Bratty

Yeah I know "bratty" - me??? Who would believe it eh??? but every once in a long long while the 'brat' will come out to play............... 

Yesterday was one of those days.

W came into the kitchen early yesterday morning - BEFORE - my second cup of coffee - pinned me to the counter and proceeded to paddle my ass with his blue rose paddle.

It was a Christmas present from about 5 years ago.  He declared the colour for Christmas as "blue" and so I bought him this paddle with a made to order blue rose.

The paddle spent the day sitting on the ledge of the stairs going to the Dom cave.

Fast forward to my bed time.

As I walked past the paddle I quietly "stole" it and took it upstairs with me.  I put it very sweetly / nicely on his pillow (beats a chocolate if you ask me!)  Turned out the lights and went to sleep with this BIG grin on my face.  I could picture W coming into the darkened bedroom and climbing into bed - putting his head down on the cool pillow only to discover he was lying on his blue rose paddle.  I kinda hoped he might pick it up - roll me over even though I was sleeping and give me a few good paddles - but I awoke at 6 a.m. with no late night paddle session.


However when W woke this morning he came down to the dining room with his own cheeky grin - AND the blue rose paddle in his hand.  And yes it all went exactly according to my plan - W laid down expecting to feel the cool pillow and instead came in contact with the leather paddle.  I giggled while he told me.  I did get a quick paddling this morning - which is totally ok with me - even before my second cup of coffee............. and I notice the paddle has been placed on the ledge leading down to the Dom cave again today................... 

Sometimes a little bratty changes up the day

  

Moment in Time

W came down the stairs and walked into the dining room where I sat playing on the computer.

His hands shot out and grabbed my nipples - pinching - rubbing

"Good morning"

I was caught between a shriek and a giggle.

He pinched my nipples!

Now that makes it a GOOD morning!

Not even in the same book

Over the years Monday mornings were spent reporting my kinky activities over the weekend.  Recently there have been fewer and fewer kinky activities to report.  And so I have found myself on Monday mornings trying to think what to write.

And so it is this Monday Morning - me sitting here staring at the monitor realizing there is not much of anything to report. Oh I could make excuses - like the weather was horrendous and so we missed a munch - or that I have been under the weather but the point is............ it isn't just this Monday morning.............kink is about as rare around here as unicorns.

And so I thought why not forget personal kink for a bit (hopefully it will return with a vengeance one day) and talk about kinky stuff - just stuff.

So here goes...................

I have moaned and bitched before about feeling like a dinosaur - but I think it is much more than that.  I believe the BDSM I grew up with - grew into - and loved - has been muchly watered down and sanitized and made acceptable for the newbies who wander in and around the hallowed halls of this lifestyle.  

The last meeting of the sub group showed me that in spades!  There was a very young newbie who had a question.  And we encourage questions.  And we encourage sharing.

His question was "what is topping from the bottom?"

and I sat back and smiled internally and thought - easy peasy answer.  BUT what I heard in response to the question made me realize not only are we not on the same page - hells bells we aren't even in the same book!!!

The definition for "topping from the bottom" looked and sounded a whole lot like S.A.M

or smart assed masochist.  He was told when a submissive acts up - or plays the brat - or deliberately disobeys to get a spanking that is topping from the bottom.  The newbie sat there nodding - almost making notes.  I looked around the room........ everyone just sat there either nodding vigorously or giving blank stares.

DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN!!!  not even in the same book

I said quietly and clearly - in my book that is not topping from the bottom - that is being a S.A.M (and I didn't even bother to define it - what's the point??)

Topping from the bottom (the way I was taught) means - the submissive tells the Dominant exactly what to do.... when to do it... and how.  Pretty simple I think.  Doesn't leave much room for misinterpretation.  and has nothing - not one damn thing to do with being a brat/SAM!!!

IF the simplest of definitions is cock-eyed and skewered - imagine what the deeper more important definitions look like!!  I think over the next little while - every once in a while - I will take one of those skewered cock-eyed definitions and share what it means to me - what I was taught it meant - many moons ago - when dinosaurs walked on earth.  You certainly do not have to agree with me - and I encourage you to disagree with me in the comment section - or simply blow me off as being old and out of touch.

Shrug

It's the best I have to offer right now.

Sunday Sentiments

Take the Lead..............

I am sure that picture was meant for something with more impact and definitely more importance than what I am going to discuss - BUT - it speaks to my younger years... to my naive belief that we (the generic we) could change the world.

For most of my working years I was the one to stand up at meetings and point out the glaring problems with the programs we were being told to implement.  I was the one tilting at windmills.  I remember one meeting where I had 20 people contact me via email and ask me to be the spokesperson - be the one to stand up and say ENOUGH.... all those 20 people agreed to stand behind me .. have my back.  Yeah except when push came to shove - those 20 lambs were nowhere to be found when I needed back up.......... from that point on I went to meetings and sat on my hands - fussed and fumed and cursed at the stupidity of the "suits" but I kept my mouth shut.  It just wasn't worth it to be known as "the shit disturber".  I was too old and tired.

I have a fighting spirit.......... and I tend to tilt at windmills - fight for lost causes and the underdog............ until I don't.

The BDSM community is another giant I have tried to take on from time to time,,, with about as much success as in the vanilla world.  I have taken up one cause after another and usually with the same outcome as in my vanilla world - when push came to shove no one was standing behind me.  They had pushed me out on that limb and then climbed down the tree,

I have been watching over the last year or so hot topics on Fetlife.  I have seen the posts railing at the way things are - the plans to change things - the talk and more talk and more talk - and absolutely NO action,

This morning I read some post or another along the line of "I may be a bitch but I am not your bitch".  I read the comments,  Over and over I read "you go girl" or "yeah I am with you - tell it like is".  I had to log off - cause the steam was coming out my ears.  

Right with you - nodding - oh yeah - until you are asked to actually take a stand... and then you vanish in a poof of smoke, along with all the other "right behind you's".  You find excuses for your feet of clay............

It is, in my humble opinion, a mighty sad world where no one ....... NO ONE.... is willing to stand up for what they believe in - fight to stop injustices - fight for change.

I am tired.  Maybe I am too jaded.  It does sadden me that I no longer want to take up the battle cry............but I honestly don't think anyone wants REAL change - they just like talking about it.

And that's my Saturday morning bitch.

House Guest

All through this process of claiming W's sister's body - making plans to have her cremated and shipped down here to Kingston - and finding a cemetery plot here for her, I have to admit I have only listened with one ear.

I have been aware of the problems - and problems on top of problems that have been happening - but again I have only really listened with one ear.  IF W needed me I was here - but I figured the best thing I could do was what I do best - cook and clean and stay out of the way.

On Wednesday when W was in Toronto - the postman rang the doorbell.  I had to sign for a parcel from the Toronto funeral home.  The postman gave me a strange look as I took it - glancing at the sticker on the top of the box - and said he had NO idea what it was.  I kinda gasped and said out loud without thinking "This CAN'T be her ashes??!!"  The postman kinda gasped and said "OH I am sure we don't deliver ashes!!"  To which I said / mumbled - "Oh I am pretty sure that's how they are shipping her ashes down to us - by Canada Post".  He looked shocked and - maybe - a little grossed out - said "Have a good day" and continued on his route.

I brought the box in and kept thinking it was very small and light to be her ashes no?! And I gently shook it and it rattled.  Let me tell you I nearly dropped the box - was I hearing her bones rattling like in some bad movie??? The imagination - MY imagination - can play all sorts of tricks.  By the time I got downstairs to the Dom cave I realized the box was the size of a jewelry box.  And then I remembered I had half heard some discussion with the Toronto funeral home about some jewelry that sister had been wearing.  My heart stopped pounding and I plunked the box and the other mail down on W's table.

Yesterday our postman once again rang our doorbell.  I came upstairs to see who it was and called to W that it was the postman again.  W joined me at the door and was standing just behind me.  The postman gave me A look - said he had another parcel for us.......... from the Toronto funeral home.  This time it was a bigger box and when I took it from him I was shocked at how heavy it was.  As I was signing for it the postman said something about definitely not wanting to know what it was........

I followed W down the stairs.  I asked if it was his sister's ashes.  He said yup he expected it was, and plunked the box down on the coffee table.

All I could think was "dead body = cemetery" NOT our house!!!  BUT it would seem we have a house guest until such time as the cemetery takes her - W's sister who has avoided any and all contact for over 30 years is now in the Dom cave.  

It kinda makes me smile ya know.  Seems to me she has come full circle - from walking away from the family to coming home one last time.


It also kinda - sorta - creeps me out to know her ashes are downstairs........... if I hear something go bump in the night - dear lord I will scream!!!!  (I told you all - MY imagination is a terrifying thing)

House slave

I am awarding myself a gold star for my day yesterday.  

While W was away in Toronto I got busy and ................

1)  mopped all the dry dusty cobwebs down from their hiding places (usually in corners by the ceiling.......... 

2) vacuumed and cleaned the Dom cave (cheeky grin) It is a room that seldom sees a duster or vacuum - cause W is usually down there.  So I took advantage of his being gone all day to clean and sparkle it.. (hopefully he can still find everything LOL)

3)  cleaned off my car and shoveled out the driveway (preparing for the next snow storm due this weekend)

4)  planned a dinner that would be (in my opinion) comfort food.  I made a pasta casserole with lots of meat and spices (probably not enough for W but more than enough for me) and I made home made dinner rolls.  The other day W said - in passing - how for some reason - he was craving hot doughy dinner rolls.

5)  tried once again to blow some freezing bubbles for pictures - it did NOT work again.  Oh I get beautiful bubbles that float in the breezes and freeze up beautifully - but the minute they touch down they implode 

6)  I showered and shaved and did my hair so I would look like I was a good house slave and not some zombie.. (you should see my hair when I don't "do" it for a day or two)

And when W finally arrived home just before 9 pm dinner was ready, the house was tidy and his house slave was clean........
 

Never Ending...........................

W is in Toronto again today.  again and again and again.  Trying to do the right thing for his sister is becoming a full time job.

"They" found a will for her common law partner - who died 3 days before her.  AND the police found his daughter.  AND the funeral home in Toronto finally agreed to cremate W's sister and ship her ashes to Kingston.  We were (I thought) beginning to see a light at the end of the never ending spiral.

BUT -

the will they found - left everything to W's sister.  AND the executor of that will is dead.  and W's sister didn't have a will or an executor............So now everything is back up in the air - what to do?? what to do??

W contacted the funeral home in Toronto to find out where his sister's ashes were - what the hell was the status.............. her ashes are still sitting in the funeral home!!  despite the fact W had taken care of the details to have her shipped here...........

oh and W still doesn't have a death certificate - the funeral home doesn't have it - they think Social Services has it.............. how come no one has thought to send it down to W??? do we have to put in requests in triplicate over and over again??

And someone has to file her final taxes - and pay death taxes - but WHO?? W has no legal standing to do any of this legal crap............

oh and the apartment is filing an eviction notice for the 25th of Jan. and the apartment is full of STUFF....... just stuff 

Honestly W is going round and round in a never ending spiral................me - I'm hoping it all skids to an end very soon - for everyone's sake.
 

 

Yet another snowy Monday

We had a busy weekend........... well sort of.  Saturday afternoon I had the submissive group in for our monthly discussion group.  I personally thought it was a good topic.... "What happens when your kink gets out of sync" with a whole mess of subtitles - and what if's and how tos ............... after 2 hours I came to the conclusion they are all so new - so "want everything NOW-ish" that they haven't gotten to the kink out of sync stage.

I was left feeling it was a total waste of time........... except they all seem to love coming together to chit chat (le sigh).  

Then W and I had a munch go to about an hour away from home.  And everyone (at the sub group)  was talking about the play party that was going to go on after the munch.  It would seem they had all received invites.  ?? !!!  I knew nothing of any play party and started to feel like the high school me who never knew what parties were going on - and never seemed to get invited to them.  There is a chap who often invites folks back to his house following a munch for coffee.  Sometimes folks disappear downstairs to play sometimes they don't.  I kept thinking this was the "play party" folks were talking about......................

BUT......

the last time W and I went to the after munch coffee play party thingy we brought our toys and disappeared downstairs.  Nothing was set up.  The host helped W select a couple of pieces of equipment and we played.............. but no one else joined us - and when we came upstairs everyone had left.  I felt so uncomfortable like we had perhaps taken advantage - and most definitely over stayed our welcome.

So this "play party" had me nervous - were we gonna be the only ones playing again?? 

W brought the toy bag.  The munch was very quiet only about 10 people showed up and only 6 of us went back for coffee.  We all sat around talking for about an hour or so... then one of the couples who really really wanted to tie and suspend went downstairs.  The other couple who had brought their toy bag (which I thought  showed promise) packed up and went home to play there.  That left W and I.

I panicked,  I did not want to play.......... I was having the "this isn't a play party" panic attack and feeling very awkward and out of place  - and worse than that - the health problem I am struggling with decided to raise it's ugly scary head while we were at the restaurant and I just couldn't see myself playing.

So I begged W to come home.  chicken - that's me - big chicken,  I think W may have been a little disappointed in me........... which of course tied me up in knots worse than the health issue.  AND I knew if we didn't play there we probably weren't gonna play at all all weekend.  (and I was right).

So we did the hour's drive home and I fell into bed feeling alone and a little bit scared and  like I had - once again - let W down.

Sunday was a snowy blustery day and we hunkered down inside and had a quiet day.  Today is another snowy blustery day .................. can winter just be over now please?  Can the calls come in from the doctor's so this "hurry up and wait" period can be over and I can get on with whatever I need to get on with???? 

Yeah I am pushing the escape button - but I am still here

      

Sunday Sentiments

Not alone

Maybe I should have called this blog "What a Difference a Day Makes". .... cause it does.  Yesterday I was feeling old - with no future ahead of me.......... Today not so much.

Yesterday  "sixofthe best" commented on my entry saying ".I am 80 years old"!!  I have seen his nick around the blog sphere from time to time but didn't know anything about him and as he doesn't appear to have a blog ... couldn't do any "research" on him.  But hearing that there was someone that much older than me out there - still spanking - still enjoying it lifted my spirits!!

Then today I noticed that Spiritual BDSM  had done an update (they don't update too often - more's the pity) so I went to check it out.  There was a picture of Serfina and I realized this was an older couple too!!

I realized that W and I are not the only "older" couples out there still doing BDSM - still enjoying it - still thriving.  I think I needed that.  Here in Kingston they are mostly 30 somethings - who do tend to look at us as OLD ... not only look at but tend to semi-regularly remind us we are OLD.

So I am feeling better.

I still intend to continue to develop my inner eccentric......... because... I think deep down inside... I have always had this separate personality - dying to come out and play.......Definitely time to let go of upbringing/good graces and start to feed and nurture this inner being.

"And miles to go before I sleep".
 

Finding My Way

Growing old is the pits.  It's not what I imagined - not even a little bit.

The alternative (they tell me) is worse

BUT the alternative is what looms in front of me.

There is a small part of me that wants to "wear purple"  - to become eccentric - to be the old lady everyone whispers about...................... 

I do NOT want to "go gently into that good night"...........

BUT am struggling to find the way.............




 

W's great love

Somebody taught me (grandmother??? mother??? just an old saying??) that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach... meaning - for those of you who didn't get it - baking/cooking/food.

However W doesn't fuss over food.  If it's meal time and he is fed - he is happy.  I have learned he is a simple man - meat potatoes and veggies.  Oh he'll eat the concoctions I come up with - but he's happier with a plain meal.

EXCEPT for one food............ potatoes.

W loves... LOVES .. potatoes.  In any form or shape - baked, fried, mashed, instant, as long as it tastes like potatoes he's happy.

I do not care about potatoes.  I would rather have rice.  BUT I am a good subbie (cheeky grin) ok ok I like to please W so mostly I make potatoes.  I have mashed them, fried them, deep fried them, baked them,made potatoe salad, turned leftovers into bacon cheese potatoe balls...... I have done just about everything humanly possible with the lowly humble potatoe.  

And I am always on the look out for new recipes for potatoes.  OR W will send me recipes for potatoes.

The other day there was a pretty looking potatoe recipe on Facebook.  I decided to try it.

Basically you take an uncooked potatoe - slice it almost all the way through - drizzle oil over it - brush it with butter, add salt and pepper and then bake in the oven for 40 minutes.  It is supposed to taste EXACTLY like french fries.  

So last night I sliced - almost all the way through - and oiled and buttered and salt and peppered two potatoes for dinner. 

However W sang it's praises.  W suggested I try it again.  W said it almost tasted like french fries.  W enjoyed it.  Which didn't surprise me in the least - it was a potatoe his great love.

To me - a potatoe by any other name is still a potatoe.  
 

Bare

Last week I went to the doctor's.  I was thinking that it would involve a quick look at my pink private bits.  The nurse looked at me and asked if I was shaved - Brazilian - trimmed - au natural.   I was taken back.  I have never ever in my entire life been asked that question.

If I had been on the ball I would have / should have asked her why it mattered - but I was struck dumb so only mumbled - au natural.  

It has been a long long time since I have been "au natural".  I used to shave for me - then W insisted on it - then W took over doing it.  (and I wasn't allowed to touch it - which meant it could go weeks without being shaved)

For over a year (I guess) W hasn't been all that interested in whether I was shaved or not.  When I moved up here in July I asked him to shave me.  But since then nothing.  and as W didn't seem to care I lost interest too. 

The nurse asking me that question last week brought the whole thing to the forefront.  So I asked W again to shave me (it had gotten so long it would have taken me forever to do it myself in the shower - and W uses this neat electric trimmer )  I promised him I would keep it up from now on......... doing it every time I am in the shower to avoid this long tangled mess.  (TMI???)

Friday afternoon W told me to get everything ready and he set about shaving me.  As I laid there I remembered the early years when he shaved me and how he would make me blush - how playful he would be - teasing and tormenting me.............. but it has become a task to get done now.  And so it was done.

At first I wondered why I bothered if W didn't notice/care/play with it anymore.  But then every time I moved my jewelry would move!!  For some reason it doesn't move (or move as noticeably when I am not shaved).  WOW I had forgotten how good that felt!!  Then there was the general nakedness and how it felt against my panties or clothes.  It feels sexy to be shaved........... and I love it!! 

There isn't a whole lot of play in that region anymore - and feeling sexy / aroused may just be more torment than I need or want.  BUT for now I am enjoying the nakedness of it all.

I still wonder though - why the nurse asked about the state of my pink private bits...............

   

Sunday Sentiments

Moment in Time

He said "who loves you?"

she said "you do "

He said "how do you know?"

she said "because you whip me"

 

just red - that's all

Winter

It seems to me in the past we Canadians could bitch about our long cold winters and get sympathy from our neighbours to the south.  However watching the news/weather forecasts this winter I realize we are all pretty much in the same "igloo". 

It seems a bit weird to me to be praising the wonderful temps of -9 as being a mild day - but then compared to -35 I guess it is a mild day.  It is getting harder to find interesting/amusing stuff to do when one is imprisoned inside day after day.

I don't know how many of you remember W's train table that we built in the basement of my lil home in Montreal.........................

The one that the movers virtually totally destroyed in his move up here to Kingston.  W has had plans to start the rebuild - and I promised to make him another tunnel.  (For some reason he loved my tunnel/water fall - shrug - I didn't think it was so hot)

Last week W started the tear down - removing the table and getting ready for the new table he has had custom made to fit the odd little space downstairs.  On Monday Chris the builder arrived with the new table (bare bones)

W moved the broken bits outside.................

And Chris started assembling the new table downstairs..............

That rebuilding should keep W busy for the rest of this winter and maybe long into next winter ..............

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My photography teacher sent me an email this morning - suggesting that since I love bubbles so much - I should try photographing "frozen" bubbles.  Honestly that's just what I needed - a challenge........... 

So after my first cup of coffee and before my actual breakfast - I was outside in my pjs with coat thrown over the top - trying for some neat frozen bubble shots.  Trust me when I say - definitely NOT as easy as it sounds!! 

I definitely need some work - blowing bubbles and shooting at the same time is not as easy as it sounds!!  especially when the "bubble juice" gets cold and thick and won't blow........ but it looks like there's still a fair amount of winter to get through - so I will have lots of cold mornings to improve my shooting skills 


So what are you doing to survive this winter???

    

Saving Mr Banks

Did you ever see the movie "Mary Poppins"???

I remember seeing it as a kid and loving it... but it made me cry.  In our house we used to rate movies by "kleenix boxes".  We would say "oh that movie was a "one boxer" or - it was an ok movie - about "half a boxer". Mary Poppins was a one box movie.

On Sunday W and I went off to see "Saving Mr. Banks".  I had no idea what to expect.  I knew it was based on the making of "Mary Poppins"  but that was about it.

We got our box of popcorn and drinks and W got stuck with a huge wad of napkins...... more than he wanted - but hey that's what came out of the dispenser.
 
We settled down to watch the movie sharing the bag of popcorn and sipping our drinks.

The movie is a mix of past and present (well 1960's present) with some outstanding lines - the one that caught me was "You can worry about the future but you can't do that - there is only today" (or something like that) It touched a nerve inside me - and the tears started.  W just quietly started handing me the napkins he had been burdened with ....... one after the other throughout the rest of the movie.

I realized this was a "one box movie".  If you get a chance - grab a box of kleenix (or a wad of napkins from the popcorn stand) and go see it..... the story behind Mary Poppins will touch your heart strings - guaranteed.

  

Leftovers

   I have a love hate relationship with leftovers.  I love that the next day I don't have to think about what to make for dinner.  I hate the clutter/mess in the fridge of containers and plastic covered plates.  I love how easy it is to throw food in the microwave and just reheat - instant dinner!

On Friday night I made sausage and mashed potatoes.  I had leftover sausage (not enough for another full meal - but still leftovers) and I had leftover mashed potatoes.  I also had some leftover pasta in the fridge from lunch.  Oh yeah I also had taken some ground beef out for a meal - some sort of meal - couldn't quite come up with a recipe that appealed to me so it just sat in the fridge.

I had half way planned what to do with the leftovers - but knew I needed to use up the ground beef soon.  I was gonna chop up the sausage and throw it in the leftover pasta and reheat, that would be one meal.  I would take the mashed potatoes and find some sort of recipe for potatoe patties and serve them up with beef patties.

So Saturday I set out to find a recipe for leftover mashed potatoes.  I found quite an interesting one that involved grated cheddar cheese, bacon bits (we always have bacon bits in this house - seems to be a staple much like milk and butter) eggs and breadcrumbs.  I made up these lovely potatoe puffs (just a small note here - the bread crumbs are actually crushed corn flakes)..................... 

and served them with meat patties (my version of hamburger steak)

BUT to my dismay - I now had leftover potatoe patties and leftover meat patties.  I added them to the leftover sausage and pasta in the fridge.  It really is carrying my love of leftovers too far when the leftovers create more leftovers!!

Oh yeah I also have a nice roast beef waiting to be cooked too........... I think I may have the menus planned and organised for the next couple of days........ (of course there will be leftover roast beef too.......... le sigh) 

It does seem it is either feast or famine around here when it comes to menu planning - either I have NO idea what to cook and/or no desire to cook - OR I have meals/leftovers piling up in the fridge.  

Sunday Sentiments

I thought I would share this "sentiment" with you today.  I have been trying to make it my mantra for the last couple of weeks.  Ya see....... remember that "health issue" I have had - well it's back.   I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday to start all the nasty testing and waiting for results.  I AM trying to live in "today's peace".

Wild Life

When I lived in Montreal I had 'issues' with the street cats/neighbour's cats using my gardens as litter boxes.  Every spring I had the dubious pleasure of cleaning all that poop out of my gardens (gag gag)

So we move to Kingston - I put in glorious gardens - and am more than a little pleased to see that my neighbours have dogs - no cats - just dogs.  In fact since I have been here I have not seen one stray cat - or neighbourhood cat at all!!  My gardens were safe!!   I would not be cleaning cat poop out of my gardens or enduring the ammonia smell of their urine.

One early morning - very early - just as the sun was rising - I was sitting at the dining room table writing a blog and I looked out the window to see not one - but four - FOUR - raccoons calmly and with attitude walking across the railing of the deck.  I jumped up and in amazement watched them walk straight down the back yard along the fence - and then jump down over the back fence and disappear into the woods behind our house.

For days afterwards I sat with my camera by my side - wanting to snap a picture  of the wildlife as they made their way home after a long night of partying!  Sadly I never saw them again.  

Then the snow came.  And I have been watching in our backyard for foot prints.  We had had rabbits visit during the summer and I wondered if they would appear again in the winter. But the snow in our back yard stayed pristine.

Then this past week I started to notice BIG foot prints in the snow going from the back fence to the front deck and back again.  I mentioned them to W.  He snorted  - or some such acknowledgement.

This morning as I looked into the back yard I saw an army of foot prints through the snow.  I decided to take some snap shots and compare them to shots from google to verify these foot prints belong to my raccoon family. 

 

and here's the path they take...........

anyone  out there an expert on wildlife foot prints??? do they look like raccoon prints to you??? Google wasn't all that definitive.

 
Anyway - as I looked and snapped - I also saw whatever is using our backyard as a throughfare is also using a corner of the garden as a.............. TOILET.  and trust me folks when I say I would take nice little cat poop over this mountainous pile of frozen poop.  

W says that is what we get for living in the "country" .......... I just wonder how much yucky poop I am gonna have to clean up come spring......... 

 

Icicles

We have icicles hanging off our thermometer.  The house cracks and grumbles and sounds as though it is collapsing around us (we are told it is just cold snaps)

I don't much like winter - never have - but this cold spell (minus 33 wind chill) is starting to get to me.  Only good thing about it - I don't have to go out in it... can just pull on an extra sweater and snuggle in till the good old thermometer starts to climb again......... sometime in May??? 

On the bright side we are trying to laugh about it................

 and dream.............

 and be creative............

and when all else fails ......

take that Mother Nature!