Dear North Division Costco,
Please get more motorized carts. Three is not enough. You'll see some ugly scenes of people smacking each other with canes over the damn motorized carts. Then they will turn on you. Just sayin'.
Your friend,
Su
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Plowed out
Em and Richard, bless their hearts, sent a plow guy out, and he did the whole driveway, from gate to gate. That didn't keep us from getting stuck in the next installment of snow, though. Em and Liam came out, and between the digging, sanding and towing, we finally made it to the driveway. From there, it was gravy. Cold, white gravy.
If we had plenty of money, winter would be easier. We'd call the plow guy after every snowstorm. But at $80 a pop, we hesitate. (That's how I can tell that I've officially become an old person – the cost of things today is shocking.) We'd get knobby new winter tires, too. And have wood delivered and stacked. And we'd get our old handyman out of rehab and hire him full time. That would be cool.
Anyway, giddy with my new freedom, I drove to Deer Park with Earl today, and picked up some essentials (gas, chicken food, cheese, pop and coffee). Earl had his usual car-ride treat, a small bag of goldfish crackers (with XTRA CHEDDAR!). I had my usual treat, a giant goodbar, with peanuts.
Earl wore his seatbelt, like a good boy.
I'm not risking the old parking spot, though. I parked right in the driveway, and we hauled groceries up to the house in the sled.
Tomorrow, it's a trip to Costco with Emma, Telli and two babies. Should be entertaining.
Now it's supposed to get cold again. Feh. But the days are getting longer, and we're getting ready to order seeds. Spring will come.
If we had plenty of money, winter would be easier. We'd call the plow guy after every snowstorm. But at $80 a pop, we hesitate. (That's how I can tell that I've officially become an old person – the cost of things today is shocking.) We'd get knobby new winter tires, too. And have wood delivered and stacked. And we'd get our old handyman out of rehab and hire him full time. That would be cool.
Anyway, giddy with my new freedom, I drove to Deer Park with Earl today, and picked up some essentials (gas, chicken food, cheese, pop and coffee). Earl had his usual car-ride treat, a small bag of goldfish crackers (with XTRA CHEDDAR!). I had my usual treat, a giant goodbar, with peanuts.
Earl wore his seatbelt, like a good boy.
I'm not risking the old parking spot, though. I parked right in the driveway, and we hauled groceries up to the house in the sled.
Tomorrow, it's a trip to Costco with Emma, Telli and two babies. Should be entertaining.
Now it's supposed to get cold again. Feh. But the days are getting longer, and we're getting ready to order seeds. Spring will come.
Sunday, January 8, 2017
Warming up
It's 25 degrees out, making chores more pleasant. More snow is coming, along with freezing rain. I want a big thaw, dammit!
We lost a guinea to some unknown cause. Maybe SAD.
Caught a mouse yesterday, and one today. Seems like we kill one batch, then there's a lull, and another moves in. I suppose I should take one little corpse and leave it someplace as a warning.
C. is reading Natural Dog Care by Celeste Yarnall. I swear we will NEVER feed our dogs commercial food. Gah. I thought hot dogs were bad (lips and assholes, we always said), but at least hot dogs are free of shelter-animal corpses, diseased animal parts and animal shit, all of which are regularly found in dog food.
I know it's more convenient to open a sack with a picture of a dog on it, than it is to cook up a batch of brown rice and add vegetables, milk, bread and your dinner leftovers. Too bad. Soylent Green was probably convenient, too.
So check your dog food label for 'animal protein,' because that's something you don't want. And it's not just the cheap brands that use it. Can you buy dog food with human-grade ingredients? I bet you can – but cooking for your pets would be less expensive.
And apparently vaccines are pretty ineffective. Huh.
In more uplifting news, C. found a guinea snow angel. cool.
We lost a guinea to some unknown cause. Maybe SAD.
Caught a mouse yesterday, and one today. Seems like we kill one batch, then there's a lull, and another moves in. I suppose I should take one little corpse and leave it someplace as a warning.
C. is reading Natural Dog Care by Celeste Yarnall. I swear we will NEVER feed our dogs commercial food. Gah. I thought hot dogs were bad (lips and assholes, we always said), but at least hot dogs are free of shelter-animal corpses, diseased animal parts and animal shit, all of which are regularly found in dog food.
I know it's more convenient to open a sack with a picture of a dog on it, than it is to cook up a batch of brown rice and add vegetables, milk, bread and your dinner leftovers. Too bad. Soylent Green was probably convenient, too.
So check your dog food label for 'animal protein,' because that's something you don't want. And it's not just the cheap brands that use it. Can you buy dog food with human-grade ingredients? I bet you can – but cooking for your pets would be less expensive.
And apparently vaccines are pretty ineffective. Huh.
In more uplifting news, C. found a guinea snow angel. cool.
And there's the window of my unheated, unused studio. This spring I really will get moved in there and make some stuff.
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Last night below zero
According to the weather guys, anyway.
The little hen is still sucking down hard-boiled eggs in the bathroom. She's a nice little bird. She's shaped kind of funny – all butt, with a little head perched above. And, of course, those wonky legs. Fixing her might be too much to ask of Vitamin B. We'll see.
I called the sheep over and gave them some oats. They were pleased.
It was -18 early this morning – no wonder the car refuses to start. I was going to put the battery charger on it, but the hood is frozen shut. And the driver's door, once opened, won't close. So it will have to sit there until the thaw.
This cold is great for the garden. We should see far fewer giant slugs and other pests. (Yeah, OK, I'm trying to put a happy face on it.)
I'm working on a supply list for the weekend – if I forget something important, I do without. I hate to do without. Chicken food is on the list, since they really gobble it down in this cold.
The house is warm. I think I'll make some cornbread, and more of those marbled brownies.
The little hen is still sucking down hard-boiled eggs in the bathroom. She's a nice little bird. She's shaped kind of funny – all butt, with a little head perched above. And, of course, those wonky legs. Fixing her might be too much to ask of Vitamin B. We'll see.
I called the sheep over and gave them some oats. They were pleased.
It was -18 early this morning – no wonder the car refuses to start. I was going to put the battery charger on it, but the hood is frozen shut. And the driver's door, once opened, won't close. So it will have to sit there until the thaw.
This cold is great for the garden. We should see far fewer giant slugs and other pests. (Yeah, OK, I'm trying to put a happy face on it.)
I'm working on a supply list for the weekend – if I forget something important, I do without. I hate to do without. Chicken food is on the list, since they really gobble it down in this cold.
The house is warm. I think I'll make some cornbread, and more of those marbled brownies.
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Cold Wednesday
More of the winter groove. Brought wood in. Fed chickens. Fed rabbits.
Woke up worried about money – next month we have to learn to get by on 60 percent of my old salary. So my inner procrastinator has finally noticed the problem. Will be thinking on it.
Also woke up worried about running out of vanilla extract. We likes our pudding and brownies. But C. just laughed. Use amaretto, she says. Brilliant, I say. We have lots of it from Christmas.
The little chicken is pretty happy in the bathroom, where there are no mean guineas sending her ass-over-teakettle. (And, since her legs don't work right, it takes her a long time to get the teakettle back on top again.) She's a funny-looking little thing with a big pouffy hairdo. Kinda like JoAnn Worley, or the woman with the beauty shop on Murder She Wrote. What was her name?
Off to do a little work on my last job from work. Remember work? I almost do.
Woke up worried about money – next month we have to learn to get by on 60 percent of my old salary. So my inner procrastinator has finally noticed the problem. Will be thinking on it.
Also woke up worried about running out of vanilla extract. We likes our pudding and brownies. But C. just laughed. Use amaretto, she says. Brilliant, I say. We have lots of it from Christmas.
The little chicken is pretty happy in the bathroom, where there are no mean guineas sending her ass-over-teakettle. (And, since her legs don't work right, it takes her a long time to get the teakettle back on top again.) She's a funny-looking little thing with a big pouffy hairdo. Kinda like JoAnn Worley, or the woman with the beauty shop on Murder She Wrote. What was her name?
Off to do a little work on my last job from work. Remember work? I almost do.
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Snowed in
We're in holding pattern until it warms up.
It's maybe 18 degrees in the daytime; 5 to -5 at night. There's a cold wind that makes doing anything outside unpleasant. So far the electricity is holding up fine.
We're running low on Tillamook extra-sharp white cheddar cheese and vanilla extract; there's plenty of wood, beer and chocolate. I'll think we'll survive.
There's about 18 inches of very dry snow out there, more in drifts. It's the kind that makes creaking noises when you walk through it. Our little Subaru wagon gets high-centered and stuck in it; we're hoping the forecast of 32 degrees on the weekend happens – otherwise we'll be asking Em to make a run out to take us grocery shopping. Bless her heart, she'll probably do it.
C. braved the elements and chainsawed up some of the stockpiled logs into stove lengths today. We pitched in onto the porch, knocking most of the dry snow off.
We brought in one of the black chicks (now a striped pullet) that the gold hen hatched this summer. She's having trouble walking (though she was fine until recently). We think it might be a vitamin deficiency, so have installed her in the bathroom and are feeding her food rich in B vitamins. She really seems to enjoy the peace and quiet.
Did the usual: fed and watered the chickens and guineas (twice, since their water freezes so quickly), fed and watered the rabbits. Crystal and Rue are loose in the rabbit room, getting along fine, which makes chores easier. C. carried out a bucket of water for the big animals. They're still working on the hay I loosed for them Saturday.
We emptied the dining room in preparation for laying down a linoleum "rug" near the dog door. The little brats say it's too cold to go out and pee, and linoleum is a whole lot easier to clean than hardwood. We run them out several times a day, but somebody always manages to sneak in a puddle or two. We seem to run into this with older rescue dogs.
Read Snow Crash, a sci-fi bestseller by Neal Stephenson. Cool concept, really good in places, clunky in others. I think it's his first book, so he's apt to get better.
Eating on the bread and marbled brownies I made yesterday. Made refried beans from scratch to go with nachos. Not entirely satisfactory.
Now, scrabble and then sleep.
This retirement thing is pretty cool.
It's maybe 18 degrees in the daytime; 5 to -5 at night. There's a cold wind that makes doing anything outside unpleasant. So far the electricity is holding up fine.
We're running low on Tillamook extra-sharp white cheddar cheese and vanilla extract; there's plenty of wood, beer and chocolate. I'll think we'll survive.
There's about 18 inches of very dry snow out there, more in drifts. It's the kind that makes creaking noises when you walk through it. Our little Subaru wagon gets high-centered and stuck in it; we're hoping the forecast of 32 degrees on the weekend happens – otherwise we'll be asking Em to make a run out to take us grocery shopping. Bless her heart, she'll probably do it.
C. braved the elements and chainsawed up some of the stockpiled logs into stove lengths today. We pitched in onto the porch, knocking most of the dry snow off.
 |
| The little pullet who couldn't (walk, that is). |
We brought in one of the black chicks (now a striped pullet) that the gold hen hatched this summer. She's having trouble walking (though she was fine until recently). We think it might be a vitamin deficiency, so have installed her in the bathroom and are feeding her food rich in B vitamins. She really seems to enjoy the peace and quiet.
Did the usual: fed and watered the chickens and guineas (twice, since their water freezes so quickly), fed and watered the rabbits. Crystal and Rue are loose in the rabbit room, getting along fine, which makes chores easier. C. carried out a bucket of water for the big animals. They're still working on the hay I loosed for them Saturday.
We emptied the dining room in preparation for laying down a linoleum "rug" near the dog door. The little brats say it's too cold to go out and pee, and linoleum is a whole lot easier to clean than hardwood. We run them out several times a day, but somebody always manages to sneak in a puddle or two. We seem to run into this with older rescue dogs.
Read Snow Crash, a sci-fi bestseller by Neal Stephenson. Cool concept, really good in places, clunky in others. I think it's his first book, so he's apt to get better.
Eating on the bread and marbled brownies I made yesterday. Made refried beans from scratch to go with nachos. Not entirely satisfactory.
Now, scrabble and then sleep.
This retirement thing is pretty cool.
Sunday, January 1, 2017
2017
Big whup, huh. It's just a number, really.
More important is that it's freakin' winter. We just had another load of snow dumped on us, and there's a nasty cold wind blowing drifts around.
The kids came up with supplies (my box of Christmas gifts, and a whole lot of beer). So I popped presents in gift bags and passed them around. Liam was charming, as always. He's got four teeth, and is working on No. 5!
We had brown bread hot from the oven, with butter and honey, and they headed out into the snow. Half an hour later, they came back in. Their big SUV was stuck in the driveway.
C. went to help dig it out, and I watched the baby. (I know – I get the gravy jobs.) About two hours later, they had it done. C. rode along to score us some milk and eggs at Rose's – they dropped her off with milk and sled at the top of our driveway and she hiked back in. She arrived covered in snow, and beyond tired.
There's no thaw in the forecast – now it gets cold – and if this goes on much longer we'll have to hire a guy with a plow. Money is tight and we'd rather not.
We are warm and snug in our third-grade classroom.
More important is that it's freakin' winter. We just had another load of snow dumped on us, and there's a nasty cold wind blowing drifts around.
The kids came up with supplies (my box of Christmas gifts, and a whole lot of beer). So I popped presents in gift bags and passed them around. Liam was charming, as always. He's got four teeth, and is working on No. 5!
We had brown bread hot from the oven, with butter and honey, and they headed out into the snow. Half an hour later, they came back in. Their big SUV was stuck in the driveway.
C. went to help dig it out, and I watched the baby. (I know – I get the gravy jobs.) About two hours later, they had it done. C. rode along to score us some milk and eggs at Rose's – they dropped her off with milk and sled at the top of our driveway and she hiked back in. She arrived covered in snow, and beyond tired.
There's no thaw in the forecast – now it gets cold – and if this goes on much longer we'll have to hire a guy with a plow. Money is tight and we'd rather not.
We are warm and snug in our third-grade classroom.
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