Monday, February 8, 2010

February Doldrums

This has been a strange winter.  We saw the sun yesterday for the first time in over a week and today was another gray blanketed sky and damp  chilly temperatures.  No sunshine in the forecast until the end of the week.  I may wither on the vine by then.  Though shorter by several days than most months, February always seems to drag.

When the weather is like this, I just can't seem to get motivated.  All week while I'm at work and especially on the long drive to and from work, I think about all the things I want/need to accomplish in the coming weekend.  The list is usually longer than I can handle in the two-day weekend, but I do my best.  Prepping is a labor-intensive lifestyle and working full time away from home limits how much time there is to devote to it. 

I intended to make soap this weekend.  I have all of the ingredients.  I just need to do it.  It would probably only take me about two hours including grating the bar of Zote if I would just get motivated and do it.  Not this weekend, it didn't happen. 

I intended to do some clean-up outside this weekend.  Lots of leaves to be raked, beds to be cleaned out and a few weeds to be pulled.  Now is a good time to rake leaves because they're damp from all the rain we've had earlier in the week and will clump together.  But I made one excuse after another to myself and never got outside on Saturday.  The big clean-up just didn't happen. 

I intended to sweep out the garage this weekend.  It's a three bay garage, separate from the house and in desperate need of a good sweeping and some organizing.  One of the bays holds my radial arm saw, a long workbench and the feed barrels for the horses.  We are in that bay every day, usually twice a day, so it's not too bad.  But the middle bay is where we store small square bales of hay.  We usually buy 75 at a time and they are stacked six feet high.  Yeoldfurt wrestles one out to the horses when we are in between round bales and it's too wet to move a round bale.  It's been too wet for over a week now and next week doesn't look good either.  Bales of hay are messy when you move them ...bits and pieces of hay everywhere.  The hay gets dusty once it's on the floor and getting walked on, but it's dry and not moldy ...I had intended to gather a bunch of it up and carry it down to the chicken's nesting boxes.  They have some hay in their boxes, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind some extra, especially with the cool wet weather we've been having.  The third bay of the garage is in the worst shape.  It's where we store the saddles on various stands and racks but it's also where everything else that needs shelter but doesn't belong in the house tends to land.  There are carts and boxes and hand tools and weedeaters and various cords and ropes ...all strewn about in no real organized fashion.  Sunshine was predicted for both Saturday and Sunday this weekend.  I wanted to drag everything out of that third bay and clean it up and put it back in some kind of order.  Sigh ...it didn't happen.  Saturday was sunny and I blew off my plans for the garage because I thought I would have nice weather Sunday too.  When Sunday dawned gray and cold and miserable, any ambition I had left for the garage vanished. 

Now I'm having trouble sleeping ...can't quit thinking about all the things I didn't get accomplished this weekend.  I'll probably have trouble staying awake tomorrow. 

13 comments:

  1. ..."Now I'm having trouble sleeping"...

    Maybe this is one of those times when you should forgive yourself, for your own good, and just get on with life.

    I live in southern Oregon and my particular location has averaged .516 inches of rain a day for the last 39 days, so I know about gray soggy weather, it can get you down. I call it the gray dismals, the lack of desire to get out and do anything.

    Yesterday was a beautiful day, sunshine and 50ish temps, my greatest accomplishment.............I went out and shot some pics of a budding lilac bush, some dead teasel, and just thanked God for the sunshine.

    Don't beat yourself up over enjoying your sunny day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have those February blues as well. Things I can do, I don't wanna. As I sit here and type, I see sunshine finally but also frost as well. I am already behind on my chores this morning!

    ReplyDelete
  3. HB~

    The bays are not going anywhere, they will always be there. The cleaning and organizing can wait.

    Sometimes we all just need to take time for us, I call them my do nothing days.

    The weather here has been overcast too, they are forecasting only one day of sun for this week. I'm an odd one though, I love this kind of weather.

    Try and have a good day and just remember it is ok to have days where we just do nothing. :)

    Hugs~n~Love
    ~Fel~

    ReplyDelete
  4. this February is very deary so far. I am looking forward to spring because little Robbie will be here.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Another southern Oregonian here and I get the weather blues too. I also seem to over-work myself one day and have no ambition the next. I like to think of those as mental health days. We all need them! A person isn't meant to work 7 days a week in to eternity. Gotta have a break now and then.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The sunshine state should be called the rain and cold state. The last two weeks have sucked. Not much to movitate. Take a break and enjoy it. I am. Couple of good books. There is always work.

    See Ya

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm sick of winter! Hope this finds you and YOF well. I miss you all at chat. FK

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you all for the pep talk. I'm okay and I'm sure I'll sleep like LOG tonight!

    @AKA...
    What's a dead teasel??

    @Mamma Bear...
    Procrastination is the downfall of summer souls stuck in a long spell of dreary winter! But as others have pointed out, those chores will still be there when the sun finally shines and we finally get motivated!

    @Fel...
    I had a good day, was not nearly as sleepy as I thought I would be. The sun will come out sooner or later. When it does, I should take BEFORE pictures and AFTER pictures of that third bay of the garage. You'd see my frustration! lol

    @Kim...
    That new little grandbaby on the way is great motivation. I'm sure there's much to be done before he arrives in April, so the time will fly for you guys!

    @Paula...
    Mmm...mental health days are good. I really took almost TWO days off this past weekend though. Next weekend is a three day with Monday being a holiday for me at work. I ought to make up for lost time!

    @Tony...
    It's just been weird weather all over the country. One extreme or another. NOT global warming, just natural cycles and a good opportunity for us to practice our 'adapting' skills. Ha!

    @Fatkat...
    We miss chat too, but the darn socket errors make it not so fun. Have you planted you lemon tree seeds yet?

    ReplyDelete
  9. I have an award for you over on my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is not the picture I took, but a very similar one, of dead teasel.

    http://www.npk.u-net.com/Images/Teasel.jpg

    ReplyDelete
  11. join the rest of us in the 'lazy-bone-cannot-move-don't-care to until the sun comes out and STAYS out' club! LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  12. We all need some sunshine to make us feel better. This has been a long winter and we're not done yet! If it will make you feel better...my windows are so dirty I can barely see out of them! But it's gonna have to warm up or the Windex will freeze! Happy Valentine's Sweetie!

    ReplyDelete
  13. @Janean and Joycee...
    Welcome to my blog! I had a dose of sunshine for a few hours last week and it makes a world of difference.

    Today is the first day of a three day weekend. No sunshine so far, but I'm making a dent on the to-do list. The windows will have to wait but I've got bread rising in the kitchen and finally started my lemon tree seeds. If the sun peeks out late today, I'll tackle some of the yard chores too.

    I enjoy both of your blogs, ladies (http://grannymountain.blogspot.com/ and http://oldsweetwatercottage.blogspot.com/). I am following you both now and added you to my blog roll.

    ReplyDelete