A Change of Scenery

 We just wanted a change of scenery and thought we'd take a drive.  Dan planned out a route that would take us to the White Mountains and back stopping for lunch in Conway, NH (drive thru - fast food).  The weather forecast said the light snow would change to rain and temperatures would rise to the 40ºs.

We set out close to 10 o'clock after two stops: library for book pick up outside and recycle center to leave our trash and recyclables.

We set out noticing that the state road we were on hadn't been salted or plowed.  Was it because it was Saturday? or because it was to change to rain?

We had on "Wait, Wait, Don't tell Me" on NHPR (New Hampshire Public Radio).  There weren't many cars on the road.  The snow kept coming down and it was beautiful.  Even the large snow banks on the sides of the road were getting a fresh covering of snow.

Outside of Plymouth, NH I remarked to Dan that the snow seemed to be getting heavier and the road more covered.  He said he was thinking the same thing so we decided to abort our plans.

Rather than retrace our route home we decided that the interstate at Plymouth would be better cleared and we could head south before heading back west and home.  The entrance ramp onto the interstate was snow covered.  Here's the scene as we got on.

It quickly became one lane only.  No plows in sight.

By this time we were listening to a program about NH roads in the winter and frost heaves. We exited the interstate and headed west to home experiencing the frost heaves.  Apparently the highway department puts out thousands of these signs every winter.

If you're not familiar with frost heaves it's caused by water under the road surface freezing and thawing, breaking the road so that bumps appear in the road.  Some of these are quite remarkable in their size though we haven't experienced any of these yet.  Hitting one of these too fast can cause damage to the car.  The least problem is the incredible bumpy ride.

We got back home before 1 pm. The next time we'll wait for better weather and blue skies, but we did get a change of scenery at least.

T Shirts for Laughs

 My friend Marilyn sends me the funnies and I post them.  Enjoy these T Shirt comments.

Which is your favorite?  

I like the last one.  Wouldn't that be a great new tradition?

The Shot and Side Effect

 Though Dan and I had appointments on the same day to have the Covid vaccination they were at different times.  I tagged along to his 9:40 am appointment just in case they would give me the shot then instead of having to return at 1:50 pm. The location is a half an hour from our home. 

I lucked out as we expected.  They were more than willing to take two in a car.  The place is very busy and traffic into the armory backs up into the road so we both were vaccinated yesterday morning.

Now one side effect for us happened in the first 15 minutes.  We drove to the parking area with every other spot marked with a cone to do our wait.  After 15 minutes, the side effect hit: the car wouldn't start!  Battery was dead!

There was a guardsman talking to the next car over and I opened my door since the window wouldn't go down and he looked over at me and said "I heard it," and laughed.

Dan had cables that he didn't know he had. Another guardsman drove up the forklift into the space next to us and the jump was made. Apparently this is not an unusual occurrence for the vaccination site - dead batteries and even cars running out of gas as they wait in line.

From the armory we were going to go grocery shopping.  We went to buy a battery instead since this one was over 4 years old.  Jiffy Lube had not a car in any of their four bays, and yes they had batteries and install them. We were in and out in under 15 minutes.

As to real side effects? I took ibuprofen when I got home but it hasn't stopped my arm from being sore. Dan isn't feeling anything. He was sore to begin with from the day before when he was cleaning out the barn and moving all the old shutters, windows, and doors into one room for further examination.  He also cleaned out all the old squirrel nests built from scavenged insulation.

Winter Sports

 Snowshoeing!

Only my second time on snow shoes.  Late afternoon. Very cold. Snow had a three inch crust on it but most of the time I didn't break through.

We were on an old private airstrip.

Snow tubing!

Not me.

Cross country skiing!

Also not me.

Granddaughters are masked while skiing with friends.

Sunday we accompanied them all while they skied on groomed trails and we snowshoed. My attempt at taking a picture of the trails didn't account for snow or fog on my lens.

Ice sculpture.

This owl was created near the girls school.

Sugar maple tapping. Maybe not quite a sport but its the first time these maples have been tapped that are on our property.

Son in law has built a fire pit in his yard to boil down the sap.

Some Reading to Be Done

 I walked to the library Saturday morning here in town after calling to get an appointment time.  Mine was for 10 am.  I had books to return - one of mine and 7 I had checked out to read to granddaughters.  I checked out more for the granddaughters and two for myself.

I've been wanting to read Obama's memoir and found it on display.  It had just been returned on Wednesday, the last day the library was open.  

The one I started though when I got home was this memoir by Jacqueline Winspear who writes the Maisie Dobbs series.  I'm more than a third of the way through already after devoting a good chunk of time to reading on Saturday afternoon.

If you've enjoyed her novels, you'll want to read this. You'll recognize places, people and animals that she has used in her books.  It's a delight to read.

*****

I finished the second pillow too.  One more to go then I may tackle making some curtains.

Some Covid Humor

 

Thanks, Marilyn for sharing these with me.

Making Pillows

 I have two t-shirts and one sweatshirt that I bought on three different vacations.  What they have in common is embroidery.  The sweatshirt was a favorite and as with many favorite pieces of clothing got too much use and stains.  The embroidery was still very nice so I kept it.  Same for the shirts. Then the idea came to me to make them into pillows.  At first I thought I would cut out the embroidered part but then realized the fabric was fine for making the pillows.

The sweatshirt from Montana

A t-shirt from Alaska

Inside view of embroidery from Victoria, Cananda

I don't know how long I have held on to this idea but since moving to NH I realized I should go ahead and tackle this project.  With advice from daughter Emily who surpasses me with her sewing skills and borrowing one of her sewing machines, 

I have completed one pillow.  Here's the back. I overlapped the bottom edges of the front and back of the shirt to make it a pocket pillow.

And the front.  

I think when finished these will end up on our bed.

A Poem by Lee Tzu Pheng

My friend Marilyn shared this poem with me. I thought you'd like it.

                          

Sip Your Tea Nice and Slow, 

No one Ever knows 

when it’s Time to Go,

There’ll be no Time 

to enjoy the Glow,

So sip your Tea

Nice and Slow... 

Life is too Short but 

feels pretty Long,

There’s too Much to do , so much going Wrong, 

And Most of the Time You Struggle to be Strong,

Before it’s too Late 

and it’s time to Go,

Sip your Tea

Nice and Slow... 

Some Friends stay, 

others Go away,

Loved ones are Cherished, but not all will Stay ,

Kids will Grow up 

and Fly away,

There’s really no Saying how Things will Go,

So sip your Tea

Nice and Slow... ☕

In the End it’s really 

all about Understanding Love,

For this World  

and in the Stars above,

Appreciate and Value who truly Cares, 

Smile and Breathe 

and let your Worries go,

So, Just Sip your Tea

Nice and Slow....

Random Notes from Here

The paperwhite I wrote about on the 13th has opened up.

I've added some other plants to the house.  My Valentine's Day presents selected by me from Home Depot.  Above is what I call Mother-in-law Tongue.  And below is a ZZZ plant.  I had one of those at the last house we owned in Maryland and found it to be an easy plant to care for.

The poinsettia from Christmas is still doing fine.  It likes its placement in the front window.

In other news, we have a team in the cellar replacing support poles.  The inspection report described what was there as temporary supports.  We had Lyle Parry come and take a look and yes, they were temporary so 4 permanent ones are being installed.  There's another construction crew due today too, to dig up the dirt half of the cellar and prep it for concrete flooring.  Needed for radon mitigation.

An old house requires work!  We have had locksmith, plumber, appliance repairman, and HVAC so far.  Electricians due next week.

The third puzzle since we moved here is almost done.  This one only has 500 pieces.

And the last newsy note is that I got on a pair of snowshoes last week and took a walk across the field and back.  It was fun but slow going because you have stay aware of where your feet are so you don't step on the snowshoe.  I managed to stay upright the whole time.  These were daughter's snowshoes.  I hope to have some more fun in the snow this week after the big snow comes through.  Let's hope we stay north of the sleet and freezing rain line.

 

Happy Valentine's Day

 

Buds

At my kitchen window is this paperwhite bulb in a jar of rocks.  It was very slow to sprout but when it did it grew over an inch a day.  I was measuring with my thumb.  Now it has a bud preparing to open.

And look the amaryllis that I showed before put up another flower stalk with this swollen bud preparing to open soon.  The last one produced seven flowers in all.  I can't tell how many flowers will be in this one.  Stay tuned for the reveal.

 

And Still More to laugh at