Snowhell

So, remember all those lovely, semi-poetic things I said about snow in my last post? How I loved the quiet, the pretty cardinals, etc. etc.? Well, it turns out that all my postive feelings about snow are completely predicated upon having a FUNCTIONING SNOWBLOWER!!!

I spent two and a half hours shoveling yesterday after the auger on my snowblower decided not to augerate. That's two and a half hours of my life I will never get back. And then it snowed some more last night. And it's going to snow more on Tuesday. And the hardware store says it will be two to three weeks before my machine is fixed.

I hate snow. Snow sucks. STUPID SNOW!!! Yeah, and Happy Winter to you too.

Snowfall

The other night, on the evening news, the weatherman mentioned that we had already received 44% of our average yearly snowfall, and it's only the second week of December. Winter hasn't even officially begun yet. When we had our first blast of bitter-cold weather, back in November, all I could think was, "I hate winter! Why do I live here? Why don't I move somewhere where it's warmer?"

But my feelings for winter, and snow, aren't quite so one-sided. As long as I don't have to shovel, or stand outside shivering, there are quite a lot of things I like about this time of year.



I love how quiet it gets during a snowstorm. The snow muffles and softens what little noise there is, and everything is hushed. It's a good reminder that we all need a little stillness in our lives.

I love the scarlet flash of the cardinals that visit my bird feeders. Sometimes, a whole flock of them will visit, trying to boss the little sparrows away from the sunflower seeds. The females, although they aren't as showy as the males, are beautiful too, with their subtle tinges of red among the buff feathers.

I like snow at Christmastime. Although it probably didn't actually snow at the actual Nativity, somehow, a nice blanket of snow makes everything seem more Christmasy. And I love twinkling Christmas lights too.



Last week, before rain melted half the snow and then cold winds froze everything into a solid, crunchy crust, I noticed the tiniest little bird tracks in the back yard. Some little bird had hopped through my flower garden, dutifully checking each half-buried stem for any possible seeds. I hope she found what she needed.

Will wonders never cease

Now THAT'S never happened before...

Mint Truffle Insanity

I've always been a Hershey's (rather than a Nestle's) kind of girl, but I've had a take-it-or-leave-it attitude toward Hershey's Kisses. Not anymore, my friends, now that I've discovered these minty kisses. Nicely minty with a lovely chocolate finish. They rate 5 candy canes out of 5!

Hooray!

Hooray! The snowblower started!


Remind me again...why is it that I live in the Upper Midwest?

Thanksgiving aftermath

It's fair to say that a good time was had by all...lots of eating, Da Boys went hunting, we found some great Christmas trees, I learned a new board game called Dominion, and I came back with a cold. All in all, you couldn't ask for anything more!

Thank you, thank you

I am grateful for

• My family who loves me
• My friends who put up with me
• My job, because even though it drives me crazy, it gives me security
• The children in our family—Ellen, Evie, Max, and Maggie--
• The opportunity to vote in this year’s election and for the hope that things will start to get better
• My pets, who teach me daily about unconditional love and the simple joys of life
• The music, books, and movies that bring me so much pleasure and entertainment

Happy Thanksgiving!

Roomba cat

Okay, this cracks me up. Do you suppose that cat rides the Roomba all day long?



Kinda makes me want to get one. Roomba, the world's most expensive cat toy.

So, how did YOUR weekend go?

Late Saturday night, getting ready for bed, I walked into my bedroom and immediately noticed a strong scent of something...rotten. I figured it couldn't be natural gas, because the smell was just in the bedroom and the furnace and water heater are on the other side of the house. Then I realized...it was the odor of dead mouse. I looked everywhere for it--under the bed, in the closet, behind the dresser--nope, nowhere. Had it crawled into the heating vent and died? How would I get it out? How long do dead mice smell? Too tired to worry about it, I crawled into bed and fell asleep.

The next morning, making my bed, I discovered the poor wee mousie behind one of the bed legs. Trying to forget that I had slept the night less than a foot away from a dead mouse, I focused on being grateful it hadn't died in the vent or the walls. After properly disposing of the ex-mouse, I scrubbed the floor and lit a scented candle to air the room out.

Earlier Saturday night, I watched the movie Grey Gardens, which was recommended by Shawn. In one memorable scene, Little Edie feeds Wonder bread and Purina Cat Chow to the raccoons living in her attic. Edie lived with raccoons, I live with dead mice. If I start wearing towels on my head like Edie did, somebody better snap me out of it.

For Parky Toenail

Happy now?

The iceman, he's on his way

This weekend, it was time to face reality and realize that winter is coming soon. I pulled out all the tomato plants and raked the lawn (for the third time). The weather was gray and cold and damp, a true November day. We even had a little snow, although it didn't last. Just enough to for Old Man Winter to whisper in your ear, "See you soon!"

I even spent a little time in the kitchen, making a split pea soup that seemed right for the season. I also attempted something called a galette, but I won't embarrass myself by describing how I goofed up with it.

And somehow, in the surest sign yet that the days of playing outside are over, Alice finally popped her bouncy ball. Here she is having one final tender moment with it:

All in a day's work

Last night, one of our regulars called--a man who's known for asking, with complete sincerity, questions that can best be described as off-the-wall.

After asking several questions about the election process, he asked this one: "Is it true that wearing blue jeans brings you bad luck?"

Sigh.

Baby bug

The getaway

Last weekend, my friend Shawn and I had a girls' weekend in beautiful Door County. Both of us, I think, really treasured having a weekend to relax and unwind. We stayed at the Harbor View Resort, which was nice and quiet, and true to its name, had a lovely view of the harbor:



Besides staying up late and talking and drinking wine and watching really bad movies on TV, we had a great time doing all sorts of typical Door County activities. Our first night, we went to the fish boil at the White Gull Inn. It's a simple dinner--just boiled whitefish and potatoes, but it was delicious. There was also an accordionist playing, and cherry pie for dessert. It was a quintessential Wisconsin meal. I also introduced Shawn to Al Johnson's and their famous Swedish pancakes. I've been going to Al Johnson's since I was a kid and it hasn't changed a bit.

Although the weather didn't always cooperate, we managed to fit in quite a big of shopping and sightseeing. We stumbled across The Clearing and decided it would be fun to take a class there sometime. All in all, it was a great weekend. Besides getting to visit a place I love dearly, the best part of the weekend was getting to spend time with a friend I love dearly.

Alice having a ball

If Alice could choose just one thing to do for the rest of her life, this would be it.

An evening out

This year, for my mother's birthday. my sister and I bought tickets for a k d lang concert. We went to the concert this week, and it was absolutely incredible. k d lang has the most beautiful voice, so full of power and beauty, and to see her perform live was wonderful. As a fan, I left the concert liking her and her music even more.

My mother asked me what my most favorite concert ever was. I told her, quite honestly, that I could never single out just one. I don't go to many concerts, but the ones I do go to are pretty darn fantastic. I've seen huge rock concerts in arenas with thousands of people, and smaller, theater-based shows that let you get up close to the performer. What they've all had in common for me, and why I enjoy them so much, is the sheer pleasure of the music. To watch professional musicians perform, and perform beautifully, is a pure delight for me.

In her concert set list, k d lang included her cover of Neil Young's "Helpless"; it's one of my favorites:

I {heart} tomatoes

Funky pods

My backyard garden is pretty small, and after 10 years, it's getting full, so I haven't been adding lots of new plants like I used to. One new perennial I did add this year was swamp milkweed, which is apparently different from regular milkweed. It seemed to do pretty well over the summer; it grew to about 3 ft tall, and one of the plants had pretty purply-pink flowers on it.

After the flowers had faded, I thought about deadheading it, but then I got distracted by other things. So just the other day I was looking at the plant and noticed these really funky-looking seed pods. I wonder if, when they dry out, they'll split open and be full of kapok, like regular milkweed? It will be interesting to see.

And "Funky Pods" would be an excellent name for a rock band.

Highland Laddie

This past Saturday I went with some friends to the Wisconsin Highland Games. This was the third time we've gone to this particular Games, and it's always fun to get a little taste of Scotland. The weather was absolutely perfect--a nice sunny day but not too hot. I managed to see a little bit of everything going on--some of the Heavy Games (I missed the caber toss but watched the weight toss over the bar. Competitors would throw a 56-lb weight up and over a bar--kind of like a high jump--with the bar being raised each time. Oof!), as well as women's rugby (those girls are tough!). I watched the Highland Dance competitions and remembered the days when I could actually dance a Fling too. There was a Scottish dog parade, but they were a little shy on actual Scottish breeds (just deerhounds and shelties) so they filled in with golden retrievers and bull terriers. The bull terriers were actually really cute; a couple of them were wearing little doggie kilts, and one, who must have still been a pup, marched through the whole parade with his rubber ring toy in his mouth.

The people watching is fantastic too. The Games always draw such an interesting mix of people, from the RenFest/Tribal Celt crowd to the more straightlaced clan/pipe band group, with everything in between. My favorites this year were the Pirate Queens. I don't think they were part of a group, or even knew each other, but they all looked like leftover extras from Pirates of the Caribbean. One young woman was all decked out in head to toe in various skull-related garments. From her purple corset to her blue overskirt, from her teardrop tattoos to her dreadlock extensions, from her striped stockings to her skullhead skimmers (from American Eagle Outfitters; I saw the label when I stood next to her), she was a sight to behold.

There were fewer vendors this year, which was disappointing. I especially missed the CD guy. I did find a pretty cashmere scarf for my winter coat, and I splurged on some Welsh cookies, but I passed on the "Under Our Kilt" calendar featuring "naughty" photos of kilt wearing men (a la "Calendar Girls"). I was tempted, but in the end, I just couldn't do it!

The day ended (for us) after the pipe band competition with the massed bands. As always, the sound of bagpipes thrilled me. And really, it's always good to see so many men in kilts.



And I think "Discount Sporrans" would be an excellent name for a rock band.

So sweet

They look so sweet when they're asleep...hardly evil at all.

Summer days, gone too soon

Autumn is definitely coming. The sky is dark by 8 o’clock now, and I’m seeing geese and starlings flocking. I can hear birds singing that I haven’t heard since the spring, which means they must be on the move from north to south.

I don’t know why the transition from summer to fall is my least favorite. I do like fall, with its warm days and cool nights. I love seeing the leaves change color, and I get back some of the energy that the hot, muggy days seem to steal from me. Still, it feels like I’m saying goodbye to the better part of the year. Fall into winter isn’t so bad—November can be so bleak and dreary that it’s nice to see the snow brightening things up. And winter into spring—well, how glad are we to see the trees bud out and green shoots come up through the earth? And spring into summer is so beautiful—the lilacs and peonies blooming, the happiness of warm, sunny days.

Summer holds a promise of freedom for me. Although I haven’t had a whole summer off since I was a teenager, in my head, there’s still the idea that it will be this wonderfully langorous time, lasting forever. I want to spend my days swimming in pools and lakes, the feel of hot concrete or grainy sand under my feet as I race into the water. I want to take afternoon naps in a darkened bedroom while the wind blows the curtains and slaps the window shade against the sill. I want to eat BLTs and pik-nik sticks for dinner because it’s too hot to turn on the oven. I want to walk through sunny fields with the spicy scent of flowers rising around me. Ah well, there’s always next year.

Baby toes

Thought for the day

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep Sea, and music in its roar;
I love not Man the less, but Nature more.

-- Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

Wild wildlife

It's been a week of nonstop wildlife in my little backyard. Let's recap, shall we?

Wednesday evening, the pets and I were enjoying the lovely cool evening air in the backyard. Everyone was just kind of grooving out to his or her own thing, and other than making sure Pal didn't escape through the fence, I wasn't closely supervising the recreation action going on. Midge was camped out in the daylilies, a spot she likes. She'll sit there like a statue, watching the birds flit back and forth. It's been especially entertaining lately, with Mr. and Mrs. Wren using the cinquefoil growing along the top of the fence as the perfect perch from which to scold me.

All of a sudden, I heard rather shrill squeaking. I whipped around, noticing that Midge had a mouse in her mouth. "DROP IT!" I commanded in my best Cat Whisperer voice. And like any good well-trained cat, she completely ignored me. She leapt over the daylilies into the middle of the yard, where she proceeded to stand still, looking around without a clue. "Now what are you going to do, huh?" I asked nonchalantly. She then dropped the poor wee mousie, who lay shuddering on the grass.

Except that it wasn't a poor wee mousie at all. It was a poor wee SHREW. I can't believe I have enough actual field experience to tell the difference, but yep, it was a shrew. I nudged it with my sandal to see if it was still alive. It was, so I stood guard over it while all the pets milled about, looking for the object of all this excitement. The shrew roused itself and began to burrow down into the grass roots, where it just about disappeared. Like a good traffic cop (okay folks, move along, nothing to see here), I herded everybody back into the house.

**

On Friday night, you guessed it, we were all back outside, taking the air after dinner. This time, Pal, old kitty that he is, had his day in the sun. Again, with the indignant squeaking. Another shrew? The same shrew? How stupid can one shrew be? Pal leapt out from behind the lilac bush and dashed through the tomato plants, depositing something very tiny into the bee balm. I saw a tiny bundle of feathers trying very very hard to burrow its way into the corner of the fence (as in, if I can't see you, you can't see me). I picked it up, a tiny little baby bird, still alive. I didn't want to smush it, so I held it as lightly as I could. Alas, it wasn't tight enough, as wee baby bird, hopped out of my hand and back into the bee balm. Trying to keep my wits, and not wanting to fight Pal for the bird, I ushered everybody back in the house. I went back out and found the baby bird back in the same corner. It looked unharmed, but it was probably scared out of its wits. I managed to picked it up with a tighter grip this time. Looking at it closely, I could see that it was probably one of the baby wrens that had been in the nest box in the backyard. They had fledged! And this thing was obviously still figuring out how to navigate in the big wide world, and had had the misfortune to run into my cat.

So I carried Baby Wren back to the nest box, and she gladly dove back in. I figured that would give her a safe place to rest and get her strength back. The parents must not stick around to feed the babies, because no one has scolded or chattered at me all weekend.

**

Yesterday, we saw a little baby bunny in the side yard. I'm saying it's Button, even if it's not.

**

And today, I discovered that yellow jackets are trying to build a nest between my back door and the storm door. Grrr.

I've had enough backyard wildlife for awhile.

Little baby bunny update

Button the bunny (as in "cute as a...") hung around the backyard for quite a long time. She liked to scurry between the daisies and the hostas as I moved around the yard. Button must have felt at home, because she never seemed to scoot out through the gap in the fence, the way other visiting bunnies did.

Unfortunately, Pal got a hold of her one afternoon. She was hiding in the daisies, and Pal was very patiently watching her. He leaped, and she wasn't quick enough getting away. He managed to grab a hold of her, and she just screamed and screamed.

The good news is, she did finally manage to get away. We saw her a day or two later, zipping around in the day lilies. And better for her, too, I think she's moved out of the backyard. I miss seeing her, but I think she's probably safer away from Pal and Midge.

**

The wrens have started on their second family too. The babies have hatched, and when they're not scolding me, the parents are busy bringing food back to the nest. I think there are at least two babies, although I haven't been able to see clearly into the nest box. I was out of town when the last brood fledged, so I'm hoping I might see them this time. However, I also don't want the pets to get after them. We'll have to keep a sharp eye out.

**

Word of the Day

crepuscular: of, relating to, or resembling twilight

Searching for bliss

Just got back from a couple of days Up North. It was so beautiful; the weather was just perfect--warm, sunny days and cool, clear nights. The dogs came with me this time, the first time in several years that they had been up there.

We spent our days swimming, playing on the beach, or riding and walking through the fields. It's not very restful up there, since I don't seem to sleep any more than I do at home, but it is very stress-free. One day, I walked the dogs out into the fields--they had so much fun and it was such a joy to see them relishing the experience. Polly would thunder down the paths, dive into tall grass, and disappear into the woods. Alice got to play with her ball (much to the amusement of my family) without worrying about running into the street, or getting stuck in bushes, or destroying the landscaping. It was bliss for them. Bliss for me, too, to stand in the field in the hot sun. The grass underneath was cut short and was soft enough to walk barefoot. I stood still, hearing nothing but the birds singing and the wind blowing. No cars, no phones, no chatter--just pure peace and contentment.

At night, I let the dogs outside and stared up at the stars. With no city lights to dim the view, the Milky Way just poured across the sky. It was gorgeous and completely lovely.

Beautiful girl

How much do I love this girl?



More than I can say...

Little baby bunny

Yesterday, the pets and I spent some time lounging in the back yard. After awhile, the girls let me know that they had had enough of the Great Outdoors, so I put them back inside. I stayed outside, working in the garden--deadheading flowers, cutting back plants. I was staking up some some yarrow plants that had flopped over in the rain when I noticed something on the ground. Can you see it?

It was a little baby bunny, all tucked up at the bottom of the yarrow. She stayed absolutely stock still the whole time I was working there. If her little nose hadn't twitched, you would have thought she was frozen. I am absolutely amazed that the dogs hadn't sniffed her out. She was still pretty tiny, about the size of my fist, so maybe she didn't have much of a scent. Her "freeze" instinct certainly served her well!

I checked on her throughout the day; by early evening she had moved on.

Goofy dancing

I can't explain exactly why I enjoy this video so much--maybe it's the combination of sweetness, goofiness, and joy in the dancing. There's something about it that's good for the soul.




More of the videos are on the website. Dance on!

With love

We had a memorial service for my father this last weekend, almost seven months after he died.  We waited until the summer because the last thing he would have ever wanted was for people to travel during the winter.

Miraculously, everyone was able to come--

children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren.  I can't help but think that as time goes on, it will become harder and harder for us to all get together like that.  I am inexpressively grateful that we could share this weekend together.

My sister and brother-in-law built a memorial garden on their farm up north.  It's a beautiful spot, surrounded by fields and trees.  They cleared a space, put in a fence, and paths, and a rock wall.  They planted a lilac tree, and a catalpa tree, and lots of other flowering plants.  It's a good place.

We played music for my father, songs he loved.  We read poems and said prayers and told stories and laughed and shed lots of tears.  At the end, while the Liebestod played, the two little girls released yellow balloons into the sky; they flew off high into the clouds, a final farewell

to a man deeply loved by his family.  

I love you, Dad, and I still miss you.

Love,

Maggie

All in a day's work

Child #1:  Do you have any books on entomology?

Me:  Do you mean insects?

Child #1:  No.

Me:  Do you mean words?

Child #2:  No.

Me:  Okay.  What's it about?

Child #1:  I think it's something about human...something.

Me:  How do you spell it?

Child #2 [slowly]:  A...

Child #1:  Is it about horoscopes?

Me.  Okay.  Astrology is about horoscopes.  Astronomy is about stars and constellations.  Anatomy is about the human body.  Entomology is about insects.  Etymology is about words.

Child #1:  It's astrology.

Me.  Okay, let's go look over here.

Meet the wrens

One of my father's hobbies was woodworking.  When I moved into this house about 10 years ago, he gave me an assortment of items that he made--in the photo above, you can see the butterfly house he built.

Among the pieces he gave me--bat house, garden bench--he also gave me a wren house.  This is a little nest box built specifically for wrens; it has a small entry hole and no perch so that other birds can't use it.  I hung it on the fence in the back yard, mostly for decoration. 

After all these years, a pair of wrens surprised me by moving in this spring, and I have fallen in love with these spunky little brown birds.  They sing and sing so sweetly, and although they may seem a drab brown from a distance, they have a beautiful striated pattern of feathers when you see them up close.

My pair has successfully hatched at least three little birdies in that nest box.  Those parents work so hard, flying in and out all day long, bringing in food and taking out the trash.  They are very protective too, scolding me fiercely every time I set foot in the backyard.  One of the parents (I don't know if it's the male or the female) is giving me a piece of its mind in the photo.

I love having this little family share my yard.  In a way, it's like one last little gift from my father.

Rhubarb mania

Looking for ways to use up all that wild and crazy rhubarb growing in your yard?  Here's another fun recipe to try.

This had a really lovely sweet, but not bland, flavor to it.  The addition of the club soda made it nice and sparkly.  Of course, I'm a fan of carbonation, so how could I not enjoy it?

Mother's little helper

I made my bed before I went to work this morning.  Honestly, I did.

Peonies

Because some days, a person just needs peonies.

New recipe

Looking for new recipes is always a challenge for me.  It seems like all too often, I fall into the same old rut of making the same 10-12 recipes in rotation.  And as my tastes have matured (ahem), my standards for new recipes have risen.  They have to be easy to prepare, no weird ingredients, and they have to taste like something.  I find that I now prefer strongly seasoned dishes--not spicy like hot, but spicy like spiced.

So I was very pleased to find that I really, really liked this recipe.  I substituted ground turkey for the pork, cashews for the almonds, and since I didn't have coriander, I added extra cilantro.  The combination of flavors was different but tasty.  I would think it could easily be made vegetarian by substituting soy crumbles for the ground meat.

Definitely a keeper.

Garden bliss

I'm so pleased with how my garden is doing this spring.  I'm especially happy that the foxgloves are doing so well.  Even though this was a long, hard winter, I think all the extra snow was good for my perennials--I don't think I lost any plants this year.  

The problem with Alice is...

that she finds it so hard to relax.