Ann’s Weblog

Overnight, we got a considerable dump of snow… maybe 10 inches. This is not unusual for March, really, but we are starting to wonder how it could all be gone by, say, mid April or so. Last year I went to Kelowna on April 10 to get my order of trees and shrubs, and there was no snow, if I remember correctly. However, it DID freeze hard again after I got the nursery stock home, and some items perished in their pots. I believe I will leave my “pick up” date until later in April this year.

Most people we talk to are sick of winter. We live in part of the country which can be expected to have snow for six months; still, we get a bit weary of shovelling and blowing and pushing it around. I’m starting to lay awake nights thinking of the garden centre and gardening … really we have to hit the ground running to get all that done in the few frost-free months we do have. We still don’t want to call any other place “home”.

Here are a few wintery pictures for you:

From top left… snow on the arbour, snow on the bench, kennel, the snow shovels by the barbecue (and my cast-off ‘for sale’ truck sign), some of my perennial beds under snow, and Gary about to put the tractor into snow-ploughing duty.

We babysat the little black Havanese dogs this week, and our friends took my sewing machine out to Hinton for repair, as they were going for other reasons. I’m thrilled that the technician found something to explain why my machine was giving me such a problem, and the cost was very reasonable. I haven’t sewn with it yet, but look forward to having it available when the mood strikes!

Today I’m going to groom a matted cat who is brought here once per year. I phoned the client and asked if he could give us a couple of hours extra to clear the driveway. Otherwise, I don’t have a busy day planned; a few of the boarders who were scheduled to come will not be arriving… several families had their own reasons for staying home this weekend.

We have Ranger and Annie, Makalu and Shiloh, Scruffy, Axel, Emma, Teddy and Chico (dogs), plus Sam the cat, birds Toohey and Rufus, and Spike the lizard. I think if I were a millionaire, I would still want to groom and board pets; still, even having just a few boarders yields a better income than anything I am qualified for “away” from the house. And the work seems like about the only thing that doesn’t seriously challenge my self-confidence… who knows why even at MY age I haven’t figured out the source of a nearly-debilitating sense of inferiority, or the solution for it. I find joy in so many things… it’s a puzzle.

I guess I’ll run along, and maybe run the vacuum.

Take care, everyone. Thanks for reading my blog. ~ Ann