Springing it up

I changed the background on my blog last week to inspire some springyness into my life. The sun has been shining strongly----I don't think strongly is quite the right word; the sun is getting to us for longer periods and at a sharper angle.  However it is happening we are glad.

The snow on the deck has gone down dramatically and we can see grass out front. The ice has not gone out of the river yet which is the latest we have experienced that in 26 years. My husband keeps track. 

 My stained glass dragon fly made locally offsets the winter scene shown behind it. We are excited by the sight of grass even if it is brown! The photo on the right shows our driveway marker with a light on top that has been buried in the snow all winter.

The river still frozen over seen through the bright red "fake" bird I put on the deck window to help us see the light at the end of our winter tunnel.

Grass patch in the backyard!!

I can sit in our sunspace in the mornings but have been driven out by heat if I tried to read out there in the afternoon at my usual time. The sun is still high in the sky and without leaves on the trees it can be a sauna. 

Went to Fredericton twice without a winter coat! Oh the pleasures of the small stuff. What would we have to look forward to if we didn't have our winters to get through?

I have been shut down most of this week with a sinus cold. The first one I have ever had in my whole life. I am self diagnosing here but when my forehead and nose were in pain for two days and I couldn't breathe for the week I am pretty sure I have it pegged. It wasn't from not getting the flu shot either since my husband got the shot and he had this first. Of course he "gave" it to me by being in the house with me. 

I used to have this secret belief that because I drink so much tea I have a better immune system than him but now I am wondering if it was the red wine which I have pretty well given up. I still drink more tea than he does but it didn't save me from this cold so I am going with the lack of red wine in my system as the problem.

I am quite in love with yellow chrysanthemums even though someone told me they are "old lady" plants. I have been buying them long before I became an old lady. They brighten my mood.

And lately I have liked the way white flowers look in our dining room from white poinsettias at Christmas to white tulips this spring.

My first novel is out on Kindle right now. I put it up there first just to get it out into the world hoping others will read it. The hard copy should be out on Amazon by the end of the month. I am waiting for my own copy to do one final proofing to ensure it is ok. I read a lot but when I really want to relax I pick up a who-dun-it and off I go. I have always wanted to write and decided to sit down and get at it a couple of years ago and Beyond Me...A Principal Mystery is my first book that I want everyone in the whole world to read. It is a procedural detective mystery so I'm told. I envision people grabbing it for a quiet summer read on the deck or under a blanket on a cold night or on an airplane where they want to leave their surroundings for a bit. I can even picture the book being left on an airplane seat for the next passenger to pick up and read. Fanciful maybe. I will be doing a complete post about the book soon. 

                                             
                                            Book Cover

I use my maiden name since that is the name of the
 woman who wanted to be a writer.

                                                         My Smiling Buddha

This guy also brings me cheer and smiles to my face whenever I look at him. He keeps me from getting too down about our weather, or from worrying too much about whether people will think my book is bad.  Hope he brings a smile to your face today too!

Winter Olympics New Brunswick Style

The important thing in life is not the triumph, but the fight; the essential thing is not to have won, but to have fought well.

Pierre de Coubertin

The Winter Olympics is all about stamina, strength, heartbreak and injury coupled with moments of great joy. Here in New Brunswick we have our own winter olympics that has moments of strength, stamina, depression and cabin fever. We actually shortened the name to Winter for these reasons.

We win medals too. And so far this season we have won three gold medals in our house alone.

The first  gold was for the snow blowing event. We placed first in time spent blowing and the number of times the snowblower has been used in one winter season. Swearing and frequent hand gestures at the wind and the snow gods was allowed this year or we might have only gotten the bronze. We couldn't be prouder to represent our province and country in this event although we do want it to be over.

Our guy is so far ahead you can't see the other guys.

The second gold we won for eating the most carbs and our favourite candies in the shortest time possible. We were the favourites to win this race. We won hands down (or in our mouths). Pretty good as we didn't have much time to practice since we didn't get as much funding this year.

     Lobster Mac n'Cheese. 
Many helpings later we knew we had gotten the gold.

It was really special when the talking heads complimented me on giving up the last piece of licorice so my friend could have some. I was glad to do it for him. There will be another winter like this one soon and I'll get to have the last piece next time.

I'll finish this one next time.

The third gold was a bit different for us this year.  Our huge, wild, white rabbit competed in the large animal event. We don't have a photo of him. He is quite shy and blends into the background. I have actually only seen his paw prints.  These are his paw prints on our deck and after my husband described how big he was I decided I didn't need to see him, especially at night when I get out of my car alone, to know he was a winner.  The judges were good about that and let us submit the paw prints. They were subjected to a distance, weight and size analysis and we won!!

Huge feet mean huge body. A winner!!

GO TEAM!