Flannel Shirt

I don't even have a picture

Off tonight.

Things fall apart

The water heater saga is too long and painful to repeat here. 

Suffice it to say that we have hot water tonight. 

 

Well, here is the little criminal who got us sick. Robin took her to the Portland Zoo with an old college friend who lives up here in Portland. They didn't take all that much in because, well, the kids. 

Joanie is about a day behind me, so hopefully she'll be feeling better tomorrow. I'm feeling better today, but not much stamina. 

The painters are back. We asked them to stop during Robin's visit, but they're back painting now. Joan freaked out because she was sitting on the toilet on the second floor when a painter suddenly appeared in her window. On a ladder. 

Oh well. They'll be gone in a few days and we'll have the spiffiest house on the block.

Sick day

I spent the day in bed, and by tonight Joan's sick too. 

I've gotten two colds in the seven years I've been up here. One was from Oliver and one was from Kinsley. Kids are really dangerous.

Her snowman fell over today

This is one of our neighbors, in disguise.

Friday was our Oliver day. Once a week we pick him up from his school when it gets out and bring him home until someone gets him. He likes playing with the kids down the street, or with the one hiding behind a mustache. But when we got home it was cold. The wind was blowing and there were flurries. No, it was inside today. Joan and O watched TV while I listened to internet radio in another room. We took him over to the Laurelwood across the street. It's Oliver's favorite restaurant, probably because it has a play place for little kids. Plus he also likes the corn dogs and the tater tots. Joan and I each had a burger. Oliver's mommy's new partner, Bevin, cruised in as we were paying up and the child was exchanged. 

Then the Olympics. Speed-skating and ice dancing. I can hardly bear to watch the ice dancing because skaters fall. It's nerve-wracking. 

 

Snow day

As you can see, the snow stuck over night. There was enough snow that the folks across the street made a snowman. Izzy was surprisingly happy frolicking in the stuff. She'd stick her snout in the snow then jump up, like she'd been hiding under the snow. Her black nose was white, at least for a moment until she shook it off. 

By early afternoon all the streets and sidewalks had melted and the snow on the lawns was beginning to thin. But it's snowing again tonight. Then the temperature will go up ten degrees and the snow will be just rain. 

Olympics. Skis and snowboards.

 

More snow

Well, it's been snowing all day, but the temperature was mostly around 34, so nothing sticked. By late afternoon it was snowing more heavily, with huge snowflakes, and it began sticking. They were saying some places might get seven inches but not where we are at lower altitude. We'll probably end up with a couple of inches. The problem is that it is supposed to be cold tomorrow and tomorrow night, so some of the snow will melt and turn to ice. 

As she usually does, when I opened the door tonight and let Izzy out she raced out across the porch and down the stairs. When she hit the snow at the bottom of the stairs is kind of slid and then jumped. She's not particularly averse to snow, considering she was rescued down in the desert about a hundred and twenty-five miles east of Los Angeles, but she doesn't understand the physics of walking on the slippery white stuff. On a normal night she likes wandering around the block, stopping to sniff her favorite things. Believe me, her nose is her most important organ. She loves to sniff. Unfortunately, all those things she sniffs were covered with snow. When she took her pee she again got a surprise, crouching and touching her parts in the snow. At any rate, she wasn't excited to stay outside. 

I can't seem to find the salt we got last year. 

More skiing, more bobsleds, and more ice dancing.

When it's not your birthday party but you act like it is

We woke up to some snow on Saturday. By mid-afternoon the south side of everything had melted but there's still smudges of snow on the north side of things. No worries. It's supposed to snow more tonight. 

Otherwise, not too much excitement. We returned some dog food. On our way home we passed the new People's Pig, on Burnside. Joan had a smoked pork loin sandwich, and I had the smoked lamb plate. Everything tasted great, there was some fennel bulb sliced into the cole slaw, which rocked. 

And while the smoked lamb tasted great, the smoke cuts into the lamb's flavor. 

That was it. At home we watched ice dancing and the two-man bobsled on the Olympics. 

 

Nothing much

It was a rainy day. Nothing much. Izzy and I went on our regular walks. Iz doesn't particularly like the rain, I suspect she didn't see much of it when she was on the streets of Indio. Joan and I have watched lots of the Winter Olympics today. Lots of snow and ice. 

Nothing much else. 

 

No news

At one time food colors were made from coal tar.

That's about it.