Thursday 13: A VERY Random Edition

Since we’ve had so much snow, and I’ve been staying inside so much (because I HATE snow), I don’t have much for a Thursday 13 this week.

So, it seems like a good time to share a very random assortment of pictures that I’m fairly sure I haven’t posted here before.

1.    Of course, I’m going to start off with a cat picture.  I think Mortimer looks adorable here.  

2. This was at a vacation rental that we stayed at in 2023.  I think these hand mirrors are antique (or at least vintage).  They were displayed on a wall in the bathroom, and I thought it was a great idea.  It seemed like a fun way to display a collection without really taking up space.

3.    I enjoy taking pictures of the sky, and I thought it was beautiful this particular evening.

4.    I’m not sure what these little white flowers are called, but I think they’re pretty.

5.   This hibiscus was at a vacation rental we stayed at in 2022.

6.  This was on vacation in 2021.  It was insanely humid that day, and the camera lens fogged, but I liked how it made the picture look kind of mysterious and moody.

7.  Theodore loves it when we get a suitcase out of the closet. 

8.    So does Mortimer.

9.    This was sunrise on Kiawah Island on our 2024 vacation.

10.  This was the first time I successfully built a cooking fire entirely on my own after Hurricane Helene.  I’m not the outdoorsy type, so it felt like a major accomplishment.

11.  This was when a possum stopped by the critter corner.

12.  This was one of the few beach pictures I took on vacation last year before we got sick.

13.  Finally, here's a flower picture that, according to the date stamp, I took on February 29, 2024. I'm trying to remind myself that the snow will melt and spring will eventually arrive! 

Are you also eagerly anticipating warmer weather? 

 

Maybe We’re Finally Thawing Out

Like most of you, we’ve had a lot of snow and ice lately.  I know “a lot” is relative when it comes to snow and ice.  But for here, where most of us panic at the mention of snow, and almost none of us can drive in it, what we’ve had is definitely a lot. 

From the first round.  It's mostly ice.  There are icicles on the bird feeders.

Last weekend (January 24^th -25^th), we had some snow, a lot of ice, and freezing rain.  There were widespread power outages.  We were some of the fortunate ones who didn’t lose power.  It flickered so much that we fully expected to lose it, but never did.  Nick’s office was closed for two days, and mine switched us all to telework.

Everything was coated in ice.

We had some warming and melting, but still had ice in several places by Friday.

This past weekend (January 31^st – February 1^st), we had snow and extreme cold.  I think we ended up with around six inches of snow in total.  It’s a little hard to tell because of the way the wind blew it around. 

From this past weekend.  We had more after I took this.  And there's ice from the week before underneath it in some places.

Again, we were fortunate and didn’t lose power.  It did get so cold, though, that the heater wasn’t able to keep up and was running around seven degrees colder than what it was set for. 

We did everything we could to keep the house warmer.  We hung blankets over the blinds in the windows to help insulate the house a little more.  I did some baking and made soups and chili.  We had neighbors over for soup and chili both weekends. 

My job has switched us all to telework again for at least the next day or two, which I’m happy about since I absolutely don’t drive in this kind of weather.   

Things are beginning to thaw out.  

There's still ice under some of this, so I don't trust it.

We are supposed to have highs ranging from 47 to 51 this weekend.  I’m so glad!  I haven’t left the house since January 23^rd, and I’m starting to go a little stir crazy.  I’m looking forward to getting out. 

I hate winter.  I really, really hate winter.  I started off in January trying to have a positive attitude about winter and trying to make the best of the cold, but at this point, I’m just over it.  I’m ready for spring! 

I would much rather be taking pictures of flowers than snow!

So, what about you?  Are you thawing out?  Ready for spring? 

A Cold Hour in the Yard

Once Christmas is over, I am ready for winter to be over.  After the Christmas lights and decorations are (mostly) put away, it’s just cold and gray.  The winter blues really set in.

I know spending time outside in the sunlight, even when it’s cold, really helps, but I struggle to make myself spend time outside this time of year.

I really hate to be cold.

This year, though, to make spending time outside in the cold weather a little more pleasant, I’ve decided to focus on yard/garden chores I can do in the cold weather.  It makes it seem like spring isn’t quite so far away.

It seems like there are always things to do in the yard/garden, and I want to make it as beautiful as possible.  So, getting started on things now makes sense in addition to getting me outside in the sunshine (even when it’s cold).

Last week, Nick and I did a lot of pruning/trimming and general yard pick-up.  I forgot to take any progress pictures.

This week, I decided to prune the hydrangea that had grown out of control.  This is the ideal time of year to prune hydrangeas, anyway, so it was the perfect cold-weather yard task to tackle after work today.

Here’s the before.

I told you it had grown out of control.

I also trimmed the holly bush next to the hydrangea.  It was out of control, too, and I needed space to get behind the hydrangea to get the back of it.  I’m not sure if this is the right time of year to trim the holly bush, but I don’t especially like it, so I’m not really concerned.  I eventually want to get rid of it and replace it with a camellia.

This was my first pile of branches to haul away.  I ended up hauling away six wheelbarrows of branches. 

Here’s the after.

I still need to do some more trimming, but it was getting dark, so I called it a day. 

One day closer to spring!  

Do you have any cold-weather projects you're working on? 

A Catch Up Post

I basically took a month off of blogging right after my post about keeping up with blogging in January.  That’s the way it goes, right?

It hasn’t been a terribly interesting month, and work has been insane.  Most of the time at the end of the day I just want to come home, crawl under a blanket on the couch, eat lots of junk food, and watch Netflix.  That doesn’t lead to doing much blogging, or much of anything else.

Nick and I have been passing some sort of cold back and forth for the past couple of weeks, so that has also made us much more inclined to spend a lot of time on the couch watching TV.  We’ve been taking lots of vitamins, so I’m hoping we’ll finally shake it for good this time. 

February and March seem to have traded places as far as what the weather is supposed to be like.  We had several beautiful, warm days in February.  Our daffodils and hyacinths bloomed.  It really seemed like winter was over, and spring had arrived early.  Nope.   March has been cold, rainy, and windy.  We’ve had some snow, and there’s more snow forecast for later this week.  We’re kind of at the point where it feels like winter is never going to end.  The daffodils and hyacinths are still holding on, so that’s a hopeful sign. 

We finally visited the North Carolina Arboretum on one of the nice Saturdays in February.  Nick had been before, but I hadn’t.  We had been talking about going for years, but just kept putting it off.  We finally picked a Saturday to go with our friend Alex.  We met Alex at the Farmer’s Market first, and spent some time walking around and perusing the booths there.  It’s still a little early for some things, but we bought some fresh produce and a few jams and sauces.  I absolutely love farmer’s markets and produce stands, so I always find something I just can’t live without. 

After the Farmer’s Market we had lunch and then headed to the Arboretum to walk around.  I wasn’t really sure what to expect, and honestly tried to keep my expectations pretty low so I wouldn’t be disappointed.  I was definitely not disappointed.  It’s huge!  There are so many different gardens, picnic areas, lots of walking paths, and more strenuous hiking trails.  We only had a few hours before dark, so we stayed off of the longer trails, and mostly stuck to the gardens and walking paths. 

Of course most things weren’t in bloom yet, but some of the trees and flowers had bloomed.  We saw some Royal Star Magnolias that were in bloom.  They were absolutely gorgeous!  I think I want to try planting one in our yard, despite my terrible track record with trees.  They’re gorgeous enough to make me want to try again.  Being there and seeing the gardens made me really want to get out in the yard and start planting things. 

I think it will be absolutely gorgeous at the Arboretum once spring is actually here and more of the flowers are in bloom.  We definitely want to go back.  I think it could be nice to take a picnic and spend the entire day there. 

I think that’s really the only interesting thing we’ve done for the past month.  Other than that it has mostly been work and just day to day chores.  I’m hoping we’ll be able to get out and do more once the weather stays nice for a while. 

So what about you?  What have you been up to for the past month?  Is it finally spring where you are?  Or is winter still holding on?

January Is My Least Favorite Month

I’ll just go ahead and put it out there.  I don’t like January.  At all.  It seems to be the worst month out of the year.  It feels like an incredibly long month.  I know, I know, there are plenty of other months with 31 days.  January just feels longer to me.

Maybe it’s because it’s so cold here in January.  I’m not a cold weather person; I hate to be cold, I hate the snow, and it terrifies me to drive in it.  I’m much more of a spring person.  I love flowers, sunshine, and color.  There’s not much of any of those things in January.  Nothing is blooming or growing.  Everything just looks cold and barren to me.

I know that January is when most people think of new beginnings, making resolutions, starting new paths, and changing things they don’t like about their lives.  It’s hard for me to think of those things in January.  I seem to have zero motivation during the month of January.  Some days it’s hard just to do the bare minimum; work, chores at home, etc.  It’s not the time for me to be making resolutions.

I think of April or May more as the months for starting fresh.  It feels like more of a fresh start when everything is coming back to life and blooming.  I feel like spring is when I start to come alive again.  The first blooms of the season feel like much more of a renewal to me than turning the calendar over to January 1st.

I know attitude is important and deciding that I hate the month of January certainly isn’t doing anything to make it better.  I’m trying to have a good (or at least less awful) attitude about it.  I really am.  I’ve managed to come up with two positive things about January:

One, the cats get really cuddly during the cold weather.  They spend most of their time cuddled together napping.  And they look adorable.  I’m hoping a cute picture of Howard and Frankie cuddled together is enough to keep this post from being a total whine fest.  Or at least to make up for it.

Two, we have new vision insurance at work.  The new coverage started on January 1st.  It means I’m eligible for new frames now.  I wouldn’t have been eligible under the old plan until November, so I’ll be able to get new glasses a lot sooner.  I wear my glasses all of the time, so new glasses are a pretty big deal.

That’s all I’ve got.

So what about you?  Do you like January?  Is there something wonderful about the month of January that I’ve just missed?  Do you have a least favorite month?  Is it January?