Nick of time

Well, it's a good thing I dug up the spuds yesterday, because Jack Frost paid us an early visit last night. It wasn't quite a Winter Wonderland this morning, but it was close. "Is", actually. It's still, to quote Tom Servo (from MST3k's treatment of, you guessed it, "Jack Frost"), "Colder than a polarbear's butt" out there.
Fluffy ice crystals...wish I had a better camera so I could really get this down...

Spuds

The way things are going, the ground is going to freeze soon, so I bit the bullet and dug up all the spuds today. I figured I'd get at least a bucket full. Ha! Two and a half huge baskets later (more than a bushel) I finally finished. Mostly Yukon Golds with a few blues. Gordon will not be hungry this Winter. I wish I could eat them, but nightshade plants are tough on blood type-A.

Sleet Storm

Last night we experienced the first big storm of what may be shaping up to be an early Winter. Amidst flashes of lightning and crashing thunder, the heavy rain turned suddenly into hail/sleet/ice. I chased our old horse Taxi into the barn, since, being a horse, he was too stupid to come in out of the mess. Once inside I scraped the layer of sleet off of his sodden blanket. Woody (ed.: Not Twister. Can you tell I'm tired?), young, dumb, and healthy, I coaxed inside with a snack.
Eric inquires, "Why is the deck all cold and wet like slippery sandpaper?"
This morning it still hadn't melted, and I had to break ice on the chickens' water bowl!
The chickens found some dry dirt under the deck house to roll in, and, as luck would have it, it's also a nice sunny spot. From left: Emma, Aethelred, Arra/Bella (I can't tell them apart...)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Take some time to think about what you are truly thankful for, even if you feel like your life is circling the drain. It will do you some good.

Five on Friday: favorite film characters

Captain Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds of Serenity — He's Han Solo but better: more witty, more jaded, more hair trigger, and just as good looking! To quote Aurorealis, "Charming albeit emotionally repressed, he’s full of contradictions. If the Firefly story doesn’t continue beyond the first movie, I am going to miss this guy big time." I concur.
Zoe Washburn of Serenity - She's calm & cool in a fight, she understands the chain of command, she looks good in a slinky dress, and she loves her man. If I were black and drop-dead gorgeous I'd be her doppleganger, because I've got all that other stuff going on already!
Eleanor Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility — Just because she doesn't wear her heart on her sleeve (like her sister Marianne who, to quote blogger Aurorealis "gets burned so hard that she nearly expires") it doesn't mean she has no feeling. She is the rock that stabilizes her nutty family (which I totally can not identify with). On the other hand, she has deep, deep desires and feelings and is totally blindsided by happiness eventually, which is more in my line. As an oldest child, there is much I understand in her.
Ellen Ripley of Alien - She's no-nonsense, tough, ethical, and fights for her "family" no matter how big and scary the monsters are. You can see she's scared, but she's going to take care of business no matter what. If I were a Colonial Marine I'd be jonesing for her, too!
Sam Lowry of Brazil - He decides to follow his dream, and what dreams he has! Stuck in the perversity of the grey suit ratrace, he dares to follow his bliss. He's my hero!

Tuesday Twosome

1. Have you ever said "I Love you" and not meant it? Has someone told you "I Love you" and not meant it? Nope; if I said it, I meant it. I think I've been told this by people who sincerely believed it at that particular moment, and by people who really honestly did...but circumstances got in the way, but I don't think I've ever heard it from anybody who didn't mean it.

2. Do you believe in love at first sight? Do you believe in karma? I believe in "interest" or "infatuation" at first sight, which can evolve into love...sometimes pretty quickly. I do not believe in the texbook definition of karma, no. However, I'll often use the word "karma" as a pop substitute for "poetic justice" or "what goes around, comes around".

3. What person do you trust the most? What person do you trust the least? The human I trust the most is my husband, absolutely. The supernatural being I trust the most is, of course the Big Cheese Uber-Creator, the big "I AM"...that guy. As far as "least" goes, I don't know anybody whom I honestly don't "trust". There are a few people in my life who I know I can't always count on...but it's for little things, really. You want somebody you can't trust, please check out Satan/Beelzebub/The Prince of the Powers of the Air/etc. : he'll do a number on you.

4. What type(s) of music do you like? What type(s) of music do you dislike? I love classical music, ancient music, old hymns (mostly pre-20th c), many film scores, lots of folk music. I really abhor rap "music". Offensive in so many ways. I also loathe most "Contemporary Christian Music", which is so bland, inelegant and derivative as to be a virtual abomination. It's also boring.

5. Who is your celebrity crush? Who do you think is your celebrity look-a-like? Celebrity crush? As in "If I were single I would think of ways to encounter this person in a casual yet calculated way guaranteed to ensure future interraction?" At this moment I'd have to say Nathan Fillion: he's sweet, motivated, talented, funny, attractive... it's a no-brainer, really. I would have said Adam Baldwin, for mostly the same reasons...but he's married (of course so am I, so why am I even answering this question?!) As for me, I've been told I look like Natalie Wood, Madeline Stowe (pre-collagen lips) and Julia Roberts. I don't look exactly like any of the above, but you can see the type I'm lumped in with.