March 18, 2015 Plastic Sacks, A New Author & Toilet Water

Our first blooms of the year.

Our wood from the two trees so far.  Only about
1/4 of what we should get total.

Monday 3/16. With all my spare time, I have been driving through books.  Am now reading True Believer by Nicholas Sparks.  I can't believe it has taken me this long to discover him considering the many books to his credit, and the fact that three of them have been made into movies.  Well, I'm a fan now and I look forward to reading all of his books.

Valley fog began forming as the sun rose and threatened to visit us, but never quite made it.  By the time we went for our morning walk at 10:30 am, the last wisps of the fog were floating up and out of the canyons.  Our high for the day was 42.

I am pretty sure that the flora and fauna are convinced it is already Spring Up Here.  There are birds and greenery everywhere, and I wouldn't be surprised to see some bears out and about.  Unfortunately our game cam is kaput, so it may be a while before we get any photos as I will have to take them in person.  We saw some robins down in the canyon last Tuesday on our way Down There although they haven't come up to us yet.

With all the energy from the sun, and my renewed energy, I was finally able to vacuum.  That in itself made me feel better.

I read in one of my magazines that an easy way to organize your plastic sacks is to form then into donuts.  Just stretch them out, wrap them around your finger, and tuck the end into the hole.  I tried it and it works great!  I don't have many, as I always try to remember to bring my own bags when shopping, but the bag of them that I do have is much easier to manage now.

Our cistern is down to about 500 gallons, and it occurred to me that we could use rain water from the barrels outside to flush the toilet, now that it has all melted.  We have three full ones, so that's what I have started doing.  I fill a 2-gallon jug that I use to fill the toilet tank and then simply refill each one after each flush.  We only flush twice a day, so it's really no problem.

We received more than 3/4" of rain yesterday, which is unusual for Up Here, unfortunately none of it leaked into the cistern.  Wish I had a giant funnel to direct it all in there.

I put the candles away today as with the longer days and Daylight Savings Time, we don't need them in the evening any more.  I LOVE the longer days!

The girls gave us three eggs today.  I always delight in finding them, whether is is one, two or three.  It is just as exciting as it was when we first got the girls.  After getting eggs out of a carton for more than 67 years, finding them in the hen house seems absolutely magical.

In talking on the radio with Larry this evening, I learned that he saw his first bear of the year today across the canyon from their house.  He believes it is about a 400 lb. male.  OK - I'll definitely be packing from now on when we go on our walks. . .

JB calls every day around noon, and today his Mom is feeling much more perky.  She may even be able to go home tomorrow.  One of the errands he is going to run while over there is to stock up on Costco's gluten free products, as our Costco over here doesn't carry many of them any more.  

Tuesday 3/17. It was 38 and overcast this morning with more rain in the forecast for tomorrow.  Plenty of power coming in to turn on the water even with the clouds.

I finished True Believer - a fantastic book.  And now I have started Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz.  Also re-reading some of my books on angels.

Not quite sure where the day went.  I read, putzed around, and addressed all my Easter cards.  The girls gave us two eggs today, which means that two of them are laying almost every day!

Larry and Elsie saw "their" bear again today, grazing on the hillside.

JB's Mom will probably be going home tomorrow.

Am re-watching season three of Warehouse 13 and loving it.

Wednesday 3/18. It is a chilly 35 this morning with clear skies and a breeze.  I am going to drive Miss Kitty down to pick up the mail at our box on the pavement, drop off our chainsaw chains for Larry to sharpen, get a package they picked up at the post office for us, and let their dogs out for a break.

Thought for the day: Coincidence is Gods way of doing a miracle anonymously. Sophie Burnham