Hiring a painter.

No, I’m not. 

But I’ve noticed that things like question marks don’t translate well in blog headings.

 

I suppose the bigger “news” is,  we had yet another snow storm.  Yay. 

If you thought that “Yay” was kinda weak?  You can still think.

Unfortunately for a lot of my teacher friends, (well, those who are still toiling away in the trenches) the higher up gurus who make the decisions about whether to close schools or not,  chose not to.   Mind you, they cancelled the school buses,  since of course,  it would be safer to have the kids get driven to school.  Or something.  I could never figure out what the hell their logic was.  It snowed most of the day,  and I believe we are well on our way to a new record.

This following pic is for all you folks in the South,  just to help you justify having driven all those miles. 

 

It’s a completely different mindset when you don’t *have* to go anywhere.  I took T.C. to work,  and still went to breakfast with the Wednesday group.  We were somewhat fewer in numbers,  but that’s OK too,  since then it’s easier to chat.  I never in my life thought something like that would be a *good* thing.   So lame.

Matter of fact,  most of the stores and such were pretty darned empty.  I had two “associates” willing to help me in the paint department at Canadian Tire.  I didn’t mind.  A bit of a change from normal,  when they seem to be running around doing most everything except be helpful. 

 

I took the following photo the other day for all you panicky types who figured I’d be doing some sort of high wire act with a paint roller in my hand. 

Um no.  I was born at night,  but it wasn’t last night.

 

It took a bit of “higher larnin’”,  but I managed to figure out just what ladder type device I needed to get up to that other part.  Had to take apart the extension ladder and clean it up.  Mostly.

Not the easiest to snake twelve feet of ladder through the house either.

Once I get that part out of the way,  I won’t be needing any more elaborate props.  Some how I seem to recall it was heaps easier before the installation of the air conditioner?   It’s been a long time since I painted the green.  I still like the green,  but my opinion when it comes to colours counts for nothing.  We touched on that in the wedding vows.  Or maybe there was some fine print when we signed those documents?  Memory fades.

“And thou shalt henceforth have no opinion whatsoever as to the colour of the walls in your house.”   Amen.

Lumped in there of course,  is a sub clause regarding clothing,  women’s in particular,  and whether or not you should have an opinion.  You do not have one.  You are a mute.  Remember that.

 

 

 

Had a brief moment of concern yesterday just before dinner time,  since I had made chicken soup and wasn’t entirely sure if we had any more of *those* noodles.  We had been using some home made noodles that the “Ladies from the church” had made,  but they had been used up.  Fortunately,  I still had the package that was shipped over from the old country.   I think we’d call it “Angel hair”. 

Mind you,  I’ve never actually seen these, “Ladies from the church”,  and for all I know,  it could be a specialty shop called “Ladies from the church”,  where you can buy such specialty items.  I think that’s a concept that would work.

“Krofi” is one product that comes to mind. 

The Austrians and Germans call them Krapfen.  Sounds a bit like “crap”,  I know.  But they’re good.  Really.  Especially the ones with filling.  *drool*   And that site lists some 87 different recipes.  Well, they’re all in German,  but you can look at the pictures.  Fill yer boots.

 

 

OK,  I guess I had better get back to work. 

Oh look,  the sun is coming out.  Yay.  Bitter cold and sun.  Just fabulous.

 

This sums it up.  Mouse over the picture…

 

 

Keep those sticks on the ice.

 

Thanks for stopping in.

And so, life goes on.

We’ve certainly had a few “events” over the last few days.  Super Bowl parties,  teams getting trounced,  Ground Hogs making nasty predictions.

Wait.  What?

I think that last one is the most upsetting,  to be honest.  Little bastard saw his shadow.  Or at least the one in Punxsutawney.  He was in agreement with Wiarton Willie as well.   I think I prefer the verdict given by Shubenacadie Sam.    Seems that Nova Scotia is going to have an early spring!   *pfft*  Aren’t they lucky?

Right.

I suppose it’s something to pass the time when February rolls around and you’re bored outta yer gourd.

I’ll offer one more prediction.   After hearing a little story relayed to me by my brother from down on the farm in Nova Scotia,  if any of them were to show up there,  shadow sighting or no,  he’d fill them full of lead.  As he has horses,  groundhogs aren’t exactly welcome “down on the farm”.    Seems he has something called a “22”?   Hm.  And it’s a semi-automatic. 

And the question mark is somewhat rhetorical,  since I’m well aware of what a 22 is all about.  And a twelve gauge,  and a 30 ought six.    These are fairly standard fair in rural parts.    Gotta keep them varmints at bay,  especially when it involves the well being of the livestock.   But let’s not get all philosophical here.

Hm,  now that I think about it,  it mustn’t be the same 22 that we had when I was a young ‘un,  since that one was “bolt action”.   That kinda sucked, basically.  I think the whole semi-automatic program would work for me.  But I’m not much of a one for ordinance, to be honest.

 

I’m showing you a picture of a pile of something or other,  covered in snow.  Everything is pretty much covered in snow,  which is why I had to bring that top “something” inside overnight to melt off the frozen bits.

Just love that heated garage.

 

Had to dig out that ladder as well,  since we’re going to set off on a new adventure.

OK well,  that’s a load. 

Just means I’m back to the painting again.  I’m pretty stoked.   I can barely contain myself.  Can you sense my enthusiasm?

 

And why do I need the big honkin’ board,  you ask?  Well you didn’t, but whatever.

 

Just gotta get up in that corner.  

That looks like a hoot,  dunnit?  This is the only place in the whole house where there’s no way to reach with just a roller on an extension.   Well you *can* reach it,  but there’s the ‘cutting in’ that needs to be done.

It’s unfortunate that I wasn’t able to paint before we installed the ductless AC unit there,  but that’s the way she goes.  I certainly wasn’t going to put that off until I had painted,  even IF I had started just as soon as we bought the paint.  That’s fine.  I got some newspaper and painters tape.  No big deal.

And by the way,  that railing there isn’t the way it normally looks.  I’ve taken out the balusters so I get over to the other side. 

I don’t think that lack of baluster arrangement would meet “code”. 

 

Well,  pitter patter.

 

Thanks for stopping in.

It’s alive! It’s alive!

This is the big excitement of my day so far,  so please bear with me.

It has to do with our coffee maker,  and that’s a pretty damned important subject.  At least here at the Ponderosa.

We have one of those Tassimo gizmos,  and we quite like it.   A cup of coffee can be anywhere from 50 to 65 cents a pop, with some varieties being well over 80 cents,  but just the same there’s no waste,  and you get whatever fancy schmancy flavour your little heart desires.  

Travelling Companion likes Nabob’s Cafe Crema, 

 

 

 

And as for me,  I’ll drink most anything that’s on sale.  Well,  providing that it’s not overly fancy schmancy.  I can’t abide by flavoured coffees.   Bleah!

Well really,  I prefer this one:

 

 

Anyhoodle,  from time to time the machine comes up with a little light that tells you that it needs to be cleaned,  which I dutifully did.   However,  it didn’t seem to be behaving itself,  and was determined to simply pump all the water straight through the machine until it ran dry. 

That’ll never do.

So I dragged out our drip coffee maker that we keep downstairs that serves as both a back up as well as the go to machine for when we have copious coffee drinkers waiting for their java fix.   You can’t very well serve 10 guests coffee from the Tassimo gizmo unless you’re willing to stand there for quite some time.  It does one cup at a time after all.

 

I had it sitting there hanging over the edge of the sink because I’ve never had good results trying to prop a container under the thing when it's doing its purge.

I also found a tiny little piece of foil lodged in the spigot when I took it apart, but it still didn’t want to behave.  I just figured its time had run out, and started looking on line for a new one. 

 

I left the machine overnight,  and it’s now working. Maybe a bit of moisture where it shouldn’t be?  Coffee makers are that weird combination of electricity and water that I’ve always wondered about. 

It might be time for a back up machine,  but I’d prefer to get one on sale. 

 

Just thought I’d keep it handy to the sink there while testing it out.  Didn’t explode.

I’m now on my (*mumble*)  cup for the day,  and all is well.

It’s snowing out,  but we don’t care.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.  Any Super Bowl predictions?  I’m saying Denver by three points.  But I really have no clue.

 

Thanks for your indulgence,  and for stopping by.