OK, You Can Stop Now

The snow that is. It can stop now. 

It has been snowing since before 9 AM and it's 3 PM now. I'm typing very slowly as my fingers thaw out. I was just out roof raking. 

For those of you sissies in the South, or if you're newly from Noo Yawk City, a roof rake is a flat aluminum rake on a LONG stick. And you use it when all of your neighbors are telling you that the weight of the snow will collapse your roof. It took me 20 minutes to put the three sections together -- the little button that holds the section securely in place did not want to stay depressed as I inserted the next length. I did try it without securing the button only to have the rake get stuck in the snow on the roof and the section pulled out. Adrenalin kicked in and I tugged that sucker off the roof.

Before any Roof Raking

I did what I could to the garage and around the front where the picture window is. Then I went to the right of this picture to get the roof over my bedroom. That's when I discovered the untouched snow reached almost to my knees. Oh, right. Guess we had gotten the actual 12 inches on the last storm and we now have 3 to 4 inches.

Apparently Someone Forgot to Bring in the Amethyst Glass Birdbath

When I was done, my body said, "Fool! You are NOT going to the rear of the house even if you can stand on the little deck." For once, I listened to reason and here I am, conversing with you.

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So today has been full. I went to church and as I walked in, I was coughing, so the greeters (and people I know) backed away as if I were typhoid Mary. That's o.k. They were convinced that I was sick and I didn't have to do that dumb handshake of peace. I think that was devised by big pharma to make sure every Christian makes every other Christian sick, thereby needing lots of prescriptions and over the counter medicines. 

After church, knowing that it was snowing merrily, I hoped that the organist would play a short piece so I could scoot out quicker. Nope. Then again, we're all New Englanders and this is just another blip.

Most of you know, that if snow is predicted or if it's snowing, it's mandatory to go to the supermarket and buy bread and milk. Well, on this low carbohydrate way of eating, both are off my list. I did, however, have to go to Aldis because I needed to cook for the upcoming week. I love that store! I spent $70 and got what would have cost me $140 at the other supermarkets in the area. By the way, if you eat such things, they had generic rice krispies for $1.79.

I now have two roast pork roasts dusted with garlic powder (I cut it in half and will freeze half), 4 baked chicken thighs with Montreal seasoning, a crustless mushroom quiche and roasted brussels sprouts. I froze 4 chicken thighs. I still have to cook cauliflower, broccoli, green beans and hamburger (might be meatballs). But I'm going back to Netflix and possibly a nap.

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The violence and court plots of Versailles on Netflix have begun to pale so I went in search of something else. 

I watched Woman in Gold and I highly recommend it. I seem to love anything with Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds -- and both are great in this movie. 

It's the story of Maria Altmann, an octogenarian Jewish refugee who wants to reclaim some paintings stolen by the Nazis when she lived in Austria. The main painting happens to be Woman in Gold by Klimt. Her family had commissioned Klimt to do the painting of her aunt and, in fact, her father had given Maria the jeweled necklace shown in the painting after her aunt died at an early age. (The Nazis took that too.) The movie is condensed because there was a long legal battle. The Austrian government now considered it a national treasure and they did not want to give it back.

I won't ruin the ending for you, but I found it to be a very gripping story and one that we should pay heed to. Many of the economic and social events that led up to the Nazis seizing power are mirrored in today's times. We must never forget.

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After that movie, it was hard to find something to keep my interest. But now I'm watching a 2016 series called Frequency. I don't know if you could call it sci fi, but a modern day detective talks to her father -- 20 years ago -- through a ham radio. The two of them are trying to catch the same serial killer. The problem is, every time they correct something in the past, it makes something else worse in the future (2016). I guess it's a thriller because it sure keeps me guessing!

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Mom said she's sick of seeing this but I am not going to fix the mistake. She said, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right." To be honest, for me, this is right. Just a little off, you know?

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Outside of Mom's door at Thanksgiving (Palm Springs, CA). I needed more color. It's still snowing at 3:45 PM.