#100HAPPYDAYS- Day 17 - Drip, drip, drip

Drip, drip, drip

Oddly, we haven't had enough winter weather for me to be tired of it yet. 

Usually by February we've had so much bone-chilling cold, snowy-slippery driving, and gloomy-gray skies that a sunshiny day is a rare surprise.

But this year we've only had spurts of real cold, a few scattered snowstorms, and more sunny days than typical.

I'll take the sunshine and blue skies any time.

But in February?

It's a real gift.

#100HAPPYDAYS - Day 16 - Dryad Revolt

Evergreens bow down under snowy coats

Dryads awaken

bowed under coats of ice

 demanding redress

#100HAPPYDAYS - Day 14 Snow dogs

Bertha Mae and Gus

These two hooligans are a study in contrasts.
While Bertie is an out-hound, forever needing to patrol the perimeter of her territory, checking for invaders, chasing errant squirrels and killing baby bunnies, Gus is an in-hound who, except for sunning himself on the porch steps in the summer, would just as soon stay inside curled up on the couch, preferably under a blanket or on a lap, thank you very much.
But with yesterday's snow they missed their usual 2-mile morning walk and needed to go outside and get the stink blown off.
You know, as an expression "go outside and get the stink blown off" really doesn't seem to be rooted in any sort of practical wisdom. If you stink when you're inside, you're still going to stink outside, though the aroma might disperse somewhat, rendering your smell somewhat less stinky to those in close proximity.
And as far as dogs go, being outside generally tends to increase the stink.
But I digress.
It's always much more fun to go outside if one of your people goes with you, and that's what happened yesterday when they had their little romp in the snow.

Everything started out nice and sedate...

 

But then somebody said something or touched somebody in just the wrong way...

And the Basset 500 Blizzard Edition 2015 was on.

The snow is deep! Especially when your tummy is so close to the ground.

Bertie gets some great ear action going.

Neck and neck...

But a burst of speed puts Bertie out in front...

Oh no!

Wipeout!

Snowplow...

Blinded by the ear!

But the bullet takes a shortcut...

And... hey, Mom, it's snowing again. Can we go inside now?

#100HAPPYDAYS - Day 13 - Reprieve

Snow Day

I've been really busy lately.
Busy for me is not "busy" for a typical person.
I'm still a stay-at-home unschooling mom, though after this spring I'm going to have to give myself a different, more accurate job description.
Maybe cat-herder or basset wrangler... or (gasp) homemaker.

Anyway, my "busy" involved volunteering, driving my daughter to and from her various classes at three different locations (high school, urban campus and ankeny campus of community college), attending a lecture at Iowa State, viewing an art show, plus all the regular cooking, etc.

The amount of activation energy required to do all this sometimes seems unattainable, thanks to my Ehlers Danlos with co-morbid fibromyalgia.
I love that word co-morbid, it adds a note of gravitas to any diagnosis, don't you think?

Anyway, I've been able to keep going, enjoying what I've been doing, and managing enough down-time to regroup for the next day's assault.
So far.
Oh, but I was kind of dreading today.
I had activities scheduled for the morning and again in the evening and knew it would be frustratingly difficult to find the oomph to push myself through.
And then came the snow.
Yes, we got 10-12 glorious inches of city-stopping, activity canceling snow!

What a relief to know that today I could just hibernate under my quilt with books, cats, and knitting, and save up enough energy for tomorrow.