Baby, It's Really Cold Outside

                                                                     Everyday is a brand new day,
                                                                      everyday is a journey.


Still heavy is thy heart?
    Still sink thy spirits down?
  Cast off the weight, let fear depart,
    And every care be gone.
P. GERHARDT.


Boy, the weather has certainly changed around here. Some people claim we had sleet the other day. I think we did. The wind was so severe, one could hear the howling of it outside. 
Winter is just around the corner. 

This weekend, I ran around with the thought of Winter fast upon my heels. There was so much to do around the apartment that I couldn't tarry any longer. The windows had to be weatherstripped with plastic. These are not very good insulated windows that we have. The last apartment had  great windows and we didn't have to do anything to them for the five years we lived there. We just locked them into place and we were snug all Winter. Not so here.

We also stripped our beds and flipped our mattresses. We do this every six months, once in the Spring and the other in the Fall. We wash all our bedding blankets and quilts. Our sheets are changed on a weekly basis, in case you may think we only do so twice a year. The same goes for any afghans we have on sofas or arm chairs. We do have a sofa cover that needed it badly since Diamond sheds quite a bit. 

The hats, scarves and coats come out for inspection. Emily needed a new coat this year which we bought at the Burlington Coat Factory. Let me tell you, we had a heck of a time finding one. Plus, it looked more like a thrift store than the store I remember from the past. We are not weekly shoppers in stores like a lot of people. Things could have changed, but then, we are a bit outdated on things like that. 

I pulled out our medicine chest which is actually one of the three drawer plastic containers one sees in Walmart. Made a list of what we needed to replenish for the Winter. Things like cold/flu medicines, Vicks vapor rubs and cough drops. 

Next, the pantry. I love to keep the pantry full for those last minute meals, but most of all, for the snow days. I have plastic containers filled with all sorts of dried beans, rices, grains and pasta. I need to go to Aldi's and get some tomato sauces, pastes and canned tuna. These are the only canned items we buy. Nothing else. 

Yes, a very busy weekend indeed. Have a blessed day everyone.