Field Notes- Cold, no sunshine, snow. Weather people Say- STAY HOME. Okay.

 I love making these sorts of designs.  I have the tools to cut into the soft plastic/acrylic surfaces.  I didn't make this- I saw it on the internet. But I have made this sort of thing....in school and then as just something fun to do at home.  The image looked snowy.

It's cold.  A very light dry snow is falling outside. It's 32 degrees.  I think the warnings to stay home and not drive is because ...under the snow, they are assuming there is ice.  Daughter is not packing Ester Candy for shipping today.  She is at home reading.  California is getting snow.  I wonder if our son is being any out of his apartment windows.

The plow just went by. A plow.  To the neighbor's house.  The recycling can out by the street is open so that truck has come and gone.  Tuesday is Garbage and Recycling Day.  Maine Life.  So Regular.

Today is Chicken Soup Day for husband.  Yesterday was Chicken Parm.  I had the leftover Mac and Cheese with Canned Peas.  Much better as a leftover.  I bought a large container of fresh raspberries. But no idea what to eat them with.  No yogurt.  I do have whip cream.  I also have ice cream.  I could make one of those cakes you mix in a large coffee cup and cook in the microwave. Have berries with that. I will need to look it up.........been awhile.  Used to make them all the time.  When I was dieting.

Wish I had gotten some cream cheese.  A tiny cream cheese coffee cup cake with berries and whip cream.

The Karen Slaughter book I am reading......very horrific. When I read the Nesbo Books- there was quite a bit of this sort of thing. Norwegian Horror is, I think, the worst. Excuse the spelling- spellcheck failed yet again. Perhaps spellcheck didn't know what I was trying to spell so I switched to Norway...

So...did not sleep well.  Took forever to fall asleep.  And still up before 9am.  I had an excellent hot shower, oatmeal and still drinking my no....cold coffee.  Clean clothing. 

Oddly enough...Dear Readers...my clothing is loose.  Baggy where in other Winters it was all Tight. Even my socks are loose.   So..either all my clothing is falling apart or it's my body falling apart... whatever it is. I am okay with clothing being loose.  My Black Wool Winter Coat is so so HEAVY this year.......sigh.

Daily Notes- Monday February, 27th. Bright Sun. Snow. A "no weather day"

 Three of my own pictures here this week....  such a sweet thrill.

Grocery Shopping.  I found most of what I wanted to buy.  Most is good enough.  I have a shiny skin tangerine here on the desk....fresh.  I am looking forward to eating it.

I really like that cloth I am making in the upper right corner.  It's made up of several different fabrics. Appliquéd down.  I stopped working on it when I had to decide what it was going to be when it grew up. That happens. Like the tiny gray and white nine patch...what will it be when it grows up?  Or will it remain a nine patch forever.  I promised it- not a potholder.

That upper right cloth could be framed under glass.... Art.  With a multi piece mat border.  The Picture Framer always enjoys my creative mat choices.......I haven't seen him since he moved to the town next door.  And also because I stopped driving. I have to decide soon....to drive or not to drive.

I have no need for any quilts (I know lots of you call them blankets).  I have dozens of hand pieced/ hand quilted quilts from the 1930's in the Attic if I need a quilt. I have tried giving them as gifts....every one says 'no".  I think the small shop in town has old quilts for sale......to be made into jackets and pillows......  I could barter.  A friend bought 10 metal, old fashioned watering cans there...... a "collection".   I have one and it's enough.  Damn heavy filled with water.  

The Karen Slaughter section of the library shelf is BARE.  I had three at home. The ones I returned last week are gone......I actually wanted to take them out again.  I was supposed to have a book to pick up......it wasn't on the hold shelf.

Field Notes- Sunday, February 26th- 20 degrees...Bright, no sun, White glare off the snow.

 The other side of the work space.  I was reading the most gruesome book...meth labs, addicts etc. And the end of the book- I knew it was coming...but it was brutal.  I will be reading something else today...while I wait for books I am missing to arrive.......this series is brutal but well written.

I am wondering where I during the Meth Epidemic.  Where was I living? Anyone know when Atlanta -- Georgia and Florida were deep into it????  Let me know if you find out.  The book I finished yesterday was all about Meth Labs etc......it was gruesome.  Beyond Reach. No Will Trent but did have Sara.

The house air is very dry and my eye balls are drying out and going fuzzy on me. Need to use more of the lubricating eye drops.

A friend is doing Karen Slaughter audio books.  She started with book one- lucky duck!!!!  I am waiting for Triptych and Fractured to show up....from somewhere in Maine. On a Slow Boat (truck). I am thinking 50% of books read by people in my Town come from somewhere else in Maine. Lots of waiting.  

There is lots of labor involved.  Getting the slip of paper, finding the books, packing the books in boxes, waiting for the book truck/guy to show up and put the boxes in the huge truck- there has to be shelving of some sort- then driving all over the Great State of Maine Landmass and dropping off boxes and picking up boxes over and over and over........rather than buy and keep books on the shelves.  Many fiction shelves here in my Town Library  are half empty these days- and the Free Cart is always full of discarded books.

I made macaroni and cheese (Kraft) for dinner yesterday and added canned peas.  I do not recommend doing so.  Just don't.....  Frozen Peas are a way better choice but I am out of bags of frozen vegetables. It's on tomorrow's shopping list........lots of stuff on the list.  If I had bread- a nice Toasted Cheese with extra sweet pickles would have been quite welcome. But I have no Bread.

My plans to make baked beans...did not happen.  I wasn't hungry enough to want a nice meal.  I just wanted something so that's what I got.  Something to eat but not to enjoy.  Today I will be enjoying a prepared meatloaf dinner.  Which is what I should have made yesterday..... It's what happens when you look in the fridge but don't SEE anything.

No idea what we will watch today. PBS is doing Fund Raising Yet Again. Showing us all these incredibly OLD tapes of Old people singing songs they recorded 20 or 30 years ago- or 40 years.  I doubt there are many FOLK out there still buying tapes or CDs.  Well, my husband does but his CD's are of nature sounds and birds. 

Field Notes- Saturday, February 25th. Another Blindingly Bright Day Outside. Cold. 20 something.

 My tiny squares.  The iPhone took and sent..... Major Miracle !!!!!  In the blue and white square- everything is one inch finished except for the outside edge which will be getting a border..soon.

Under the blues- border fabric - auditioning.  The orange and green is just crowding where it doesn't belong. I know orange and blue do well together.  Compliment each other.  But not this one.

I have a PILE of Will Trent books.  We drove to the Library on a Not Library Day......   If any of you, reading this, are watching Will Trent on TV......here's a hint.  Go to your local library and look for the mystery section (if they have one) for Karen Slaughter and for the book titled Broken and the next book Fallen.  You'll meet the real fictional Will Trent. And you will thank me......  I am waiting for the next  two.....I am reading Beyond Reach which comes BEFORE Broken but does have Sara and Lena. 

Will...... Six four and wears dark black or grey three piece suits, pressed white button down shirts. Blonde.  Doesn't talk much or at all.. Drives a vintage Porsche- black- that he restored himself. VERY good with a  rifle. Dyslexic. Little dog named Betty. 

ABC should have gone with that. Read Broken first. Or just read Broken and then stop.  I'm reading Beyond Reach.  Sara, Lena and Sara's husband Jeffery. No Will Trent.

I got a stack of used magazines from the Library hallway.  Decor.  Etc.  Been busy cutting images for my desk top calendar.   My one, for certain, Art thing that I do on the regular. I paste and embellish.  I write on it as well.  Not as much Diary as it once was....but still...it's quite a bit political this year, already. There were headlines and cartoons in today's paper that will be pasted down SOON.

I had something in mind today- ah, cooking.  Baked Beans and Cornbread.  I was going to do "fake" stove top baked beans but decided to actually BAKE them......today since house is cold.  The Cornbread will go in when the Beans are mostly done...if there are no bugs in the cornmeal jar.......it happens. When I lived down South- we got bugs in nearly everything.  I started keeping everything in the fridge and not the pantry.  Learned to keep Grits and Cornmeal in the freezer.  Yep, I spent my first 6 years of being a wife in Georgia.  Grits. Peach Cobbler. Slow cooked pork and BBQ sauce. Breaded and fried vegetables......even tomatoes. Made really good scratch biscuits........ got fat.   

My eyes are all sticky and messed up.  Dry.  House Air is very DRY.  Going to sit and rest them. Joanne.

I really wish I didn't feel the need to edit these posts....

Field Notes- Twenties with overnight snow- a few inches. Bright, Blinding Sun. COLD.

 Someone's kettle of.....I used to know what these were....black walnut?  I actually have some in the garage in an old Goodwill $4 crockpot.   Nice to know, it doesn't matter how long they sit unattended....just add some additional water and let them cook a bit- with perhaps the addition of something rusty.  This pot has some cloth aging in the pot as well.  Black Walnut doesn't grow in Maine.  I have gotten packages of walnuts from Boston and California.  I had wanted to make ink.

It's a bit chilly in the house today.  Could be me.  Need an additional layer of clothing?

A few days ago I started sorting thru the storage boxes next to the ottoman.  I had...a while ago,  been making squares. The centers are 9 patches made of 1.5 inch squares.  And then a border.  Some began with 1.5 inch squares.  Some 2 inch squares.  Nine of them.  I ironed all of them and set them aside while reading my romance/comedy books. 

Now I am thinking of adding ONE additional border to each of these blocks.  Some only large enough to fit in the palm of my hand. Others 8 to 10 inches square.  Some already have one border. Those will get a second that is narrow.  I do this by hand.  Yes, it would be so much faster with the machine.......not interested in these squares getting done...faster...or at all.  I have spent considerable TIME trying to find the same fabric that is in the tiny nine patch centers. I have only been 50% successful.

I often wonder about this....I go nowhere.  Cloth is here or there.  Nowhere else.  Nothing new comes in (ah yes, purple came in from Los Angeles- thank you!!). Nothing old goes out......but....I cannot find cloth I have used.  And my "practice" in buying was to always...always...buy a full yard.  I have, though, found myself buying a half yard now that I have reached my mid 70's.  I am running out of Time. Not Cloth.

Now that I have purple I need to make one additional tiny square with 1.5 inch pieces. Perhaps in the interval...the missing cloth will show up????  I wonder if I have nine of these?

My second Will Trent book is even better than the first..... what a happy surprise.

Field Notes- Thursday, February 23rd. Snowed overnight. About 6 inches- in man measurement.

 Sorry- but you will be getting images of pots and pans for a few days.  Until I find other things. I have this pot in this color and it's 54 years old. My iPhone (antique) is now refusing to send photos to the computer.  Last time we went to the grocery store, I took the phone and it woke up and sent all the images to my desktop.  So...our signal here is too weak. The phone is just fine. I am putting "take the phone" on the Monday grocery list......from now on.  So we can have good pictures here. Better not really good.

I don't think we'll have much luck watching cable tv today as the weather (dampness and snow) disrupts that as well.  Maine is getting to be like living in a Third World Country. With Tucker Carlson. "Blech"

Yes, I could call the cable/internet people........if humans would answer their phones. They don't. And their billing department is in another State far away.  My heating oil bills go to Philadelphia even though the company has an office right in Town.. I've forgotten where the cable/internet bill goes.  And I can't be arsed to go look.  Last time I called the internet/phone place I ended up yelling "real person" while the recorded message was saying...some crap to me.

I finished the first of the Karen Slaughter Will Trent books. Started in on the second.  Wish I had gotten more of them on Tuesday. This second one is it......until Monday.  Daughter says Goodwill has this author "all the time" so I will be getting my own collection of books...at some "point in Time".

Daughter brought over wool socks she wants me to make into fingerless mittens (where are you Paula when I need advice??). For work. She also reminded me that I had not....as yet...mended her gardening work pants. Once I start in on the pant knees- I'm good to go.  It's the STARTING that isn't happening.

I need to make some sort of FOOD for myself and since it's cold and snowy--Chicken Soup. Again. Which is FINE.  I think the Chicken Soup is a healthier meal than the pasta with extra pasta.  Soup with extra pasta doesn't actually make soup healthier.  Everything has to have extra pasta.  And then he has dessert. And he takes a Statin every day.  Sigh.  Well, I need to make my breakfast oatmeal.  Joanne.

Field Notes- Sunshine and Waiting for some Sort of BIG STORM.

 Accordian Pants.  What a.....look this is.  Especially his feet.......... Perhaps a better look on a larger man?

So. It's Wednesday and feels like Saturday.  All mixed up.

We did get to the Grocery Store yesterday and the Library.  I bought the container of assorted little donut balls. I love the chocolate ones so I got the large container with a larger percentage of the chocolate ones.  Because........ and just popped one in my mouth before sitting down to talk to YOU....

I remembered--at the Library...to look in the Mystery section for the Karen Slaughter books.  With Will Trent.  There must be one book before this one.  This Will Trent in 6 feet 4 inches tall.  The one on tv is not.  It's been quite awhile since I read a murder mystery.  I used to read ONLY murder mystery.  So this is very very interesting.......very.  I might have to do Murder for a few weeks.  

It's fascinating that out front of the house and across the street it's all green grass and spring bulbs shooting up and in the back year it's all snow and animal tracks .......

I've decided to paint cloth for Easter ...not buy cards.....I have the tray ready and the white cloth.  I will actually bring the very large basket of paint bottles into the kitchen.  Easter has lots of colors.  Several shades of pinks, purples, greens and yellows.  So I will use as many as possible. Last time I mixed colors. I will most likely mix colors for Easter as well.  I never graduated but....I was very very good at color mixing in College. Never use a bottle or tube of paint in it's natural state.....always mix. Warm things up or cool them down....always mix.

I have ALSO surprised myself by digging out cloth squares in the tubs next to the couch.  I haven't touched them...much.....in quite awhile.  I decided to add another border to all of them...which led me to go searching for cloth. In the Attic.  In the Sewing Room... In the Boxes...... some cloth I used in the squares is missing. Which bothered me most of yesterday....and now I have gotten over it.

I am not a matchy matchy person. So I was surprised by the "need" to find the EXACT same piece of cloth. It has to be "old age" or some such thing.  But it passed as soon as I realized searching two and then three times isn't going to magically find anything.  Until it wants to be found.  Usually AFTER I have chosen a new fabric.........So Big Storm.  Ice, Snow, Sleet and Power outages......Fantastic.

I have chocolate donut balls....

Field Notes- Tuesday, February 21st. Spotty sunshine, Storm coming..... Can't Wait till it's March.

 I own all of the knives in this photo.  And more.

One of the on line kitchen stores- had pictures of all the things I own on their site......you get to see them.

So..what's going on?  Not much of anything.  Watching TV isn't as thrilling as usual.....My books are good. My eyes are getting tired and dry- Winter House Air.  

I did some cloth sorting.  I did a bit of stitching.  I lost interest.  With the fabric I had here...I need to go dig out more.

I need to make another pot of Chicken Soup.  Husband has run out again.  And I forgot to buy Additional Cookies for his evening Coffee and Dessert.  Sigh.  Do Not feel like baking cookies.  Even though I have everything to make a batch of cookies.  He actually prefers store bought over home made. So after his haircut- Library and store for Cookies.

My cooking and baking skills are underwhelming to him. Chicken Soup HAS to be homemade.  I tried all the brands of canned soup......would NOT touch any of it. sigh......  the sister in law who was married to his brother had the same complaints about the Chicken Soup........We blame their mother.  His brother was actually a very very nice guy- we miss him.

So....what to do until AFTER the haircut????? I was thinking of being dropped off at the Library but the odds of him remembering I was there (after his haircut) and coming to pick me up.......are not that great. 

Field, Notes- Overcast, cloudy with a chance of rain and 50 degrees.

 Not my tree but resembles our backyard.  The way back tree line into the woods and the thin layer of frozen white snow.  If I had a tree that looked like this- we'd have it cut down. You can see they cut out the center of the tree....idiots.

I cannot understand pruning things this way.

Only two checkout lines open....again.  I always choose the same little guy. He's very careful.  I was surprised today is a Holiday.  The Library doors were locked.  I got a nice fresh half loaf of English Toasting Bread.  I'm eating the end piece with tons of BUTTER. Not Toasted.

Husband gave me his empty bottle of dandruff shampoo (so I would know what to buy)- so I could get him a new one.  I got him a different brand with the exact same ingredients.  I handed him the empty bottle he gave me to take to the store.  He said "this new one looks like the old one....."  Needless to say the next few minutes were totally confusing for him.......and weird for me.

My son and daughter would tell me...next time dispose of the old WHITE bottle in the store garbage can. Tell him he has always gotten his shampoo in a blue bottle.  Doesn't seem right. Eventually...it will.

Chicken thighs were $4.29 a pound and last week 99 cents a pound.  Explain this to me.......

I have one additional day to read last week's books.  And tomorrow I will go back to the library to get new books.  I have two to pick up. Husband did not like the books I got him last week.

Field Notes- Sunday February 19th. Bright light reflecting off the remaining snow. Storm coming.

 Expensive little Japanese Steamer Pot.

Something about the size and shape that interests me.

I rearranged the Daily Silverware Drawer.  I have salad serving spoons.  Huh!  Moved them to the soup spoon section.  So I would be reminded of them....there. Also two identical long handled spoons.  Why. for what?   Anyway- they are also moved to a new spot.

I can't recall the when and why of the purchase of this set of utensils.  French.  Perhaps bought in Europe. I was very "Fancy" back in Europe......I felt comfortable there. I fit.

I used up the final Baked Potato- peeled and cut into cubes and mixed into the Panera Baked Potato Soup. I added chives.  Heated it all up.  Was very good.  Meatloaf dinners still to eat..  I'll cook the broccoli separately so it gets soft. Perhaps add extra carrots.  Little Japanese Steamer Pot.

I have nothing more to say.   I did a load of wash, husband folded his half (I was surprised) and piled my clothing on a chair on to my side of the room. Unfolded. (not surprised)  These are the messages he sends.......has been sending for years...

I am reading today.......only stopping to make my dinner.

Field Notes- Saturday , February 18th. Blindingly Bright Sunshine today.

 Sweet Potato Lentil Soup.  From NYTimes Cooking.  NYT gives me the image and a snort blurb but unless I PAY I don't get the recipe.  I will NEVER Pay.

And I think Sweet Potato and Lentils would not be in my "best interests".

FOX News...OMG.....They all LIED.  What will their "'people" think.....oh, that it's Fake News....Okay. Being sued for 1.5 BILLION DOLLARS........fantastic news.

I made the Soup.  I cooked the Noodles.  I made myself a re-heated Baked Potato with butter, sour cream and chives.  Then added extra chives. Extra black pepper.  Cookie Ice Cream later. While watching Extra-Terrestrials on TV.   Visiting us.  Creating radioactive areas in the dessert........wow. Perhaps radio active refueling areas.....like space gas stations.......

A FULL DAY.

The Blinding Bright White outside is making my eyes hurt.  

I took a shower this morning.  I felt like I needed one.  My hair feels nice.  I have a load of wash ready to go.  Whenever I get back down there to do it.........I am procrastinating...........but I guess I will be happiest if I "get it done" and then come back to the couch and procrastinate......the remaining hours of today.

Sounds like a Plan.  Have a Great Day!!!!

Field Notes- Dark, Broody Weather - waiting for Stormy Rain Sleet etc.

 This is tiled a Blob Party Print.  Something has gone wrong here on the page but I am just going to keep typing and ignore it.    I think the artist is Victori Atelier.  I closed and opened and now we are back to Normal.   The Art has a McDonald's feel to it....... Pink Arches.

Weather today is going to have everything.  Like an Everything Bagel.  A little dark clouds, some rain, some sleet, some snow, and possibly wind etc..... dark out there. Yesterday was WARM. Sunshine.

I wrote checks ....lots of bills.  Everything more expensive than it was last month. Why is that? Who do we blame for that?  You know...the Economy?  Transportation?  Space Balloons? Chinese.?

I looked in the fridge yesterday and it's blindingly EMPTY.  The major color inside is WHITE. I do need to "hop to" get a new pot of chicken soup Going.  I did make Pasta for the Chicken Parm dinners.  I will need to make soup noodles along with soup.  I am tired just thinking about all this.

My tummy feels all crampy.  I did eat chocolate yesterday (Brownie) and I don't think the inner workings of my digestive system likes chocolate.  Cramps up. Yep...not a happy digestive track........

So, not much to say and not much time to say it ......... I do have a load of wash to do.  I noticed the bedroom floor is dusty again.  Daughter  reported in- she has the card table. I knew it wasn't here. TV yesterday was iffy.  That Trent show on ABC is pretty good.  I wish they all spoke louder.  I miss most of the plot.  Jeopardy was....odd. Last evening. No one seemed to really be trying. I wasn't either- I usually can answer two and maybe three of the questions.  I didn't even try yesterday.

My book is getting to the difficult and the good parts. The Bodyguard and the School Teacher drove to Cosco- needed to take a ferry to another island.  Used her ratty small car. Today- he gets blind drunk. I am reminded that there are dark places in this book......painful places.....This seems to be my theme for the month. Nora's book had me in tears for days after finishing it. I like books to have happy ending.

I like to think I will have a happy ending.

Field notes- Thursday, February 16th. sunshine, 50 degrees- snow on the lawn.

 I may have used this image already.....I can't remember.  And even though I try very hard to keep the picture file up to date.......they all start looking the same to me... I liked them once and like them twice?

I have a Lunch Buddy Date at 11:30.  Nancy and I are very very excited to get out of our respective houses.  Nancy has been in COVID lockdown with her old man.  They've both been cleared by the doctor.

I have on a different pair of winter pants and the new to me sweater that I have been wearing for a few weeks now..  Feels Weird......Most of the clothing in my closet is long sleeved shirts.......summer pants........summer short sleeved camp shirts. This new to me sweater is a man's sweater with a half zip front.  Cashmere. I think daughter found it at Goodwill.  I like it.  I actually like the wrong side weave better than the front side weave..... but with the zipper- impossible to wear inside out to lunch.

I actually need to find a couple new sweaters BEFORE Winter comes around AGAIN.

I am reading the Bodyguard and the 2nd grade Schoolteacher book.  The Royals already seem to notice that the Bodyguard is interested in the Schoolteacher in the double digit book pages.  I hadn't noticed that in the first reading.  Invite to dinner with the Royals.

I just finished reading Dumplin which I have read is a movie now.  But where? I may read the next two in the series.......but have to order them?  When I re-read books- it always surprises me that they aren't the way I remember them being in previous readings......

I am horrified by that Ohio Train Wreck and the TOXIC SMOKE  and chemicals etc.  Pets and farm animals have all died in the first day or two..  Benzine was in the toxic mix in the cars.  Cancer.  Republican office holders telling the "folk"  "Nothing to see here- go back home"-- perhaps to die quietly out of sight????  The Republican Way to Handle Difficult Things...... 

I am reminded of sitting on the front porch of our Cleveland Ohio house as a pre teen and the CITY Mosquito Spraying Truck coming down the street spraying me with Mosquito Killer. Spraying any one that happened to be outside at the time... No Warning.  The Ohio Way to Do Things.  

Field Notes- Wednesday, February 15th. Sun off and on. Warmish. Still have Snow.

 When I lived in Germany, coffee looking like this was the way it arrived.  Like a special treat. Always.

Husband has been wandering around looking for stuff we no longer own.  A card table.

I have the top border on the desk calendar to fill up with images or text. Before the end of the month. And I am running out of nice things and really do not want to add Political Stuff- which is pretty strange right now.  Have they all gone MAD.....????

So.  Something Pretty? to go on the top of the calendar?  Perhaps something out of one of my old journals.

The Sports Guys reverted to their past time of asking callers- mostly men-- to call with their favorite love song for Valentines' Day.  It was great.  They called to tell us what their "wedding song" was when they got married in the 50's and 60's.  They really picked great music and the guy running the Board- found the music while they talked and then we got to listen to it.  Scott Zolack- a former Patriot Football Player sang the songs- he knows the words to them all- and it was a nice surprise on a Holiday. Occasionally all three hosts sang the songs.

We had Football Pizza yesterday.  Since we didn't watch the Sunday Game. I watched Law and Order which had a collection of murders done in the "Heat of Passion" or some such rubbish.  They covered all the years the show was on- so I got to see all the detectives in one afternoon.  Which was actually quite nice.

So, that was Valentine's Day.  I had one leftover square of dark chocolate which I had after the pizza. Today, husband has Pasta and Chicken Parm and I have Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli.  OR Reheated Baked Potato with Sour cream and Chives.  I don't have an open bottle of wine.

Field Notes- February 14th. Valentine's Day. Sunshine, 2 inches of snow overnight. 50 degrees.

 An image I saved for Today.  Zinnias.  For You... In a canning jar.  From a Gardening Site.

Yes, it did snow overnight.  And Yes, it will get up into the 50's in a few hours.

I walked to the end of the street and back delivering Valentine's to my neighbors yesterday.  Not all of them.   It's not like the Olden Days in the 90's. When I would have given all of them a card.  

The walk notified me that my right hip and leg do not like going for walks....... the result of our 1969 VW bug being smashed in the passenger side.....and me being the passenger.  An injury that is like an unwanted gift......Can't return it and no chance of making it any better.  51 years.

So.......enough woe is me.  I baked potatoes yesterday and had one for my dinner with sour cream, butter and chives.  I got chives from the special section of the fresh vegetable area. Special Chives.

Husband gave me a scrap of paper on which he wrote Happy Valentine's Day. 

Thursday, my end of the road neighbor and I will be going to LUNCH and we are both very very excited.  She and her husband were cleared by their doctor (of COVID).  They have both been sick. but are now well.  They said it was like a very very bad cold with a fever.  They have had all their vaccines and boosters.  They had the special booster- I had the regular.

Well, I am now very very happy I didn't waste a speck of my Time on the Super Bowl.

I was also perplexed and oddly hysterical about the Security Chief in his briefing saying the balloons were NOT being sent by Extra-terrestials. Excuse the spelling.  I never thought I would be using the term. I'll find out how to spell it.......cause, its a "thing" now.  Oh, Yes, it is..........wow.

Field Notes- Monday, February 13th. I got Flowers!!!

 I got a call yesterday asking if I would be home today for a floral delivery.  And this beautiful arrangement arrived at 10am.  My brother and his wife Susan sent this to me...... it smells wonderful. there are more tulips on the back side as well.  It's just so lovely.

The delivery gal had quite a drive to get here.  But she was smiling.

I took my phone with me to the grocery store....husband and I were going to try to get photos on it. We forgot.  But, just being adjacent to the library and grocery and bank gave my iPhone enough "boost" to download the 8 of each picture I had sent to my email........ I'm thinking this is what is stalling out the cable reception as well.   No Boost.

Chicken thighs were back down to 99 cents a pound.  Six fat thighs for three dollars.

This is the booklet that Gretchen sent me.  Pages of prompts.  Each page decorated, little pockets, tags etc. and then all of them sewn together.  I have it on the dresser across from where I sit to eat breakfast and pay bills.  I can look and admire it every morning.  Eventually, I will select a page and do what the prompt suggests.

We have food for today.....so no cooking.  I didn't make the Football Pizza yesterday.  We did NOT watch the game.  Husband tried but he said it was just an overall bad game and half time show.  He went to bed.

I have nothing really to do....so I think I will write the 4 Valentine's for the Street Neighbors, walk down to their mailboxes and deliver them.  And then be done with Valentine's Day.  I know one that I sent locally has arrived.  Finger's crossed the others make it from Sea to Shining Sea..

Field Notes- Sunday, February, 12th. Sunshine. Snow still on ground. Eyes are dry. Very.

 You know how sometimes they (media) tell you that technology will be difficult- Sun Spots or something...and not to get all worried about glitches etc.   

Well, I can't send a photo from my iPhone to the desktop, to my email to anywhere- today or yesterday and even before that......and the tv still isn't working correctly....and my eyes are incredibly blurry from crying- about a book I just finished..  I keep trying.....

I emptied the picture file.  It didn't make any difference.  On older things- the picture file will stop things from running correctly.  I have a good photo for you...but you might never see it here.

Nora goes Off Script...wow. I wrote a whole bunch of stuff..but it would ruin the book if any of you wanted to actually read it.  And I would like you to read it.  I cried quite a lot from midpoint to the end.

I am reading a book that I have read a few times: The Flatshare by O'Leary.  I like it but I liked Nora's book so much more.  The Library wants something back.  I've had it too long.  No idea which book it is.

Tomorrow the Library is having an Old Fashioned Valentine Making Workshop.

That's it for today.  Football Pizza later.  I'm hoping Philly wins. Not a fan of the other team. Ever.

Daily Notes- Saturday, February 11th. Package in the mailbox- Thank You Gretchen!!!!!!

 

Lady bug.  Look close.

I was first up this morning- it's EARLY for me!!!! and I made my way carefully down the steps- they are usually covered in ice from the melting roof snow- and then down the drive and across the road.  My neighbor isn't home today- a grandchild is having a birthday and she had a newspaper on the driveway.   And then to my own mailbox and newspaper.  I got a package.   From Gretchen.  It felt like I was also having a "birthday".

Gretchen and I met....one evening, very late...as I was moving around the internet looking for something interesting.  I found Gretchen.  She had just come in from moving her Truck in New York City.  Alternate Street Parking Night.  She now lives in the country- I may have this all wrong- I don't exactly know......it sounds like rolling hills and green grass......Gretchen makes things.  She is very very creative. I have her gifts pinned to the design wall in the sewing room and when they are "new" I have them on the long dresser across from the dining room table.  So I can look at them.

She sent a "Tag Booklet" she made.  Connie sent me one years ago.  I use the cards to suggest topics for the blog when I am stuck.... the picture I sent myself of the booklet- hasn't traveled to my email as yet... so tomorrow.  Thank You Gretchen.

I am reading a book that I think was selected...I can't remember how.....perhaps by that little icon at the bottom of the search page in the Library search engine.  "if you liked...then you might like......"

Nora Goes Off Script. Annabel Monagahn.  Nora writes rom coms for the "Romance Channel" and she has written a true story of the death of her marriage and it is being filmed as a real movie--not a rom com.  The Movie people have arrived and driven over her lawn and parked and.....well she is irritated but her husband has left her and their two children and she has no money etc etc.  The house needs gutters and the real estate tax bill is overdue.

The movie crew has come to film only scenes in the Tea House behind the house.  Where Nora writes.  The actor playing her husband in the movie is Leo.  Leo has a Airstream  parked on the front lawn but he prefers the porch swing and she finds him asleep wrapped in a down comforter.  He wakes up and asks for coffee.  Then comes into the house and sits down for breakfast with her and the two children. He goes to the grocery with her.  

I try and imagine this in my own little Town.  Very famous movie star- outrageously good looking- going to the grocery store with me.....Nora knows everyone- they know her.  I think if this were to happen to me- it should be in one of the other Towns I lived in...not this one. Thought being followed around This Town by a movie star might be very very interesting.

Field Notes- Friday, February 10th. BRIGHT SUN, snow melting. Birds at the Feeders.

 Victori Atelier.  I think.  Abstract Painter/Spain.

I dug one of MY framed fabric pieces out of the pile in the back bedroom.  it's on the Living Room mantle now.  Framed front and back in glass.   I didn't want mat board.

Bright Bright Blinding Sunshine today- reflecting off the White Snow. Hurts my eyes and then leaves me Snow Blind.  It's melting................

Made fresh pot of Chicken Soup for husband AND made his Soup Noodles yesterday afternoon.  I had the last Meat Loaf Prepared Meal.  I have the Panera Baked Potato Soup for today.  Last time I added a small potato to it. I don't have one today......I don't have any Bacon.  I do have sour cream. I might mix the Panera Soup into my homemade soup remains.........Yes..sounds like a plan.

I am reading a YA book by the same author, Lynn Painter, who wrote Mr Wrong Number which was a very adult book.  It's Groundhog Day only it's High School and Valentine's Day.  The 17 year old is waking up every day to it being Valentine's Day...yet again.  And like Groundhog Day- she starts behaving badly by day 3- I mean what has this 17 year old got to lose???  The day I'm reading--- she and her Chemistry lab partner (happens to be very tall and good looking) have ditched school and are driving around in his truck.  

Nothing in the previous 4 days has gone well......she has smashed into the rear of this kid's truck twice.  She has been caught speeding in her dad's vintage Porsche by the Police.  The car has been impounded.  My Library friend recommended a YA book to me months ago and I liked it.  It's in my pile of books right now for a second read.....My high school years were like being in solitary confinement in a prison where everyone else was having a great time. Not something I enjoyed. Ever. So this is FUN.

Well...I'd best get back to the book--find out how this endless Valentine's Day ends.

Field Notes- Thursday, February 9th. FINALLY got my Valentine's Mailed. They will be LATE.

 Polly Lynn Kimmorley.  Outback Landscapes.

I went back and got the artist's names.  From Little Somethings blog.

I finally just sat down and got my Valentine's written and in the mailbox.  They might be late- the Post Office and all.  But still nice to get mail. Even late.

I didn't make my oatmeal twice.....I open the microwave and find one already in there......and my coffee was pretty decent for instant. I got the proportions right. 

There is a Disturbance in the Continuum. Family stuff in California.  Good Stuff.  But I am not used to having Any Stuff Happening so I am trying to stay calm and stay "in my lane" so to speak.

Helped G find a "missing" puzzle piece.  When he gets exhausted looking for a piece he makes me walk over and "find it"....usually it's the first piece I look at.....which makes him CRAZY....

My son says it's the Artist Thing and that I see pattern and color more than I see puzzle pieces.

The Adult Education Brochure arrived yesterday.  Painting Classes.  Pottery classes- wheel thrown pots etc. which I am really really wanting to do.....but it's night driving.  There are tons of watercolor classes. But I don't need a class.  Last time they sent one of these catalogs- there was an intaglio printing class.  Now,,,that is something I need to do again- cause now I am not 20 years old and stupid and lazy....and clueless as to subject matter.  I have lots of CLUES to Subject Matter @ 76.  Intaglio was my "jam" as they said in some time period.  I was ill prepared for college art classes.

I was Very Good at Art.  I was not Very Good at showing up. Doing the Work.  Situational Depression.  I don't think that is spelled correctly but the computer let it slide.  College let me slide........ 1964 to 68.  

Field Notes- Wednesday, February 8th. Bright sunshine, snow overnight- 3 or 4 inches- 40's later today.

 Most of the Art comes from Little Something's blog.  She is a graphic artist and has the BEST images on her blog.  I wrote down the artist's names but then changed the page of my calendar......I have to start writing them on index cards.  I will go back to her post and get a name for you.

This is such a simple image- we could all make one-- why not do that, huh?  Four roughly rectangular pieces of cloth or card stock or typing paper or gift wrap......whatever you have. Cut shapes.  Paste them down on a larger paper.  Glue stick.  Then make marks with crayon, Sharpie or colored pencils.   Or use cloth.

Meet you back here on Valentine's Day and we can share what we have made. Leave a comment and we can go to your blog or send them to me.  I'll post them.

Husband is starting up the snowblower and clearing the rapidly melting 4 inches or snow.  Man Measurement.  laughing.  Men always exaggerate.

I was getting myself all psyched up for Spring.  

We had TV reception troubles yesterday.  The local channels came in clear. I watched the show before Jeopardy and then watched Jeopardy.  I didn't guess any of the answers. I did watch my 4pm MSNBC even with the distraction of goofy colored jumbles on the screen (sound was perfect)....It was very interesting following HumptyTrumpty down the trail with Stormy Daniels.  Sounds like any other fellow doing the same would be in Prison. He should use that as his new ID on social media.

I am also interested in the Balloon.  Huge.  The military measures in air craft carriers and not school busses.  I am laughing over here as this is the most ridiculous Man Measurement Game........EVER!!!

Field Notes- Tuesday, February 7th. Bright sunshine. 26 degrees. Not much going on here.

 This image- would be a wonderful template for some embroidery on linen.  I need to think about that. Seriously.  I need some handwork project to do...I miss it. I stopped because I ...don't remember why. Possibly the loss of Riley.  I do a bit of it.  Every so often.  All the bits of cloth and thread are right over to the left of me....waiting.

I saw something on a new to me blog- a cloth divided into shapes and embroidered each day- 365 of them. I don't know where I was traveling when I found it.  

I thought I had forgotten my grocery list  yesterday so I had to Wing it....but I got everything on the list except  for Soup Vegetables for myself.  I was going to get some frozen bagged veg for the freezer drawer- to tuck into a soup broth with beans or lentils.  

I used up most all the veg in the freezer but still have frozen roasted cherry tomatoes and frozen sticks of green and red peppers.  From my "enthusiastic" gardening days.  I also have about 8 foil wrapped unpeeled bananas in there.  I used to make husband banana bread on the regular.  Also Ginger root.

I  also forgot the half pint of Egg Beaters.  So I won't be baking this week. (Like THAT was going to happen)

Husband wants me to put the soup kettle on and make him more soup.  Why not.

I am getting info on whole house generators from the neighbors.  Seems like Peggy across the road and us are the last of the street to get one. Power goes out and all the houses start the loud hum of the Generators.

On the Monday drive to Town-- We saw trees that had sort of exploded in the freeze.  It happens all the time..  too much moisture in the interior and a rapid hard freeze and the expansion of the water blasts the tree apart.  Unhealthy trees.

Field Notes- Monday, February 6th. Life Goes On. Grocery had only two lines open for checking out.

 I tend to think of the entire Month as Valentine's Day. Not that I am anyone's Valentine.

The grocery.  I am becoming concerned.  Only two regular lines open and one for 14 items or less. So the wait line was long and then one of the two regular lines got closed down.  This chain has another MUCH larger Brand New Store less than a mile away.  The one in Town has lots of walking traffic. Short drive traffic.  The other has few cars in the lot the times we drive past (unless it's August and the Florida people are shopping).  There is another large chain grocery just across from this large one.  Lower prices. 

I think Hannaford made a calculation that the Town Folk would drive that extra mile to shop in an enormous new store.  They didn't. Human nature and habit sometimes isn't considered in the math businesses do....

Library.  I dropped off a heavy bag of finished, needed to be returned books.....Brought home three. I forgot one...It's sitting here on my desk. 

I also THOUGHT I had forgotten my shopping list.  But it was in my purse.   I found it AFTER I had shopped and crossed things off before putting groceries away.  I forgot two things- that I wanted......I got everything else. Yeah, ME!!!  It was mostly things to make my vegetable soups.  I got two containers of Panera Baked Potato Soup.  And I have lots of the vegetable bean soup.  

Field Notes- Sunday, February 5th. Sunshine and nearing 40 degrees outside. Global Warming.

 William Rice woodcut.

If you wanted Proof of Global Warming, look no further than Maine.  The State that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean.  The State that will eventually lose 5 miles of coastline to rising ocean.  That five miles will include my house. My street and my Town.  Eventually.  I hope I am dead by then.

I have had to do massive re-think regarding the.....husband asked me for a twist tie for a plastic bag and now I have no idea where I was going with that sentence.  Let's just let it go.

Ah it was the Desk Calendar I was having to rethink.  It's different (than the calendar I have used for three years) and has a plain wide border....on January's page, I just covered the date blocks and had so much white empty space when the month was done. So in February I am covering the calendar edge to edge.  Covering the white borders with things.  Like the older calendar pages.  The entire right side is covered and now I must concentrate on the left edges.  There is also a wide top and bottom blank border to fill.  Old Dog. New Tricks.

I got a notice from the Library.  Some of the books I have borrowed from other Libraries are being called back and I can't renew them.  So tomorrow some books I haven't gotten to as yet-- will go back unread. Which is a bummer but indicates to me that the book I am reading is taking up quite a few days.

Alice has died.  But is still unidentified at the morgue.  I would think the old guy she was renting a room from would wonder where she was........why she didn't come home...

I watched a few NEW Valentine Movies on Hallmark.  Sigh.  I wish I could have been a fly on the wall, so to speak, to correct a few annoying missteps the production crew made.  I saw right away that the NEW movies are being made in tight quarters...few locations. On a shoestring budget. Which led to placement and costume mis-steps.  The big EVENING had maybe six people and the rest of the "ballroom" was empty. In an empty house, two women with the same large handbag in different colors.  An advertising placement?  I am thinking my Time spent with Hallmark will exist only in the Old Stuff I recorded. 

I don't feel sad about letting go. I've outgrown Hallmark.

It's Sunday so no Law and Order (which I may NEVER outgrow).  No Football.  Hopefully, no News Alerts regarding the "other" Chinese Balloon (South America if you aren't paying attention).  Anyone else thinking the Chinese are losing their minds?????  But thank you Chinese Balloon-- you took the spotlight off the House of Representatives for an entire DAY. And their AK whatever rifle pins.

And why are large objects measured in School Busses?  Tell me why?  The Balloon was three School Busses. The fighter jet that shot it down is actually not small and it hardly registered. But the fighter jet would be larger if parked next to a school bus.  I know...I'm weird.

Field Notes- Very very Cold last night and single digits this morning with Sunshine. Alls Well.

 Not my house but pretty much how it is here in Maine.  But less snow.   Lots more trees. We wouldn't be seeing any of the mountain.

So, I made soup yesterday and used packaged gnocchi instead of the potato the recipe asked for.  I don't have any potatoes.  I should but I don't.  And the gnocchi worked out great also serving to thicken the broth.  Not what I wanted...but it was still a good soup.  And not salty.  I can add water today. When I reheat.

I have assorted bags of frozen vegetables on the grocery list.  In case I make soup again. I got rid of a bunch of things in the freezer so- plenty of room for bags of vegetables.

I did use the wrong can of diced tomatoes and they were very finely diced so that made more tomato than I like.  So. Lessons learned.  I have soup until Monday grocery shopping.  

We are counting the hours until Alice is murdered.  In the book I am reading.  Three hours.  Less than a third into the pages.....so lots of stuff will be happening.  Alice will continue "speaking" I assume as she is the person telling the story.  Ruby hasn't engaged in the story yet- but I think she finds the body.

I need to make myself a very large cup of sweet hot tea.  I could go do a load of wash- but it's very cold in the bathroom with the washer/drier.  Very cold.  The dryer vent is like having an open window.  So, even though I for sure have a load of wash there to do- I won't.  I was just watching my fingers type...still amazes me that I know how to type.  It just happened one day.  I was typing the Club newsletter and realized I wasn't looking at the keys.  I was typing...  a minor miracle.  Been typing ever since.

Field Notes- Friday, February 3rd. 10 degrees. Outside. Bright sunshine that is COLD. Minus 30 tonight.

 Dye Bucket.  Not mine.  From somewhere where someone is coloring cloth.  With what?

I tried.  I tried doing this.....but it wasn't me....I like colors.  So I went back to just painting the cloth and the folding and scrunching and getting pattern that way.  My way.  I don't even do that anymore. I actually do very little anymore.  No one sees what I do..so it's less- necessary. Less transactional.

Husband woke up early to go to the bathroom and then got dressed.  He wasn't thinking. Automatic. Wake up. Bathroom. Get Dressed.  And then realized it's still Night.  So he went and slept on the couch. This is a very personal look into what is happening inside his head.  Or NOT happening inside his head.

I think his father and brother got off easy.....dying quickly when they had their heart attacks at 60.  Just like he did.  But my husband made it to the ER and the Operating Room only to have this happen........I don't know which is better and which is worse.  You and I will find out in real time........

The Brownies I baked.  Dark Chocolate ...are a bit too dark and bitter for my taste.  I had mine with vanilla ice cream.  While I watched Celebrity Jeopardy for One Million Dollars. I don't know who the guy was that won.  But he put everything into that win.  

I am reading a book. Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz.   Not a Rom Com.   

"She may be dead.  That doesn't mean her story is over."

This is what I have read my entire Life before the Rom Com Thing.   Murder.  Mystery.  Grit.  Hard to read stories and DARK terrifying plot lines.....and then I stopped.  But in the first 50 pages..I know I am going back into it.  I am ready to go back into it.  I have missed the intricate plot development.....never being able to trust any of the characters.... Ruby isn't dead yet.  She still has a week or more.  The Author tells us on the first page Ruby will die in three weeks. From the time of her arrival, by bus, in New York City.  Another character has arrived the same day from Melbourne.  And is spending her days drinking Vodka.

"Maybe the people who appear brave are merely doing the thing they have to do. It's not a matter of courage, then, to pack up and leave a Life.  Just the lack of any other option and the realization that you don't have anything left to lose."   page 24.

Field Notes- February 2nd. Groundhog Day. 29 degrees @ noon.

Cherry Blossoms.  I prune my Crab Apple tree to look Japanese.   I would have loved to have a Cherry Tree but I think the Winters here would not suit the Trees' internal systems.

Next Life.

Not much happening here in Maine.  We seem to be Frozen Solid and inside the houses. Waiting for the HARD FREEZE to arrive.  Minus. And Single digits.

Did I write about my sweater mending?  It was intense.  And my eyes refused to focus after I finished- so it was too much. Not even Law and Order.  I just shut my eyes and rested.....

I looked for a book yesterday.  In the journal where I write things down- title, author and sentence to remind me of plot.  Because I like to read things again.....I did find the title of the Best Man who ran away. Runaway Groomsman.  Quinn.  Review of the book on Amazon was that it was slow, dragged along and slow.  I liked it.  and yes....it moved slowly.

I will be looking for the other book...with the bodyguard.  In Vancouver.  The Second grade teacher was a hot mess.  But I liked her.  Connie doesn't recall that one.

I will also be looking up a Quick Cheater's Cheesecake filling to layer into a boxed Brownie mix.  Fancy up the boxed Brownies....I have assorted canned goods on the counter for Soup Making (for me) and I have a load of wash to do.  I also found a small red cashmere sweater in the closet.  So the red button down sweater can get some needed work done.  MSNBC, lately has been too sad and depressing so I have stopped watching....I'll go back but not this week.

I'm tired.....really tired.  Nothing appeals to me.  I made an effort the past two days to actually feed myself a good late afternoon meal.  Meat Loaf, Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli.  Five minutes in the microwave. so that's it for me today.....a load of wash and some internet searches.... then a nap would be good.

Field Notes- Wednesday, February First. My calendar for January isn't complete and I need to switch to February!!!!!

 By Polly Kimmorley  

Cold.  Winter.  Bright.  The Sun is making the Snow Blindingly White. I would prefer the colors of today's image.

I am wearing a man's sweater. (Goodwill years ago) Cashmere.  With a zip neck.  It's warm.  Newish. No wear and tear or holes. Yesterday I added massive amounts of patches and thread to my mended charcoal grey sweater.  An entire arm was shredded with holes and weak (see thru) spots. I used a very small Land's End black cashmere as the Donor.  Have plenty left for Future mending. I mended while watching MSNBC coverage of unbelievably insane political news.  Getting rid of Social Security??????

I saw something patchwork-y somewhere and I was thinking I should do something like that.  Now I forget what it was..........but it was a great idea.....hope it pops up again.

I finished reading Mr Wrong Number.  I need to buy this book.  

I have a nice stack of library books on the Book Table.  Choosing another book for today.  It's cold in the house.  I didn't make soup for myself yesterday. I had toasted cheese sandwiches.  With all the pickles left in the bottom of a now empty pickle jar and the final slices of old stale bread.. I have a new jar of pickles in the pantry. Next up are the prepared Meat Loaf Dinners.  I like them. Mashed potatoes.  Broccoli. I always add more ketchup to the meatloaf.  Or Heinz 57 sauce.

The fridge was looking bare on Sunday but is packed now.  I thought I did a good job filling it...but I forgot a few necessary components... but Pandemic Cooking will help me make something of the various bits and pieces.  Reminding me of that Time when you couldn't find all the ingredients and had to be creative.  Being Creative wasn't always a good thing.  

Connie..do you recall the book about the Royal Couple living next door to the messy school teacher? Vancouver. Kid throws up in her purse in the first few pages.......I want to read it again.  And perhaps the next book has been published.  Bodyguard Series. Norway???