It’s cold out there!

This is a ledge outside our garage. That white stuff is snow or ice. I’m not sure which?

I was talking on the phone with a friend from college who lives near Seattle. I told her it was freezing here.

“Freezing? What’s the temperature?” she asked. She sounded skeptical. I often used the word “freezing” when I lived in Palm Springs. That meant anything under 65 degrees.

“It was 29 degrees when I got out of bed,” I said. “We’ll have a high of 40 today.”

“Wow, that really is freezing,” she answered.

The other night I sat on the sofa looking out our sliding glass door as the house and sky lit up with lightening. The roaring thunder that followed was exciting. On my lap, Olive the cat, clung for dear life.Then it poured rain for hours. It was a fun evening in my perspective — real weather!

The next morning, my husband and I tried to walk. But it was too cold for us and we gave up. It was 30 degrees.

We waited until 1 p.m. for our “morning” walk. I took the two pictures here leaving for our walk. I’m not sure if it snowed after I fell asleep — or if it was frozen rain. A neighbor came over the next day and asked me what the white stuff was on our roof! I hadn’t noticed that before. It’s been so cold the ice/snow lasted for two days!

FYI, my neighbor said she had none. She’s just around the corner from us!

What do you consider freezing temperatures? What temperature is too hot for you?

Barrel cactus topped with snow or frozen rain.

It’s cold out there!

Teddy Bear Cholla

Teddy bear cholla down the street.

Monday we had snow. Tuesday it was 30 degrees when I got out of bed. I skipped golf on the snow day and I was feeling sluggish due to lack of exercise.

My husband and I bundled up Tuesday and took our usual walk around the neighborhood. Although it was so cold, it was bright and sunny and we didn’t die! In fact, I felt so much better after getting out and moving araound.

This is about the Teddy bear cholla or jumping cholla:

Teddy bear cholla, or jumping cholla (C. bigelovii), is native to northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States and is sometimes cultivated as a desert ornamental for its showy golden spines. 

https://www.britannica.com/plant/cactus

I guess they’re called Teddy Bear because they are fuzzy looking. But they are not cuddly. They are a hazard. They’re called jumping cholla because they throw off little bundles of spines. If you accidentally step on one or brush them with your shoe, they may go all the way through your shoe to your foot.

My husband spotted this teddy bear cholla in front of a neighbor’s house. He pointed it out to me because of this:

In the center of the cholla is a bird’s nest. What a perfect place to keep eggs and chicks safe!

What’s the weather like where you are? Is it colder than normal?

What do you think of birds choosing a cholla for their nest?

Down and Out

bowl with chicken noodle soup and parsley
Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

I woke up Friday morning at 3 a.m. with a horrific sore throat. I blamed it on the cold weather and sleeping with the heater on.

I’ve had three days of living on Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup. Talk about comfort food. It takes me back to my childhood when I ate it every day for several years.

I use my Neil Med sinus rinse, breathe steam from a pot of boiling water with a towel over my head — and take a handful of vitamins including C, D, zinc, oregano oil, a multi-vitamin for women over 50 and others. I thought I had allergies with post nasal drip, but now it’s spawned into chills, fatigue, cough and sore throat.

What I hadn’t been doing was staying in bed. As of Sunday morning I’m in bed. I’m writing this from the comfort of fluffy pillows and my favorite quilt. I have several friends who said they’ve been sick and it took a few days rest and sleep to get better.

I haven’t been sick for years like this. It’s not fun!

What are your home remedies when you get sick? What vitamins do you think help?

I’m not a cold weather swimmer

swimming pool with clouds
A view of my former city pool in wintertime. I miss my teammates and coach, but at least I’m still swimming.

My husband and I cut our morning walk short yesterday because it was miserable with a cold wind blowing.

When my lap swimming reservation came up I was tempted to cancel. I’m not fond of swimming when it’s cold out. But, having started my YMCA membership four weeks ago, I’m trying to stick to my workout schedule. So I went.

The water was cool. The wind was chilly and fierce. I’m proud of myself for going. Especially after Monday’s barre class that killed me. It was the hardest class I’ve had yet.

The worst part about my swim was getting out of the pool. While swimming, I kept moving to keep somewhat warm. Getting out was freezing! My teeth were chattering. I ran into the locker room to dry off when I normally take my time on the pool deck.

I’ve decided to skip barre class Friday to try Pickleball. A woman in barre class said there’s a beginners class on Fridays. I’ve heard so much about this popular sport and I want to give it a try. It’s at the same time as barre, but frankly my body could take a break and I’m thinking pickleball won’t be as painful!

I’m enjoying my YMCA life. Except for their app. I’m supposed to use it to make lap swimming reservations, but I get an error message. It says I need a valid membership. Yet the app works to check me in. I asked at the front desk for help and so far nobody knows how to correct it. One young guy told me I needed a new phone!

I emailed IT support that I found on the app and explained that I couldn’t make lap swimming reservations and told them the error message I received. I got an email back telling me that I don’t need reservations for taking classes. UGH! Did they bother to read my email? They said if I was continuing to have an issue to email back. I did immediately with a screen shot of the error message. I’ve heard nothing.

So, I am resigning myself to making reservations in person when I go in for the week ahead. Face to face talking to real people. What a concept!

Have you tried pickleball? What are your thoughts about technology that’s supposed to make life easier but doesn’t work?