Snowed In

A post with no time for talking. I do have a few photos of the blizzard we've had for the last two days. It snowed yesterday but not today but the wind was 60 - 80 km. per hour both days and the drifting was severe. My driveway was plowed out twice since this since this morning and sis in law had a terrible time leaving here after that. My son can drive through anything and will get down, then plowed out again before he gets up in the morning.



The above show approximately the same spot in around twenty six hours. It is still blowing like crazy as I write this thirty hours later.

Most of the ground was bare before this 'spring snowstorm'. Poor man's fertilizer, I explained in 2007. Ha, I found out I talked about it in 2006 as well. Anyway, we really got walloped this year, I think.





The music tonight will come from the past. Nothing new.

• Life Is So Peculiar - Louis Jordan & Louis Armstrong
• Gospel Plow - Old Crow Medicine Show
• Cold to Colder - Sasha Dobson
• Emotional Weather Report - Tom Waits
• Breathe - Sia
• Come In From the Cold - Marc Broussard

Distractions - Sia

For today, a storm day on PEI, some pictures from this little hide away. We've had freezing rain off and on all day. The off melts the last adherence. It's not too bad as you can see. It could be serious with the weight of ice pulling down tree branches and electrical wires. I could hear ice falling off (luckily) because the temps here were on the warm side.

I had too much old music yesterday probably, but I enjoyed every bit. Here is some music for today:

Life Is So Peculiar - Louis Jordan, Louis Armstrong

Girl From The North Country - Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash


Que Sera Sera - Doris Day

Which One?

I didn't have any guessers on painting number one so doubt I will get any for number two. The sunflowers are far from finished and I don't even know when I'll find time to get to it. If my sister in law comes over to work on hers, I will make time. I have found my kitchen table and one table in the studio so I've made headway after working two straight day. The big desk in the study is piled even higher than it was because it has taken items from the other areas but I can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

This is very strange but my curser has disappeared. Has this ever happened to anyone? I can still type but there is no cursor in sight. Weird! It's very disconcerting actually. I think I 'll make this a short post and get back to my reorganizing.

The first song I think of for today is Love Song For No One by John Mayer. I can think of some pretty good love songs though. Here's Louis Armstrong with A Kiss To Build a Dream On and Here's kd lang and Tony Bennett with another wonderful version. Another wonderful love song is The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. Here's a version that is not all that well known but I love this voice so much. Here's Johnny Cash. Love songs and ballads are a muse for the soul.

Though there is much more snow than in the above example (from a late winter storm) our fierce blizzard today is forming some pretty neat snow sculptures. Ones that were there this morning have long been covered over and new ones, differently shaped, have appeared. There is no snow at all on the main part of my deck but my door is completely buried under a snowdrift. My son will have to shovel to come in. I can exit through another door in an emergency.

Luckily our power is still on. I got up early to turn on the heat thinking that if the power did go out at least the house would be warm. Plows have not been out on the Island yet. That's how extreme this blizzard that began overnight is today. I've plenty to eat and drink, electricity and a telephone. It's all I need today.

Those who've been reading here for a while know that one of my all-time favorite songs is Don't Fence Me In. Here's my favorite version, by Ella. In honour of the snow barring in my back door today, you get to hear another version or two or three. Here's Roy Rogers and The Sons of the Pioneers and one by Louis Armstrong and Velma Middleton, my second favorite. It has that humourous, fun-singing that certain jazz singers did in those days which I love so much. When you need a more country mood Willie Nelson and Leon Russell can't be beat. Love that song!

Happy New Year again. I guess I said it a little prematurely yesterday.

How Busy is a Beaver?

I've got a very good excuse for not posting during my days off. It is usually when I do have some time to post but not this week. I was extremely busy during my three days off. It's pickling season and I made three batches of pickles with more planned for next week. I made mustard-curry pickles, mustard- ginger, and Lady Ashburn, another mustard type. Next week I'm pickling beets and if I can find some green tomatoes, will make Chow. I also need to have a pie making day. Someone loaned me an apple picker last night which allowed me to get fabulous apples from higher on the trees. It's hard to find time for it all.

I had a lovely dinner party last night and friends for dinner on Tuesday as well. Truly, my hands are wrinkled from all the dishes I've been doing. Three batches of pickles involves enough dishes as it is but two dinner parties added to that.... Whew!

My hours have been cut back further so that I work only a half day today. I will miss the money but like the extra time off. The weather was definitely cooler but today is supposed to be a lovely 20 degrees. I plan to start walking again as the woods are going to be lovelier each week.

Louis Armstrong has some good songs for today. With Velma Middleton, here's You're the Apple of My Eye and with his band here's Walking My Baby Back Home.

Sprung

See how many seeds are on this dandelion plant? That's how many household chores I did today. I'm exhausted. I should have had an afternoon nap to revive myself but didn't. I'm almost too tired to type. I've been waking at 4 am the last little while. A couple of days last week I went back to sleep around five-thirty, my usual time to get up but not this week. It makes for a long day when the day starts at 4 am.

I plan to do something fun tomorrow. If the sky is blue I may drive to an abandoned house to see how it survived the winter and visit a local nursery for some bedding plants. If the sky is grey I'll head in the opposite direction to a little photo excursion and visit a different local nursery. In either direction, at either nursery, I'll enjoy the day. I have a fellow coming to cut some trees for me in the morning. I hope he comes early.

Spring is coming to an end and summer arrives this weekend. A couple of spring songs are asking to be played. They do, yes, they do ask to be played. They pop up on the ever-changing playlists in my brain. There is hardly a moment music isn't accompanying my every thought. I've asked other people if this is the case with them and have usually heard that it is not. A couple I've asked are like me though, and life is accompanied by music. Tchavolo Swing by the Hot Club of Cowtown is one song asking to be released. If you like Joe Venuti or Stephane Grapelli-type jazz violin this song is for you. Another song crying to be heard is Gone Fishin' I wanted to post this Bing Crosby song a while ago but though I knew I had it, I couldn't find it. I forgot that it is a duet with Louis Armstrong and that's where I found it, in my Louis Armstrong file. It was going to accompany my Father's Day post with a photo of my dad fishing. Heck, I can still put the photo up, to accompany the song. When I added this second photo the font or size changed and I can't seem to get the original back.

Planting Time

The daffodils are pretty faded now and will only be around for another day, maybe two. The tulips are really beautiful now, stunning really. It is finally a beautiful day and I planted all the pots on the deck. We had frost this morning, believe it or not, so I'm hoping it is for the last time. The pots look great, with a purple daisy, a mini trailing snapdragon type plant, geraniums, lots of petunias and more pansies. There's nothing startling or unusual this year.

I'm getting the post up early as I have some friends dropping by in a while. It's a lovely day for the deck, that's for sure. Tomorrow is cool again so we'll take advantage of the heat today. It's only twenty degrees so not really hot but it's great!

I have four versions of La Vie En Rose up already between the two pages. Here's one more by Louis Armstrong. Sticking with a planting theme and sticking with a Louis, the second song is The Green Grass Grows All Around by Louis Jordan.