Friday, February 14, 2014

The Friday Forum - Happy Valentine's Day

It seems there was someone who was happy about the 15 inches of snow we picked up Wednesday and Thursday. I can't even say snow removal companies were happy. They worked 48 hours (or more) straight, and that has to make you miserable.

Yesterday, I phased my shoveling in small increments - no more than 30 minutes at a time. By yesterday afternoon, I had a path leading from my door to the driveway and enough space all the way around my car to get out of here in case of emergency. Then it snowed about two plus inches more last night - not fluffy snow, snow mixed with sleet that left a "nice" ice crust over all the snow in the back yard. That made for slow going when I trudged out to feed the birds and squirrels. This morning I fell on a slope. Fortunately, I had a soft landing pad: a foot of snow.

I just came in from what I hope was my last clean-up. The sun is out, and some of the hard-packed snow is melting. I'll be ready to go to my medical appointment this afternoon. Given the state of my back right now, I'm looking forward to that appointment.

I have been working from home in between shoveling. My days have been all action, no rest.  Unfortunately, there is more snow in the forecast, starting tomorrow. I can think of many things that might have caused Mother Nature to punish us. I'm doing my best to help her creatures and convince her to stop with the white stuff.

Late in the afternoon, I learned that Mom's show plow guy was stuck - way off her driveway, and I had to find a substitute. Oh, sure. Fortunately, I remembered an independent jack-of-all trades who knew what her driveway looks like (hilly, with turns), and he and his crew are over there now shoveling it. Real manual labor! Thank God there are people in this world willing to do hard work at a moment's notice. A snow removal company - one out of the four I had called - just called to say they could go dig out my Mom, but the other guys were already out there. One out of four! I think I will hire the guy with the plows for the rest of this year - or more - longer if we can afford his "commercial-level" services.

I had hoped to write yesterday, but by day's end, I had no energy. I think I hit the bed at 7:30. Now, the sun is out, but I can't find my camera! It has been out of action for so many days, I don't know where I left it after charging it. I hope to find it with a concerted effort before lunch. I want to take swatch photos.

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you have a wonderful day - either with the ones you love or doing things you love.

I'm off to look for my camera before the next meeting starts. I'm pleased to report that the sun is shining, melting snow and ice!

Photos courtesy of aol.com and crazy-frankenstein

12 comments:

Nemo said...

Tell us please about the little dog in the snow! Love him! Last nite I drove about 100 miles to buy the new CHANEL Collection Variation lipsticks. Lovely things. I am enjoying them. On my way out of the store, I bought a sexy baby doll nighty (or should I say naughty) for V Day today. It did not go unnoticed by my wonderful husband. Happy V Day to you and Charlie.

grlnxdor said...

Happy Valentine's Day Charlestongirl! I hope your muscles heal up from all of that shoveling. What you all are experiencing out East is just a typical winter here in the Midwest. I hope that someday I am fortunate enough to become a "snowbird" for at least a couple months out of the year. Some of my ancestors came to Wisconsin because it reminded them of home--Norway and Germany. I seriously doubt that the areas they hailed from get this much snow and these frigid temperatures. Oh well, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger--or so they say. Take care and enjoy the weekend.

SoSuSam said...

It's always a pleasure to read your posts and reviews--but I'm concerned that you seem to have fallen in the snow a lot this year. I'm glad this time you were cushioned by a foot of snow (I guess it has its uses!), but I wanted to ask: do you ever wear snow cleats on your shoes/boots? I live in northern New England and whenever its icy here--which it often is between snowfalls--I pull on a pair of snow cleats over my shoes or boots. They make all the difference between sliding and falling all over the place vs staying upright. I couldn't even get to my mailbox without them. Be sure to get the kind with little metal "teeth" that dig into the ice, not the kind that have sort of coiled wires (I've heard those don't work well). Do a search on Amazon and you'll find lots of options. I hope this helps. Good luck to you and your mother with the terrible weather. Here's to an early spring...

Charlestongirl said...

Nemo, I wish I knew more about the little darling. Isn't he cute?

Sending a happy day back your way! I had an epidural, which was a good thing!

Charlestongirl said...

I will heal, grlnxdor, thanks. I could not live in snow land.

Love it: "or so they say." :)

Charlestongirl said...

Remember, SoSuSasm, I fell on black ice the first time. That hurt!!

This time, I fell into snow, and I'm none the worse for wear.

My father bought cleats, and it's a great idea! I should order them. Thanks!

Claire said...

Growing up in Wisconsin, I remembered all the shoveling we had to do, and more. Gosh, I hope you stay warm & well, CG. Wishing you a very happy Valentines!

laura z. said...

I'm so sorry to hear about all the snow and ice you all have been having this winter, CG. I wish I could send some warm Southern CA temps your way! My elderly parents are in NE PA, and have been mostly housebound all winter. We are in the midst of looking for assisted living for them and it's been a nightmare with the added snow storms. Stay safe and stay warm!!

Anonymous said...

CG, i wish you the very best for you, your mum, Charlie and all your loved ones. Hope the snow melts soon and spring comes around. Here in Vienna we have about 10 degrees, which sounds pretty nice, but because of the quick temperature changes, many people have a migraine headache. Unfortunately I'm one of them, since a week. Hope you have a beautiful weekend.
Ps. I feel really ashamed for all European zoos, cause we have a medial discussion over here, because of Marius, and almost every zoo speaker seems to think its nothing special to kill a healthy animal, and it could happen almost everywhere. We will never visit any zoo at all.
I hope you'll find your camera soon and make some beautiful swatches, which I'm looking forward to.
Love and best wishes
Gina

Unknown said...

Thank you for sharing snapshots of your life with us. I check out your blog every day because I've come to care about you as a person. I do pray for you. My heart hurts for over how much you have endured this year...All with such a positive attitude too.

On a m a keep note, your posts about By Terry products have led me down an expensive path. :P I am now addicted to her lip products! They are so soothing on my poor battered lips. I live in Denver and it is soo of dry here.

Hope your ice melts quickly! I just got out of my boot that I was in from a foot operation and it was DANGEROUS here for a bout week. I was scared to death I would re injure my weak foot or hurt something else by falling. ((hugs))

Eileen said...

The freezing weather has been absolutely brutal this year and the ice and snow storms have been particularly harsh. Our media has been filled with reports about how everyone is coping with it. There is great warmth, though, to be found amidst the cold. I'm referring to all the heartwarming stories about people helping neighbors and strangers alike to dig out, people helping others to retrieve their abandoned cars, people out checking on the elderly and delivering medication and supplies to the housebound, kids out spreading food for the critters, etc. Yes, there is much going on around us to warm the heart and lift the spirits if we're open to it. Such generosity is a truly a thing of great beauty.

And speaking of beauty, I got ready for Valentines Day by having a makeover by one of my favorite people--Guerlain's Marcus Monson. Since I had already made my spring purchases and was comfortable working with them, Marcus was able to do whatever he wanted instead. He is so creative and really understands how to work with my features so I love to just let him have his way with me ;-) We're both of the opinion that having makeup applied by a talented and imaginative artist is a way to learn new things, explore different color combinations, try different techniques, experience different products, etc. After all, if you're just going to insist on the same old thing applied exactly how you want it, you might as well stay at home and do your own makeup! LOL. Anyway, I came away with a new day to night look featuring Two Stylish and Two Lovely. The combination of various blues mixed with a bit of silver brought out the dark warm green of my eyes while still being in harmony with the cool silver of my hair. It sounds like a lot of color, but Marcus blends like a dream and I quite liked the finished look--soft, pretty, but with dramatic evening potential.

Hints of Chanel's summer collection, Reflets d'Été, are already beginning to surface--purples, pinks, orange, copper, and gold. I'm not surprised seeing as Chanel rushed their other collections to the counter so early.

That's it for me. I hope you're all keeping safe and warm. Have a wonderful weekend everyone.






Anonymous said...

I hope you had a nice Valentine's Day! I really like snow but not when SO much snow falls that it really starts fucking things up. We've been having snow for a few months now (I live in Switzerland) but not to the extent that it becomes annoying. I've only had to walk to work once because traffic got stuck, but that's it.