Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Winter Just Keeps Going. I Don’t.
Hello everyone on this winter Wednesday! Just one more day to go. And then it’s March. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything however. Winter is still here. And the cold weather is going to stick around for a while yet it seems. Sigh. But, it will be one more month gone. This winter has been a long one. And it has worn me out. The pile of snow from my pathway has grown to be 7 feet deep. I can’t even get the snow up that high anymore. So I spent some time cutting it down a bit and pushing more of it over the hill out back. So now, when more snow comes I can…I can…stay in bed and pull the blankets over my head and dream of summer. Again. Sigh.
However…
Today was a bit milder. Actually got up to 5F. Okay, that’s not exactly mild.
But it is better than the -25F of yesterday. And it will be that cold again in a couple of days. So I decided to get back outside and spend some time with my birds. I was out there for about 20 minutes. Nearly froze. Took half an hour for my fingers to return to normal. And did they pain. Again. Seems like I am doing that a lot this winter. But I did get some nice pics. Why do I keep taking pics of the same birds?
Because I’m crazy. Really, no two pics are ever the same. And I want to get pics from every angle so the whole bird can be seen. Can’t do that with one photo.
Muffin…
Was a bit wacky this afternoon. She wanted to play. I was a bit tired for playing. So we played. For quite a while. She was flying around here. And right up on shelves where she never goes. Fast. Without knocking anything down. A couple things did move around a bit. But nothing fell. Muffin has never yet broken anything with her wild antics. But she sure enjoys herself. I didn’t have to move quite so fast. Which was good. Because I couldn’t anyway. I did manage to whack my knee against the table. And kick a bookcase. Slap my hand against the counter. And go head first into another shelf unit. All in all it wasn’t such a bad time. Usually I hurt myself much worse. Oh right, hit my elbow too. That still hurts. So does my hand. Muffin finally landed in front of the window and watched the birds for a while before heading to her chair and a nap. It was my chair. Hers now. I won’t argue. I’m low on bandages.
I’m no cook…
So I have usually existed on fast type foods. You know, something that comes in a can or a box. Quick and easy. I never could, and still can’t, understand the concept of spending an hour or more cooking a meal that can be eaten in less than 10 minutes and then spend half an hour washing dishes. Sigh. Things change. Now I have Celiac. Now all those nice quick and easy things I can’t eat. And food costs 7 times as much as before. No exaggeration there by the way. I mean, 2 lbs of flour for $7. A loaf of bread for $9.69. I never thought I would ever pay that much for just a plain loaf of bread. Anyway. I still can’t cook. But now I need to. Which is crazy. I mean, a small roast costs $24. I cook it. Okay, now, I have sharp knives. I like sharp knives. Much easier to work with. I had a very hard time cutting that roast. Even harder time trying to chew it. Finally gave up that idea and just swallowed it. I said, forget it. I put it out for the ravens. They eat anything. Raven landed on it. They have big mean beaks. He stood on that roast and pounded away at it. And pounded. He finally got a piece off and flew away. He didn’t come back. Even the ravens wouldn’t eat it. That’s bad.
I’m tired…
Or did you guess that already? Haven’t been sleeping well for about a week and a half.
Makes it hard to think. I think. Since it’s normally hard for me to think it’s hard to tell if it’s hard to think or if I just think it’s hard to think when it’s really just normally hard to think and not really hard to think. I think. Sigh.
So much for mid week. I hope you will all be back Friday for…wait, can’t tell you just yet. Anyway, bye for now and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
© 2019 Steve McLeod
Blue Skies…Big Surprise.
Hello everyone, so nice to meet with you once again! This is the last Monday of February. Another month of winter is nearly over. How many months are left? Hard to say. But today the sky was a brilliant blue. Not a cloud anywhere the whole day. Amazing really, we haven’t been getting many days like this all winter.
Usually it is quite common during winter, but not this year. So it was very nice to see. Sunshine and blue skies often make people more joyful, friendly and just having a lot more energy and a desire to actually do things. I thoroughly enjoy sunny days. But then, cloudy days are necessary too. If we didn’t have the clouds and rain then those sunny days wouldn’t be much fun anymore.
Weather changes…
Can be very quick and drastic sometimes. It snowed again Friday night and a bit Saturday morning, about 5 inches. Sigh. But Saturday turned out to be quite a nice day. The snow was actually melting by afternoon. Well, soft anyway. I could make snowballs. Water was all over my deck. Such a change from all that cold we have had this winter. But…things changed again. Sunday was sunny. And very windy. And bitterly cold! This morning it was -25F, -41F with the little bit of wind we had today.
My pathway to my deck was filled with snow again. I shoveled that path 4 times. The wind kept filling it with snow. So today I’m not doing much. Too sore to move around. Sigh.
Outdoors…
I don’t learn too easily. But there was a lot of bird activity today. So I went out for a while to get some pics. There is a bird I have been trying to get a picture of for 2 weeks. He was out there again today. So out I went. He flew away. Never showed up the whole time I was out there. Which really wasn’t too long.
I nearly froze. So I came back inside. A few minutes later I looked out the window. That bird was back. Sigh. But I will keep trying.
Mice…
One night I woke up. Thought I heard something. It was early. To be exact, it was 4:58 am. Sounded like something was on my bed. Then it came right on my pillow. It was light enough with the moon shining brightly through the window. A mouse was on my pillow looking right at me! Then it jumped on my head!! Then I jumped. Then the mouse learned how to fly. I did not have a cat at the time. Now mice can look cute. But NOT when they are in my bed! Sigh. The things that happen to me sometimes.
Summer thoughts…
Winter is long again this year. Our winters seem to be getting longer all the time. This time of year I especially like to think about summer. It is nice and warm. Early mornings are beautiful. The lake is like a mirror. Birds are busy singing. And I mean busy, with dozens and dozens of birds singing a grand chorus of praise to God. For me it is a thrill to listen to them. I love mornings. It’s the best time of day. Everything just seems to be so calm. Watching the sun rise from the top of a high hill. Listening to all the birds as they wake up one by one. Some start before it’s even daylight. I enjoy that early time. Not quite the same here in town. But it’s still nice. Going out on the deck with my cup of COFFEE!
Shopping is so much fun…
And one time I bought a couple T-shirts. Two different colors. One had a tag, one did not. No matter, they were the same price anyway. So off I go to the checkout. This one doesn’t have a tag, he said. I know, but they are both the same price, so just use the tag on the other one. Can’t do that, he said, they are different colors. I will have to get a price check. There isn’t anymore in that color, I said. But he called for a price check anyway. There isn’t anymore in that color he was told. Now he was really confused. He didn’t know what to do. This was not a new cashier, he had been working there a long time. Surely he had come across this problem before. Anyway, I said just use the tag on the other shirt. But it’s not the same color. I was almost ready to pull my hair out by this point. Finally he decided to call the manager. The lady behind me was getting impatient. She told the cashier to use the tag on the other shirt. I already told him that, I said. Finally the manager came. Use the tag on the other shirt, she said, and walked away. I’m not sure who wanted to scream more, me or the lady behind me. Anyway, he did it, but mumbled, it’s not the same color. Sigh. It could only happen to me.
Well, another day has come and gone. Thank you so much for reading. Until next time, I hope you enjoy your week, and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
© 2019 Steve McLeod
Steve`s Country 