big snow coming

 The thermometer outside my window says it's ten degrees, and it's going to get colder. It will be very cold for a few days, but that isn't the main event: the very big storm that's crossing the country will bring us a foot of snow, maybe a foot-and-a-half, tomorrow and Monday.

Tuesday evening I started to get that feeling of a cold coming on; it progressed, and I ended up missing a day of work. Today, I got caught up a little with some of the food that's been waiting in the fridge: I cooked a chicken for tomorrow's dinner, a meatloaf for the freezer, a small batch of granola and some energy bites for myself. 

The furnace has been going on all day. A foot of snow is not a huge amount - the hullabaloo is mainly over two things: the size of the storm, which is big enough to cover much of this large nation, and the ice that so many in the south will get. That will cause problems, if it hasn't already. I don't think we're going to get any.

I took so many pretty pictures of the last snowfall; I wonder how long it will take for my enthusiasm to wane, if it ends up a snowy winter?

farewell to summer

Well, it was pretty cool today and will be freezing tonight, so I guess that's the end of summer. The forecast predicts days in the fifties and sixties. I went out, picked all the red tomatoes, and a pepper. I cut down the three basil plants - one plant will be plenty next year - and sat on the back step in the sun, picking all the leaves off them. I had to dress warmly, but it was lovely. I covered the tomato plants with sheets, since they keep producing. My plant out in the backyard garden had so many of these tiny ones on it, but I didn't cover it - that's enough. But they look like jewels.

It was good just to be outside for a while. I don't make it a priority often enough.

Last week I found a couple of pieces of something near the litter boxes downstairs; I thought the cats were responsible. But it was two pieces of wet wood - a leak!. Rather alarming, so the plumber got called. He came by to have a look, which meant everything had to come out of my closet, so he could get access to the pipes. 

He came this morning to do the work, and the "door" to it needs to stay open for two weeks, to allow the wood to dry out. Of course, Daisy can hardly keep away from it. I don't think she would try to get in there, but it makes me nervous. I'll have to put something in front of the closet door, but not close it entirely.

I'm kind of at a standstill with my sewing, but I did notice how the small scissors match my fabric!

the slowness of hot days

 

Daisy, holding down the pattern pieces for me. Such a little helper! I am making very slow progress on this dress, basically just figuring what style to make. I keep changing my mind. I cut out the bodice, but I'm going to take in the sides - it's too loose, so I've been measuring it against a couple of favorite dresses. You want to make something that you're happy wearing!

I finished reading Slow Medicine today, by Victoria Sweet. 

She also wrote God's Hotel and I recommend them both, if you have any interest in the way doctors used to do things, the influence that government regulation has had on the healthcare system, or even how things were before it was called "health care", which, by the time you finish the book, will seem like the wrong thing to call it.

It's been hot again this week, and today the worst: not in heat, but in humidity - just awful.We're still getting lots of tomatoes, a pepper now and again, and today I snipped a big sprig of basil, keeping only the perfect leaves after removing them from the stems, and then packed them in a container, for the freezer.

I did plan to wash the floor, but I didn't.

"Over the years that Victoria Sweet has been a physician, 'healthcare' has replaced medicine, 'providers' look at their laptops more than at their patients, and costs keep soaring, all in the ruthless pursuit of efficiency. Yet the remedy that economists and policy makers continue to miss is also miraculously simple. Good medicine takes more than amazing technology; it takes time - time to respond to bodies as well as data, time to arrive at the right diagnosis and the right treatment."

                                     from the front flap of "Slow Medicine"

But don't get the idea that she is a sourpuss. She's a wonderful writer.