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Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Unseasonable

So I hear it's storming.  Dumping buckets and buckets of snow, sleet, hail, slish and slosh, temperatures plummeting to single digits.

I'm envious when I look at your snow.  Those glistening hillsides, the flush on your cheeks, the icicles hanging merrily from your eaves.  I pine, truly and deeply, for the cold to bite my lips and the snow to stick to my boots.  I miss the sharp intake, the snap on skin, the festivity of the weather.

But then I look down and see blue suede flats on my feet and a sack of cheery meyer lemons waiting on the counter.  And I fall in love with California all over again.
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I have plans this afternoon to bottle up some of this sunshine into a few glittering jars of marmalade, maybe with a sprig of rosemary for the infusing.  Experimental canning, but I've faith in my culinary skills (although there was a experimental tempeh incident last week... that resulted in frozen pizza) and the homegrown goodness of these sweet things.  The truth is, I'm just greedy for jam.  It's my excuse to eat another slice of bread.  And in the dark (Bright! Chilly! Sunshine!) days of winter as my stash of preserves dwindles, I feel the itch to fire up the stovetop and let the scent of zest fill the house.
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BC and I treated ourselves to breakfast out this morning, our most gluttonous of pleasures, and a tradition whenever one of us leaves on a trip.  I had the eggs bennie with tofu-bacon and, as my restless leg would reveal, too much coffee.  I think the pup and I might need to run a few laps around the backyard just to settle into the afternoon.
Have I mentioned?
He's a battering ram on stilts.
Nearly 35 pounds of teenage maniacal energy with the wiggliest butt and the biggest paws and MUDDY STICKS COMING INTO MY HOUSE ON THE HOUR.  Sigh.  He found the Christmas wreath in the compost pile this morning and hand delivered approximately ten million pine needles to me.  Again.  Sigh.
But the truth is, I wouldn't give it up for a single second.
Because in the afternoons, he sleeps under my studio chair in the sunny spot and let's me warm my toes on his belly.
And I cave like warm jelly.
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OOH!
Breaking News!  While writing this post right here and now, my sister has booked tickets to see THESE GUYS.  It's about time; I've been waiting for their new album with baited breath for the last two years.  And that's too long a time to keep your breath baited.

Thai has been singing "Helplessness Blues" for the last 24 hours straight.  He loves the Fleet Foxes.  Not as much as say, Tupac (he was born with with a booty shake), but the whole folk-thing has really been growing on him.
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10 comments:

MrsLittleJeans said...

I was getting ready to say please share any lemon recipe you have because I die for lemons next to dying for berries when I saw some feline singing from the top of their lungs, I fell off my chair....yup snow is nice and so is the cold but -snow can be nice too, very nice indeedy...xoxoxx

kerin rose said...

I needed this bit of sunshine today....I am actually in the middle of a snowstorm...everything is closed...school, the MALL you name it....so, hoping to be productive in the studio, I have now sliced into both hands (suckiest occupational hazard in the world!) and am calling it quits, instead dreaming of meyer lemon marmalade!.........

let us know how it goes! the rosemary addition sounds splendiferous!

Anonymous said...

wow! check out those fangs!

oh the menacing puppy they are to die for aren't they?
My Puppy Prince is such a goof ball..has no idea that he is now 70 lbs.."what do you mean you aren't going to carry me around?" lol
I do still love a good cuddle on the lap...but later into the evening when he is on the slow mow...then I get the softer baby side of him

ahhh thanks for this bright light in my grey day Miss Dove
as always you are a pleasure

love and light

AppaloosaMoon said...

yes, i'm slipping & sliding & jumping GRANDe slush puddles & sniffling & coughing & dodging ICE chunks from above & smiling all the way...not to mention digging it!


yet YOUR spring like colors & puppy face delight...

& when i can don my blue suede flats...i will know that i have EARNED it!

xoxo

Andrea said...

THE best cat picture ever...
I can just imagine the voice.
Tonight we have the big one heading this way. 30 cm!!! Yay! I went out today and bought magazines, yummy food, peppermint hot chocolate and Fir bubble bath {I'm going to rough it through the storm ;) }
Those lemons look divine...The one I bought today looks rather limey compared...I am far from lemon territory I'm afraid!
Keep posting those sun filled words and images. They keep me warm.
xo
Andrea

UmberDove said...

MLJ - I think if we got my two and your two together, and maybe threw a bass guitar at them, we might have a new pop sensation. Band names? The Furminators...

Kerin - Let's trade for a day, ok?

Cat - That is EXACTLY where I'm headed - 70 lbs of lap-snuggle. But he's so much love, so much sugary-sweetness, so much "I'll share my filthy bully-stick with you" all the time... I adore him.

Nancy - BC is heading out your way for the week so I made him pack heavy and bring an extra beanie and told him to bring me some NY snow.

Andrea - OOH! I think we were simul-commenting! TAKE THAT BATH! I'm lemon with envy!

Anonymous said...

I saw J. Tillman (of the Foxes) solo in Hollywood just before I moved North, and my friend insisted on meeting him afterwards. He's as folksy as his (their) music and I fell in love.

And you're causing me to pine away for homemade jam. Maybe my little midwestern soul will learn one of these days...

Abigail Jasmine said...

Ooo that flower photo makes me want to frolic in the Spring time!! Thanks for givin' me some warmth, Dove!!

Lots of love!
X

Carrie said...

I weep, I weep buckets as I sit here in my house with the doors locked, windows locked, curtains drawn and the heating on (plus a blanket). There is a varitable hurricane (by Irish standards that is) blowing outside and great big fat raindrops that make you wet in seconds.
Enjoy the summer sunshine - nope, I'm not jealous at all, sigh.
Gorgeous photos!
My word verification is HYPER, hahaha. Now that is something I am definately not feeling right now!

Vile-ette said...

The pic of your cat flashing his pearly whites has to be one of the most amazing pictures ever. I heart it. miss you friend.