January thaw?

It rained a lot overnight and this morning, which meant we lost the snow that protected us from the thick ice on the ground.  Ugh.  I managed to get the deck stairs down to bare wood, which was great because the snow build-up on them gets treacherous.  I did not get the path from the door to the stairs cleared, however, which might become a problem if we have a lot of snow this year.

It was lovely and warm this morning--not sure if this constitutes our January thaw, but it was a great relief from the sub-zeros we've been having.  I hosted book group last night and thought the house was way too warm at 68 but everyone laughed at me.  I made meatloaf that was a disaster, using gluten-free bread crumbs to accommodate one of the women.  The meatloaf was like a hard, dry brick.  Awful.  The dogs had a real treat this morning.

Linda had sent a wonderful collection of cheeses, crackers, cornichons, salami, etc. from a fancy place in Ann Arbor--she sent it for the December meeting that we postponed to yesterday.  The treats were great and we all chowed down on them enthusiastically.  I had cleaned the house for the Dec. meeting and was not motivated to do much to prepare for last night, which meant the kitchen was a real mess, disorganized and with things piled all over.  People must wonder how I can cook anything in that kitchen when it's so cluttered.  Well maybe, after that meatloaf they won't wonder, they'll just know that I CAN'T.

I had a really nice evening with the Holts on Sat.  We went to friends' for cocktails--these are the people whose son has a dog from my breeder.  That dog is beautiful and looks like Treasure only with a better head.  Wow she's a beauty.  After drinks we drove to Lake Placid for dinner at the Mirror Lake Inn ($$$$$).  We enjoy going to fancy restaurants and being fussed over by pompous staff.  They had gift cards so it was not as embarrassing as it sometimes is, when they pay a huge amount of money for our dinners and won't let me contribute.  Anyway, we had a grand time.  Our reservation was for 7:00 and we didn't get home until 10:30.  The roads weren't great so it was slow going on the trip home.

People have been out on the lake quite a bit and report that there's no thin ice along the shore.  That's my main concern, I know it's thick out farther, but sometimes the shallow areas are tricky.  Rush & Annie skied on Sat., which was a sunny beautiful day in the 20's, and they walked on the lake yesterday.  Other friends were out on the ice over the weekend, too.

Work is fine.  I had to catalog a huge order of e-books, which took most of last week but it was very nice to have that many titles (300) added to our collection.

So now it's 2014, into January already.  Duncan & David will be coming at the end of the month, and Joe will come next month for the Big Burn.  I had hoped to travel to Georgia with Pat to see Joe & Martha maybe in March but the money situation doesn't look too good for that kind of expense.  Electric heat is hell.