{"id":93539,"date":"2026-02-01T09:03:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T16:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/?p=93539"},"modified":"2026-02-02T03:43:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T10:43:20","slug":"its-february-first-today-and-we-are-getting-a-cold-snap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/?p=93539","title":{"rendered":"It’s February First Today And We Are Getting A Cold Snap"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

I woke up giggling because of yesterday’s situation.\u00a0 OK, it is 2:30 pm, and Mary has been sitting watching TV and doing her needlepoint for quite a while.\u00a0 As a dutiful husband, I stepped out of the 85-degree heat to check on Mary and see if she needed anything.\u00a0 \u00a0She said, “Yes, please get me some sockies.”<\/p>\n

The TV was on, and I was sure I heard what she wanted even though it was early in the afternoon.\u00a0 So, I go into the kitchen and find a new, unopened box of fine “sake”.\u00a0 I poured it into a nice glass and proudly brought it to Mary.<\/p>\n

\"\"She looked at my kinda funny and said, “Sweetie, I wanted SOCKS, my feet are cold!”\u00a0 We both had a good laugh.\u00a0 Yes, Mary did finish the glass of sake!<\/p>\n

Sake is a Japanese-brewed rice beverage, not a wine or spirit, typically containing 15-17% ABV.\u00a0 Often called the “drink of the gods,” it has ancient origins, likely beginning in China around 4800 BC before evolving in Japan.\u00a0 It is brewed using water, yeast, koji mold, and specialized, large-grain Saka Mai rice.<\/div>\n

The weatherman forecasts a high of 82 today.\u00a0 We talked to Colleen yesterday, and it was four (yes, 4) degrees!\u00a0 She is ready for her visit to begin next Sunday.<\/p>\n

This morning I made my first omelet after watching several YouTube videos, and it came out perfect.\u00a0 By accident, I cooked the cheese-and-mushroom omelet perfectly.\u00a0 I added sliced pears and yougart ot the meal, plus some sliced Dave’s bread and butter.\u00a0 To top it all off, I opened a bottle of champagne, and we had a feast!\u00a0 OK, I did get a little creative.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Contrary to popular opinion, Mary does not have to address me as “Chef Sweet Cheeks”; a simple “Chef Paul” will do nicely.<\/p>\n

Breakfast was done, and Mary headed for her resting spot in the Living\/TV room while I waddled outside to face my nemesis, the garden!<\/p>\n

\"\"

I checked on her several times, and her back seemed to be getting better.\u00a0 My guess is her back will be normal that day, AFTER I finish preparing the garden for summer planting.<\/p><\/div>\n

We checked the weather in New Hampshire and decided to see if we could get Florida to send their only snowplow!\u00a0 Mark would look great driving this around his neighborhood, perhaps holding a tin cup to collect donations.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Since Mark will be driving, we will send the vehicle to Mark’s Brake Repair before it hits the road!<\/p><\/div>\n

Meanwhile, I was fanny-up and head-down in the berry garden, cleaning out the last remnants of last year’s crop and tying up the canes so they would have room this year.\u00a0 \u00a0Note that each cane is tied to the horizontal steel wire, which, through the use of turnbuckles, is taut.\u00a0 The twelve bags of acidic planting soil were worked in by hand, hoping to bring the pH down to the 5.5 range.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Thank goodness for the new gloves.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

By 5:00 pm, Mary had magically transformed from “Couch Potato” to “Inspector Gadget.” Armed with her trusty walker\u2014now upgraded with a dazzling set of streamers\u2014she waddled outside like a queen surveying her kingdom of tomato beds in waiting.\u00a0 To everyone’s surprise, she not only inspected my work but also signed off on the inspection sheets, declaring it “Tomatomania Approved!” With just some minor cleanup left, we were practically ready for a tomato-themed parade.<\/p>\n

I needed a shower, so off I went into the house to make myself pretty, which was NOT an easy task!\u00a0 It’s like I stepped into a reality show called “Survivor: Bathroom Edition.” I fought off a rogue sock monster, dodged an army of dust bunnies, and navigated the treacherous terrain of my shampoo collection\u2014seriously, who knew I had enough bottles to start a small salon?\u00a0 By the time I emerged from the shower, I felt like I had completed an Olympic obstacle course\u2014and let me tell you, the medal I earned is just me, wrapped in a towel and questioning all my life choices!<\/p>\n

It was time for magic.\u00a0 Mary needed to be fed.\u00a0 This morning, I made my first attempt at an omelet, and this evening I went for the gusto: homemade chili!\u00a0 \u00a0I browned the beef, added a can of roasted red tomatoes, added some of Mary’s beans from a few weeks ago (after defrosting them), and then a box of chili mix!\u00a0 \u00a0While everything was simmering, I made bowls of sliced peaches and then microwaved two potatoes.<\/p>\n

The dinner was fit for a king.\u00a0 I brought everything to the Living\/TV room, and we used TV trays.\u00a0 Topped with cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream, I was pleased with the result.\u00a0 We both finished off the plate, almost licking it clean.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

We finally sat down to watch TV, and I began with Apple TV and selected an “action-comedy” called\u00a0 “Instagators”.\u00a0 SPOILER ALERT: Within the first five minutes, the brainless, dimwitted, lackwitted morons who produced this\u00a0 [Rotten] Apple TV junk said the “F-Word” twelve times.\u00a0 We changed the channel, and my hope that Apple would be above the norm was slowly disappearing.\u00a0 Note: The movie could have been watchable if the writers, whose vocabulary was severely limited, had used other phrases instead of foul exclamations.<\/p>\n

We found another action movie and watched it until 9:00 pm, then headed to bed.\u00a0 We want Mary’s back to get better, so plenty of rest is what Dr. Liles ordered.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"

The gardening did a number on my back, also!<\/p><\/div>\n

Good night, all!<\/p>\n

P.S. I am experimenting with two-column layouts.\u00a0 When the text gets too long, I switch to two columns to make it easier to read.\u00a0 \u00a0I want some feedback.\u00a0 Please hit this link and let me know what you think!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I woke up giggling because of yesterday’s situation.\u00a0 OK, it is 2:30 pm, and Mary has been sitting watching TV and doing her needlepoint for quite a while.\u00a0 As a dutiful husband, I stepped out of the 85-degree heat to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[184,233],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-just-us","category-vegetable-garden"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=93539"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93570,"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93539\/revisions\/93570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}