thunderstorm. 15 minutes of blizzard. 15 minutes of blue sky. Repeat. It is soooo frustrating! I was going to work on some of our remaining moulding work for the kitchen, but I just can't bring myself to go out on the front porch (table saw, under a blanket), or back porch (screened, keeps the snow out at least) to do anything. It's just nasty and cold, and windy. Steven started the paint treatment on our last batch of moulds (requires FIVE different layers of paint and rubbing off to complete the effect), putting the base coat on on the porch, and then standing each piece up in the living room to warm up and dry.

All of the little sprouts on our bracken are dead. The peonies are looking reeeeally limp. And Steven says even the little forest of Hostas, that we very carefully covered, are burned. What a drag. I'm glad we haven't planted any of our vegetables yet. We saw on the weather channel that even in Atlanta, they've had hard freezes at night, which must really be demolishing everything. Our vegetable garden there would have been well on its way by now, were we still there.

I'm going to read my Michael Cunningham book and take a nap.

Sheesh

It may be hard to tell from this photo, but that is snow, AGAIN. No snow at all last winter, snow 39 times this. Steven has covered the huge number of hostas coming up in the lovely shaded side garden, the peonies in the sunny side garden, and the hydrangeas and other miscellany in the back. We ran out of steam with the budding bracken and the newly sprouting and spreading ajooba... we just didn't have enough blankies. It will snow tomorrow and the next also. I'm watching a bunny outside the window right now, hangin in the snow (just in time for easter). We've got to get a good digital camera with a zoom lens.

Driving in the Snow

Today--even though I have been here now for more than a year--was my first day of seriously scary wintry driving. I volunteered to go out at lunchtime and pickup lunch for 10 of us, and as I got near the top of the hill at the dividing ridge that separates the country of my office from the precinct of the town, my ESP (electronic stability program) went haywire, the wheels slipped, the car slowed to nothing, and i started sliding sideways. Thankfully, I did not plunge into a ditch or anything, rather, just gently coasted backward down the hill where a big line of cars were stuck also, and a giant Pepsi truck was parked. I had to turn around, go back to the office, and get someone with a Volvo to take me on my errand. After lunch, the road crew came through and scraped the road, making it completely clear, so I felt like an idiot. Temperatures here will plunge to about -5 tomorrow, so I wonder if everything will become iced over. I think i need to get home before dark, just in case. Steven or I--one of us at least--needs to get an AWD or 4WD vehicle.

Travels in Ohio, Part II

Ok, I know I know, I never wrote part I, I think I lost the pictures somehow. Maybe I loaded them on my computer at work? Here's a picture of Mister (with Rooster hair), in my new primitive kitchen in Ohio instead. Anyhow, three weekends ago, I went to Gloucester, Logan, New Lexington, and Lancaster, all NE of here. Today, i'm going to the SW, to see Jackson, Chillicothe, Pomeroy, South Point, and maybe Huntington WV. Got PB&J packed and an orange and some water. Later!