Just Chilling

We're slowly climbing out of the depths of a typically cold and stormy February. My winters are really holidays with nothing much to do except keep warm, well fed and entertained. I double my grocery orders in case storms might discourage driving.

Hot chocolate with honey is a welcome winter comfort.

 

Well, I do have a few responsibilities and one of them is to keep my snowblower in good nick. After discovering that it's carburetor was gummed up earlier, I'm making a few changes with it. From now on, I will only use 91 grade gasoline. It contains no ethanol which smaller engines do not like. Also, I'll drain the tank and fuel bowl for summer storage. But there is another problem. This time not caused by me but by mice building nests among the carburetor linkages. A chap told me that he put an end to mice bothering his boat by putting out bars of Irish Spring soap. He said it completely kept them away. So I bought some of that soap and set it around my snowblower. The mice were not repelled. In fact, they seemed to like the taste! So on to plan 'B'. I've ordered rodent repelling balls containing peppermint oil.

In short time, mice started to consume these bars. Deterrent failure!

Plan B's product on order.

 

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I'm currently reading a fascinating book! Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. Things that baffled me about our species now make more sense. Weird and (to us) unjust rules were meant to control the masses. For instance, Babylonian King Hammurabi (reigning from c. 1792 to c. 1750 BC) divided his subjects into two genders and three classes: superiors, commoners and slaves. The life of a female commoner was worth thirty silver shekels and that of a slave-woman twenty silver shekels, whereas the eye of a male commoner was worth sixty silver shekels. And of course, he got his instruction and authority directly from the gods. (Sound familiar?)

 

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I finally succumbed to Amazon's Prime subscription pitch. After all, I seem to be ordering more things on line and would likely come out even with free delivery. Also, it includes Prime video. I enjoyed re-watching Gosford Park and Sing. Gosford Park's murder was a bit of a stretch for the imagination but the scenery and costumes were gorgeous! And the 2016 movie, Sing, was an animated and musical delight.

It was the beeswax candles that impressed me in this Gosford Park scene.

Sing's Miss Crawly delivers a message to Buster Moon.

 

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Outside my windows are the usual cast of real life characters. The furred and feathered stars of my backyard:

My feeders get occasional visits from Red-Bellied woodpeckers.

She takes a good helping from the suet feeder.

These guys really stand out against the snow.

My aging spruce trees are quite an attraction for Pileated woodpeckers.

There are always plenty of hoppies about.

I fastened fluorescent tape atop a pole as a wind indicator.