Oh boy, winter is taking its toll. A few days ago it was fairly mild and I went for a relatively long walk on the roads close to home. The next day the temperatures were in the teens and that’s where they have been since. I bundled up and stayed warm on a warm in the colder temps, except for my cheeks. It is my cheeks that freeze. I didn’t walk as far as I wanted because my face was too cold. In other news, I now own snow boots for the first time since I was about 10 years old. I tried them outside on that cold walk for the first time, with thin socks. They kept my feet warm and toasty! I think that will solve my cold feet problem when we are ice fishing, especially since I will be wearing thick winter socks!
And spring will be here in two more months! I cannot wait.
It is official. I now have a Minnesota library card. It is certainly a rite of passage. My Washington library card has been in my possession since the early 1980s, when our library first started issuing library cards. I have the original card still, having never lost it. Several years later they added barcodes to the library cards with a sticker on your existing card, and about 20 years ago they asked me if I would like a new card with the barcode pre-printed on it. No way! I am proud to still be carrying around my original library card! Do other people think like me, or am I weird? I get this from my dad, who always taught me that you take care of things so they last.
A local brewery had a puzzle contest last week. We wanted to go but had a conflicting appointment that evening. So instead we tried at home to beat the winning time of 1 hour, 32 minutes, for a 500 piece puzzle. Unfortunately, we picked a puzzle that had super frustrating pieces! They all fit together too well, so we ended up having to rearrange the solid colored areas multiple times to fit the “correct” fit. I think we would have done better otherwise, but as it were, we finished our puzzle in 4 hours and 17 minutes. With a time that bad we can only get better!
Yesterday we went to a craft beer tasting and had fun tasting several beers, ciders and packaged craft cocktails. Of course I liked the ciders best. We had some yummy jerky too! I’m also now the proud owner of a drinking horn – it’s made from a cow horn. I never even knew I needed one! It’s too pretty to drink from though, so I’m going to see if my mom can fashion a beaded chain to hang it. I liked the one with lots of white on it. Fun fact: drinking horns used to be made from the horns of Aurochs, a prehistoric cow species that modern cows descend from. They existed for a couple million years until clear cutting of the forests of Europe and the loss of habitat resulted in the last Auroch dying in Poland in 1627.
I booked a trip back to Washington for a few weeks in February. I’m so excited to see my friends and family! And not be freezing! I hope it doesn’t rain the whole time. I want to have some beach time, and look for agates!
So that’s my world. Nothing earth shattering or particularly exciting, but I’m content with reading, puzzles and the occasional social outing. I hope you are all well!