26 November 2008

Smiles across the miles, melting snow and Turkey Day

I'm glad to have provided amusement with my little tantrum about our weather-tantrum. I REALLY believe that laughter is the best medicine in most cases, with the possible exception being anything to do with goutweed. Have I mentioned that I really, REALLY don't like goutweed? Yeah, I thougt I might have. 

Further amusement is to be had today, as the temperature shot up well above freezing and a southeast wind came to visit. The prodigious piles of snow are melting dramatically, although it's not going to be all bare ground overnight. 

Lately, I haven't had much time to answer comments, even though I read and cherish each one as much as I do the plants in my garden. But I have to tell you that the comments to my last post tended to crack me up completely, as you ran the gamut from sympathy to envy to sheer astonishment at that much snow to relief that you don't get this much as we do. I'm with Tyra, actually, I love snow within reason and I like a little chaos as much as the next person. However, it never ceases to astonish and somewhat amuse me that people completely forget, from one winter to the next, how to cope with winter in this province. 

Like putting on snowtires. It's a no-brainer in Nova Scotia. We get snow. And ice, and sleet, and slush, and a whole lot of other nasties. All season tires were designed for Florida or California, (no disrespect meant to anyone in either illustrious place) not for the vagaries of a Maritime winter. And driving a four wheel drive vehicle does not guarantee that you won't end up in the ditch either if you drive like an idiot. Being a curmudgeonly sort at times, I tend to want to smile and wave when I see a four-wheel drive SUV or such off the road--especially if they blew past me going far too fast down the road a ways. 

But the thing that cracks me up the absolute MOST is the big run on snow shovels every November. Hello? Snow shovels don't have a best before date. They don't go bad, and they don't generally run away from home. So where are all these people coming from that buy out all the snow shovels in every snow? We didn't get a big inmigration of people from Florida OR California, the last time I checked. Maybe some folks are so caught up in being trendy that they have to buy a new snow shovel every year?  Can't you hear it now? 



"Oh, THAT old thing? That's SOOOOOOO 2007, dahlink. We MUST get the fab new Sno-Pushr 900, it's what everyone in the subdivision is using to clear their doorsteps off with."

Seriously. I bought my snow shovel in 1995. It still has its original handle. AND it doubles as a stall cleaner, too. 

I'm off to the south shore tomorrow to do another session of Writers in the Schools (I was in Halifax on Monday at an awesome school!) and I hope to get a chance to see a friend of mine once my day is done. But I had to share the picture above with you, and leave you all with another little story. 

As other garden bloggers (or bloggers with other interests) will attest, the best part about this activity of ours is the sharing of interests and meeting of others. It's especially that way with gardening, I think, because I've made some genuine friends over the past several years of keeping bloomingwriter going, although I have another interest that has also led to forming some wonderful friendships across the world. My longsuffering spouse brought the mail in to me this morning, and there was this amazing postcard above. It's made of material, serged along the edges and with awesome patchwork applique and embroidery, sent to me by a friend across the miles who wanted to let me know she was thinking about me. I'll be framing it and putting it up on the wall because every time I look at it, I smile. 

And that, as Martha would say, is a Very. Good. Thing. 


To all my American friends, a safe, joyous and delectable Thanksgiving tomorrow. Travel safely, those going to loved ones' homes, and have a wonderful time. I expect to be finding lots of interesting recipes for leftover turkey in the days following. 

18 comments:

  1. What an awesome postcard! I laughed heartily when I saw it :)

    By the way Jody, I'm having a giveaway for Christmas on my blog, as a way to say thank-you. I'd love it if you entered!

    Amy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for the Thanksgiving wishes. I hope to spend mine uncomfortably full of festive treats. I wish you many less days of snow. I do feel sorry for you this year! The liquid weather has not been kind to you all.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Jodi, Munch's 'The Scream' really made me smilie this time and that picture has never had that effect on me before... think what just a few words can do, lovely Jodi! Happy Thanksgiving / Tyra

    I wonder if I can tempt you with an apple

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi there Jodi,

    What a lovely surprise to get in the mail. I would frame it also...it's a keeper!

    Yes...this is Nova Scotia and like we always say...just wait a hour and the weather will change. I also like snow but only for about two months...heck, I still have bulbs to save!

    As for those shovels...some of us are shovelling so much we wear out the bottoms, they get all uneven and heh....that makes the shovelling much harder. (:
    What I do...is put the new one at the front door and the old ratty one gets ...shovelled, ha,ha to the back door! Now all we need is to get some cool colors to match our front doors!!!

    From one "bluenoser" to another!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dearest jodi, thank you for the Thanksgiving wishes. And I'm glad you made it through the huge snow and that it's now melting. And what an awesome postcard! I'd frame it, too! I love it! This whole post was charming. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lovely, creative postcard. My sympathies on all your SNOW! Reminds me of when I lived on the Dakota plains as a child.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you Jodi. We had a great Thanksgiving. I am still trying to recover.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for the wishes, they came true. Even more so for the cats who had a feast of gobbler parts.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Jodi, ouch that is a lot of snow; I hope you are surviving the melt down. I didn’t know that I would need to change my all weather tires if I was driving in Canada!!! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Jodi,
    Your kitties are adorable. Nibbs' eyes are amazing...so green in that photo! I will come back and visit as often as I can! Hope you are doing ok with all that snow! Take care! Jan

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thank you, Jodi; we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Glad your snow is melting--we just had our first snowfall last night. But it was not the "get out the snow shovel" variety, but a beautiful Christmas card wonderland.

    I laughed at your comments about the snow. Every winter I smirk at the SUV's in the median on the interstate, too, especially when you've just seen them driving way too fast for the icy roads. I guess they think they're invincible.

    ReplyDelete
  12. It is nice to see the yard bare up again, at least for now. As long as we have a reasonably hefty snowfall for Christmas. :) As I write this, hail is tapping at the windows!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yes, I don't know who thinks all-season tires are good in Canadian winters. Those that still think this are delusional and thankgoodness some of the provinces are acknowledging this with new laws and insurance policies. Our snow tires are getting us around nicely! I hope you survive the big storms out there! We just keep seeing endless sprinklings of snow here in northern SK.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi,

    Here in the UK we have a special relationship with snow, it is an excuse for everything to grind to a halt. Trains stop due to the 'wrong type of snow'. People get stranded on the roads if we get 2 inches of the stuff. We had 0.5 inches here last week at -1c, and severe weather warnings on the TV. Have fun over the next few months and think of us poor brits!

    Gary

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks for the happy Thanksgiving wishes, Jodi. Know we're still stuffed here and loved ones BIG TIME OVER eating my 'drum' of Turkey Carcass Soup! Stay well and drive safely ... that black ice can sneek up on you! (How true about snow shovels ... dah ... where's mine ... I ran over it!)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Jodi,

    As always it is a treat to visit your blog. I love your sense of humor! The cartoon brought me the laugh I needed today...thanks!

    Hope y'all have a happy holiday season and NO broken snow shovel handles!

    Jon at Mississippi Garden

    ReplyDelete
  17. Visiting you blog today, stopping to send a jaunty "Hello!" As always, a fun post and what a nice surprise from your friend!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting and for taking the time to comment! It might take me a bit, but I will return the compliment whenever possible.
Spammers--need not apply. Because I delete your comments and they will never make it here. Kthxbai!

Search Bloomingwriter

Custom Search