MMP - The Fire Within

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Well, dang, a lot went on here last night.

Very white out there, punctuated by many many branches on the ground that weren’t down yesterday. I’d guess we got around 4" or so, but it’s hard to tell, since it’s fairly wet - excellent for snowballs - so it may have packed down a bit. The branches that haven’t fallen are laden, and the driveway is most definitely covered. I see shoveling in my immediate future.

I woke up around 4:30, best as I can guess, to no power. I lay there fretting, since absolutely everything, except the wood stove, runs on electricity, including our well. We have a generator. It’s in the shed. It hasn’t been run or serviced for at least 2 years. Even if it had, we have no means of hooking it to the house. Smrt, eh?

Anyway, I got up and took Bernie out to pee, and further realized that we’ve got a garage door opener, so the cars wouldn’t go anywhere easily either. Bernie did her thing, and I fed the critters and got back into bed. Around 6, the power came back, and with it, the furnace and the heat, and I dozed on and off till a bit after 7. I just built another fire, since last night’s was long reduced to embers, although the insert was still warm. At the moment, FCD is still abed, Bernie is panting behind me, dunno where Murray is - probably on my pillow. The snow is still falling, but it’s supposed to stop later today. I looked at the radar loop - we’re very close to the back end of the system. Yay.

Today’s slate of fun, besides shoveling, includes making the cat box cover. Plus I need to pack for me and the dog for tomorrow. We’ll be leaving for Mom’s around 7, and leaving Mom’s for the hospital by 11 so he can check in at noon. I don’t expect to get back to Mom’s before 9 tomorrow night. So I won’t be on the MMP tomorrow, but I’ll try to check in on Tuesday before I head back to the hospital.

Meanwhile, I plan to dose up on ibuprofen before we start snow removal. How much longer till spring?? My tulips and daffodils and crocus and hyacinths were already coming up - some were 3" tall! Hope they come back…

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What an uneventfull life I lead. Here’s my big news of the week:

My sweet little dog, Hannah, kept growling at her food this morning. She’d growl and growl, then take a little bite, then growl some more. Very strange. Turns out her food had been taken over by ants! Poor little thing. We put the bowl outside to freeze the little ant-bastards.

Guess all this warm weather is bringing them out early.

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I had to take a few pics - check out my yard. There are flurries, but the system has almost passed.

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I love your yard and I want to be there right now!
No tree is evil, misguided maybe, but never evil.
Could all you eastern people please go outside and flap your arms in the direction of Wisconsin. We need some blasted snow. Somehow having mild weather here makes me nervous. It’s like mother nature is trying to lull me into a false sense of security so she can hit me with the big wammy when I least expect it.

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It’s been snowing heavily since the wee hours of the morning north of Boston. Forcast is for 12 to 18 inches. My daughter had her snowsuit on a few minutes ago, we’ll head out for sledding in a couple hours. She’s ready now, though.

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You are most welcome. Bring a shovel. :smiley:

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That’s how I’ve been feeling too. We had a big cooldown in the last week (including a teeny-tiny bit of snow), so I felt better, but one real snowfall would be good.

Your garden looks beautiful, FCM. Don’t you wish snow could fall strategically only on the things you want to look pretty and not on the parts that you have to shovel? (So glad you posted pictures; I was going to beg.)

As for early bloomers, there was an article in our paper a week ago Friday. They quoted one of our Metroparks horticulturists (whom I happen to know personally and whose competence I can vouch for). She said that snow could actually provide insulation for plants that are starting to come up. They quoted horticulturists in general as saying that plants should be OK; they’ll just slip back into dormancy for a while. They said that magnolia and forsythia buds should still have enough protection to be OK. On Sunday in the gardening column, someone asked about leaves peeking out of the ground (they had planted thousands of bulbs in the fall). In the answer they said that the blossoms are still underground and should be OK. I’m thinking the only plants that might not come back are the crocuses; their blossoms come up and open really quickly. But if they haven’t come up yet, they should be OK.

Hope everything goes really well with FCD’s surgery. I’ll be sending good thoughts your way tomorrow. Do let us know how things went as soon as you can - we’ll be worrying!

I fell asleep during primetime Olympics last night. Woke up during the rebroadcast of primetime coverage and got to see the speed skating, which is the only interesting part I hadn’t seen. I think I’m going to do the tape-and-watch-later thing from now on. (This would be a good time to have DVR, but I’m not about to pay for that for something that comes every 4 - OK every 2 if you count summer - years.) It is amazing how much junk they broadcast between the interesting parts. I tried reading between the parts that I was interested in and kept having to mute because the commentary was too stupid to listen to. That approach didn’t really work; could have finished the book if I hadn’t been distracted by the TV. Felt like I wasted most of my evening.

Anyhoo, I slept in, I think (I was up from 3:30 to 4:00 or so watching TV and I have no idea what time it was when I fell asleep). Got up around 8:30.

Guess I better eat something and get moving… Happy Sunday!

GT

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Good morning!

No snow here, thank Og. But it supposedly got down to 28°! Pretty nippy! The sun is shining.

Last night we went to a Cajun seafood restaurant to celebrate our anniversary. It was sooo good. I had blackened mahi-mahi with Ponchartrain (sp?) sauce. Scallops and crawfish and shrimp - oh my!

We woke up about 4:30 this morning and couoldn’t get back to sleep, so we watched the movie Cape Fear. Whoa! Pretty tense. I thought it was great. Then I made breakfast.

The tree guy is back, cleaning up the mess that the stump-grinder left on Friday. He put a couple of truckloads of sawdust mulch in our backyard! WTH? And he didn’t finish the job, probably because it started pouring down raining. Tom’s gonna get him to take some off of the agreed price, because the tree guy isn’t the stump-grinder guy - he’s a friend or something and not available - or something… I don’t know all the details. :smiley:

I put in a load of wash…since I’ve been so productive <snerk> I figure I can play on the 'puter.

Got a load of clothes in the wash.

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We had another power blurp - about 40 minutes, by my calculations. We took advantage of it and shoveled. There are more pics on the link I gave above - check out our hard work! The temps are now above freezing, and the wind has picked up. The snow has stopped, but the wind is knocking the white stuff off the branches - we’ll have to clear the drive again, unless the sun comes out and melts it soon.

FCD saw a plow go down our road, so we can get out easily. We’re a couple of blocks from the main drag, so we’re probably going out to dinner, since someone can’t eat after midnight, probably not till Tuesday.

Anyway, we’re showered and resting till we head to the basement to build the lime green mink covered box. Try not to envy me my wild and crazy life! :smiley:

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I’ve still got danish dough left, and the cherry was a big hit. I’m thinking seriously about trying chocolate. One batch chocolate, one batch cherry. I’ll start after I have tea and breakfast.

Today is Mr. Lissar’s second-last day before vacation and his birthday! He says he either wants new sneakers or for us to start planning on buying a bed that’s long enough for him. 6"3 people don’t fit on normal double beds unless they curl up.

It’s -9 here, but we don’t have a lot of snow. I like snow. I miss snow. FCM, may I have all your snow?

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It’s yours for the taking. Come and get it!

My driveway is now a slushy mess - we’ll have to go out and move the slush before it refreezes overnight. Doesn’t that sound like fun??

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Just got a call from my sister who lives in Baltimore - she said she got about 6" there, but my other sister who lives north of the city, near my mom, got something like 14"! My BIL took the snowblower over to Mom’s to clear her driveway, which is good for me, since I’m going there tomorrow, theoretically.

We had a little sun peeping thru the clouds for a little bit, but no more. Drat. I was hoping it would come out and help dry the driveway. Oh well…

I brought in a bunch of firewood - it’s a toasty 68.2 in this room and the cat is sitting near the fireplace. Life is good…

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It’s warm outside. I no longer believe the little weather monitor thingy at the bottom of our computer screen. I had to go out to buy some windex, and chocolate and cream to make ganache so I could fill the pastry. I found a complicated recipe involving cornstarch and butter and cocoa, but I figure just chocolate and heavy cream will probably make an okay filling.

I would love, love, love 14 inches of snow, especially if it was only about -5 and sunny. This is an Official Petition to any availsble Weather Deities.

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Just finished mini-round 2 of shoveling. The plow had come and pushed a little into our driveway, and I cleared it out. I was going to clear the branch snow that has been falling, but it’s still falling, so it’s truly futile. Even if it does freeze over night, it’s lumpy, so we’ll have traction.

Ah - sun!! I just saw sun!! Woohoo!!

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Your yard looked very pretty FCM. No snow here, just sun and blue skies. Uh, you can keep your snow. The snow here tends to be wet and heavy and just generally a nuisance if you have to go to work or do any running around.

No huge plans here; maybe a Costco run. I still have my two percent rebate check to spend, so it’ll come in handy for purchasing groceries.

I should go do something productive, like start a load of laundry or something.

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Holy crap. I am currently eating a chocolate danish, and it may be the best thing I have ever eaten. It is buttery, flaky, a little sweet, and filled with bittersweet chocolate. Envy my co-workers, who are about to receive half the batch.

Sweet fancy Moses.

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Done with all the laundry (except the last load in the dryer) and about to head to the grocery store. Tonight we’re having tacos and chicken tortilla soup that I made yesterday.

Tom has been working in the yard all day long. He loves that. He’s gonna build a fancy sidewalk now that the tree is down.

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Love your pics FCM. I love snow, as long as I don’t have to drive in it. Portlanders tend to become raving loons when it snows around here. Also when it rains or the sun comes out, but I digress.

Lissla, I just saw this on food tv this morning:
**
Chocolate Creme Fraiche Pot
Recipe courtesy Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh

Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 8 servings
User Rating: 5 Stars

2 1/2 cups creme fraiche
11 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
Whipped cream, for serving
Cocoa powder, for serving

Put the creme fraiche into a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir until it begins to bubble and add the chopped chocolate. Stir well until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. Pour into 8 souffle cups and chill, covered, for 2 hours. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkle of cocoa powder.
**
looks yummy.

Well, we’ve gotta go to Costco, Winco(food store), and Cash & Carry this afternoon, so we’d better get at it.

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Back from FCD’s *Last Meal * until after surgery. He wanted to go to Outback, and we had a nice dinner. The roads around here are mostly cleared, and some are even dry. Lots of trees down, including one across the side street from us. So vehicles have been veering around it, turning our side yard (outside the fence) into a muddy mess. Oh well - that should minimize mowing in the spring…

I also noticed that we lost a pine tree in the back yard - it was thin but pretty tall. We’ve got a lot of chainsawing to do come spring. But it’s just a pine - most of our pines are ailing.

I’ve got to pack for me and the dog, and water my plants. I’ve also got to leave 3 days of food out for the cat. We’re getting up around 6, and we’ll hit the road as soon as we pack the car. We should be home on Weds for sure. Does any MMPer want to share their phone number with me for an update tomorrow? I’d call you if you would be willing to post in the thread about the surgical results. Or wait till Tues. Either way - but I need an email pretty quick.

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16 inches. SIXTEEN INCHES of the white stuff! It’s pretty now - it’s going to be ugly tomorrow after everyone has driven around in it and kicked up the road dirt.
It stopped snowing around 4:30 - then the neighborhood teens came around (thank goodness for them) and for $20.00/head they did as good of a job as my landscaper could have done for twice as much. (He hasn’t returned my phone calls yet, either)
Best wishes to FCD. I know everything will be fine.