'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe

Marsh on a Foggy Day. Today is a misty, rainy day.

Trying to keep busy with "important" things like sweeping, cleaning, sprucing stuff up. Though I keep veering off into stuff like painting, piano and netflix. I say, whatever! The house will be what it will be. All the family is used to me keeping a dusty cluttered house and if they don't like it they can host at their house next year! I have to say that to bolster myself up to accept that in no way can I get this house to look like a house in a magazine anyway so don't worry about it. Just try to improve it a bit and whatever I get done will be okay. I got the small box of Christmassy stuff down and found some crocheted snowflakes to put here and there. Also found the Nativity scene so I put that out too. It's very small. I covered over the front of the big shelves that I didn't want to dust with a shiny green holiday cloth. That takes care of that.



This is garbage night. Putting the chickens to bed and then taking that out is next up.

Solstice, or Something Wintery.

Jules and I went shopping this morning. The usual: Walmart and then G E. I was up in the middle of the night for a while so I was glad to have a nap in the afternoon. Got up from that and took the dogs for a walk to the creek before it got dark. The snow had a crust on it so Rainy didn't get any ice balls on her legs. She just floated over the surface. Even so, she just didn't seem very happy with the cold so we came home without going to the lake. Painted this dumb little picture and now here I am on LJ/DW.

Face. Doesn't mean anything - just something that evolved like a doodle.

We went down to Pittsburgh to a birthday party for Dave's niece's little one year old, Bo this afternoon. I dread parties. But this time I acclimated pretty well once we got there. Thank goodness when we first came in the door we were greeted by Dave's siblings and their spouses who were sitting in the front dining room. There must have been at least 100 people there (barely any that I knew) but most of them were in the basement - a huge room. The birthday boy was a very sweet child and it was fun to watch his face while everyone was STARING at him constantly and smiling. He was so good natured. But how weird to have that happen to you - you are the CENTER of attention of all these people, many of them strangers and they are singing a song at you. They gave him a small cake to get his hands in. He wanted to touch the candle when they put it front of him and dad needed to pull the cake away quick. After he licked his fingers he wanted to feed some to his parents. A sweet boy.

I finished watching Touched By an Angel. Now I'm watching Stranger Things. My favorite thing to do right now: sit and watch something on my phone while weaving with the pin loom. I can do that ALL day and not want to do anything else. In the evening I've been making popcorn and drinking cider. I was reading about alcohol and aFib and found out that alcohol can definitely be a trigger. I did not know that before. Many nights before bed I'd have a little glass (about 2 ounces) of brandy to help me fall asleep. So that is a habit that I'm going to quit.

Jan and I were going to go to Paint and Sip this afternoon but cancelled. It's snowing. Not like a blizzard or anything like that but it just doesn't look inviting to be out there driving. Windy.

The windbreak plastic that Dave and I put up around the northwest sides of the chicken run last night doesn't go clear to the top of the wall. I figured that not much snow would come in up high by the overhanging roof but I was wrong. There's still some snow coming in. I might cut some more plastic and fill in at the top.

The goldfinches are very busy at the feeder. A Flurry of Goldfinches. The proper name for a group is a Charm of Goldfinches.



It snowed about an inch today. Dave and I walked the dogs to the creek before it got dark. Most of the previous snow had melted with the recent rain so the creek was high, and the snow we got today wasn't too deep for Rainy.




Dave's pile of rocks that he's collecting to make a wall.

I found Morgan's Tarot hiding in the clutter on my writing table so I thought I'd pick a card and do something with it. The "Who Am I?" card turned up.


Morgan's card. Probably meaningful to me right now. I have been looking inward TOO much. Looking negatively. All I've been seeing lately are my faults and the unattractive parts of my personality. But of course whatever I look at will be magnified. The Magic Magnifying Mind.

I can't remember where I got the idea to get a Morgan's Tarot. From someone on my friend's list, or Nancy probably. I got it quite a while ago but haven't delved into it much.

A seemingly busy day today. Went to Berdella's for group in the morning. Lunch at McCullough's Kitchen Table in Sandy Lake. Came home and took a nap. Got up just in time to go out before it got dark and put up clear plastic around the chicken's run for a windbreak. Dave helped. It was relatively warm today. The snow on the roof was melting and dripping down on us as we worked.

I had uneven heart beats early in the morning and that always puts a damper on things. It makes me think about my mortality. Am I ready to go? Sometimes I feel like I am. Other times I feel desperate to fix things before I go, but then I don't feel capable of fixing anything and that's depressing.

*****
About a week ago, before the snow, when I was still letting the chickens out into the yard, I went to check on them and saw they were all clustered in one corner of the run. I went to the doorway and there was a young opossum inside the run, right by the door. I motioned with my hand for him/her to come out through the door and they did, very nicely and I shut the door. Then a couple days later I came back from checking on the chickens and the dogs were sniffing something on the floor by the back door. It was the opossum, laying dead on its side with its mouth grinning open. Rainy was sniffing the mouth and Andy was sniffing its back end. I freaked out with Rainy's nose half an inch away from all those sharp teeth but it stayed "dead". I got the dogs into the house and watched through the door. As soon as we all got inside it got up and trundled off the porch. I kinda like opossums. Though I know if they get into a chicken coop at night while the chickens are sleeping they will kill. In the daytime I'm not that concerned - an adult chicken can take care of itself in the daytime. Now that there's snow on the ground and I'm keeping the chickens and their food locked up day and night I think the opossum will leave. I hope so.