Hope springs eternal

Spring? Wisconsin-style

What a difference ten-score miles makes!  

We spent last weekend at my parents' cottage in Wisconsin, where the snow (unlike at home, where it has all but disappeared) still covers most of the landscape and the lake has 15 or more inches of ice - enough for ice fishermen to spend the day with ATV or truck to haul a temporary shelter out to a fishing hole. 

See those tiny dots?  Ice fishermen.

Oscar is always ready for a walk, no matter the conditions.

We were lucky to have sun and bright blue skies on Friday - lovely for a walk in the snow.  

Oak leaves still cling to the trees, adding color to a gray landscape.

A robin sings amongst the bare branches.

The old boathouse, its green tile roof still snow-covered.

A more-than-half moon rising through the birch branches.

Love this detail on the boathouse.

Oscar and I ventured out again Saturday morning as the sun was coming up and saw five deer on the frozen lake in front of the old hotel down the shore.  Odd for me to see them in that spot, though they didn't seem to find it strange.

Saturday's dawn over the lake.

Golden-pink beams of sun on snow.

Deer traversing the frozen lake.

Clearing the clouds

Friday night dinner with my sister and her family for a birthday dinner for her youngest (who had just won Player of the Year for his high school basketball conference, as well as being only the third player in the school's history to score more than 1,000 points - talent he did not inherit from his Aunt Ginnie), another visit with my sister over lunch on Saturday, and the day ended with a cozy dinner at home with my parents in front of the fireplace.

Oscar, ever watchful

The cozy fire

My wonderful parents

Bliss.

Spring!

 

 Happy Spring!

 When I spotted a flash of red high in a tree this morning,

I thought it might be robins.

But it was some of our overwintering cardinals.

Evidently, self-respecting robins are waiting for 

temperatures warmer than our overnight 14F.

Oscar likes the sun...

 

 ...and snow.  This is how it looked two weeks ago

at the height of our last snowstorm.

Progress!

A door opening

 

 Snowdrops appeared after our nine inches of snow began to melt last weekend.

In early January, I answered a notice in an e-newsletter from an Illinois non-profit  looking for a volunteer to come once a week to do "mindless office work."

The non-profit works with faith communities (of all flavors) 

to give them tools to be good stewards of the earth.

I had been wondering what direction to take next, after so many years of taking care of Gerrit.  I didn't want to go back into the food industry, where I had spent all of my career prior to Gerrit's getting sick.  And while I'm very interested in environmental issues, I have no credentials beyond an amateur's enthusiasm.

So I thought that this might be a good way for me to do something useful, maybe meet some people who could lead me to another stage, and if nothing else, give me a little structure in my week.

I started mid-January, taking the train into Chicago and walking through the Loop to the office.  Each week I worked on a database of grants and projects, updating information and creating reports, and doing whatever else the executive director wanted me to do.  

Four weeks later, the part time bookkeeper left for a full time job, and I was asked if I wanted to take on that responsibility one more day a week, for pay.  No matter that I have no bookkeeping experience; the ED had confidence in my abilities.

It didn't take me long to say yes.  One 5-hour stint with the departing bookkeeper (an excellent and patient teacher) on QuickBooks, and several follow-up training sessions with the accountant/consultant (also an excellent and patient teacher), and I'm feeling like I can be a useful addition to the small but mighty team.

Direct hit

 

In the summer of 2011, Oscar and I had a near miss with a skunk. Fortunately there was no spray involved.

Last night Oscar wasn't so lucky.  He evidently found a lurker in our backyard when I let him out at 11pm.

By the time he came in it was clear there was something amiss.  Quite clear.

If it had been a summer night, at that late hour I might have considered putting him in the garage for the night.  But as it was well below freezing, there was nothing to do but bring him inside.  I did some surface cleaning with warm water and dishwashing liquid, which helped reduce the smell a bit, then told him goodnight and went upstairs to bed.  Because he's afraid of stairs, the only way Oscar gets upstairs is if I carry him.  Even though he slept on his living room bed last night, I was still aware of him, as the forced air heat wafted top notes of skunk through the ducts. 

Today I had to be in the city for the day, and the groomer doesn't open before I had to catch a train (and was unlikely to be able to take him anyway with her busy schedule) and would be closed when I got home.  So I went to a large chain pet store this evening to see what kind of product I should buy to bathe Oscar.  I got some great advice from one of the groomers.  "Don't tell anyone you got this from me, but use baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and dishwashing liquid."  And she recommended a rubber-tipped scrubber to help work the solution into his fur.

I had seen a recipe along those lines on the Internet but wouldn't have tried it if she hadn't suggested it: a ratio of a quart of hydrogen peroxide, a cup of baking soda, and a tablespoon of dishwashing liquid (I used about a quarter of these measurements). Mix and apply, being very careful around the eyes; leave on for 3 to 5 minutes, then rinse and wash with a pet friendly shampoo.

 Lying between my feet while the hair dryer is employed

 Almost dry

Oscar was pretty well behaved during the slow process.  After a long session with the hair dryer, he's looking almost himself again.  And smelling much, much better.

More improvement

While I'm off enjoying my weekend with my sister Carlie and other family, here's my latest electric usage graph:

Last time my electric bill showed me using 5% less electricity 

than my efficient neighbors.

This time:  25% less electricity than my efficient neighbors.

My only guess is because this date range of late November to late December falls in the Holiday Lights season, my use of LED warm white lights outside and inside is what is driving this bigger difference in energy use.

 

Most houses in the neighborhood were still using strings of 

conventional incandescent lights.

I'm curious what next month's bill will show.

My Monopoly partner

A serious game of Monopoly

with my older and younger sisters

My older sister is arriving at my parents' today for a weekend visit.

Always organized, she suggested two different weekend dates,

one to be a back-up if the weather on the first date

proved unsuitable for the five hour drive.

Lucky for us the sun is shining, so she is on her way,

and we don't have to wait until next month for her visit.

Can't wait to see her!