Snowy Saturday...

I woke up at 7:30 AM and wandered out to make coffee. I was shocked when I looked out the window! That light snow that started on my way home yesterday had never stopped. I've got about 3 inches on the ground and it's supposed to keep snowing until early afternoon.

I started the laundry and finished the Blog.

In keeping with the Polish theme from yesterday, I checked the freezer. Sadly, I don't have any kielbasa, but I took out some smoked sausage, and set it out to thaw. Then I went out to the "root cellar" in my garage and got a small head of cabbage. This will be made into tonight's dinner.

I started straighten things up. I wish I had taken my shower first, before starting the laundry, because I have to keep wearing my robe. I refuse to put clean clothes on a dirty body! I hung up the first load (pants, shirts and socks) and then, when the second load (bedspread and blanket) finished washing, I put it in the dryer and hopped into the shower.

So, I'm trying another one of Lu's goat soaps. This time it's "Heather." It's very mild with a light, but refreshing aroma. I got dressed and made myself some brunch (my favorite go-to breakfast - roast beef hash topped with two over-easy eggs. I am an egg yolk slut!)

I put the third load into the washer (the sheets and pillow cases, my bathrobe and the downstairs bath towel).

I cleaned up the dishes and, while looking out the kitchen window, spotted a male and female cardinal at the feeder. Knowing from past experience that taking a photo through the kitchen window screen does not work, I snuck into the bathroom and shot it from the top window.

I don't have enough "zoom" in the camera to get it nice and tight, so I tried to crop it using "Paint." It didn't work, so frustrated, I emailed it to the Webmaster and asked him to fix it. He did and also adjusted the color (thanks, BTW). When he sent it back, I posted it, but you will probably have to click on it to enlarge it and see the happy couple (use your browser's "back" button to return).

Then I started working on replacing the switches and plugs in the downstairs bath. I wasn't brave this time and turned off the power, lol!

What a pain in the butt! I used a razor knife to cut the paint around each switch plate, but missed a little on the bottom of the shower light one. So, naturally, when I took it off, a chunk of paint came off as well. Dammit! I got out the paint and a foam brush and touched up the wall. Took way too long, but I finally switched out the old cream-colored ones for modern white ones. I took pictures for you and posted them.

Before I moved on from the downstairs bathroom, I took off the strainer from the faucet. I had noticed in the past few days I didn't seem to be getting the same water pressure as I had in the past. Sure enough, there was sediment in it. So, I used a toothpick to get it out and then reassembled. Bingo! That's better!!

Update on the weather: it's still snowing a little, but the temperature must have gotten above freezing because the depth of the snow has diminished and I'm getting a lot of drips from the roof.

I am a little concerned about Scruffy. First he threw up on my mattress (the bed clothes are in the dryer/washer, if you remember). Ticked a little, I cleaned that up and sprayed it with Fabreeze to kill any smell (it is treated with Scotch-gard, BTW). Then he barfed on the kitchen floor (note: these are not the usual hairballs, just barf). I cleaned that up as well (and, its okay, I have to wash the floor anyway).

But then he jumped up on the daybed (covered, if you remember, with plastic to keep Caley's hair off), where he never goes. He went to one end and worked the plastic up and then burrowed under it. Weird, I thought. So, I pulled the plastic back while I was gently talking to him. I went to pet him and he snapped at me (which he never does). So, I left him alone, but am keeping an eye on him and keeping Caley away.

So, I started the last load of laundry: the rugs from both bathrooms. Then I move the kitchen chairs, the butcher-block cart and the trash basket into the living room, swept the kitchen floor and then washed it and the downstairs bathroom floor. I finished at 4:30 PM. Since I have to wait for it to dry, I decided to take a nap.

I was relieved when Scruffy jumped up on the bed to join me. I petted him for a long time and scolded him, telling him to stop scaring me!

I read for a bit and then Lu called. We caught each other up on the local news. After we finished, I put the book down and tried to sleep. I was almost there when the doorbell rang. It was my neighbor. She brought over some letters and a magazine the mailman had mistakenly put in her mailbox. I thanked her and we chatted a bit. Once she left, I gave up on the nap idea and started dinner.

I took the first eight or nine outer leaves off the cabbage and then cut it into eight wedges (I left the core in so it wouldn't fall apart). I put my metal steamer rack into the small stock pot, added the cabbage wedges and then the smoked sausage, cut on the bias. I added two cups of beef stock, brought it to boil and then turned it down a bit and covered the pot. But, I think I may have over-thought the steam idea. After one hour, cabbage was still not fork tender... So, I was starving and the smell of the beef stock wasn't helping... I should have put the cabbage directly into the beef stock.

Finally, though, it was ready. I ate it with salt on the cabbage and coarse-grained mustard for the sausage. Maybe not too Polish, but delicious!

I did up the dishes and then went in to watch the taped cooking shows from this morning until HBO'S Boxing After Dark came on. I started to doze off around 10:30 PM, so I turned it off and went to sleep.