Riding the weather roller coaster
It has been a while since I have done a general update post on my so-called life. Sorry about that.
This past winter, aside from being the usual gloomy-gray, was relatively mild with much less snow than usual. But March was a real roller-coaster ride. We had several record-breaking days where the temperature got as high as 71 degrees (21.6 C.), followed by a 50 degree drop a day later. The Crocuses started blooming almost a month ago, followed by a snow storm. A few days after that melted, the Winter Aconite and Snow Drops started blooming.
1.
2.
Then more snow, followed by another warmup. This was a repeated pattern, from low temperatures to high, to low again, then another high, then low. It snowed 4 times in March, the last time it snowed, 10 days ago, we had 8 inches (20 cm.). My daffodils had started blooming by that time, only to be buried under snow.
3.
This was early in the last snow storm. By the next day, you could not see any green, just white mounds where the daffodils had been. I could swear I heard Mother Nature cackling: "HAH, Gotcha, Suckers!"
My health has been up and down as well this winter. My usual January cold lasted longer than usual, but I recovered by February. For the past six weeks I have been dealing with almost constant low-level pain. It started with sciatica, again, in my back and left leg. Then I also had some pain in my jaw. I went to my dentist, who X-rayed the problem area, but his examination was inconclusive. One of my teeth may be cracked at the root and I may need to have a root canal done. He referred me to an endodontist, but my insurance would not cover it. My insurance company found another local dentist who will do root canals, but getting an appointment there has been like pulling teeth (pun intended). Meanwhile, I saw my back-and-spine doctor. I wanted to get another cortisone injection in my spine like I had 2 years ago, a procedure that was quite effective at reducing my pain. Unfortunately, my insurance company would not authorize the shot unless I first tried another round of physical therapy. So my first session in this round of PT will be a week from Friday. The pain continues on, and I take Ibuprofen when it gets real bad. Dealing with my health insurance company has been a real pain too.
Easter Sunday I made a dinner for John, Ricky and myself: baked, glazed ham, studded with cloves, mashed potatoes, asparagus with Hollandaise sauce, and pumpkin pie with Cool Whip. The guys had fun hunting for Easter eggs in the house before dinner. Honey has found a new treat that she loves: boiled eggs.
4.
The glazed ham, topped with pineapple and candied cherries.
5.
Can you find the egg?
6.
How about this egg?
7.
OK, I guess this one was a little obvious!
8.
Ricky, after dinner. He is doing well, back in the rehab program, and working for me part-time, but not living here. He and Johnny both rent rooms from Tom, who lives 3 blocks up the street from me.
Between the weather and my health, I have been having a rough time, but I have a family visit coming up in a few days which I have been looking forward to. My sister, Linnell, flew into New York City today from Spokane, Washington. She will be staying with my niece, Alida, and her husband, Patrick at their house in Queens for a few days, then the three of them are driving up to Syracuse on Saturday. They will be staying at an Airbnb a block away from my house. The Airbnb is owned by my friend and former customer, Joan, and is a house that I spent a year restoring in 1980-81. I can see it from my back yard. On Monday, the four of us will drive north to Sackett's Harbor, NY, on Lake Ontario, to get a good view of the total solar eclipse. Syracuse is within the zone of the eclipse, but Sackett's Harbor is centered exactly on the path of the eclipse. Sackett's Harbor is a charming little historic town. It was the scene of a battle during the War of 1812.
I am really looking forward to their visit. I have not seen my sister since her boat trip across Central New York 5 years ago, and it has been a little longer since I have seen Alida and Pat. In anticipation of their visit, my big project for the past week has been "putting on the dog"; whipping my house into shape, doing major cleaning, organizing, and even some interior painting. John and Ricky have been helping with this huge undertaking. We still have 2 more days to work on it, but the place is looking a lot better already. We completely cleaned and reorganized the pantry, getting rid of 3 recycling bins full of empty plastic and glass food containers, I reuse them regularly but had hoarded accumulated far more than I needed. I also cleaned out my bedroom closet, filling 3 trash bags with clothing which I donated to the Rescue Mission (some of it went to John and Ricky too). I actually went through the tableware drawer in the kitchen, cleaning it out and getting rid of superfluous and unmatched silverware and utensils. The kitchen has been repainted, and most of the house has been dusted and vacuumed or mopped. Even the lawn has been raked.
After the family visit is over my crew and I will get back into the restoration project we started last October on the house diagonally across the street from mine. Pictures of that project to come!
This past winter, aside from being the usual gloomy-gray, was relatively mild with much less snow than usual. But March was a real roller-coaster ride. We had several record-breaking days where the temperature got as high as 71 degrees (21.6 C.), followed by a 50 degree drop a day later. The Crocuses started blooming almost a month ago, followed by a snow storm. A few days after that melted, the Winter Aconite and Snow Drops started blooming.
1.
2.
Then more snow, followed by another warmup. This was a repeated pattern, from low temperatures to high, to low again, then another high, then low. It snowed 4 times in March, the last time it snowed, 10 days ago, we had 8 inches (20 cm.). My daffodils had started blooming by that time, only to be buried under snow.
3.
This was early in the last snow storm. By the next day, you could not see any green, just white mounds where the daffodils had been. I could swear I heard Mother Nature cackling: "HAH, Gotcha, Suckers!"
My health has been up and down as well this winter. My usual January cold lasted longer than usual, but I recovered by February. For the past six weeks I have been dealing with almost constant low-level pain. It started with sciatica, again, in my back and left leg. Then I also had some pain in my jaw. I went to my dentist, who X-rayed the problem area, but his examination was inconclusive. One of my teeth may be cracked at the root and I may need to have a root canal done. He referred me to an endodontist, but my insurance would not cover it. My insurance company found another local dentist who will do root canals, but getting an appointment there has been like pulling teeth (pun intended). Meanwhile, I saw my back-and-spine doctor. I wanted to get another cortisone injection in my spine like I had 2 years ago, a procedure that was quite effective at reducing my pain. Unfortunately, my insurance company would not authorize the shot unless I first tried another round of physical therapy. So my first session in this round of PT will be a week from Friday. The pain continues on, and I take Ibuprofen when it gets real bad. Dealing with my health insurance company has been a real pain too.
Easter Sunday I made a dinner for John, Ricky and myself: baked, glazed ham, studded with cloves, mashed potatoes, asparagus with Hollandaise sauce, and pumpkin pie with Cool Whip. The guys had fun hunting for Easter eggs in the house before dinner. Honey has found a new treat that she loves: boiled eggs.
4.
The glazed ham, topped with pineapple and candied cherries.
5.
Can you find the egg?
6.
How about this egg?
7.
OK, I guess this one was a little obvious!
8.
Ricky, after dinner. He is doing well, back in the rehab program, and working for me part-time, but not living here. He and Johnny both rent rooms from Tom, who lives 3 blocks up the street from me.
Between the weather and my health, I have been having a rough time, but I have a family visit coming up in a few days which I have been looking forward to. My sister, Linnell, flew into New York City today from Spokane, Washington. She will be staying with my niece, Alida, and her husband, Patrick at their house in Queens for a few days, then the three of them are driving up to Syracuse on Saturday. They will be staying at an Airbnb a block away from my house. The Airbnb is owned by my friend and former customer, Joan, and is a house that I spent a year restoring in 1980-81. I can see it from my back yard. On Monday, the four of us will drive north to Sackett's Harbor, NY, on Lake Ontario, to get a good view of the total solar eclipse. Syracuse is within the zone of the eclipse, but Sackett's Harbor is centered exactly on the path of the eclipse. Sackett's Harbor is a charming little historic town. It was the scene of a battle during the War of 1812.
I am really looking forward to their visit. I have not seen my sister since her boat trip across Central New York 5 years ago, and it has been a little longer since I have seen Alida and Pat. In anticipation of their visit, my big project for the past week has been "putting on the dog"; whipping my house into shape, doing major cleaning, organizing, and even some interior painting. John and Ricky have been helping with this huge undertaking. We still have 2 more days to work on it, but the place is looking a lot better already. We completely cleaned and reorganized the pantry, getting rid of 3 recycling bins full of empty plastic and glass food containers, I reuse them regularly but had hoarded accumulated far more than I needed. I also cleaned out my bedroom closet, filling 3 trash bags with clothing which I donated to the Rescue Mission (some of it went to John and Ricky too). I actually went through the tableware drawer in the kitchen, cleaning it out and getting rid of superfluous and unmatched silverware and utensils. The kitchen has been repainted, and most of the house has been dusted and vacuumed or mopped. Even the lawn has been raked.
After the family visit is over my crew and I will get back into the restoration project we started last October on the house diagonally across the street from mine. Pictures of that project to come!