Weathering Monday PWYC

[Twins' Mom]

I think we're getting mostly sleet now if anything but we have snow on the ground. Roads on our circle appear to be clear. The restaurant that we were going to is closed for tonight. Dh is on the phone with dfriends suggesting that we reschedule.

[LadyMaverick]

I am on hour #8 of getting BITB by doing at least 5 cards each hour. I am enjoying this process of gently gearing back up to normal speed again. What I am not doing is getting into vehicle to leave the house. Tomorrow I will add back in the return to that portion of my normal activity.

[lucylee]

Well, we're just sitting here looking at the ice. * Praying the power doesn't go out!* Our 7" of snow turned out to be about a quarter inch of ice. There are a few patches of something in the grass, but mostly the grass is clear and all the concrete and asphalt is covered. We've seen a truck and a 4-wheeler go by on the road, but that's all in the last half hour or so. DH is very frustrated that we can't get out and "GO SOMEWHERE..."
I'm content to lie here in the recliner and sleep. I think everything is closed, anyway. I saw that our main grocery store closed at noon. I don't know if Wmart is open or not.

DS is on the phone with dh right now; they're talking about football, of course. He said our schools are closed till Thursday.
My aunt called earlier, said she has mostly ice, too. She's a little bit north of me, but still south of the river. That seems to be the dividing line -- north of the river is snow; south is ice.

I wish I had bought stuff to make spaghetti -- dmom had us get some tomato paste and juice for her last night while we were out and she said she was making spaghetti today. We have Campbell's soup and sandwich makings, fruit, but no real "comfort" foods except snacks. Lots of snacks.

At least dh does feel better. Neither of us has even s2s. We're just being extremely lazy around here.
I really need to do laundry and get this tree down!!! THEN, some of the long-delayed WHB tasks.
LadyM, what does BITB stand for? (Whatever it is, I sure could use a little of it!)

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Lovely sunny day here. I have no idea about the temperature. The windows aren't vibrating but it is moderately windy, judging from the flags at the school and embassy (one on each side of us so no matter which side of the apartment I'm in, I can check windiness, very handy!)

My "Monday Minimum" is fresh sheets and towels in place, at least 2 loads of laundry, plants watered, clocks wound, me s2s. I'm just approaching that now.

BUT I spent over 2 hours doing the repotting of plants. This is where I miss having a yard and/or driveway. At the house, I could do this in early May and mid October and not have a mess to clean up. Here, I do it whenever because even if I do it on the balcony, I still have to sweep up all the mess instead of using the hose to wash it away. I put an old shower curtain on the kitchen floor and dumped out two really old Christ cacti and repotted them, plus an old purple heart was split into two and 8 bit that fell off are in water now to be rooted and given away. I also planted the sickly looking but roots well developed spider plant babies not taken during the giveaway on Saturday.

I used my new moisture meter to figure out which of the other plants needed watering. I also measured the light in each of the places where I have plants then cross referenced with my notes as to how much light the plants need and did a bit of rearranging. The jade is getting more light than is recommended but before it was growing tall and spindly reaching for the light instead of branching out. Since moving it, one of the two has completely changed shape. The same is true for my croton plants.

Pete, the son of Pierre the ficus has grown tall enough that I had to stake it and move it down a level on my plant stand pole. Pierre looks very sickly, but Pete has deep green and bushy leaves. It might just be that Pierre is too old now to ever overcome being spindly, literally see-through, and dropping leaves by the dozens each week. On the bright side, he doesn't block much of the window's view!

In the past 3 years I've tried repotting (didn't make any difference aside from the predictable shock), moving to more light (which worked well, I thought, until autumn came and the light level dropped and leaf drop returned) and adjusting watering (with the heat on and the apartment so dry, I bought a plant moisture/light meter to see if Pierre was drying out too much.) Now moisture is being closely watched and I have added grow lights on 10 - 12 hours a day so maybe Pierre will revive. If not, I'll clip off another dozen or more slips and start growing more trees. I started the last slips in the summer and now I have an 18" high plant so they grow fast until they get pot bound. I'll move Pierre outside (tied against the railing) as a last resort before deciding to keep him or not. We've had him over 20 years so I'm sad to let him, which is why I'm spending all this time trying to save him.

It is now time to at least vacuum and dust the bedrooms and front hall. After dinner, I'll do the weekly kitchen chores along with the dinner cleanup.

[Harriet]

Nancy, that is a nice compliment from your dd. Also, it must be a comfort to her to have that opinion of her mother's health.

BITB is Back In The Box
I think. I had to sound it out myself to be sure that's what I thought.

It's a good place.

I took a photo today of a lump under my bedspread, cat-shaped. It is cold. Tobias had come up from the floor underneath it for comfort. I shaped him an air tunnel so he could breathe, because I'm too ready to worry, I guess.

I don't think the predictors expect our worst cold temps to coincide with precipitation here. I think they both come but miss each other. I hope that stays true.

Sent dd off this morning with fresh cut veggie strips for the week. Broccoli, celery, carrots. She can refrigerate there.

HRH is napping and it's so tempting to join him, but he's streaming McHale's Navy and only he could manage to sleep through that.

Kitchen spif. Some meal prep.

Waiting to hear from dd43, who may or may not leave for the whole day tomorrow on jury duty. If so, I'm at bat.

[Nancy]

Bread is done.
Talked with both kids today.
Scraped some odd patches of ice off the driveway not too many of them.
Good for some steps.

We are up to the hi temp. for the day 15+ F.
Thanks for the kudos Harriet & the back in the box abbreviation had escaped me thought it was some thing else & I was wrong.
My team is out one of dson's favs. is still in the play offs so that was good news for him.
I started a movie but got a call so that was interrupted.
Bread is done & good had some yum!

Rigs have been started and are back in place under the carport again now.
Storm heading in mid week unsure what day forecaster said the wrong day and corrected herself, my phone weather app. has is on
diff, days I do not think they really know to be honest.

Left over soup for dinner.

[CathyS]

Dh took us out to a Canadian burger chain with one of the 3 gift cards we got for going out to eat from his mom. It was sunny all day, which was so nice. It was really, really cold. Dh is watching the Bill's game. I'm going to go read.

[Twins' Mom]

We're still getting a little snow and sleet, maybe an inch or two in the grass? Dh and I walked ddog a lap (he walked her another) and I played with her a bit in the backyard.

I researched in Loudoun Co VA today and am finding some records for my ancestor there. Found deed where he purchased land there in 1761. And I have an 1816 deed where 1/5 of the land was sold. So I'm making a little progress.

I also napped. It seemed like a good day to do so. DH has been in his chair most the day. Restaurant not open - we rescheduled our dinner with A and V and had grilled cheese and tomato soup for supper.

A lot is closed for tomorrow: schools, county government, the low for tonight will be less than twenty degrees.

[lucylee]

Oh yes -- Back In the Box. I need to get back in the box. I LOOK at the box regularly... I make notes re: the box in my planner... I just don't DO what the box SAYS.

I did clean a bathroom and I just now went outside and started 2 of the 4 outside faucets dripping. It's going to be in single digits today and/or tonight. I may have waited too long -- two of the faucets would not start running, but two did -- one on the front and one on the back, and I have one dripping at the far end of the house inside. At the other end of the house, in our bathroom, the sink AND the shower drip constantly anyway.

Using this Chromebook is good, but I still have not connected the external mouse, and the mouse pad it has is awkward. That's why I am sometimes not cuop very well.

We have the Bills game on, too, Cathy! DH says he doesn't care who wins. Both of his teams (Atlanta and Nashville) have been eliminated already, so he's just watching because he likes sports more than regular tv shows.

Kathryn, I definitely need my one corn plant to be put in ICU or something. It is just one tall skinny stalk, with a bunch of leaves at the top, but none look especially healthy. I keep thinking that at least two people have told me to cut it down to just a foot or so tall and it will bloom out... but both of those people have green thumbs, unlike me, who has a black thumb! I've had it since I was pregnant with ds, and I just hate to purposely kill it. I'm pretty sure that is what will happen if I start chopping on it. I'm also pretty sure it's root bound, too, but it is already in a pot that is too heavy for me to lift.

Twins, I think everything around here is closed. Drug store closed at 1:00 pm, Wmart is closing at 8:00. DH did get out on the road, and said we could go "wherever we wanted" if we took it slow and stayed away from hills.

Harriet, I hope you don't get anything freezing in your neck of the woods!
And I hope the rest of you can stay warm in all this mess! I think I better go get a shower and do SOMETHING productive with this wasted day.

[Harriet]

Although this is a "not much" day, I still want to say hi.

It's a quiet day here. Listened to a sermon by Dr. King with some encouraging current commentary. I had forgotten what a short time elapsed between his speech in which he said, "I may not get there with you", and the moment he was killed.

Dd43 is one among a random group of potential jurors who are excused before they even start this week of trials tomorrow. Although I feel a little cheated on her behalf, of having interesting things happening, duty being fulfilled, etc., I also feel a little relief. It is a challenge for me to take her place in her household. I often feel that I just barely succeed. There is so much to remember.

So tomorrow there will be an extra day for me this week, sort of. I hope I feel inspired by housework tomorrow since I didn't today. I did keep to my healthy habits, which takes a certain amount of effort and determination. Things have been better on that front lately.