Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, your popular host, Mani the purebred border collie, here today to talk about not very much at all. You may remember me from such posts as “Still Nothing”, among so many, many others.
Here I am in a characteristic pose. 
You can tell that it snowed again.
This is what it looked like the night before:
So there’s been snow on the ground for three weeks now, in the driest month of the year. (Winter is our dry season.)
And it’s supposed to snow again tomorrow, and some time next week, too, with no warm days at all. But at least we’re not having “fire weather”.
The guy I live with said it’s kind of claustrophobic, and doesn’t help with his sense of loneliness, but he does stuff to sort of help with that. (He bought a new cordless vacuum cleaner, for one thing. He claims that there are dust bunnies in the house that are the size of horses, and are mostly dog hair, which I find hard to believe.)
Today, besides helping the guy I live with fill the bird feeders, we had Opera Day again, so there was a lot of singing and stuff. La forza del destino. I was asleep for a lot of it.
And he made egg foo young. He said he almost had to take out a second mortgage for the eggs. He made enough patties, or whatever you call them, for a few nights.
I’d show pictures of my food, too, but I ate it all.
There’s not much else to say. Just think of this as a sidelight on our exciting modern lifestyle.
I’ll leave you with a picture of me investigating things on my evening walk.
Until next time, then.
the miserable gardener 
We feel that sense of being enclosed, a forced enclosure, with days of rain – though recent weather has been cold and frost has been the daily weather for us. Today has begun wet, grey and dark and tomorrow will have rain all day. Thank goodness for the larger weekend newspapers! On the culinary front: Prawns in a Sichuan chilli sauce has made a return to the table here after an absence of many years. It may herald the beginning of a Chinese revival in the kitchen. Stay warm!
We are definitely not used to having this much snow in January, and having it stay on the ground for so long. And also not used to having so little sun. Not much that can be done about it.
The guy I live with said he should have had a greenhouse built years ago, to keep him from going crazy, but he does have other interests aside from gardening.
Mani, you need to tell your guy that dust bunnies made from dog hair aren’t all that bad! We just lost our beloved Jubal (he was 15…his former dad died and we took Jubal home to live with us) this past spring, and I miss finding dog hair in the oddest places….homes without a dog don’t feel much like home. I also wonder if you ever find traces of voles under that snow when you do all your “investigating”? I find vole runs in the spring when we have had a lot of snow and the snow finally melts.
I keep telling the guy I live with that the garden is free of voles, thanks to my constant vigilance, but with all this snow I might not be able to see them.
the weather seems pretty messed up everywhere at the moment. We have been experiencing unseasonably warm weather so our snow cover is melting. Worrisome as we don’t want things to wake up as there’s still a lot of winter left. Have heard of the egg shortages in the US. Why? Stay warm and cozy. The upside of the snow is when it melts it will add lots of moisture.
I guess the egg shortage is because of avian flu. The guy I live with can get eggs, but they cost more.
He says it used to be common for plants like roses to start leafing out in February because of warm weather, but now winters are just cold every day. Say like about 7C day after day.
It was perfectly reasonable to expect snowdrops in flower most of the winter, but maybe those days are gone.
They’re predicting snow for tomorrow, and “heavy snow” for Monday.
But then it was never reasonable to worry about “fire weather” in the winter, either.
Yes, we have been scratching our heads about the most snow received in a January in over 30 years. Cold weather we expect (thank you National Western Stock Show) but all this snow is pretty wild. Stay warm and I hope your Dad is able to ruminate around soon. We think Mum’s cabin fever is far worse than ours so we empathize with you.
~Norman & Elsa 🐾
This is just bizarre. It must be due to La Nina. The guy I live with said a lot of people will get excited about this, but really all the snow does is evaporate during the winter, and isn’t much use to the plants in the garden, except as insulation.
And now we also have to think of it as preventing fires.
The guy I live with is also getting kind of cranky because I want to have the back door open all day long, so I can just stand in the doorway, looking at things.
That must be a universal trait of dogs everywhere. We {think} want to go out more often than when it’s warm only to go and stand out in front of a huge pile of snow (or in Elsa’s case, crunching on ice crystals). We always thought La Nina meant cold temps and less moisture. So far that hasn’t been exactly the case. The last storm melted and caused all kinds of trouble. Cars and humans aren’t generally good skaters.
The guy I live with is getting mad at me for wanting to have the back door open and not actually going out. The back door is usually open all day long, except when it’s really cold, but in the last few years there’s been “insanely strong” perfume coming from next door, all the time, and it fills up our whole house, so the door isn’t open as much as it used to be.
I like to go out to the back fence and bark at dogs being walked, and sometimes coyotes (not being walked), too.
Someone told him that La Nina means more snow for us; he’d be happier with less snow now, and more rain in spring and autumn.
Oops,m you’re absolutely right about La Nina. My bad (and Mother Nature’s too). After last month’s Xcel bill, the dogs need to quickly skeddle through the door. The new rule is “we are NOT heating the outdoors, guys.”
The guy I live with got kind of irked at me for just standing in the doorway today. And yesterday. But it’s fun, and watching for anyone walking in the field is one of my many duties around the house and garden, though the guy I live with says I should be more focused on squirrels trying to steal sunflower seeds in the feeder way out in back by the fence.
The guy you live with may be right. The squirrels in our ‘Hood are such hoodlums-we deliberately try to ruin their day.
The guy I live with says the squirrels aren’t as annoying as the ones who lived here some years ago: Earl, Merle, and Pearl (especially Earl), but they’re still pests.
Things might be slightly better if he got some of those dried ears of corn again, for the wheel out in the way back. To distract the squirrels for a couple of days.
MMMMMMMM Eggie Foo Young lookss so so guud Mani!! Guy yore so tallented!
An guess what? Youss’ have MORE snow than us here?!?!?! Wee happy youss’ DID get lotss of snow to help with drought.
Now if wee cuud have more snow!!
You look furry cat-tented Mani an that iss guud….
Happy trailss speshelly with yore snazzy lit collar!!
***nose bopss*** BellaDharma an ((hugss)) BellaSita Mum
Thanks. I really like my collar; I can see the color blue.
It’s supposed to snow tomorrow and the next day, too.
Egg foo young is very easy to make.
https://www.recipetineats.com/egg-foo-young/
The only trouble is finding bean sprouts, but there are recipes with julienned vegetables instead.
” trouble is finding bean sprouts”: So easy to grow in a mason jar on a kitchen countertop. Mung bean sprouts are usually ready in four days.
That’s what everyone is telling the guy I live with. He just goes to the store instead.
Blue iss a grate color Mani!!!
WOW!!! Youss’ hit teh SNOW JACKPOT there!! Pleese send sum to Midwestern Ontario…….wee want snow!!!
BellaSita Mum meowed shee prefurrss bean sproutss to veggiess inn her Eggie Foo Young….shee sayss shee MUST look fore sproutss next tiem shee goess shoppin 😉
Blue is indeed excellent. The guy I live with says we don’t need any more snow here, though it’s snowing just a little right now.
It’s really hard to find bean sprouts here, except at the Asian markets, where he can get lots of them.
An wee cuud use a few more feet of snow Mani 😉
BellaSita Mum hopess Guy can find Bean Sproutss…shee is sure they are here inn our fave grocery store….shee will dubbell check that end of month!
Stay warm an have fun Mani!
The guy I live with went to the store and came home with bean sprouts.
This is really strange weather here. So much snow.
It’s supposed to snow tomorrow, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Egg Fu/Foo Young/Lotus Flower Eggs… Do you serve it “Cantonese-Merican” style with that gloppy brown sauce?
Yep, with extra glop. (And extra white pepper.) There are fancier recipes, but the guy I live with sticks to this, since it’s quick to make.
Does the Ephelant shed?
Maybe that’s the problem.
Even if it is not, blame is easy.
The guy I live with says blame is often too easy.
Well, now I feel guilty for suggesting it. Let’s not tell the guy you live with.
Okay.
Snow is nice, but snow followed by bright sunshine is much nicer. It’s been cool and damp here with clouds and more clouds. Maybe it’s only been a couple days but it feels endless.
The sun is out here, now, but it’s not very warm. Just a little above freezing.
Our yard has been covered in snow for twenty-four straight days, and there hasn’t been much sun. A “normal” January would be mostly sun with hardly any snow. If it did snow, the snow wouldn’t last long, because the sun would evaporate it.
Except for the lack of sun, this really doesn’t bother the guy I live with as much as people might think, though.
Thank you Mani for the update. Chin up! Or else you’ll get snow on it. Lee
Thanks; I’m pretty tough, as you know. The cold doesn’t bother me much.
HURRAH fore Bean Sproutss!!!
Say what iss yore weather apposta to due on Fursday Mani??? Mew mew mew 😉
It’s supposed to be cold here until next week. No gardening, that’s for sure.
Sorry no gardenin…wee due not start to garden til May butt who nose this yeer Mani? 😉
We’re used to having at least some things in flower now, but I guess not this year.
Wee sorry no flowerss yet….wee go 6 monthss with no flowerss…
THANX fore snow!! Wee have 2 more inchess….iss so purrty Mani an Guy….
The guy I live with has been complaining to me about how cold it is, but it’s supposed to be even colder next week.
Same here Mani!!! Wee had snow last nite an today! Tomorrow snowstorm an furry chilley,,,,wee see what happenss 😉