Magnolia in February
On Friday I was up just after 5AM and got my post up. Once the cat was fed, I got the kitchen cleaned up and the laundry put away. I would need large flat areas for the new project. Then I got ready to go to exercise class. I had been feeling nauseous all morning, but went anyways. I made it through and was glad to get home.
Standing at house, looking up and down the driveway
I sat down for a while then got set up for the new project. My #3 helper would be here at 12:30PM. I lay down on the couch and dozed until she arrived.
The new project is washing and repairing all the roller shades in the house. Most are 20 years old. But the ones bought in 2022 are poorer quality (though you’d ever know if from the cost!) and have torn on the sides.
I tuck the sides into the top of the double hung windows to prevent the heat from reaching the glass. The old sturdy shades never much minded, but the new ones have already begun to tear. The old ones, some of them have raggedy edges from going up and down crookedly. So we put tape over them to prevent further deterioration.
We managed to get 12 shades done but I have 2 I have to sew the bottoms as repair.
From the mailbox
After she left at 4:15PM I went out to feed the birds and to get some photos. It was in the upper 20’s and felt balmy after the previous weeks of cold. I went up to get the mail after getting some pictures.
I even found a bit of garden that had appeared from under the snow.
The snow has finally melted off all the panels. This system has a line of panels tied together. If anything blocks even a part of a panel in the line, that set doesn’t work until cleared off. Ours was the last installed on this road with this type of system. All the others are single units that just affect 1 panel if blocked.
I had checked the stock early and it had cooked down some, so I filled the pans back to the top. It was turned off around 5:30PM and I opened the windows on the porch. It’s to get down to 14F during the night and not warm until noon. I’m hoping the fat will harden so it’s easier to remove on Saturday.
I spent the rest of the evening on the couch watching Doc Martin until 8:15PM. I had gotten the stoves going just after 5PM and the shades pulled. I got the stoves set for the night and headed to bed.
On Saturday I need to mend the 2 shades, wash some seedling trays, package the stock, and hopefully get something done on the C/D transcription (which I haven’t touched all week…).
I have ordered a nice dinner from a local restaurant to have for Valentine’s Day and my brother will pick it up before he head’s out for his festivities of the evening.
The sun is supposed to appear for a while, but mostly I will be stoking the wood stove. The masonry heater got up to temperature during the night and should heat all day long.
