Well that's funny about the shoe laces. I'm seriously thinking about buying shoes with the velcro flap from now on because I end up tying the laces 4 or 5 times a day. I thought it was because I'm getting arthritis in my fingers and couldn't tie them tight enough to hold anymore. Whatever, I'm still getting the velcro kind. Gives me an excuse to go shopping... :) 39 days until retirement!

Spring? What's that? You mean when that big yellow thing in the sky makes you nice and warm?
This is the coldest California winter in many a year. I am so tired cleaning Gussie's pen and scooping up poopsicles.
Son in Idaho sent me an ecard, he complains because they have 4 ft. of snow in their yard, so I think maybe I should count my blessings?

Winter is more than 1/2 over here. Our last frost is usually around March 15th. Usually, by the time we get through February we are practically home free. Unfortunately, it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that the ground hog (if there are any around here) will see his shadow tomorrow morning, but I guess letting winter last until March 15 is OK, as long as it promptly departs after that.

And shoelaces? Yes, why are they so long? But the ones I really hate are the rawhide ones that are in my LL Bean Blucher mocs, which are probably the most comfortable shoes I own. Those laces never, ever stay tied & it drives me crazy.

Last month, after living with a dinosaur of a computer (7 or so years old), I got a new one. State of the art, bluetooth mouse included. Today, my mouse quit working. I tried restarting the computer, taking out the flash drive and shutting it down/putting it back in and starting it again (hoping it would ask me to install "new hardware"), changing the USB slot used, resetting it on the flash drive thingy, new batteries, moving the position of the switch from - to 0, whatever that means!, to no avail. I finally call the LAN manager to come fix it. I never bother him and usually fix the stuff on our floor since I am pretty decent at trouble shooting and know the tricks (such as switching the port it was in) and he fixes it. By blowing in the flash drive! State of the art, fixed by spit.

When tying your shoe lace, make a big bow and tie it again. I always did this when I had to tie so many shoes when I taught pre school. They will stay tied.

Not anymore, Gabriell I do tie them in double bows, like I used to tie my toddler's laces, they still work loose. I suspect it's because they use some nasty synthetic and any tension at all on them causes them to slide on themselves. The knots are still there where I've double tied them but slid down the lace with a foot of lace dragging the ground. Argh.

Random things floating around in my head:

I am the queen of unfinished projects! In the last couple of days I have finally finished my woodworking project ({{gwi:142923}}). I got hung up for over a year because I was afraid of the drill press. I finally figured both it and the drum sander attachment out. I committed a lot of sins with my jigsaw when I cut out the pattern, but it turns out drum sanders forgive a lot of sins. Who knew?

I also repainted our basement. Initially, I chose blue and orange for the walls. The orange was freakishly saturated (think creamsicle) and I found myself in a Miami Dolphin-inspired hades. I tried to fix it with a faux technique that I left unfinished for over a year. I finally painted over incomplete and botched attempts toned the orange down considerably and added a brown accent. And I won't lift a paint brush again for a very long time.

I was thinking of Di while I finished up my project, and while I lack her coordination and experience, I was grateful for my "man-hands" and the ease with which tools fit into them.

I mentioned last spring that one of my sisters suffered a miscarriage. Actually, both of my sisters had miscarriages within two months of each other. But the one who really wanted to have more children got pregnant again nearly instantly. She's due in May, and I got to pat her belly and laugh at her ankles when I visited her in December. I'm psyched to meet my new niece/nephew. I will never understand why my sisters, with whom I used to pre-open and re-wrap Christmas gifts because we hated the suspense, both refuse to learn the gender of their babies until they're in the delivery room.

Speaking of nieces/nephews, you know that new Cheetos commercial where the red-headed woman puts the handful of Cheetos in the dryer with the mean lady's whites? The Cheetos bandit is our niece.

I'm very ready for winter to be over. Our big Vernal Equinox party is going to have to be put off for a week because my cousin re-invited the whole family to our house Easter weekend and the Equinox and Easter happen the same week this year. I'm looking forward both to celebrating the visit of my family and the end of this blasted winter.

We've had something like 60" of snow this year (>2x normal) and I'm over it. I have noticed the lengthening of the days, but it it'll be a while before it warms up. Blech!

C'mon Spring!

Thanks for that link I just shared it!!

I too entertain the folks in public with the many times I have to bend over to retire my shoe laces. And you are right, dbl bows don't help. Stupid shoelaces. I wonder if that catalogue, Voice of the Mountain, would have some old fashioned kind, or maybe I could take a short road trip to lehmans hardware. Having lots of Amish neighbors makes it easier to get the old practical stuff.

Dang it! The little rat saw his shadow!

He did not see his shadow here - we are having snow alternating with rain, just to make things really, really mucky. It's cold.
We joke that we have only two seasons here: Dust and Mud - well, I am ready for some dust

Flat shoelaces - if they're round no amount of double tying will keep them that way. If the laces are too long you may not realize you're stepping on the long end.

Shoelaces were the bane of my life until I figure flat v. round.

Buckeye Chuck didn't see his shadow but Pa.'s Phil did. Oh boy, I can't wait to stand on my side of the state line in grass and wave at my neighbors in Pa standing in snow.

LOLOLOL Tibs! It's been a few moons since I've been over to the Lehman's store, but their catalogues are starting to look a little yuppie looking. The old belt to my treadle sewing machine was leather, and when I ordered a replacement, it was rubber and it stretches. wah.

Michelle, we want wine rack pics.

Sheila, I think you have something there. I'm going to go searching for FLAT and COTTON shoelaces!

Rob333 If I electrocute myself spitting into my computer......it's all your fault.

I feel sorry for those of you who are sogged/chilled/snowed to death. We haven't had a mild winter, nor a snow free one, but it's paced itself in a very kind way with the "weather events" spaced with breathers in between and just enough snow often to keep precip levels up but not too much at once. I certainly can't complain.

Weather today. Late afternoon, early evening.

{{gwi:142926}}

Lovely pic, Michael. Were you out on the water today? We had sunny 60 degrees at mid-afternoon here. Have had very mild winter but we usually get our coldest weather in Feb. and I can remember one 3-inch snowfall in early March. I'd love it as it usually lasts just a few days but is so pretty.
Neighbors' 3 cats love our porch/windowsills from which to monitor the birdfeeders. The late night caterwauling makes me think there are some shenanigans going on...we may have kittens visiting us this spring.

I don't have any shoes which lace but used to buy untreated leather shoelaces at shoe-repair place to hang toys for my parrot. They made good tight knots which took her at least 10 minutes to untie...LOL but should be fine for boots. josh

Yes. I was out in the kayak launching from Second Creek. Got stopped by the water patrol to see if I was adhering to the boating laws. They couldn't see a life vest on me. Had to unbutton the oversized shirt I was wearing and show them my brand new automatic inflation life vest. It's CO2 powered. It didn't bother me a bit that they stopped me. After all I was just about the only one on the river then so I guess it gave them something to do.

Neil and I went over to that OTHER house and piddled around today.
I cleaned the refrigerator and cooked a whole chicken.
Trying to get acquainted with the layout of the kitchen.
Tomorrow I'm going to clean up all the plaster dust and sit
in the living room and try my best to design some shelves,
and a contraption for the BIG screen TV for Neil.

I picked up hamburgers and we ate in the sun room.
Neil bagged up garbage. He is anxious to get moved in.
I want to just get settled, don't much care where.

I love Katrina's bathroom. The motion light switch works
great. I took some pictures and measured our bathroom.
It looks pitiful now and I don't have much of a clue about
how I'm going to use the space.

I bought some new books on decks and patios, bathrooms,
kitchens, gardens. I tried out my new Home Depot card.
I got the thing because this sweet little old man was so
dear and I thought I would just cut it up when it came.
When I signed up I bought 2 battery chargers and several
rechargeable batteries and got them all for 5 bucks after
the promotional percentage was factored in.
I only use my Visa and long ago cut up all other cards.
Now, I'll cut up the HD card, pay the bill when it comes and be done with it.

Would that I were as handy with tools and building as
Michelle. My sister can do anything. She built a beautiful
fireplace surround and mantle. I can usually design it but I can't build it.

Our furry little weather forecaster, General Lee, saw his
shadow, bless his heart. The whole month of February is
supposed to be mild, go figure. Talk about screwing up spring, our
azaleas and dogwoods won't know when to bloom.

We're back to warm here & yesterday I planted my onions. Lots more to be doing outside, but as we're going to have fairly decent weather this week, I'm using today to get caught up with paper work for some of my volunteer chores. Too bad today wasn't ground hog day as it's cloudy. Yesterday there was bright sunshine. Guess that means that winter, such as it is down here, will be hanging around until at least ST. Patrick's Day.

Shoe laces: An extra twist when tying. First do one more twist when adjoining the laces, and then make the bow with long loops, twist-flipping the loops -- like a knot but with that extra twist. Depending on the material, it is most likely that only the first double twist will be needed. BTW, cut each lace to the proper length and then secure each end by wrapping a small piece of 3m book tape. The taped end will outlast the lacing and most 3-year olds.

Weather is mid-50's but must scrape frost each morning. Promises for 60 tomorrow, followed by mid-40's. Yes, much much warmer than normal average. Finally had rain during Friday day. 1¾" which is treble the total received in January. I have been watering the azaleas and lilacs. Watering. In January.
:(

Michelle! The link to your dining room and racks. Oh my. You're good. I love the chairs, the racks, the floor, the walls, the trim. It's all so you and so lovely!!! Awesome job. I've always hated boring white trim, but I personally am not fond of "color" trim either. Your choice is probably the road I'm headed down for our new kitch-livingroom when it becomes all one room. For Christmas, my hubby bought "me" a miter saw. I made the first cut on Saturday and cried... relieved I'd done it right, and happy I can be confident in doing it now. I get that you were worried, and worried about nothing. You can do anything!

I am not good with computers but I did learn a computer word in Spanish this week. Raton is the word for mouse.

Well, with spring coming on, I heard ratons overhead in my kitchen ceiling. LOL. They come in the house come fall or spring like old faithful.

Today was spring like, at last. It got to 60, I sat outside and had my water after going on my walk(my dogs and I walk 2 miles on the days we don't go to the feed store). I was thinking if it was summer I would be bundling up and sitting in the house. lol
Lilo I saw a Western Blue Bird, a male checking the bird house in the goat pen. He must know the weather will be milder
Shadowgarden, Is that like eek a raton!?

No ratons here but the cats are leaving me little gifts of mutilated mice by the back door almost every morning.