My husband died here at home. Ever since, there have been odd little happenings. One of them was I came downstairs at 4:30 AM on February 2nd and found this door open. It obviously had been open for a while because the cat had made multiple forays to the top step. But there was 8” of snow on it so she didn’t venture farther. Just as well as she is blind, deaf, has dementia, and arthritis.
But weirder still was the house was nowhere near as cold as it ought to have been, given the wind and storm outside. Plus I distinctly remember clicking the door shut the evening before when I went out to speak to the plowman who had made the first pass on the driveway. I didn’t lock it but I know I clicked it shut, as it does blow open if it doesn’t click.
Then just after I got the books put away in the upstairs bedroom, I went up to pull the shades and one from the top shelf is on the floor…
There have been more things but it does make one wonder….
My oldest and youngest brothers came one Sunday to get some wood in the woodshed. We had what we thought would be enough, but had not counted on not having the masonry heater cured until Christmas, having to heat the house really warm when my husband was here, and also having the parts that weren’t to be heated not closed off. I’ve gone through a huge amount of wood this year, and I’ve still got 2 months to go.
They came back a couple weeks later and brought my middle brother’s youngest son with them. The truck had died during a previous snow storm and was in the shop. They had to get the tractor running, get chains on it, plow out an area to work in and use the tractor to move the wood. But they got a good amount into the shed each time.
The plants in the exercise area: philodendron (hanging), ponytail on left, and pineapple
I was sitting and reading in the reading nook and watching the snow storm outside. This was the view.
Snowy yard
Snow coming down by the woodshed
Snowy view out the dining room window
Some day the extensions will be stained and a window sill put on. There will be house plants on the window sill.
The dining room window
The clivia from the cellar did perk up in the south window. It has now started a second flower stalk off the left side.
The clivia from the upstairs office had started to flower so I brought it down and put it in this south window. All the clivias had been in the south window of the old dining room, on the windowseat. The windowseat will again be under the round top window, but it’s a low priority right now. So I am making due.
When she’s not claiming the couch, the old cat likes to lie in front of the stove in the office. I put her catnip bed there.
With Valentine’s Day coming, I had planned to get myself some flowers. But my husband’s cousin did a bit of shopping for me and she arrived with this big bouquet of flowers. They are just gorgeous!
This is the family photo wall currently. I have one or 2 more to add, but haven’t found photos yet. They will all come down in a week or so, as the new carpenter plans to wallpaper the kitchen, as soon as he gets his other projects done.
The battle with all the paperwork continues unabated. Someday I will be able to use that counter for projects….