Crazy winds

The wind has been blowing like nuts and it has been raining pretty hard these past few hours. There was even a tornado watch for our area! We only get really small ones, happily. Still, I hope if there are any here they don't do damage or hurt anyone.

Mike has been having a lot of trouble with his back. He says this has happened before, but now it's been more than a week. He is uncomfortable lying flat on his back and standing too long, but sitting, strangely, doesn't hurt much. He even drove into Brooklyn on business today and said he was okay. He can't stand up completely straight. I hope he feels better soon.

My sister Susan has spoken to my mother again about assisted living. She suggested the place where my  uncle is living. Mom wasn't greatly happy about it but not 100% against it, either. I think she's starting to realize she needs the help. My sisters have been great about taking care of her. I don't have the room, and I doubt my mother would want to come back here, anyway. All her friends have passed on.

That must be a strange feeling, to realize everyone you knew as a friend is gone!

Sunday

All the kids are here for dinner tonight. We are having Mike's sauce with my homemade meatballs. I used a mix of pork and beef and (I think) veal, and the general consensus is 'thumbs up.'

Now that we've finished watching "Breaking Bad," we need another show to watch. I'd like to go back to the beginning of "Walking Dead" and need to find out how much it costs to buy. Either that, or I'll have Nick bring his X-Box upstairs and we can watch it via Netflix.

It is cool to live in a time you can watch pretty much anything you want anytime you want.

Pretty Flowers

Katherine gave me a gorgeous bouquet of miniature roses for Valentine's Day:

They are so pretty and they smell really good!

Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine's Day. At the moment it is 6 degrees outside. I'm glad I don't have to go anywhere!

I'm making Mike stew at his request, and he's going to have Jamie steam a lobster for me. But Jamie just said they are almost out of lobsters. We'll see what happens. I'll settle for some nice, fat shrimp if I have to.

Mike gave me a sweet card and two boxes of candy!

Dark chocolates, my favorite!

Winter Sucks

This is a metal 'cat' that decorates my backyard in nicer weather. The look on his face just about sums up how I feel about all this snow:

Yeah, it's winter. It snows. I get it. It doesn't mean I have to like it. I have already given Mike "Thumbs Up" for whenever he wants to get the ball rolling to move to Florida. Anything below the Mason-Dixon line would suit me just fine.

Even More Snow

It actually didn't start until about 9:30 this morning. I think we're supposed to get 8 inches.

I have a pot of chicken tortilla soup on the stove. It is made with chicken thighs, salsa, chicken broth and taco seasoning. I also added some taco sauce and chili powder. Something nice and warm to enjoy on a cold day!

Snow Again

Not a blizzard this time, but very heavy snow. Of course, I fed the birds:

One of the branches on a backyard tree broke off under the heavy snow:

By afternoon, the sun was shining and the roads were completely clear. I hope they didn't get icy, though. Michael and Katherine came by for turkey dinner and Michael had a half-hour ride home. He promised to be careful.

February is a funny time to make a turkey, but I bought it when it was cheap in December. It was a nice meal to have on a snowy, cold night. I made stuffing and put it in the bird, being careful to check the temperature of it! I can't say how many times I was sick over Thanksgiving weekend, which I now know had to be food poisoning from the stuffing. However, this bird registered nearly 200 degrees all over ( maybe a little overcooked, but still good) and the stuffing was about 175 degrees. Even so, I also put it in the microwave. We also had gravy, twice-baked potatoes and corn. I told the kids it wasn't Thanksgiving so there wouldn't be a production, but it was still a pleasant and yummy meal! (And, boy, did the house smell gooooood!)

Laundry Nut

I went into the laundry room yesterday and found Nutmeg like this:

She actually had to climb up to get into the hamper, but I suppose it felt very comfortable lying in the clean laundry!