14 February 2010 Sunlight plays with our hopes and expectations

14 February 2010 Sunlight plays with our hopes and expectations




Loki tried to wake Gloria about 0600 this morning. Gloria ignored her and Loki took the rebuff until about 0730 when the Newfoundland Retriever from up valley wandered down and triggered Loki’s pack stimuli. Rather than try to sleep through her whining and barking it was easier to get up and take her outside.

Gloria woke up earlier than she usually does. I fixed buckwheat pancakes for breakfast. I had mine with honey and blueberries. Later today we will have some sort of lobster/snow crab feast in celebration of the holiday. I’ve got some small ears of corn and some new red potatoes to round out the meal.

We had reservations for dinner at Brumley’s in Greeneville last night. Gloria decided that she wanted to stay in rather than brave the cold. Fortunately I had enough shrimp in the freezer to whip up a garlic/olive oil/herb sauce for shrimp and linguini. It looked more elegant than it was. However, Gloria was happy with the meal. Perhaps we’ll try Brumley’s Thursday night when they are supposed to have Jazz and Tapas.

Today we exchanged Valentine cards as we have always done. I bought her some very good chocolates made with ≤ 1 gram of sugar. She’s able to eat them without blowing her glucose out of order and they have no alcohol sugars that cause GI disturbances for many people. It took two trips to get them in Jonesborough as the shop was closed on Monday when I first tried. It was worth the extra trip, really just a longer route home. She misses good chocolate and ice cream more than almost anything I can think of.

While the forecast calls for more snow tonight, 2-6 inches according to the NWS over the course of Sunday night – Monday night. Should make getting home from classes interesting tomorrow. But right now it 42°F and there is blue sky overhead. Winds are gusting up to about 14-25 MPH right now and may increase a bit as the next storm rolls in.

I cut some of the firewood that was too long to fit into the stove into usable lengths yesterday and really appreciate the new Stihl chain saw. The easy start feature is nice and the saw is light enough for me to use without the vibrations ruining any motor control in my hands for the next day. Today I moved the last of the split wood from the dump truck load we bought in December into a rack of wood that is all too long to fit the stove. The rack has about two weeks worth of wood in it. The remnants of the last load are now uncovered, the tarp folded and put away, and will hopefully provide some kindling as the dirt and mud gets washed or blown away. There was a bit too much dirt in this load to suit me; probably loaded with a front loader. If the next load is equally dirt-laden we’ll look for another source of firewood.

We’ve watched a bit of the Winter Olympics coverage. Too many commercials, not enough focus on any competitors except the favored medal contenders. The nice thing about the games being held in Vancouver is that we were there last summer and sometimes see places or things we visited on our trip. Vancouver is one of earth’s truly beautiful places, even with a city overlaying the topography. It is highly doubtful we would have ever visited Vancouver if my son Joshua hadn’t invited us to his wedding last June. Thanks, Joshua!