25°f, about -4°C. Clear after yesterday's snowy, blowy day. Expect a low of 12°f tonight, or -11°C.
It has been an odd couple of days. Heavy rain and wind Saturday night made a right mess outside, and I know there was quite a bit of flooding, again. Sunday the temperature dropped quickly in the morning, with snow and strong winds making it an ideal day to stay inside. Except we didn't.
Our friend Annette posted that she had hens for sale. We lost 2 hens this winter, one that just up and died as chickens sometimes will, and one that escaped and would not be caught until a hawk or a fox or some other predator ended her bid for freedom. We were down to 5 girls, laying 2 to 4 eggs a day. It was enough, but just barely; I am not accustomed to rationing egg use since we have always kept a good flock. I was finding this paucity a bit limiting.
Stopped to grab yesterday's mail. Where was his hat??
So off to Annette's we went in the snow and the blow, and came home with 3 new girls for our coop. (No worry about bird flu, as her chickens, like mine, are being kept in the coop for the winter.)
The new girls on the block. I can't remember the breed name but it doesn't matter as long as they lay brown eggs.
We came home to find the power off, which should not have surprised us, but I hadn't done my usual prep of running extra water, etc, and our phones needed to be charged. We adjusted plans though, and there was enough water to make tea, so I settled down with my book while Larry put together another of those 8-foot windmill yard ornaments that we sell from time to time. Within a couple hours the lights were back on, thanks to those amazing power company workers.
But the satellite internet did not boot back up, and neither did the cell phones. I wasn't too surprised about the internet, as lately our satellite has issues in bad weather (must call them tomorrow to see about that) but the phones? That was odd. Our signal here isn't great but it usually works okay.
I spent the evening reading while Larry watched a movie, expecting both phones and internet to be working this morning. Except they weren't. Larry went out and knocked ice and snow off the satellite, and whether that helped I don't know but within an hour or so it was working again. The cell phones, not. That took a call to tech support, and they reset something so finally we had phones again.
Now, I lived a long time up here with neither phone nor internet-- it wasn't even a thing back then. It was not that big a deal, but I was young and strong and fearless. Now I am old and not as strong and a lot more careful. It is an odd comfort to know that 9-1-1 can be dialed easily enough, but still. I was beginning to think that maybe taking out the landlines 5 years ago wasn't such a great idea. Except that it often didn't work anyway, and it usually took weeks for repairs.
Today has been bitter cold, not fit for man or beast so I have been working on inside stuff again. I made spaghetti and painted a table and priced stuff and packed ebay and did all those routine housekeeping things while Larry was outside taking care of critters and unloading the van. Then he took a well-earned nap. It was a pretty nice day, all round. Just a bit off-center, if you know what I mean.
I did finish my book, and I hated to see the end of it, really. It is the best book I have read this year. Rules of Civility by Amor Towles, was published in 2011 and was his first novel. The book reads like a love letter to New York City, but from a lover who accepts her, dirt, glamor, pathos, glitter and all. Set in the year 1938, the story follows Kate as she and her friends dive into predicament after predicament, sometimes with tragic consequences, other times with a brash but wary bravado. At the center of the story is Tinker Grey, obviously well-heeled and Ivy League...or is he? If you read and enjoyed Towles' A Gentleman in Moscow, you will be glad to read this story too.
Enough rambling for tonight!
Stay well, friends.
Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.