Daily Trivia

The weather has not been pretty.

We have scurried out to feed Pebbles, barn kittens in attendance.

We bring in wood for the fireplace and furnace.

Yesterday morning there were errands in town.

While I tended to banking J. had the welcome idea of going into the adjacent cafe and ordering hot drinks--coffee with an exotic name for him and a green tea with honey for me.

I cradled the carry-out container in my hands--too hot to drink except for a cautious sip until we got home.

On Tuesday afternoon I [finally] painted the hallway in the pale cream-yellow that I chose for the adjacent kitchen and dining area.

J. fetched a step ladder for me and I clambered up and down in the narrow space, taping off four doorways, carefully cutting in paint along the ceiling.

From the basement came the sound of the air compressor and the power saw as J. continued work on the "family room" putting the last touches on a huge closet, doing the fiddly work of boxing in the exposed heating ducts.

 My satisfaction at the improvements didn't stave off yesterday's over-whelming sense of aches and chills [stamina has become an issue] and upon returning from town I felt justified in retreating for a while to the big chair by the fireplace, losing myself in a mystery.

This morning grey light crept through the bedroom shutters.

Icey rain pelted down and a dirty fog swirled up from the creek beyond the road.

All day the drizzle has continued with the light of noon scarcely different than that at breakfast time.

I put on my boots and squelched about, taking out vegetable peelings, visiting Pebbles.

I came in, aired out, to make a hearty beef-vegetable soup to serve with  a crisp coleslaw from one of the last of our garden-grown cabbages.

By 4 o'clock the wet grey dusk had settled like a damp blanket.

Sleet clings to the nandina.

The barn kittens are undaunted by the weather.  They trundle between the barn and the carport.

Willis, who knows how to charm.

Pawing through a dresser drawer on a quest for my winter hats I found the folk-art ornaments which were a gift from our daughter and her family many Christmases ago.

Along with a fat lemon-scented candle, a blooming ceramic feline and one carved in wood, they now decorate this shelf in the newly painted bathroom.

[But I haven't located my hats!]

Innocent felines.

J. has torn up the horrible carpet on the basement stairs today and replaced it with sleek pre-finished hardwood which matches that in the hallway.

The cats have viewed this process with various degrees of misgiving.

After J. put his tools down for the night we stood at the top of the staircase admiring the improvement and laughing at the cats who were wary of the new footing.

Teasel eventually led out, stepping gingerly on the very edge of each stair.