I can be really lazy at times, leaving matters involving my own health for example, to Irving. He makes all the appointments for me, though there haven't been many. And he's the one on the rare occasion when I should be getting something checked up, who takes the initiative. I was certain that today was the day for my appointment at the eye clinic. During breakfast there was a call from the clinic which Irving took. That's another thing, with my impaired hearing he's also taken over the telephone. It was to remind me to bring along sunglasses tomorrow.

 

Jullie

Tomorrow! A reprieve...so I could relax today. I had looked at the calendar but came away with the impression it was for Wednesday, not Thursday. Irving writes the date, place, time and purpose on a calendar he posts in the breakfast room. I just made that incorrect assumption. And because I felt grumpy about it, didn't bother discussing it with him, just taking it for granted we'd be leaving soon after breakfast.

 

We had such a busy day yesterday, I'm grateful today would be quiet. We ran so many errands, I had prepared the croutons for our dinnertime French onion soup beforehand, to cut down on preparation time in the evening.  After we returned from our walk yesterday with Jackie and Jillie on a cold and windy day, I realized that because I had planned fresh figs for dessert, I'd be standing at the kitchen sink awhile, peeling the figs. The soup took little effort to put together; the onion soup I had put on to simmer, cutting strips of cheese, and hauling the croutons out of the toaster.

 

On five days of the week Jackie and Jillie get egg treats after their breakfast, while we're eating ours. Today it was hard-boiled eggs that Irving chops into little pieces; one-half egg each. Jackie prefers having his treats put up on the English settle in the breakfast room. He leaps up and begins to separate the pieces. The yolks remain in the dish, the whites carefully removed. Then he delicately eats the yolks before turning his attention to the whites. Jillie just gobbles hers down in an instant.

 

Later we went out to the ravine for our usual walk-about. It was cooler than we had anticipated with frosty wind gusts. For most of our hike the sun which had been out all day, had receded behind clouds. When it finally returned we had the impression the atmosphere had warmed significantly. That's what the sight of the sun's brilliance does; conveys an impression of comfort and pleasure.

The days are ricocheting regularly now from mild and sunny to cooler overcast, and the result is a noticeable diminishing of the snowpack. Not that it yet makes much of a difference, since there's so much snow to be melted. The snowpack on our lawns and in the forest is really deep. Yet the signs of melting cannot be ignored; the street and house driveways are most now clear of snow and ice. And in the forest the creek at the bottom of the ravine is swollen with meltwater. All the signals clear and interpretable; spring is on the way.