Day 8 - 8 January 2012 - A Day of Rest?

Who can really complain when you get up at 5am and the temperature is +2.8 in January. A friend, Danny, says he's been tracking temperatures and weather for years and yesterday was the warmest on this day in January in 23 years! That's quite a record. However, I still worry about flower bulbs and such that need a winter rest to be at their best come spring. And I read in the Chronicle Herald the other day that the black legged tick is still a problem this year. They are the ones that transmit the dreaded lyme disease. I've not seen any ticks on Lexi since last summer, but am keeping my eyes open just in case.

After visiting Welkum Park yesterday, it brought back memories of spending time with my great grandmother at her "camp" on Welshtown Lake. My cousin, Anne and I spent many weeks in the summer with her there. Days spent swimming in the lake, playing chinese checkers with Nan on rainy days and just being kids. She was the kind of great grandmother, few children were blessed with. Nan was a woman like no other. Hunting, fishing, auctions, yardsales and dumps, you never knew where one might end up with her. Prim and proper were not among her traits. She was a blast, as we used to say! She would have been in her '70's when Anne and I were her sidekicks. At that age she spent part of the summer shingling the roof of the camp, falling off and spraining her ankle one time, but that never slowed her down. The camp had a hand pump for running water in the kitchen, and an outhouse - groan! We wouldn't go out at night to the outhouse, so Nan kept a chamber pail in the bedroom, but then someone would have to empty it in the morning! Mostly we spent time at the camp in the summer, but occassionaly we would all head up there in the winter for a day of skating, cousins and friends. Nan would build a fire close to the shore, and get the wood stoves going in the camp. There would be hot chocolate to warm us up afterwards, maybe a bite to eat. Anne's parents would come on these trips, although I don't remember them skating, maybe just tending fires. And the outhouse was twice as cold! The camp still stands although I've not been there for a long time. My cousin Jim owns it and he's done a lot of work to it over the years and I believe it's more of a cottage now, but it still holds lots of great memories no matter what we call it!

Today was the day to shorten the Roots sweatpants I got for Christmas - now tall girls I want no comments!but I think it would have been faster to make a new pair.  Roots certainly has good sturdy sweats as I'm ripping the stitching out of the bottom then the elastic. I had to cut off 5 inches, stitch the elastic back on the bottom, then turn up and top stitch it in. I know, wine, wine, wine! But why can't they make short clothes!!! I guess for the same reason they don't make socks to fit me properly! Thinking I was on a roll grabbed a pair of sweats Larry needed shortened, but those had no elastic, he likes elastic, I don't have enough so they will be left for another day. Can't say I didn't try! So I've puttered around the house doing this and that, and not alot of anything constructive. Larry & Lexi have been in the woodpile most of the day, but I think have called it quits on that job.

You are getting short changed on photos today, as I didn't leave the yard.........

I'm hoping tonight if the sky is fairly clear that I will be able to catch the moon coming up, so we will just wait and see on that one.