A (Relative) Warm Up

 

Brave souls on the lake were clearing a skating oval. I would love to know the ice thickness; 
I'd guess it hasn't been this thick for years.



Sunday - This is the warming trend we’ll be experiencing this coming week. Yes, I said "warming trend" because it hasn't reached 20°F in over a week. Not even getting close to the melting point (32°F) though. It is also lightly snowing as I write this, but no mention of that in the forecast! Climatologically speaking, we are past the average coldest days of winter, which is around the 20th of January. That doesn't always translate into local weather conditions though. 

Plans have been cancelled and I've been keeping myself entertained at home for the most part. I even got in the hot tub yesterday morning and it was so good to listen to birds foraging for food in their calm and unhurried way.

Yesterday’s walk was a challenge. As I marveled at how my boots and gloves were keeping my extremities toasty, I forgot a face buff and I worried about frostbite on my cheeks.


Ice fishing is another way to enjoy the winter. There was another group
on snowmobiles having some winter fun on the frozen lake.

 I could only manage an hour of walking before I headed back in to enjoy my autumn squash soup for dinner. 

My energy bills have been extraordinarily high this winter. I mean double what they usually are. The state politicians are riled up enough to investigate because there are so many people who just cannot afford to stay warm, on top of the rising prices of just about everything else. 

I am continuously distressed over our government's reckless overreach. As I search for ways to be effective, I have found a few. I cancelled my Spotify and Amazon accts yesterday, and send strongly worded emails to Target periodically. I don't buy much anymore, other than food and necessities. I call my elected officials to support taking a hard line against this regime (my reps are all blue). I donate $ to SecureActBlue and am considering the ACLU. All this to help me sleep at night. 

2/2 Monday
I woke up to 0°F this morning so jumped right into a tiny bit of gardening. 

I’ve been rooting an onion base just for fun and was surprised to see so many roots in just a few days. 

Rosemary and an onion - little experiments with gardening.


Now I’m trying to root a few rosemary stems in anticipation of my tea garden. I’m just itching to start my seedlings for the flower gardens but I know it’s too early. I’ll have to satisfy myself with other chores while I wait like sharpening my pruners, cleaning pots, and starting some windowsill herbs. 
I've completely revamped my magnetic knife rack to match some I saw on Etsy for $50+. Not as pretty as my tile, but hopefully functional.

An evening out in Saratoga for Trivia. We were not last!

Tonight is another ski club meeting and then music in Saratoga on Wednesday. I will get through this frigid winter!

Comments

  1. MargaretFebruary 3, 2026 at 12:38 PM

    I love Trivia out; we used to do it periodically before the pandemic hit. I need to start donating to places. I don't have a Prime account but do order from them. (too much) I've never had Spotify nor do I shop at Target. People here were talking about their energy bills being way up--odd because we haven't really had a winter. Mine was normal when it came, so I'm wondering why theirs were so much. It looks like you have more frigid weather coming! Ugh.

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