Groundhog Day, and beautiful sunshine so, puffy-coated, fluffy-hatted and sunglassed, I went out to see if the local groundhogs, a family of whom live here, close enough to houses to eat any flowers unwisely planted within reach, had any comment.
The story is that if he sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. Not a difficult guess to make in the first week of February in the northeastern US, and here's confirmation
from the resident concrete rabbit, who is not amused at being conscripted to play a groundhog.
However, further along, there are signs of spring
Daffodils coming up among last year's leaves.
Back on the home front, this is happening
And the current puzzle is very slow going. I even had to renew the loan, because it's due back today, and as you see, nowhere near.
Misfits fell down a bit this week. I always order within minutes of the window opening so as not to miss out. But even so, three items, leeks, blueberries and hake, can't be delivered, dangit, had plans.
The box is also not yet shipped, now estimated tomorrow, rather than this afternoon. There may be weather issues with receiving produce, not everyone having our dry winter. We shall manage.
Speaking of which, did you see that lovely clue from Cathy from Melbourne, about the Haggard Hawks puzzle? It pays to read the comments.
That impossible word ending in AK?
TIEBREAK!
Happy Candlemas Day everyone!
Candlemas, candlemas, candlemasDay Throw your candles and candlesticks away!
Old rhyme recited by my mom every year.
And may your shadow never grow shorter -- Irish wish for a long life, meaning stay as vertical as you ever get.
Happy Groundhog Day. Hope the box arrives soon.
ReplyDeleteStay tuned -- it arrived perfectly on time after I'd hit publish!
DeleteDo lots of sunshine on candlemas. Not a good sign but let’s hope it’s wrong
ReplyDeleteOur weather turned suddenly we had cold gusty winds from the South Pole, thunder and rain.
Woke up this morning and all the puddles are gone. That’s how dry our ground was. So it was a blessing.
Six more weeks only brings us to late March. That's still pretty much winter here. So it's okay. It sounds amazing to hear of winds from the South Pole.
DeleteWell, no wonder I didn't get that puzzle answer! In Canada, we don't say "tiebreak," we say "tiebreaker." That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!
ReplyDeleteA likely story!
DeleteThere's also heartbreak, britspeak, creak, tons of words ending in ak. Wouldn't fit the puzzle, but I'm just looking for a fight here!
DeleteI suspect that the concrete rabbit is correct -- at least here. It's about to get very cold -25 or so, and there is not a huge difference between the two scales at that point. Well, more than I thought -13F. It's actually at -40 that they register the same.
ReplyDeleteAfter I establish zero in each scale, I've had it. Have to look it up.
DeleteThe daylight is lengthening! The cold is settling in though. No signs of spring here among the plants, Boud. We’ll take the extra light though!
ReplyDeleteFebruary is weird that way, a lot of light and enough cold to keep you home!
DeleteI got the puzzle with the help of that commenter, but I have to agree. I don't think I have ever heard the word "tiebreak"; I've always heard "tiebreaker". Wouldn't "tiebreaker" be a noun? I'm not sure what part of speech "tiebreak" is? Maybe it's like "break". Can be a noun---take a "break" or a verb---"break bread.". Still sounds odd to my ear.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's British? Haggard Hawks is a professor in the UK.
DeleteI just looked it up, because I've heard it many times. It's a term in tennis. A tiebreaker is a different thing, in other sports. But I'm very familiar with it in tennis, remember when it was first introduced, after a stupid Wimbledon match where one set went to something like 42-40, before one player was able to win!
DeleteLearn something here every day! I know nothing about tennis. Suffered through a semester in college. Never could hit the d ball! Maybe the word goes with tennis. If I remember correctly, "love" goes with tennis, too? Thank you for your unique blog.
DeleteNothing more optimistic than those spears of green poking through the ground. Hopefully spring is just around the corner for you. It's the middle of summer here and we have the heater on. Crazy weather.
ReplyDeleteHoping for spring. My houseplants are aware of the increasing light.
DeleteWe had so much sunshine today, enough for two Groundhog Days.
ReplyDeleteNo, no, not another, where will this end??
DeleteThe concrete rabbit is looking more and more groundhog-like, given his truncated ears!
ReplyDeleteLooks like you are going to get a good Spring flower display despite your commemorative snowdrops not showing as they should have done.
ReplyDeleteMy daffodils aren't up yet. These are way far down the edge of the trees, quite a walk to see them. But my own are usually pretty faithful at returning. In deeper shade, so not there yet.
DeleteAlthough the idea of a groundhog day amuses me, was there ever a time in the northern US when there were NOT six more weeks of winter left on February 2? It would be most odd.
ReplyDeleteYour signs of spring, however, are real and true. It will come when it comes.
I think the groundhog idea just cheers us up when we know there's definitely six more weeks! It's like predicting it will get dark tonight! All a tourist driven put on, bit of fun.
DeleteInteresting to read the discussion about the work of the day - I, too, had never seen that particular word so the puzzle eluded me this time.
ReplyDeleteOne of the groundhog 'predictors' here ended up dead so not quite sure what that might mean when it comes to the coming of spring.
I guess for him it became a non issue. Maybe the stress of predicting was too much?
DeleteFunny that a word which seems very common to some of us isn't in the experience of others. Since the Australian Open has just finished, I guess Haggard Hawks thought it was an easy one.