February 14, 2018 A New Book & Icy Paths

Whoa! The fire wood sled
(that red dot) sliding almost
 into the grove!

Another interesting cloud
formation to the south.

Monday 2/12. When it is this cold outside, the slightest bit of air movement is enough to freeze your face, or any other skin open to the elements.  Brrrr!  But the day did warm from 16 to a high of 35.

JB's ankle is almost back to normal, so he took the dogs on their morning walk yesterday and today.  We need cleats on our boots to get around now.  Wish I had some for the dogs.

I thoroughly cleaned and tried to re-arrange the laundry room, which is actually the entrance to the bathroom.  The space is not really conducive to any re-arrangement, but I did my best.  Then I baked peanut butter/chocolate chip cookies.

This afternoon, JB took some measurements in the electrical boxes.  We do not have a meter that will check the hertz levels, so we just ran the well pump again with JB sitting up there.  Maybe that is the trick to it all, having him sit there, because it runs just fine while he is watching.  Got the water level back up in the cistern. . .

I also started a new book, Radiance of Tomorrow, by Ishmael Beah.  He is from Sierra Leone and this is his second book, but first novel, which is about his homeland.  Normally this is not a subject that I would be interested in, but I am absolutely enchanted by the magnificently expressive language he uses.   This quote is from his "author's note" in the front of his book: "I bring a lot of that oral tradition to my writing, and I try to let it seep into the words.  The places I come from have such rich languages, such a variety of expressions. . . . My mother tongue, Mende, is very expressive, very figurative, and when I write, I always struggle to find the English equivalent of things that I really want to say in Mende.  For example, in Mende you wouldn't say 'night came suddenly'; you would say 'the sky rolled over and changed its sides.'  Even single words are this way - the word for "ball" in Mende translates to a 'nest of air' or a 'vessel that carries air.'"  Makes for fascinating reading!

Tuesday 2/13. It was 30 and partly cloudy this morning.  The clouds remained all day, but there was plenty of blue sky and sunshine, with a high of 36.  Pretty sure it was that warm for only a few minutes.

Am trying to catch up on the laundry that we backed off on with the pump situation.  Now that JB is watching as we use the pump, we have water for laundry again.

Outside, I gathered some of the kindling that the wind gave to us.  Also opened up both sides of the root cellar and pulled out two bags each of chicken feed and dog food.  Then pulled them down to where they needed to go on the sled.  With all the paths so icy, it can be difficult to control the sled, as the photo above indicates.

JB started all the vehicles and moved them a bit, then chipped away at some of the ice by the porch stairs.

We had a delicious lasagna for dinner.  The recipe JB uses calls for it to be put together the night before.

Wednesday 2/14. This Valentine's Day is opening with a temp of 26 and mostly clear skies.  We received a dusting overnight and it is snowing at all the passes.

Thought for the day: The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.  Ralph Waldo Emerson