Three on Thursday

Joining Kat and Carole for Three on Thursday.

Today, three signs of spring. Pussy willows, hyacinths, 

and of course, taxes. Progress has been made!

Head on over here to read more Three on Thursday posts.

Bluetiful

Joining Kat and friends for Unraveled Wednesday.

It turns out that not having electricity last week meant that I couldn't fritter away time online, leaving much more time to knit. That means I finally finished my gradient hitchhiker. I had to dig out Justin's headlamp to provide light, but knitting by the fire with a warm pile of wool on my lap and plenty of focused light on my needles was a surprisingly nice way to knit. All the snow we got provided a handy background for highlighting all the lovely blues.

Just like Daphne the amaryllis, my joy with this hitchhiker compelled me to take loads of photos.

See that heart in the middle? That's to show how much I love this hitchhiker and all the memories it holds. 

Margene has always called her Bluetiful and now I do, too. 

What are you making this week?

Amaryllis Watch

Without electricity I couldn't post last week, but since I could still charge my phone at the library, I took plenty of pictures of Daphne. So for this week's amaryllis watch you get twice the photos!

She was busy showing off her absolutely gorgeous blossoms last week,

along with her second bud and the promise of more flowers to come.

This week her first blooms are just beginning to fade the tiniest bit around the edges,

but are still so beautiful that I just can't resist taking multiple photos each day.

The bud on the second stalk is starting to open with a beguiling peek of what's to come next week.

More exquisite loveliness!

A Fine and Miraculous Thing

When I last posted a week ago, I told you about the minor inconvenience we experienced during our first Nor'easter. We had only been without power for about 36 hours when it was restored Saturday March 3rd. I wrote that last post on Sunday the 4th, and while I had thoroughly enjoyed having electricity again, it didn't last long. Sometime on Monday the 5th we lost power again, and this time it didn't feel so minor.

The electric company originally gave us an estimate of Wednesday at 4:30 pm for power restoration, but our second Nor'easter in five days made that impossible. We won the dubious honor of getting the most snow in the county - 17.5" inches. That's a lot of snow to shovel, but not being able to come in to a warm house, make tea, and enjoy a hot meal made it worse.

Without heat, the temperature inside the house got down 48 degrees. We had fires in the fireplace during the evening and that felt pretty toasty, but I started spending my days at the county library to warm up, charge devices, and work as much as I was able. I tried to get on line through the library's wifi, but so were the other 350 people sitting on the floor charging their devices, and the library's network was just overwhelmed.

Our power was restored on Saturday, and I hope it stays that way for a good long time. Six days is too long for me; it's like camping without fun campfire sing-alongs and s'mores. We were somewhat successful at making grilled cheese sandwiches in the fireplace and they were much better than peanut butter and jelly.

I often consider cooking, laundry, vacuuming, and other housework as tedious and unenjoyable tasks, but for now I'm reveling in the sheer joy of being able to do these things (and being delightfully warm while I do them). Electricity is a fine and miraculous thing!

Some Weekend

Well, that was some weekend! It was predicted, we knew it was coming, but this latest Nor'easter was still something.

For us, it started on Friday with torrential rain (about three inches), 45 mph winds, gusts around 60 mph, and the rain changing to snow. Once the wind began to ramp up, I figured I better make some food while we still had power. John was working from home and questioned why we needed two chicken pot pies, but it turns out we did.

They're a little sloppy and funny-looking because I made them in a big hurry and didn't have enough pastry to make a lattice for the second one, but I kind of like the fish. It's a good thing I hurried because the power went out about five minutes after I took them out of the oven. My neighbor came over to check and make sure we didn't have electricity before he reported the outage, and I gave him one of the pies when he said he hadn't had time to go to the grocery store.

I took a walk on Sunday and saw pretty much the same thing everywhere I went.

We are among the lucky ones in our area. Our power came back on Saturday night, so we were only without electricity for 36 hours or so. Fifty percent of the people in our county still don't have service restored as of Sunday night, and the best estimate is that it may take until Wednesday ...

when we get to do it all again with the next Nor'easter. The winds aren't predicted to be quite as strong, but I'm going to be prepared with food, flashlights, charged devices, and knitting at the ready.

Here's hoping for plenty of electricity and fewer downed trees in the week ahead.

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Farewell, Disgruntled Shopper. They came for you the other day, and I am sorry to see you go. I wish you could have had a slightly more dignified trip home than being pried up, wheeled down the sidewalk, and placed unceremoniously in the back of a truck, but we all respect your stoicism and ability to carry heavy packages for months at a time with nary a complaint.

The whole town was excited when you arrived.

I couldn't resist visiting with you each time I passed by on Main Street, jokingly giving you an extra package. You were not amused.

I admired your festive hat at Christmas, but again, you did not seem amused.

Goodbye, Disgruntled Shopper. You will be missed.

Three on Thursday

I've been running across some good quotes recently, so I'm sharing a few with you for Three on Thursday (along with three bonus rainbows).
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You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you mad. ~ Aldous Huxley
(Sometimes I wonder if he meant mad as in angry or mad insane, but both work.)
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How I wish that somewhere there existed an island for those who are wise and of good will. ~ Albert Einstein
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No matter how huge your loss, as long as you remain engaged with your life, the best days of your life may still be ahead of you.

Don’t misunderstand me: the pain of your loss will remain with you for the rest of your life. But great joy will be there right beside it.

Deep sorrow and deep joy can exist within you, side by side. At every moment. And it’s not confusing. And it’s not a conflict.

~ Augusten Burroughs

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Please feel free to leave one or two of your own favorite quotes in the comments!

Head on over here to read Carole's Oscar predictions and more Three on Thursday posts.