thisendoftheswamp

Our weather has been so goofy for the last week that I can’t keep it straight. We had a thumping rainstorm one day, bad enough to cause folks near DC to have to evacuate their homes because of flooding. We had one day that was so windy it practically lifted the cat off his feet, and in between we’ve had snow showers for the last four nights. Not much, maybe a quarter of an inch, but even that little bit, when it is accompanied by wind and thunder, can be impressive.

Every time there is a loud noise, Blazer has to go investigate, so he has been panting at the door almost constantly. Last night there was gunfire at half-time, and he was having a fit, but I wouldn’t let him outside because you have no way of knowing where those bullets will come down.

He did go out once to inform the resident raccoon that dinner was served. I put the dish on the patio and Blazer ran over to bark into the drain pipe. (Yell down my rain barrel/ Slide down my cellar door/ And we’ll be jolly friends for evermore.) The raccoon is large enough that when he growls the noise echoes inside the pipe. I dunno – maybe he’s all echo and not large at all.

We also have mice in the drop ceiling in the den. Whoever coined the phrase “quiet as a mouse” has never heard this bunch. It sounds as if they are staging the chariot scene from Ben Hur. And, of course, both of the “land critters” have to get into the act. Blazer races around and barks, and Eddie tries to climb up into the ceiling. Did you know fiber glass tiles don’t support the weight of a large cat?

The Squire says the game went on until nearly 11:00 last night, and then all 773H broke loose, but I was sound asleep and missed it all. I am glad the Ravens won, although there seems to have been a question about interference at the last minute.

This bug, whatever it is, still has me worn down. I got up at 8 this morning, got chased back up to bed – alone – at 11:30, and slept until 2:00! It is not quite 7 PM here, and I am just barely able to keep my eyes open.  G’night.

For the first time in as long as I can remember, I have come down with a cold, and it is a doozy.  I am extremely annoyed, and taking it all very personally, while my long-suffering friends, who have colds come and go, are probably secretly snickering behind my back.  I called my BFF to tell her I wouldn’t be at knitting tonight, and she asked me what I was taking for it. “I dunno. What are you offering?” If she could have reached me through the phone, she probably would have smacked me.

The Squire ran over to Joppatowne twice this morning, once to get me some Mucinex , and again to pick up some library books. He really is a saint.

I rummaged around in the closet and found some Vick’s, which may have belonged to my grandmother. At any rate, it wasn’t much help. I tried to take a nap, but couldn’t breathe anyway. Occupied myself with a good book, some tea, and a bowl of egg drop soup.

Of course, I would probably get better faster if I didn’t send half my time reaching out the window in sub-freezing weather to hand feed squirrels. We have one who is a great bully, trying to hog all of the peanuts I put on the kitchen window sill, but – like most bullies – he is also a coward, so when I open the window he runs away, but the other squirrels come up to take a peanut from my fingers. They sort of line up, grab a nut and scoot, and the next critter waits until I push a peanut out the window.  Neat! I love it!

Well, winter has arrived with a bang! Last night, it went down to 5 F (about 20 below C) with snow flurries all night long. I had to go to the library, and my hands were so cold I couldn’t even sign my name. And yes, I was wearing a coat in the car – and wool gloves.

We had a visitor in the back yard this afternoon.  This is a young eagle – not sure what kind – eating a mourning dove he(?) had just clipped in mid-air.  He certainly looks well fed, at any rate.

Our pond is frozen solid on the far end. The pond is fed by the overflow from our well, and runs into the stream below the house, so this side never freezes. I’d be tempted to drag out my skates, but it’s not worth risking my life, or listening to the (well deserved) dressing down I’d get after The Squire pulled me out of the water.

It’s 28 F now and supposed to go way down tonight. Brrr.

Again.

Yesterday, I received a check from my mom’s insurance company, and a notice that she had $144.57 in taxable income last year. Today, I got a notice from her bank that her account had earned $29.90 in interest last year. Now, it’s probably going to cost me more to have H&R Block file the bloody paper work, than she theoretically earned.

All this for 174.47.

I swear, the woman is more trouble dead than alive.

For the last week or so, we’ve been hearing an animal bark at night that neither of us could identify. When The Squire came home from Vestry last night, he spotted a coyote sitting at the top of the drive. I think Sir Edmund’s late night strolls have come to an end. Wild coyotes and tame cats do not make a good combination.

Not sure yet what to do. I suppose we can call the county and have it relocated to a state park north of us.

Sometimes it can be very obvious that God is looking out for me.

Last night, we had a Twelfth Night Celebration at church, and I took a plate full of food scraps out to feed a fox who has a den in the woods behind the building.  There was enough light from the windows for me to skirt the herb garden, go along the edge of the Colonial church and around the back side of it, and then walk across the yard. I finally decided to put the dish down “right here”.  As I bent over, the plate hit a huge branch. Had I taken one more step, I would have fallen, a good distance from the building, in the dark, out of sight and out of hearing. Just stop right here.

A few years ago, The Squire and I were coming home and I was driving, as he doesn’t like a stick shift. It was late for us and I leaned back in the seat to close my eyes “for just a few seconds”. The Squire asked me when I was going to go ahead. “The light’s been green for a while.” Just as I slipped my car into drive, another vehicle came roaring up Route 40, doing at least 100 mph. It sounded like a low-flying airplane!  Obviously ran a light that had been red for some time, and if I had pulled out when I had the green, there would have been a fireball. Just stop right here.

Way back when, before we had “right on red” laws, I was sitting at a stop light, chatting with my girl friend. We were looking at each other, and she happened to glance up and saw we had the green light. Again, as I started out, a car full of joy-riding teenagers sailed past. The car behind us was an unmarked police car, and he whipped around me, turned on the siren, and didn’t catch up with the kids for about a half mile. Had I pulled into traffic when I had the green light, it would have been a horrible disaster.

Just stop right here.

I felt so absolutely rotten yesterday that I finally gave up and went to bed at 7 PM.  I slept like the proverbial log until midnight, when our neighbors set off fireworks for half an hour. I got up long enough to kiss The Squire Happy New Year, go get another pain pill and check on the whereabouts of the cat. Eddie was sitting bolt upright on the guest room bed, with righteous indignation in every line of his body. Felt pretty much the same way, frankly.  I still didn’t get up until almost 10 this morning. And I think Cardie sleeps a lot.

Looks as if somebody else had a long night. Many’s the time I fell asleep with one of the girls cradled on my chest. Cardie is just six weeks old here, and you can judge her size by her dad’s hand.

I mentioned the weather has been warmer than usual. Today at the feeder, we had both a pair of cardinals and three wrens!

Decided to trade my general frustration for a jig-saw puzzle. At least I’ll have something to show for my troubles.

I know women lie about their ages (Like many women my age, I am 39.) and what size they wear on a good day, but I didn’t know men did it, too.

I asked The Squire what size trousers he wore, and he told me. I confidently went to the store and bought him two pair of badly needed slacks – one Haggar and one Old Navy. Christmas Day, he opened the package and informed me they were too small! Because I had gotten the sizes straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, I had disposed of both the sales slips and the price tags, so they cannot be returned.

I must love him. I didn’t kill him on the spot.

And still with the ants. Baltimore’s weather is erratic, to say the least. We are just about midway between the Atlantic (not the Bay) and the lower slopes of the Appalachian Mountains, and weather systems bounce back and forth like crazy.  Yesterday morning, I got out of bed and it was raining, and by the time I got to the kitchen it was snowing to beat the band, and snowed most of the day. Today was warm, but very windy. Every time the weather warms up above 40-F the ants become active, and then if it rains or gets cold, they come inside the house to get warm and dry.

Last weekend, I was decanting some punch from a samovar into empty soda bottles and didn’t notice that I had spilled a few drops on the carpet. A couple of days later, The Squire remarked that there was a stain on the rug, but when I went to blot it up, it was a mass of ants, parading from the corner of the room, across the carpet and back. It’s almost January, kids! What’s with this ants stuff, anyway?

My iris are coming up. Not crocus – iris.

It’s going to be a long winter, folks. And then again…

Back in November I posted that our nephew’s wife had delivered a little girl, ten weeks early.  Little Miss Cardie has done spectacularly well, doubled her birth weight in a month – went from two pounds to four! – and the doctors sent her home in time for Christmas.

Cardie does spend a lot of time sleeping – she has a lot of catching up to do! – but big sister Brooklyn just likes to sit and watch her.  This is our very own Christmas Miracle.