Thursday, February 28, 2013

Is It Over Yet?

Things sure have been mighty quiet at Shim Farm Central this month.  I had considered writing a post about snow shoveling, one of my prime occupations this month, or whining on about the weather, but we've "been there, done that" with a few posts too many already this year.   Still, I don't want to turn the calendar page over without commemorating February with one more post.
Today we woke up to more snow - really, what's new?  Snow.  That's what's new.  I'm not complaining, just stating the obvious with a tone of resignation (and slight despair) in my voice.  It did look glorious outside, the trees were all heavily snow-packed, and as an added bonus, it was hovering just around the freezing mark which is a nice change from -20C.  The power flickered on and off all evening the day before, but we didn't lose power, so there's that to be grateful for.

This has been a long, hard winter, and February is the jewel in the crown of the season.  Everyone's remarked on it, so it's not just a figment of my imagination.  Hopefully, spring is just around the corner because I'm about ready to crack at the seams.

I've played a rousing 2,540 games of Freecell this month, just the sort of repetitive crap my gray matter needs to keep firing during this time of year.  Of course, I could be doing infinitely more interesting things with my time, and although I'm already regretting the time wasted, I consider it therapy.  Yeah, therapy.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

(I did manage to get the ribber for my CSM up and running again, but that's another tome for another day).

I haven't taken a lot of photos this month, and they're prime blog fodder.  No photos - no posts.  But the other day, I snapped this one of Crappy Cappy and the Tessalator:
This is as close to a still-life as they come in our house.  Plywood floor.  Two cats.  A vacuum cleaner.  Tools.  Plus a suitcase.  That pretty much sums up our lives.  (And the green mallet?  Our favorite tool, bar none.  The base is stamped WOOD IS GOOD and that's all I'm gonna say about that).

Crappy Cappy (I really should stop calling her that, because she's anything but) is such a sweet, curious cat:

Just look at her.  You just want to take that fuzzy little face and squee-squee-squeeze it.  She's on the tiny side, so we're calling her a Vermont Coon Cat.  That's just like a Maine Coon cat, but half the size.  Bless that little Miss-Stripey-Pants, because she sure is a dear little cat.  Here she is gracing the drill press conveniently (not!) located in our living room.

Eric's still working on the proverbial missing link upstairs, namely the frame around the master-bedroom door, hence the tools on the living room floor.

Eric says he's going to make true on his threat to move the drill press upstairs.  That would mean we could theoretically finish the floor downstairs, even if the upstairs isn't quite done.  Actually, I'm not sure I'd qualify the status as "not quite done".  Let's just call it "construction rustic".  That's our decoration period, and we're probably stuck in it for the rest of our lives.
This is going to be the structure around the door frame upstairs.  I'm not even going to entertain the thought of nagging Eric to get the job done, because I of course have played exactly 2,540 games of Freecell this month.  Everyone's on the path of least resistance in February and collectively, we're no exception.

BobCat, for his part, has made a new enemy in the neighbourhood.  Some unfixed male cat keeps wandering around our farm, marking his territory.  Soon, very soon, our Havahart trap is going to be set up, and that tomcat is going to find himself at the vets for a quick snip-snip and that problem will be solved, too.

With the weather getting milder, Bob's main occupation is going in and out of the house so often I need to grease the hinges on the front door before they wear out.  The unfixed tomcat is not helping his case.

This is what the little bugger does when he wants to be let in, about 3 minutes after he's let out:
He puts his face in the window, and using his paws, swats at the front door.  With the melting snow, his wet paws make a "kwee-kwee-kwee" squeaking sound, alerting me to the fact he wants to be let in.  It's not at all irritating, no...not one...little...bit.

Upon coming in, he'll walk to his food dish, because his servant might have added a few kibble, and then about 27 seconds later, he'll go back to the front door and asked to be let out again.  Sometimes, though, he'll go to the front door, ask to be let out, but will then make a beeline for the patio door, which obviously annoys me to no end.  Or maybe it's Bob's way of telling me I need more exercise this time of year.  Thanks, I suppose.  Whoever said dogs have masters and cats have servants was very, very astute.

Bob's mellowing out though.  He still spends most nights on the bed hogging my hot-water bottle, and has only once woken me at 5AM  this winter, asking to be let out.  When he starts doing this on a regular basis, that's my cue to let Bob sleep in the barn at night.  This spring, we'll see what Bob likes better - the barn or a warm bed?

Right now, Bob's settled in on the back of the sofa, right behind my head.  His purring is non-stop and I'm grateful he seems to have settled down for the night.  Now I better go and fix him his hot-water bottle, and hopefully beat him at his own game.  If I make things perfect enough, he won't entertain the thought of going outside again tonight, and I'll enjoy a night of uninterrupted sleep.

And on that note, lest you fear I've completely lost my get-up-and-go, here's a February sunset for your viewing pleasure:
With a few hours left to go, I'm going to turn the calendar over to March, and rejoice like I've never rejoiced before.

Out, February, out!

8 comments:

Miriam said...

I hear you about February. In our case it's rain, rain, rain instead of snow, snow, snow, but the effect on the psyche is about the same. Sigh... It's a good thing it's the shortest month of the year.

Our Tooter goes at the weatherstripping around the door with her claws as a way of letting us know she wants in/out/in again. Which means we have virtually no weatherstripping below waist level around any of our exterior doors. We tape over the gaps with painter's tape so the wind doesn't whistle in quite so much and feel grateful we live on Vancouver Island instead of Quebec, or we would surely freeze!

(On a completely unrelated note, I am almost finished the body of my top-down Lopi sweater. Yippee! Although I am already having nightmares about cutting open the steek...)

Shim Farm said...

Oh Miriam, this is the first winter Eric and I have both thought about relocating, it's been that painful. I'm already hugging the calendar, eyeing the glorious month of March, it's that bad LOL!

I hear you on the weatherstripping! We had a cat, the late, great Howard Hughes, who used to do exactly what your Tooter does. It's infernal - worse than Bob's window-washing!

Glad to hear you're bashing away on your Lopi, top-down, no less! That's great, you'll see the steeking will go well, there's nothing to fear. Your sweater won't magically unravel itself once it's cut open, I promise.

We've got snow in the forecast for the next week (eek!), but I think we'll take that over your Pineapple Express LOL.

Ron said...

Winter has seemed long here, too. Warm, cold, muddy, snow, rain... I'm just looking forward to the trees leafing out again.

The cat here has also shredded the weatherstripping. A friend showed me a while ago how he nailed on a piece of molding to protect his. When we fix ours someday, I'll definitely do that.

Shim Farm said...

Hi Ron, yeah, it's a long winter, alright with no end in sight, but the days are getting longer and soon we'll change the clocks. I think my head needs the extra day-light in the evening.

What is it with cats and the annihilation of weatherstripping? After Howard disappeared, we changed the weatherstripping and thankfully, none of our other cats claw it. Tessie sits patiently by the patio door, Capucine sits in front of the main door and MEOWS, and Bob's my little squeegee-cat. Of course, a cat door would solve all those problems, but with our luck, we'd end up with a skunk in the house.

Anyhow, spring will be here before we know it, right?

Robin said...

At least you got a post up for February. Somehow we didn't seem to manage, though Lee did start on one. It's hard to feel motivated when not much is going on.

I've noticed that the daffodils are coming up, the fruit trees are budding out, and there are little flowers blooming all over our yard. We have had a few really warm and sunny feeling days. Spring is coming and I am excited! Actually, I want to mow something bad. I've kinda been daydreaming about it for the last 8 months it seems. Our older neighbor finds it deeply disturbing when he sees me mowing. He makes comments to Lee and asks why we don't get a riding mower for me. I love the exercise and watching lines appear where I mowed. It's the ocd in me.

Shim Farm said...

Hi Robin, how are you doing? Any NEWS??? I'm sitting here with bated breath thinking about you!!

I was thinking about mowing yesterday too, and how we whine about it in July LOL. I hear you about the mower, but when Eric bought the Baby Deere (I call her Fawn), mowing suddenly took on a new (more fun) dimension. I do love our Eastman push-mower, though.

It's been a really long month and my get-up-and-go is gone. I'm knitting on something blue and just looking at the colour, I have to shake my head...blue. So cold. So unmotivating. I have a zillion other projects to finish (what's new?) but none of them are interesting me right now. But I'm forcing myself to finish because it's perfect to wear for spring. (Right now Bob's making his claws on it and will probably settle down for a nice long nap. Fine with me LOL). Feels like torture, though. Next year, I'm gonna plan to knit a colour afghan that requires no brain-power to knit. At least, that's my plan right now. Plus, I think I'm going to take the entire month of February off and L-E-A-V-E. Where, I don't know, just leave...

I guess I'm just partly discouraged, partly down, partly under the weather.

But when the sun comes out and it starts to thaw and we get the first tinges of green outside, it's gonna feel EUPHORIC.

Anyhow. Listen to me go on. "Le Sigh". Alas. Hope to have some great news from you soon!!!

Take care!

Robin said...

An entire month somewhere sounds fabulous Ann! You should do it. Soon it will be lovely spring up there and hopefully it will get your spirits back up. When its gray and cold (or in your case snow up to your ears) I find it hard to feel perky too.

Nothing is happening over here still. Tomorrow is a week over and I go in to the hospital to get the process started. It's a late at night appt. so by Tuesday, if all goes well, we should have our new addition to our family. I'm feeling a little bit of a wreck today. lol.

Shim Farm said...

Hi Robin, I'm hoping all went well with the delivery. Let me know how you are all faring! Sending you our best wishes and a rousing welcome to the newest generation at Farm Folly. Hope to hear from you shortly!

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