If We Were Having Coffee on the 20th of February, 2021 #WeekendCoffeeShare

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Hello and Welcome! Here, I will shovel off dust off a spot for you at the picnic table. It is nice and sunny, if not too warm. I did see flakes in the air just a few minutes ago, but I think we are done. It is actually supposed to get above freezing today! Anyway, I will go get you a nice large mug of super strong dark roast, a piping cuppa tea or some hot cocoa. Isn’t the back yard with the new fallen snow pretty? You can imagine we are a million miles from civilization even though we are in the middle of the village. Oh, were are we? Some of you may recognize that once again we are in New Hampshire. Yes, I will be returning to Cape Cod eventually! Just an odd winter…

We do not have quite the weather news that some parts of the country have! The “big one” was mostly rain and slush here. It still left us with quite a bit of snow, but the snow was the consistency of a ceramic after it all refroze. It snowed all day yesterday, but did not accumulate very much, perhaps 4″/10 cm, perhaps a little more. It has been pretty cold since mid/late January, which I guess makes up for the first half of January. I think this week will return to normal, which is great.

This was a normal week in most ways. I worked. Well, I had Monday off! Work was tough – a huge amount going on. I got the least amount of “formal” exercise of any week in well over a year, which is bad, but I was pretty active, which is good. I played with music, including spending a little more time doing finger exercises on the piano every day (the keyboards on a synthesizer are great for playing synth parts, but they aren’t great for building strength when compared to playing a real piano). I’ve been doing a lot of on-line math and science learning. I’ve been reading. I have been kicking around an idea for a book for years and wrote out the first few chapters the other day. I didn’t go farther “on paper” (electrons), but I have been trying to fix plot and characters in my mind. I’ve played with dogs, including doing a long walk with Fiyero at a jogging pace. I had a Lions Club Zone meeting. I’m sure there was more, but those are the big things.

Anyway, as I said, it is sunny, relatively warm, and the puppies have been bugging me. Plus, I need to get a layer of ice off of things so they will thaw (car and driveway). Thanks for stopping by. It was nice chatting! If you have a coffee chat, I’ll tery to stop in to say “Hello!”

Natalie the Explorer is now the host of the weekend coffee share and she is doing a wonderful job. Stop in at this week’s main share page or go to the InLinkzlinkup to see all of the other shares!

40 thoughts on “If We Were Having Coffee on the 20th of February, 2021 #WeekendCoffeeShare”

    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Thanks, Yvette. It was a pretty good week. This idea is something I have been kicking around for many years (before I even wrote out The Fireborn), but I finally decided to just write it out.
      Have a great week!

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  2. Gary A Wilson

    Hey Trent. I’m not thankful for many things about California. We live here because of family and that fuse has about burned out, but this past week, we were getting fairly nice weather. I could walk easily with a light coat and such, but often in full sunshine with no variation of water coming down from on high. This weekend was my most productive writing weekend in a long time and, I’ll bet your understand, how good that feels. Hope there is a great week queued up for you.

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      I have a friend who lives in Truckee and I think there are times she might disagree about the type and amount of precipitation in CA ;) It is such a big state with so many climates, but, yeah, some places have some of the best weather in the US. Glad you had a productive weekend. It was very sunny here, so i spend most of the day light hours outside. have a great week!

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  3. Corina

    I’m glad the storm was almost a bin event for your area. So many were hard but by it and still dealing with the consequences of it. There are some people in the greater Portland area that are still without power after 9 days! Luckily, we aren’t among them.

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      It is almost ironic that we are the most prepared for this type of weather event and yet we didn’t get hit very hard by it. A little cold weather, but not as bad as some, 6 inches of snow over a few days and a lot of water, slush and ice for “the big one”, but easily handled. It is amazing that the Portland area is still without power! Hopefully it will all be fixed soon!

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  5. Charlotte Hoather

    It’s mild in London but overcast today. So true about piano, this is where I fall over not enough practice, George can be still practicing with his headphones on at 11pm he really misses a grand piano but the Kawai he has on loan is much better than a keyboard for finger strength as you say.

    Glad to read you’re keeping so busy, hope you have a super week.

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      The day here was beautiful and I was able to spend it outside (a benefit of living outside of the city during a pandemic ;) ). There is no way I could find the time to practice enough to be a professional, but it feels great to be getting a bit more in shape and being able closer to the level I’d like. I’m sure once George gets back to a grand he will feel the difference, but still be glad he at least had the Kawai for practice.

      I hope you are doing well and had a great weekend :)

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  6. Astrid

    I’m glad you did stay active despite not getting as much formal exercise in. I haven’t been very active over the past few weeks at all. Thankfully, our weather has warmed up, so I’m hoping to get more active in the coming week.

    I totally admire your learning to play the piano. I don’t have the hand strength for it at all. Also love your math and science learning.

    Good luck on the book!

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      I was able to run today for the first time in over a month! If I don’t stay active on my own, my dogs force me to ;)
      I used to play the piano quite a bit but am very rusty. I do play electronics still, but my keyboard skills are pretty awful, so I’ve been going back tot he piano to get back in shape. In some ways, it is the same with math and science – I have a math degree, but haven’t used advanced math since school. So I am going back to high school level and working my way back up. I’m hoping to be back to differential equations by the end of the year, so i can start into the advanced physics, which is where I want to go…
      Thanks! I hope your weekend went well and that you have a good week ahead :)

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  7. Susanne

    Every time I read a post like this, I’m so thankful to live where we mainly get “only” gale force winds with rain… I’m not a snow person, it may be pretty while it snows bu5 then it’s just inconvenient and uncomfortable, plus I love to look out and see colour instead of a world in black and white! But it sounds like you like your winter weather, which is good. I was very intrigued by your picture – is that a painted cup or is it transparent with some green liquid? It looks beautiful anyhow!
    Nice that you play the piano – I never thought you needed to build strength to play the piano! For some reason I thought that was mostly needed for guitars, mandolins and the likes… but I know way too little about playing pianos.

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      lol, my other house on Cape Cod (which will become my home after I retire) has weather like that – gale force winds all winter, mostly rain, but when it snows, it usually doesn’t stay more than a few days. Before the ground was snow covered here, it was mostly grey, tan and brown, so the snow is prettier. the big issue with snow is that it is very hard to run when the roads are messy.
      The cup has a painting by Vincent van Gogh on it.
      I’ve talked to professional classical piano players, and they practice six hours a day or more to keep their finger strength up. It is very demanding that way. The keys on my synthesizer are much lighter and more sensitive, so it doesn’t take as much to play them, but with the better strength from playing the piano, I have more control and can play fast parts a bit less sloppy.
      Have a great rest of your weekend.

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  8. dprastka

    I hope you had a nice time outside on this sunny day with your pups! Thank you for the yummy coffee, and the visit. It sounds like things are slowly getting back to normal there with your weather. I can’t believe it’s almost March! 😊

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      I spent most of the day outside :) In ways, this year isn’t unusual, and we didn’t get as cold as we often do (we touched zero a couple of times), but we had longer stretches of below freezing than usual. Yes, March is almost here. Thanks for the visit!

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  11. workinacresnothours

    It sounds so pretty & cold, does your driveway get slippery when its icy what do you do if it is? I haven’t had a moment to work out how to get the book reading thingy on the computer yet but as soon as I do, I am looking forward to reading your book. I’ll let you know when I start. Have a wonderful week ahead.

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      It is pretty typical for winter in New Hampshire. Yes, my driveway can get very icy! The drive is on the north side of the house, so it is in the shade most of the time, so it doesn’t melt is easy or quick as a lot of places, so I need to do a good job getting snow and ice off.

      I hope your weekend is going well :) Have a great week.

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  13. Bear

    That coffee was really nice, Thanks! Brrr… it’s cold here 17 with -5 windchills as I type this. brr… I’ve had a “groundhog day” week…luckily, I’ve survived it! Only missed one day of work, Monday, for which I’m eternally grateful. I seriously beyond seriously HATE driving in ice! We were expecting 9-12 inches of snow, instead got 1/2 inch icy-sleet freeze, and 3 inches snow. I think I’d rather have had the foot of snow. It’s still on the ground and except for our parking lot, the streets are cleared and dry. As you’ve seen, I’ve been a lean, mean sewing machine this week. Will be for a few more days as I need to get the baby quilt done and out the door to the mom who is due anytime in the next three weeks! Today, we’re going by the animal shelter to look at pups and kitties… we think we’re ready…

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      It sounds cold, messy and nasty! Ice is the worst. And snow over ice is just plain dangerous. Glad you have something inside to do to keep you busy. If you do pick up a new furry friend, be sure to share photos!

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        1. trentpmcd Post author

          That’s odd that it was closed to the public. Isn’t that what they are about? I do know that some rescues have very strict guidelines for adopting – we weren’t bale to get dogs from a few because we would never be able to do everything they asked. Perhaps it is something like that? Anyway, sorry about that.

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          1. Bear

            No it’s covid restrictions. You have to pre register just to be able to schedule an appointment and they’re only scheduling appointments if you’re certain youre going to adopt the animal that you looked up online….btw… All this has to be online and without actual contact with said animal. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t adopt (especially at their multi-hundred fees) without at least meeting and spending time with a animal…especially a pup…which is what I was wanting. I’d like to get a young cockapoo. I used to pupsit one years ago that I dearly adored. We weren’t allowed to have animals back then… But we could watch one… So buttons would spend time with us while his servants went on mission trips.

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  14. Sagittarius Viking

    We had some new snow this week as well, but also very mild weather. I just came back inside after a walk and it was thawing outside. Its been a slippery week, and for safety reasons I’ve walked less than normal. Your coffee is always great! Thank you, and enjoy the rest of your weekend :)

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      I hope you’ve been enjoying your snow and mild weather. I get it with slick conditions – it is one reason I haven’t been running in about a month – there have been slick spots on my running route pretty much continuously, so… Have a great weekend!

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      I’m glad we missed the worst of the snow and and cold for once, but, on the other hand, we are used to it and could more easily deal with it. I know 35 is cold for down there. Glad you missed the terrible cold and such that Texas saw! The sun is great, isn’t it? Even when it is cold, it does warm one. I’ll stop by for some coffee at some point :)

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