It’s the second week of February, 2013 and winter is pressing on. I went to Florida for a couple weeks in December. It was good to visit friends and spend the holidays with them.
Now I understand the snowbird mind set. Close up your home leaving it operating under minimal utility use, head south and stay with friends or relatives. Ha! Like I said I enjoyed visiting many friends over the couple weeks I was there. But, there’s no place like home.
It has been another fairly mild winter. No blizzards so far. The locals talk about one happening every 10 years or so. We have had one snow so far. It was pretty and only lasted a day. While it has been mild, it still has been cold enough to have to heat the house most days since the first of the year. This winter I am heating with firewood instead of using the gas furnace. I have a wood burning furnace downstairs and it is connected to the existing ducts so I get a nice warm home using natural resources (other than the small amount of electricity for the fan that circulates the air to and from the furnace (forced air heat). It feels good to be partially off the grid.
I’m trying to learn how to use Photoshop. It’s beginning to make sense. I am not interested in dramatically altering my photographs (yet) but any tool I can use to make them better I am willing to explore.
Oh, I just dropped off two framed pieces at the gallery in the Art Center in Blue Ridge. Maybe I’ll get discovered, ha ha.
Spring is around the corner. My apple tree is in bloom and I fear a cold snap will kill the blossoms as happened last year. Daffodils are blooming and in the heat of the afternoons bees are beginning to explore. The dog and I are looking forward to hiking in the forest this spring. It is such a marvelous place to see nature renew itself.
Ciao for now.
