boing goes another brain cell

A week of weather - but then everybody seems to have had that. 

The snow wasn't worth commenting on till Friday night when it was the kind of big flakes that

• make you dizzy when you look straight up
• make you want to taste them
• make you run a bit, even though you might slip.

So: Angel had her hair cut after this photo on Thursday and because of that she wasn't collecting huge snowballs on her leg feathers, but was still collecting some and I took her collar off when we

got back on Friday night, so that I could dry her properly and sit there and thaw out her snowballs - she has such good insulation that they don't melt. I use my fingers to thaw them and she helps by licking the puddles out of my hand.  Not a bad way to spend 10 minutes even at 11 at night to be honest.

You can see her collar in the pic above - the one round her neck, not the trophy one that she collected from a nearly caught cat (about three years ago, but she still gives it the occasional chew in memory, as it were).

So here we are on Saturday morning - the snow is deep and white and calling and Angel is still on the bed because I haven't put her collar on and after four+ years of getting to the gate and then me having to go back for it, she has finally learnt not to get up until I've becollared her.

So, in the kitchen I gave the collar a shake and her collar bling tinkled and she came pelting downstairs and I put on my socks and boots and fur hat and coat and pick up lead and shitbags and gloves and birdtable seed and birdfeeder seed and shovel to clear bird table and we're off.  Feed the birds, get to the gate

NO COLLAR.

After looking around the kitchen and living room I decide to use the harness that I got for the car. That's not part of this story but with it a ten minute visit to the paper shop took half an hour.

I looked and looked.  Yes, including in the microwave and the freezer, just in case.

NO COLLAR.

She coped well with the lead in a loop but it was odd that she didn't jingle and I wouldn't let her off because her collar lets me know where she is and if she did stray would let her finder know my mobile number.

I looked again before the teatime walk- this time I moved the sofa and checked under the bed

NO COLLAR.

I looked again before the bedtime walk including all the bags I keep things in.

NO COLLAR.

Incidentally it was raining and she didn't really want to go paddling in freezing slush.

This morning the snow had gone.

And there it was, THE COLLAR, lying on the path where I fill the bird feeders.

The brain cell that was storing my putting it there had obviously gone pop while I filled the feeders.

 

The promise, the hint, the delivery of SNOOOOOOW

Last Saturday, we tidied the garden in the park.  You know, cleared all the dead twiggy stuff that protects the plants

on days like this.

 Sunrise on Tuesday was quite colourful.  Despite this shepherd's warning I set off to go to York for the day.  I changed my  mind when it started snowing and spent the morning in the Art Gallery and Library instead.

This is the stair/light well inside the lending library.  The dog-lioness hanging on for grim life

is getting a face wash, when you see her from the other side - or maybe a kiss.

 

This is the local history room at the very top.  Isn't it just glorious!

By Thursday it had started to snow!  Dot and Carrie didn't seem to happy to be shut in.

Tracey has posted photos of snow in Wales which are much more impressive on her facebook page.  This is the bottom of her garden

and this is Finland from Blipfoto - WanhaHukko:

But I'm not jealous,  honest I'm not!

On the picture front, Betsy announced, on facebook too, that she was putting a nex pic on Etsy.  I couldn't find it there.

Why not?

Someone had already bought it!

Still not jealous, an opportunity to not spend money.

As was the rule in the tiled cafe in the art gallery on Tuesday. They stop serving breakfast at 11 and don't serve other food till half past.  Even when it is sitting there on the counter.  The waiter suggested I went to Bagel Nosh in The Light instead, but I went home and drank my own coffee instead.

 



Thank you Betsy!

 

I am not a happy bunny.  Thanks to Betsy I now have pictures but the first time I had not looked at her blog and so did them, text, pic, text,pic etc like I normally do and the post was overprinted and illegible.  So now I've put all the pics on first but I can't put the text where I want it.

This is a primrose in the yellow bed that I spotted when we were gardening in the park on Saturday.  It had a hat of snow on today - I hope I didn't do it any harm, uncovering it for the photo.

This is Diz's summer noren, finished at last, though I just noticed that I photo'd it before I sewed the tabs on.

And here is a Christmas pic of my sisters being entertained by technology!



Still pictureless

Well, after looking up how to, I've tried all the suggestions in Blogger Help and I still can't upload pictures.  Not only that but I can't even get BTYahoo to load a search page 'why can't I upload pictures to Blogger?'!
The only thing I can think of that is different is that I've uploaded pics to facebook but I can't see how that would mess Blogger up.
Whatever, until it fixes itself or somehow I get a solution, it's just words again.
I have finished Diz's summer noren, at last.
I am avoiding going on t'internet because of the urge to spend - to buy fabric and books and MP3 downloads and nice paper to print on and now on top of those I got a lovely card from Tracey which led me to art angels and a load of enviable prints.  I can't imagine how they do some of them but they make me want to do better.  Which is good. But they also make me want to own them, which is not good.
Because I have also found a self-catering on Shetland that has wifi and takes a dog and doesn't cost a fortune.  AND I've sent off for a booking.

Happy New Year

I missed last week because I was chucking up and was too busy during the week - trying to keep up to my resolutions - to catch up.
For some reason I can't upload pictures at the moment so I'll get the writing done.
Resolutions
Go to Scotland in the Autumn - possibly the Shetlands or Orkney, I've ordered brochures to see if I can find a place that will take a dog, have wifi, be warm and not too expensive.  Blipfoto has a couple or so blippers who live in the islands and say/show nothing to put me off October.  It started New Years Day with a 4extra program about the Northern Lights that reminded me I wanted to see them, and Diz mentioning reading Ann Cleves' detective stories set on Shetland which made me want to go there when I read them.
Organise my days a bit so that even projects that are in the doldrums get a bit of attention -
For instance:

• I'm finding it really hard to move from simplified to traditional characters in Chinese
• Knitting is not getting done even though I am bored with all my current woolies
• I haven't finished a drawing except for printing for ages.

I've finished the Wild Places book and it was worth it, except for the eco lectures, and it made me think of a poem from that Penguin Series that I can't remember the name of.  It starts something like, 'Now and then looking at the very small' and is translated from Czech I think and it has been bobbing up all day.  Gggrrrrr.
Well, I've restarted and restarted the computer but still cannot upload pictures. So this is it.