Thursday, May 25, 2017

Weeding

You might notice I am changing my blog a bit.
I'll be weeding out some old posts, changing the format and layout some.
Just a general weeding and freshening up.
If I change something and you don't like the change, let me know!
Or, if there is a change you'd like to see me make, let me know that, too!

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Hi There!

Yes, I am still alive and kickin'.
Mostly kickin'.
I am staying with my friend Timi and her family, still working as a cashier at the local grocery.
Still doing my paintings...sometimes they sell, sometime they don't.
Trying to stay on my diet...ugh.
I have lost weight...my pants falling off is testament to that! Hope to lose a lot more!
Health is fair to middlin' as they say. Got a doctors appointment the end of June that should clarify where I am on the health spectrum.
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The farm?
Here's where it gets tough.
The ex was supposed to pay the property taxes while he was living there.
Another lie, of course.
So, I have about 24 months before the property is seized for back taxes...which I currently cannot afford to pay.
Got a few ideas to raise the money...still checking out possibilities.
My job only pays $7.40 an hour. (Yeah, I know. I haven't worked a job for this small an hourly wage in literally 20 years) But, the store is one of the biggest employers in town.
Also, our manager is not allowed to give anyone more than 33 hours a week, so I can't ask for extra hours or hope for overtime.
I am looking for a second job.....or maybe I'll try and get some work here and there doing odd jobs and such.
So far, nada. But, I will keep trying.
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Spring has sprung here with Summer right on it's heels.
Both seasons go fast here, but while they are here they are intense and wonderful!
So enjoy both seasons where-ever you are!

Friday, January 13, 2017

Settling In for Winter

"Hard" winter has arrived here in the North Country.
Yes, we had a few days of 30s to 40s with some rain, but that was just Mother Nature letting us take a breath before she got down to the real business of Winter.
People don't panic up here. Snow tires were put on in October, fuel oil ordered at the same time (or perhaps earlier in September) and firewood cutting and stacking is a year 'round occupation here.
I work in a grocery store and the weatherman's predictions never alarm residents to the point where we have empty milk coolers or a bare bread aisle.

You still live with the rhythm of the seasons here.
You look forward to the first snow and the holidays, but after the New Year is past, you hunker down.
Plastic or insulation is put up on most windows (if you are in an older house).
You buy a little extra on all your shopping trips starting in September...a few extra cans of soup, an extra bag of flour, some extra stew beef to stick in the freezer...just the little extra you'll need in case you don't feel like shoveling your car out one morning.
Farmers laid in extra hay and feed by the end of October as they tried to calculate how severe the Winter would be, Farmers Almanac as their guide with a bit of advice from the National Weather Service predictions.
Every household has their snow supplies...shovels (always more than one!), many have snow blowers...the elderly have phone numbers of people will to shovel them out (cheaply or free of charge). Everyone has salt or Ice Melt in a bucket near the door. Gloves and mittens have a spot near the door as well.....multiple pairs (matched or not). Extra boots, in many cases.
Flashlights and extra batteries are in a designated location in case of power outages and every bed has extra blankets at the ready.

The North Country is prepared.
Not to be *preppers*, not to be cutting edge or fashionable or *on trend*.
The North Country is prepared because that is simply the way it is.
If you are not prepared for Winter up here, you won't survive.
This is Old School preparedness, something the *Prepper Movement* is still trying to get a handle on. It never went away in The North Country because Mother Nature was not defeated by modern technology up here. She still holds sway every Winter and will continue to do so.

"Hard" Winter is here...and we are ready.