Blowing Away January - Literally

Holy Cow!! It is eight in the morning, outside temperature is minus 14 with nineteen mile per hour wind, gusting to thirty-plus miles per hour, predicted high temperature today, minus 9. The wind will remain with us until tomorrow afternoon and then subside. Friday will warm up into the teens, Saturday we will be above freezing, and next week the highs will be in the forties. What crazy weather this is, and I am glad this arctic air is only around for a day or two, that I can cope with.

Our thermostat is set to heat the house to sixty-eight degrees, downstairs the temperature is sixty degrees and the furnace is running non-stop. Dave and I are hibernating upstairs as it is much warmer up here. So thankful we each have a craft room upstairs so we won't feel trapped in our bedroom all day. I plan to do some yoga, reading, knitting and will bake vegan banana bread muffins a little later, the oven will add a bit of heat to the downstairs, and I can dispose of a few very ripe nanabars :), Dave said he will bake some bread. I am glad that schools are closed, many businesses are closed, and all of our children are home today with their children, I didn't want to see any of them have to go out into this brutal weather.

This past Sunday we had family over for Sunday dinner and I prepared another fully vegan meal. On the menu: vegan walnut loaf with oven roasted potatoes and steamed carrots and broccoli. For dessert we had nuts and a citrus fruit salad made with fresh pineapple, mandarin oranges, kiwi, green grapes and banana. After lunch the kids played Candy Land, checkers, Old Maid and Uno, it was a family fun afternoon.

Oh, and I have found a new super tasty concoction, Kimchi - wowsers it is so tasty, so good, I add a couple tablespoons to my vegan bowl of goodness, mix it on in, and it is simply delightful, a party for my taste buds, LOL.

I have been hard at work knitting four sweaters for the four youngest grandsons. I finished one for Ralph, and have almost finished two more for Masen and George, this leaves one more to complete for Peter. I used a new yarn, a Wal-Mart house brand, a great price $1.97 a skein, it took two skeins for each sweater, so $16 for all four, a good deal. But I am not overly thrilled with the yarn, it is fine for kids sweaters, but it is a little unevenly spun, I would not use it for an adult project.

Little Ralph, pleased with his new sweater. Don't you just love that shade of green!

I am keeping up on my reading and just finished A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym, she is one of my most favorite authors. I so very much enjoyed this book, it is one I read every once in a while, as I do all of Barbara Pym's books. I own a copy of all of her books except one, and they are all so very enjoyable. I have a cookbook by her too, I believe written in collaboration with her sister, it contains recipes for many foods mentioned in her novels. Do you ever feel sad when you finish a book, as if you are parting with an old friend, well I do when I finish a BP book, I just miss the world she creates.

This month I got started with some yoga, I am doing a thirty-day yoga journey with a You Tube yoga teacher, Yoga With Adrienne, she is such a gentle spirit, I enjoy her very much and am enjoying the journey. The movements are so gentle, my spirit so calm when I finish, but my limbs are literally shaking with the exertion, it is a good work out for mind, body, and soul, and a nice compliment to my cardio exercise. One of my personal goals is to incorporate regular strength training into my exercise regime, we lose muscle as we age, and keeping core muscle strength is essential.

So January is literally blowing away in an arctic wind, but February will blow in much warmer. We are halfway through winter and I am looking forward to spring, looking forward to a long, outdoor walk on Saturday. Hopefully the roads will be in good shape for a run on Sunday, I am psyched up to get outside again.

I hope you had a good January,

Bean