Gloom And Doom

I need some sunshine!!  I need to sit outside on the deck with Bess and listen to the birds and watch white fluffy clouds go by.  I need to get down to the barn without coming back soaked.  I need sunshine, people, I need it bad!  California born and bred, I don't understand how people cope in places like Alaska where there are months of darkness or Nordic countries where it is so cold much of the time.  I couldn't cope in Seattle with 155 days of rain on average.  Aarrgh!  Call it an atmospheric river or what you will, I need to see a weather report without days of rain, rain, and more rain predicted.  It's just plain depressing.  (Does it show?)

Poor old Bessie Anne made one trip out in the morning yesterday and came back wet to the skin.  I gave her a brisk toweling and tried to get her warm.  Any other forays were very brief and I didn't blame her.  We spent our day trying to keep Stove happy.  Fortunately, he wasn't as cranky as me.  It was hard to remember the bright spots of the day before.

I know full well that this, too, shall pass, but dang it, I need some sunshine!  It's raining...again.  Sigh.  (Don't even get me started on the time change coming up this weekend.)

Bright Spots

I didn't hit rain until Shingle Springs on my way down to Cameron Park.  Oh well, we all knew it was coming.  The news from the doctor was very, very good.  No sign of a tumor anywhere, so all I'm left to deal with is the polycythemia to treat with medication...and the occasional visit to Vampire Hall.  A draining yesterday and another in three weeks.  It could be worse and I'm not complaining.

By the time I was let loose from the Center, it was raining hard.  I do not understand some people's feeling of invincibility and/or immortality.  I was driving at freeway speed and was getting passed by, let's just say, idiots who had to be going seventy-five or eighty mph on the wet road.  My only thought was the hope that they wouldn't take out innocent others.

I had a couple of stops to make in P'ville, trying to make the trip count.  On the way back, I came upon this hillside of daffodils and had to stop.  Talk about a bright spot on a dark day!  My almond tree is trying valiantly to put out blossoms and I spied a clump of my own daffodils near the chicken pen, but the wind and rain have beat them down.  The number of uprooted or broken trees on the roads to town was alarming.  Road crews must be working overtime. 

Back at home, Bess and I caught a break and hurried to get the trash down to the big road.  I also got a call from a dear cousin...always a bright spot.

Nature got down to business about dark last evening and she's still at it.  Regardless, it was a good day.

Is It A Bird?

Cue the theme song.  "Is it a bird?  Is it a plane?  It's not Superman.  It's the elusive sun!"  This rare photo was taken on the way back up to the house and was the only sighting all day.  No, that's a fib; Sol did put in another brief appearance just before dropping over the horizon in the evening.

Stove had a day of rest.  While overcast, it didn't rain and it was warm enough I didn't need to burn more wood.  The goats lay out in the pen and the bedraggled chickens had a chance to dry out their feathers.  I hope they all enjoyed themselves because more rain is due today and the rest of the week.  Of course it is because I have to go to Cameron Park this morning.

I had a lovely chat with my friend Tinka, and a call later from my niece.  How grand it is to have family and friends in your life to laugh with.  They brighten the darkest days.

Bess Anne is snoring gently on the bed behind me while Celeste sings to her piglet in the hall.  Ralph is off doing Ralph things, but I know that soon I will feel his light-as-air touch on my shoulder, his way of telling me he wants to come over for a cuddle on my lap.  He's begun taking "making muffins" very seriously.  He started by kneading my arm gently, and has moved on to vigorous treading that, if put to music, would make Beethoven proud.

It was a dry, i.e. good, day.

Something Different

When Patrick hadn't appeared by mid morning and there was a break in the rain, I called the feed store to get an ETA.  It seems Patrick had not come in to work.  Oh good grief.  I was completely out of birdseed, was low on chicken feed, and had maybe enough alfalfa for one more day.  I explained my dilemma to Chris and asked if there wasn't somebody else who could deliver my supplies as Patrick had promised he'd come on Sunday.  "I'll call you back."  About an hour later, "Okay, here's the deal.  If you can/will drive down here, they (two members of a large family group that now owns Mt. Aukum store) can load the alfalfa in your truck, the rest of the stuff in theirs, and they'll follow you home because they don't know this area at all."  Well, that was different.  I left immediately and, of course, ran into rain on the way.  Raj and Carlo loaded Truck and we caravanned home.  There was no way I could have handled the heavy bales of alfalfa or even the 50-pound bags of feed, so I truly appreciated their help unloading everything, and they did it with a smile in the rain.  Good guys.

Everything was done by the time NASCAR started.  Bowyer and Johnson were doing well at the time I fell asleep (nothing new there) and I missed the end of the race.  Rats!

I tried something different the last time I made fried eggplant.  I had always followed my mother's routine with a dredge of seasoned flour, egg dip, and more flour, but after watching a number of cooking shows I added just a bit of corn starch to the flour.  What a difference!  The crust was so much crispier and had a tender crunch.  I tried the same thing with a piece of chicken last night and had the same result.  Sorry, Mother, I may never go back to the old way.

The livestock are well supplied with food, there was a real sunset last evening, Stove has been working well.  It was a good day.

Rainy Day

I always try to put a little something by, as Mother advised, for a rainy day.  Well, it's been raining cats and dogs lately, and I'm not just talking about water from the sky.  First the tree fell on the barn ($$$).  Then when I was filling the chickens' waterer from the spigot by their pen, I saw brown water come out.  Aarrgh!  It did clear in a minute or two so I didn't have to go back to the house for clean water.  I put in a heads-up call to Go-To Guy, telling him it wasn't an emergency and that I'd call him again when we got some good weather.  He said it could wait as long as the water in the house was clear.  It is.  While I was going back and forth to the barn for Tree Guy, I saw that the tap by the door was dripping, dripping pretty fast.  I couldn't turn the handle one way or the other, and I couldn't deal with that just then.  I put that on the list for Go-To ($$$).  I've been waiting for a week for a delivery of feed for all the critters (more $$$), and it's getting to the critical stage, especially for the goats.  Patrick has been dealing with family issues and then, of course, there's the rain.  I've got my fingers crossed for today.

So now we come to the coup de gras (or at least I hope it is).  This juniper bush is at the far end from the path off the porch and I haven't been going that way lately.  Yesterday I was getting another helping of wood for Stove and caught a glimpse of something white in the bush.  I wasn't too worried because there is a white bench by the steps to the deck and thought it had blown over the night of the fiercest winds.  No big deal.  Well, it is a big deal.  It's a piece of fascia from the siding Larry put up years ago.

Of course it had to come from the highest peak of the gable.  Laughing, I sent pictures to Larry in Hawaii and asked if he was going to be in the neighborhood anytime soon.  I don't even know who does these kinds of repairs.  Larry said to call Dave, who has a wide acquaintance with tradesmen and might know someone.  Goodhearted Dave will come up next weekend to take a look.

I'm about ready for these rainy days to stop.  I mean it.

Improv

There is a drawback to waking early in the morning...along about 11, a nap is mandatory.  Ordinarily that's not a problem, but yesterday I really needed to go to the store.  Crab Rangoon requires crab meat and I had none.  Knowing Arden was due soon, there was no time.  Okay, Plan B.  I didn't have one of those, either.  Hmmm.  A quick survey of cupboards and fridge turned up a package of frozen baby shrimp.  There was nothing for it but to improvise.  The shrimp thawed while I mixed the sauce and then stirred in the chopped shrimp and stuck the casserole in the warming oven.  Instead of won ton wrappers, I substituted tortillas cut into chips and lightly fried after Arden arrived.  It might not have been Crab Rangoon, but we agreed it was mighty good.

I had to excuse myself for a few minutes to drive down and put cookies for Camille in my mailbox (special delivery?).  She'd been away from home for the day and she has a PO box, so we'd made prior arrangements.  Sometimes living in the country makes for creative improvisations.

After taking a couple of days off to rest, Nature is up to her old tricks this morning.  I don't know if her heart isn't in it or if she's relenting a little.  Yes, it's raining, but not pouring, and, yes, it's windy, but not howling or beating on the house.  What can I say?  It's winter.

P.S.:  I dusted.

TWTWTW

Most won't remember "That Was The Week That Was," a political satire TV show imported from Britain in 1964 and featuring David Frost.  It came to mind yesterday, but more in the context of  "This Was The Week That Was," messed up from the git-go.  As I put load after load of laundry into the washer, I kept hearing an old Girl Scout camp song, "Today is Monday.  Today is Monday.  Monday wash day..." but it was decidedly not Monday.  Monday seemed an eon ago, this week has been so totally screwed up.  It's not like I ever adhere to a schedule, but it's nice to think there are people who do regulate their lives.  Anyhow, there are stacks of clean and folded clothes now.

I had to move Missy's bed and bowl out of her room and into the hallway of the barn.  More of one of the plexiglass roof panels had broken, either from the wind or the tree, and her stall was wet through and through.  It's not a problem since the girls are now sharing the big room.

After throwing such a hissy fit with all the rain and wind, all worn-out Nature could come up with yesterday was a constant drizzle.  Drip, drip, drip.  Hey, I'm not complaining.  Stove ate up almost a whole wagon full of firewood, working overtime to keep damp rot from taking over and mushrooms from sprouting in the corners.  (Thanks again, Beau.)

Arden is coming over this afternoon.  With any luck, I'll get up to the store to pick up some extra ingredients for a recipe I saw last week for a warm crab Rangoon dip.  I've made the traditional Chinese fried crab Rangoon appetizers for years, but not often because they're a lot of work.  Some bright person had the idea to simplify the whole thing by making a dip with crispy won ton skins as chips.  I'm not ashamed to steal it.

My sister used to say that there was an old Chinese curse that said, "May you live in interesting times."  This has certainly been an interesting week.