Good Riddance January!

As months go, January is not one of my favorites and this year it really out did itself as a winter month.  That storm 2 or 3 weeks ago that left us under more than 12" of snow had us snowed in for 2 days.  Usually I enjoy living in my little house in the little woods but when I can stand at the kitchen sink and see Rte 5 a mere 2/10"s of a mile away and know I can't get there because the road is impassible....  I spend the lousy days knitting, reading or watching TV but this time I had a touch of the flu and sitting by the woodstove napping was as much activity as I could muster.  Then the cold weather hit and the new battery in the car didn't like it one bit!  One day a friend of Jeff's came up and jump started the car so we could go buy a battery charger.  Good thing we did that coz the next 2 days...also with below zero temp...I had to use the charger to start the car!  In fact, the battery and the charger developed a meaningful relationship and were connected both nights.  Jeff thought there might have been something wrong with the starter or alternator but a quick trip to the auto supply store and a turn on it's computer proved it was just the cold nights. It took awhile to find but Jeff bought the last block heater in town for the engine. I just can't see him working on the ground installing it right now.  I can wait until spring and for once he's not arguing!   Yesterday the temperatures were in the 50's and the driveway turned into a mudpit that was tracked into the house.  Oh my poor wood floors!  That's haze in the distance in the left photo as the snow pack evaporates. The

garbage pail was in the middle of an ice island making it a very interesting walk to put out the garbage!  Can you see Wally's house in the photo on the right?  It's in the middle of the shot and kept disappearing in the haze.  Kind of like an old black and white horror movie!  

I finally got motivated and did some knitting, finishing a pair of yummy cashmere blend socks for my cousin and some washable wool baby socks for another cousin's new twins.  I even did a couple more pairs of baby socks so there is actually something in my new merchandise bag this early in the year.  Now I've got to start working on sweaters.

We had a meeting with the social worker at Valley Health today and Josie has reached a plateau in her PT not showing any improvement in 2 weeks.  She is not independent enough to come home and it doesn't look like she will be any time soon...if ever...so we started the paperwork to move her to permanent resident status. She is well cared for at Valley Health and moving upstairs will put her with some people she knows, and in a position to attend activities. I'll let you all know her new room number when she moves. Those medicaid forms require special attachments and while Josie always said 'everything' was in the 'metal box' in the closet I'm having a hard time finding some of them.  Be sure to keep your paperwork up-to-date and well marked to aid those who will be trying to help you. 

Good riddance January.