I don’t know…maybe I should stop complaining about having to go to town so much. I mean, we are blessed to have a quiet home in the country, to have the means to travel when we need to, and we have each other. Our health is “good for the shape we’re in,” to quote my Uncle Dudley. At least this trip was relatively quick. Mr. FixIt had a medical appointment, then we went to one of my FAVORITE stores…Rural King. We get our cat food and bird seed there. The birds had gone through our suet cakes like there was no tomorrow so we bought two cases this time. We are filling the feeders every week, sometime twice a week. 

Our dishwasher bit the big one last year so I’ve been washing by hand. At first, I hated it. But it has become a quiet time of mindfulness and I don’t mind it at all. It doesn’t hurt that there is a feeder hanging right in front of the kitchen window that’s over the sink and I can watch the birds dart in and out. They sit in the old crabapple tree and take turns swooping in to feed. I try to move smoothly and quietly so I don’t disturb them. One of the most beautiful sights is when we get 15-20 cardinals out there in the tree. It’s amazing how the females kinda blend into the grey background, but those red males stand out in stark contrast and I’m telling you…it’s breathtaking to see.

Someday, I would love to have one of those feeders that has a camera attached and you can take photos of the birds as they land and eat. I’ve seen some beautiful images caught on them. I have a cousin that we refer to as the Bird Whisperer. He can stand out there by the feeder and hold his arm out and the birds will land there and eat right out of his hand! I think my birds get used to me watching them and after a while they don’t start at every movement. But I still can’t imagine getting them to the point where I could hold them. I don’t think I’d want to. They are meant to be wild.

We dropped by the Mrs. FixIt 1.0’s house to drop off the hat and scarf I made her. It fit her much better than the other hat I made. The difference was in the yarn…it was much softer and knitted up looser. The light was getting dim when we left and stopped at the discount bread store before we headed home. Just before we started out the two-lane to our house, I remembered we needed eggs. We stopped at the Dollar General so we wouldn’t have to go back into town. Mr. FixIt might have to go into town today, but it will depend on the roads. When they clear a little mid-day, I’ll go over the hill to the Post Office and pick up my new 22-needle machine that arrived Saturday. I’m thrilled to see what else I can make with it. 

We didn’t have knitting group yesterday. A couple of the gals were worried about the possibility of snow on the roads and texted Sunday night. They thought it best if we postpone to next week. Better to be safe than sorry, I always say. I worked on the market bag again as we watched Monday Night Football. I’ve never gotten into football quite like I have this year. To the point that I told Mr. FixIt we won’t know what to do with ourselves when the season is over! I guess it will be time to watch movies and maybe catch up with some episodes of the few shows I’ll sit still long enough to watch. And only if I’m doing something with my hands. I always have to feel like I’m being productive.

One of my Noom lessons deals with taking time for yourself without guilt. I’m pretty good about taking some me time, but again…I feel like I need to be doing something worthwhile at the same time. It’s difficult to convince yourself that doing nothing isn’t wasted when you’re refilling your well. So, one of the exercises in Noom is just to sit for five minutes doing nothing without thinking of all the things you SHOULD be doing. It’s not as easy as it sounds.

We may actually have measurable snow on today! What’s it like in your neck of the woods?

❄️🩵❄️

”For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’ likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.“

Job 37:6 ESV