Sonia, a Brazilian writer, updated her online journal with a photo of, among other things, her bookshelf. After I finished drooling, I thought I’d take a picture of my sadass bookshelf so y’all could feel sorry for me.

I mean, is this not cruel and unusual punishment for a booklover such as myself? My librarian would surely agree.

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It’s sunny and the thermometer claims the temperature is above freezing, but the wind is still blowing and when I was out on the deck getting almonds from the freezer for the granola I’m making, it felt pretty damn chilly. The dog was in her cardboard house instead of out running around. That surely means something.

I’ll get out there. Meanwhile, I have a card reading to do for someone who sent a cheque about six months ago and has waited patiently all this time. I haven’t cashed the cheque, but I still feel a little guilty. Tsk! Where does the time go?

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Sadly, the list of most and least carcinogenic (i.e. pesticide-contaminated) fruits and vegetables includes the ones my children eat the most of. This is downright scary. It takes two hours of highway driving to get somewhere that sells organic produce, so I often purchase what is available locally. I’m going to have to make better arrangements.

Not that I haven't asked the Co-op store to get organic produce in. I have, and they thought they would. But I'm not seeing it very often. There is not enough demand for it. Grrrrrr. I thought I was demanding enough!! Just ask Scott.

Here are the most contaminated:

Apples

Celery

Cherries

Grapes

Grapefruit

Lettuce (leaf)

Lettuce (head)

Nectarines

Oranges

Peaches

Pears

Potatoes

Snow peas

Spinach

Strawberries

I found this list by following links at this Marketplace webpage.

I long ago stopped buying strawberries and grapes off the Co-op’s shelves, and Scott grows our potatoes in the summer. But most of the others are staples in our kitchen.

Not good.

This picture? Taken early in the week, before we had another six inches of the fluffy white dumped on us.

People's vehicles have been stuck on roads all over the area, as the municipal graders are not able to keep up with the snowfall combined with high winds.

My trip to Grandma's today, where Everett was going to spend the night, was kiboshed in favour of staying warm and cosy. The idea of shovelling out a snowbank in the middle of a gravel road somewhere between there and here was not too appealing.

Thursday night we came home from Everett's piano lesson and had to park on the road and shovel 50 feet of driveway in order to get the van up to the house. Fortunately the snow was, though deep, light and powdery, and Everett thought shovelling was fun.

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Let's see, what's new:

1) new mattress and boxspring this week -- gotta like that; a little more padding and my hipbones aren't grinding into the thing, so it seems a luxury fit for a queen.

2) a girlhood friend's mom's funeral in town yesterday; sad occasion, particularly since the cause of death is not known and, although she'd been ailing for several months, her illness was not expected to kill her. So on top of shock and grief, her children and family have this mystery (as the pastor called it) to cope with. One asks enough Whys when the reasons are known; this must be even more difficult.

3) after the funeral, a good visit with my friend Clever and her family, with whom I spent quite a bit of time as a teenager. Her mom still calls me a "brat."