Enough already!

Honestly, when is it going to let up? Here we are three weeks or so into winter and forget about my plan to walk more! I think I ventured out three times and that's about it. It hasn't even been fit to drive on most days. There is so much ice everywhere, even on top of the snow. First it was minus 40 and then it rained followed by freezing rain. But I must say that we had a couple of days when it felt like spring and now it's raining again so hope it doesn't turn cold before it snows. I want snow.

That's the view from my patio doors, facing south. Doesn't the ice on the snow look like melted marshmallows? lol  Certainly not the snow-shoeing kind of white stuff.
Okay, enough ranting about the weather.

Went to a session with my writing group this evening. It was great seeing everyone again and it helps to talk about how we can all move forward with our writing...or not. :)

That is about it for tonight.
Pat

A BOW TO WINTER

As winters go, this is a brutal one on a number of fronts right across the country, except BC I suppose.

In the Maritimes, we've seen extremes of cold on and off since the beginning of December with thousands of people without power over the Holidays because of an ice storm in the southern part of New Brunswick.  Here on the Baie des Chaleur, the season began with bitterly cold high winds before there was snow on the ground, and that made it difficult to keep warm no matter if you used wood, electric or oil for heat. It was like trauma to the buildings -- so much so fast.

Now that there is snow, three storms during the first official week of winter, we've woken up to minus 40 with the wind chill factor for the third day in a row.

All this is playing havoc with my intention to walk more, but it is better to be safe than sorry. I sure have enough on my to-do list to keep me busy. Oh! But I forgot to list I should take weekends off, lol.

Meanwhile, the cold can cause unexpected problems, such as natural gas or plumbing vents, as in my case, clogging up with ice. At least I can close the door of the downstairs' bathroom and control the methane odour! That cotton picken pipe is likely not up to code, as in too small.

Oh well, it is supposed to warm up beginning tomorrow and may even get to above zero by Monday, so hopefully the ice will melt. But there will be more very cold temperatures before spring and a possible solution might be to direct a fan heater at the problem. humm. Might be worth the purchase. Could be a long time before I can get a plumber to climb up there.

I will survive, I will survive. Remember that song?

Pat

New Year resolutions

Here we are a couple of days into 2014! Time flies. Yep.  Now what?

Like many people I've made some resolutions for the upcoming year. At first it was a resolve to go into a hibernation of sort in order to do something with that book I've been writing on and off over the last three years.

Then January First came along and I added a few things to my to-do list, like walking more...when it's not minus 40 with the wind chill that is!

I've always had a busy life, but upon retirement it was like all of a sudden I couldn't get enough TV! Especially renovation shows,  I could sit there and watch people work all day.

So, my plan is -- if I write it down I really have to stick to this hey? Oh well, here goes.

Write, walk, relearn to play guitar, sort through personal papers and written works and add to the insulation in the basement ceiling project. And of course besides that there is the usual household chores, shovelling snow, shop for groceries and visit relatives.

I figure if I alternate between these mental, physical and leisure activities, I will not get bored with any one of them and hopefully feel further ahead come spring.

The big picture in the mist of all this is that I will also continue to make improvements to my home because I plan to sell and move back to PEI!

Spring in Petit Rocher

Hello friends,

This is my first attempt at creating a blog. Heaven knows what I'll come up with, but hope to captivate you or at least keep you reading about my adventures in gardening, home maintenance/renovations and what it's been like moving back to my native province after being away for many years. Not to mention going from a good salary to a fixed income.
Scary? You bet! But I have plans and I'll share with you all eventually.

For now or as soon as weather permits, I'm going to find a spot in my limited and totally bare yard for some flowering scrubs I recently purchased  (2 snowmound spireas, 1 hydrangea and one rose bush) while on a visit to Prince Edward Island. 

I had also ordered plants and bulbs from a garden centre in Ontario which arrived the other day, but much too early for this area of the country, at least two weeks too early! I'm pretty sure there's still snow in the woods around here for heaven's sakes. So after watering them and re-sealing the boxes they arrived in, I've stored them in a cool area of the basement and I'll soon find out if they'll survive...at least till planting time.

That's all from this newbie for today