Through Rose-, er, Green-colored Glass

Back again, and feeling so much better than the last time I posted.  I really think I have been under the effects of S.A.D.--Seasonal Affective Disorder.  Despite having been born in the South and remembering November and February as the grayest months of the year, 20 years of life in New Mexico, Land of the 350 days/yr of sunshine, has left me ill-prepared to deal with all the cloudy skies again.

Nothing interested me.  I could sit for hours at the computer and play Farmville, because it didn't take much effort and I could forget everything else.  But movies? No. I've had the same 2 Netflix movies here for about 4 months.  Sewing? No.  I'd walk into the sewing room, and just turn around again and leave. I can't even remember the last time we went out to eat, but it had to be August or September. 5 bins of Christmas decorations still sat in the living room, ready to be packed up and put away in the garage.  It was all I could do to go to work.

I was just about ready to make an appointment with my physician and ask for anti-depressants.  In the meantime, I started back on my routine vitamins, and added 2000 IU of Vitamin D daily. It's only been 7 days since I did that, but I am feeling SO much better. The Physician's Assistant for my gynecologist tested my Vitamin D level in Dec. and they have been trying to get in touch with me to give me prescription-strength Vit D ever since, but we have conflicting schedules, and I just never got around to calling them the pharmacy I use.

Two weekends ago, it was warm and in the upper 40s, and I did some early spring cleaning--opened up some windows and cleaned half the windows in the house.  Took down some curtains to wash, did detailed vacuuming, etc.  (Of course, I might not have done that had I not smoked up the house with stuff that bubbled over in the oven and then burned toast the NEXT morning!) Got the Christmas bins put away and bought flowers at the grocery store to put in a couple of vases in the house.  This was before the Vit. D, and it helped some, but the difference in my energy level and just all-round well-being has been in the last week. 

According to my PA, Vit. D has been determined to be a big influence in boosting our immune systems, fighting some forms of cancer, regulating sleep irregularities, and even has an effect on cardiac  problems and insulin resistance.  As I am obese, diabetic, and a night shift worker, it stands to reason I would be deficient in Vit D. I know Cathi, who lives in Canada, says she takes extra vit D from October to June every year. Makes sense to me!

Okay, so that's your public health service announcement for today. In other news, here's the latest weather around Scrapsville:

This was all yesterday, when we were served another helping of winter snow--almost one year to the day from the last March snowfall.  (And yes, those trees are still down.  With the weather and my sleeping schedule, the guys just haven't been able to get them all up yet)

Tandi was having a grand old time in the loose, powdery stuff.  She came in with huge snowballs plastered to her ears and chest and belly--so much so that I had to plop her in a bathtub of warm water to get them off her, because they just weren't melting fast enough--and she was getting snow all over the carpet and sofa.  Baths are not her favorite thing, but I rewarded her with peanut butter doggy treats I baked yesterday, and she was satisfied.

This morning the sun is out, the sky is blue, and the wind has the chill factor down to 22, though the thermometer says it's 33 degress out there.

Most of these pots sitting on my back deck hold chives, and they were just starting to poke their little green heads through.  Don't know if they'll still be there once the snow melts!

The birds were more than happy to feast at the feeders

but this little guy was using his feet to dig a hole and look for seeds that had fallen below:

To help the spring come along a little more quickly, I put my spring tabletopper on the kitchen table, along with a thick-glassed old green pitcher I bought off eBay a few years back.

I love the way it looks with the sun shining through the glass.

Life is looking pretty good right now.  Amazing what a few vitamins can do.

I may even make it into the sewing room this weekend--and stay awhile!

Checking In

Nope, haven't fallen off the East Coast, as some have asked.  Just got the sunless blahs, I think.  I believe I'm going to bundle up and go get some sunlight on my face today--the high will be 34, but at least the sun is finally out for a while.

Sorry I haven't answered your comments from my last 2 posts--usually I'm better about that.  We still have patches of snow on the ground and icicles here and there, and the trees are still littering my yard.  No point in getting them up until the ice storms and snow eases up a bit. But I did deliver the apple dumplings and everyone seemed delighted to get them--no feedback yet on if they liked them, but Pioneer Woman's recipe has never failed me yet!

No sewing done lately, though goodness knows there's enough to do.  Work has been very busy lately, so no time to peruse blogs while I'm there.  As of this morning, I'm behind by 300 posts! And Frog Queen gave me an award that I need to acknowledge--sorry I haven't done that yet.

This calls for a good swift kick in the derierre--who wants to volunteer?

Neighbors

Saturday morning brought tree service folks to the door, ready to clear my driveway and yard, as is their business. But it also brought neighbors to my door, neighbors with a chain saw, who came out of the goodness of their hearts.

Jack is unable to even walk in the snow, much less help, but I was able to throw on a jacket and help drag cut limbs and branches out of the way. We lost more limbs and another tree during the night, and as we live on the corner of the two main streets in the neighborhood, the debris was seriously impeding traffic, too.

One of the men said he watches us set up for Halloween every year, and that his children really enjoy coming here to Trick or Treat.  That made me feel good, as if maybe we are contributing to the community in a small way.

More neighbors were out looking around, taking pictures, and they helped drag branches for a while, too. There was a lot to move.

Yesterday I ran into another neighbor at the grocery store, who is also a night nurse at my hospital.  He said he'd seen the mess on the way home Saturday morning, and had planned to come over with his chainsaw once he woke up that afternoon, but by then it was all done. Many hands...

When I was out here searching for a house back in 2003, one of the selections was a beautiful home with a garden bath and sitting room off the master bedroom, and a kitchen to die for.  It sat back off the road, hidden by a wooded area, accessed only by a long, winding gravel driveway, and no other houses for several "city blocks".   We didn't take it because there was no carport or garage, and we couldn't have afforded to add one, at least not for several years. But I think about how this winter would have been if we'd bought that house, and I believe our guardian angel was looking out for us. 

These guys did this because we are a community, a neighborhood, and would have been insulted if I'd tried to pay them. But I'll bet they won't turn down a pan of Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings tonight.

Ice Storm Part Two --5 PM

The end of my driveway:

Good thing I'm off for 4 nights.

Ice Storm

Yesterday it started snowing again, then raining and sleeting.  Through the night it did all three.   I left the hospital about 9am following an inservice after work, and got home about 9:30.  This is what I saw:

Beautiful, but dangerous. 

Less than 2 hours later, look at the view:

That's the Bradford Pear you saw behind the crepe myrtle in the first picture.  I saw my neighbors backing into my drive and then go back towards their house again, but figured they just couldn't make it up the hill, like during the first snowstorm.  Later, I saw them parked outside my house, and when I looked more closely, saw the Bradford Pear split down the middle, and half of it lying across the road. 

One had brought a chain saw, so he cut off some of the branches and we hauled them into the empty lot.  Then he tied a huge rope to the largest section of the tree and tried to pull it down the road a bit to the empty lot.  We had to chop off some more branches to actually get it all out of the road.  Farther up the yard, another huge limb of another Bradford Pear was down.  There are 11 of them lining my corner lot yard.

Once the limbs were out of the way, the couple drove off, while my mower man went to turn his truck around.  All around the neighborhood we could hear the cracking and popping of limbs breaking.  I walked up the street a bit to pull the other fallen limb off the edge of the road.  When I turned around, the other half of the first tree had toppled, this time towards the center of the yard, but fortunately, far enough from the house not to inflict any damage.

My neighbor drove his truck slowly back up the street and stopped to gaze at the tree, then looked at me.  "You'd better get inside." 

Which I promptly did.

We may lose more before it's all over. 

10:00 am:

12 noon:

And still it rains and ices quickly.

The birds were a little reproachful. Once they all flocked over to check out the fallen tree, some of them flew over to the feeders and just sat, all puffed up and looking very cold and hungry.

I cleaned off the birdfeeders and refilled them, and threw some out for the squirrels.  Last weekend, while I was gone, Jack said he heard a loud noise in the garage and saw one of the squirrels dashing out.  I guess they got hungry and tried to take measures into their own hands, er, paws, but I keep their food in a large popcorn tin, and they couldn't get to it. So I headed them off at the pass and tossed out several handsful.  So far, I haven't seen the first squirrel. 

Maybe they've had to relocate.

Not a bad idea.