February This-And-Thats

We are in the throes of winter, stretches of sun and temperatures leading to thoughts of spring then snow, ice and cold again.  The local groundhog, Jimmy, predicted 6 more weeks of winter for us on February 2nd, Groundhog Day, and so far it has been proving accurate.  Snow will arrive here in probably a couple hours and for the next almost two days will be off and on with wintry mix and ice mixed in for good measure.  Well, at least the days are getting longer and, overall, the weather is getting better, right?

Still not a whole lot going on around here to write about except the weather, but I can think of a few different things to touch upon...

• During a recent nice stretch of weather my thoughts turned to walking outside, before the weather again said no.  I have been back in the habit of getting on the treadmill for a time almost every day, but outside would be better.  Yesterday I got in my first official outside walk of the year, going to the vet's office to pick up Basil's medicine.  Hopefully more outside walks soon, they are certainly preferable to the treadmill.
• Good motivation for keeping it up is to try to lose weight.  I lost 10 pounds from having Covid in December and so far have kept it off.  But I've only maintained that and I'd like to lose a stone or two this year.
• I've still been using the trail camera in various places, but nothing interesting to share.  It seems to get triggered easily for things up to about 8 feet away from it, but anything past that doesn't seem to trigger the camera.  I'm not too fond of that, at all, but I didn't spend a whole lot on it.
• 
  Not much breadmaking here recently, just pizza crust and pre-made white bread.  I tried a different pizza crust and it turned out well, nice and crispy enough.  This time I made the pre-made white bread in the slightly larger, metal loaf pan and it turned out very good.  Also, I think I decided to try a different baguette recipe the next time I make it, I'm just not sure which one yet.  Bread, buns and all but one baguette are gone now, so I'll surely be baking something soon.
• Neighbor Dave's kids have been cleaning out the house the last couple weeks, off and on.  Most of it seems to be going in the dumpster though I'm sure they're keeping what is important.  I haven't spoken to any of them since I talked to one of his sons before the funeral.  It will be interesting to see what happens with the house.  I know it's in pretty rough shape right now.
• I won $400 on a Super Bowl pool I forgot I was on at a bar and grill we frequent.  I was on a different pool there and took a picture so knew my numbers had lost on that one, but had forgotten about this bigger pool I got on a few weeks earlier.  I went into the bar for lunch on Saturday and had a very nice surprise waiting for me!

We get several three day weekends in the beginning of the year now, including President's Day, yesterday, but now we don't get another paid holiday until Memorial Day at the end of May.  But at least the days are getting longer.  Wait, I already mentioned that.