February -- The Longest Short Month of the Year

It's still mid February and while I don't want to wish time away, boy -- it seems like a long month! At least we've had some fun -- and fun things to look forward to! 

 

Rick was so desperate for good skiing that he headed north to spend some time with Greg, then kept going up to Sault Ste. Marie Canada, (aka The Soo). He found a spot he thought was heaven on earth.

 

This spot, called Stokley Creek, had everything he could want -- great ski trails, breakfast and dinner included, a nice room, no TV (fine for Rick) but Wifi, and a wonderful gathering spot with a cozy fireplace and lots of people who appeared to be regulars and who were welcoming and friendly!

 

After he left, he headed back home, with a stop at the cottage. A lot of readers who see my Postcards From the Lake posts every summer when I am t the lake for a few months, ask why I just don't move up there year round. Here's one reason. (There are many others.)

 

Here's another.  

 

The new neighbors who bought Jim's lovely place two doors down decided to make a very big house even bigger. "Big" seems to be a trend and it's one I hate. It just feels wrong at the lake -- the quiet little lake with the small cottages, where people not lucky enough to have their own room bunked with others in the biggest room. That spot where everyone crowded around the table because -- well, that was the size of the table. (That's another reason I'm a summer person -- too many big things.)

 

Our house is little -- two bedrooms, a main room with a  kitchen on one end and world's tiniest bathroom. But it just feels right.

 

 It's a cottage. Not your house.

 

On another note, I finally started my Three Pines puzzle (thank you, Lin!). Here's how I am so far.

And here is the drawing of what we'll have when we're finished. I have a feeling that when I get to all the pink blooms I will be saying many things that one shouldn't say. At least, not around seven and nine-year-olds. Well, they won't be around while I do the puzzle so they're safe for awhile!

 

I've been watching the Olympics, reading and finally figured out the pattern of the dish cloth I was knitting. I decided to just keep going and use up the yarn. Maybe it will be a cowl. Or maybe just a reminder to stick to the basics!

 

And, I did enjoy another fun lunch with my WKAR retiree gang. One of the best parts this time was that a friend who moved about four hours away drove in (we rarely se him in the winter) and another who had been so ill we all thought we might lose him back sometime ago has recovered and came for the first time. Seeing him again, and looking so well, was a real joy!

 February is Valentine month and every year I make Rick a book of very badly written poetry that summarizes main events in our year. And every year I do it close to the wire. So, I've been working on that too. And cleaning out my computer, dumping loads of bad photos that seemed good at the time. How many Harry the Heron photos do I have that look almost exactly the same? This is not one of them -- this is a keeper. 

 

I cleaned up about 30 gig on my hard drive so I think I can take a lot more photos now! One of the things I did for Rick's book was make a series of photo collages to accompany some of the poems. Here's a sample.

 

Now I need to print them out!

 

Time was running out. I'm glad I'm good at working under deadline! And all was well!

 

Meanwhile, I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day. 

 

Whether you celebrated with your partner, your best friend, your secret-keeping cat or dog, remember -- it's all about the love. 

 

And we all need a lot of that these days.