Saturday has arrived and Linda G. Hill tried her best to trip us up on our way to the bar. Her Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt:
“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is ‘ingle.’ Find a word that contains ‘ingle’ and use it any way you’d like in your post. Have fun!”
Ingle???
If we were having a beer, we’d be happy to see blue skies and sunshine.
“Welcome my young friend. Cheryl, bring this weary man a beer.”
“One Corona, coming up, David, but Dan doesn’t look weary to me.”
“Actually, I rather suspect he’s a bit bored.”
“Bored? Why would you think that, David?”
“It’s been pretty cold since we had that last storm, so I assume you’ve been stuck inside.”
“Inside is fine with me.”
“And, if it isn’t, he can always come here. Your Corona has found her lime Dan. Did you get much snow in that storm?”
“Thanks Cheryl! We had snow, comingled with sleet and freezing rain.”
“Ah, the so-called ‘wintry mix.’ A.K.A, the worst winter has to offer.”
“Did you manage to clear it, Dan?”
“I did, David, but it took every snow-removal tool I own, and I was glad I had fixed my snowblower.”
“You fixed it? I thought you had a guy for that.”
“I do, but this was a different kind of repair.”
“Speaking of different, David are you drinking something different today?”
“No, Cheryl, why do you ask?”
“Because you haven’t ordered.”
“Oh my goodness. Can you fix that?”
“Right away.”
“What kind of repair are we talking about, Dan.”
“The storm cab on the blower broke and had to be welded.”
“Your guy doesn’t weld?”
“Here you go David, one bourbon, one snifter of seltzer, one glass of ice.”
“Thanks Cheryl. Cheers, Dan.”
“Cheers David. My guy does weld but he’s expensive. I had him weld the bracket for the headlamp last year, and he charged me eighty dollars.”
“Ouch but are you sure your weld is going to hold. That cab frame has broken once before. Correct?”
“No, it has broken three times before. But I think I fixed it this time.”
“You learned how to weld?”
“Ha! It’s not my welding, it’s the frame itself. The snow-blower is an amazing machine. The frame for the storm cab is a piece of crap.”
“So, you built a new one?”
“I reinforced this one.”
“How?”
“I added two pieces of half-inch square steel tubing.”
“Were you actually able to use the snow blower on ice?”
“Not exactly. I put down a serious amount of ice melt and once it started to work, I broke up the ice with a scraper. Then I used the snow blower to clear away the chunks.”
“You boys want anything; I have to go try to find something in the kitchen.”
“I’m good. What are you looking for Cheryl?”
“My bozo manager put a ‘Peppermintini’ on the drink specials menu under the heading ‘a jingle on the playlist and a tingle for your lips’ – good grief.”
“Tis the season.”
“Yeah, well there’s no good way to stick the crushed peppermint candy to the rim of the glass, as promised in the description, I have to find something.”
“Superglue?”
“I don’t think so, David, but thanks.”
“Peppermint goes well with chocolate.”
“Oooh! Dan, you’re a genius. I’ll use chocolate syrup. Your next Corona is on me!”
“Superglue would have worked.”
“David, John Howell’s bourbon costs quite a bit more than a Coron…oh, what the heck, I’ll give you a splash for paying attention. It’s more than my manager does.”
“Thanks Cheryl.”
“Here you go, a little more bourbon. If you look over at the server’s shelf – ta-da! My first Peppermintini – what do you guys think?”
“That’s a good looking martini, Cheryl.”
“The chocolate sauce is holding nicely. Thanks again, Dan.”
“I notice it’s sitting next to the cherries.”
“Ugh, David. I’m sorry. I forgot.”
“It’s OK, I didn’t want to bother you.”
“It’s no bother. I’ll be right back with them.”
“You do hound her about those cherries.”
“I like to let them soak.”
“Well guys, no good deed goes unpunished.”
“What happened, Cheryl?”
“The waitress delivered the Peppermintini.”
“Yes, and…?”
“They all took a picture.”
“And…?”
“The woman said it tasted like medicine.”
The gallery included a few images from the clean-up. Monday, I’ll share some of the pretty stuff.
No Facilities 
I must congratulate you, Dan, on your innovative use of the prompt “ingle” here. I will think of this while I enjoy my Saturday strawberry dacquirie tonight.
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Mmmmm, that sounds delightful. It’s not exactly dacquirie weather here (we way below 20°f) but that makes me smile. Thanks Roberta.
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Valerie says that “people not clearing their sidewalks (pavements to us) is a sign of the times :-(
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I think she’s right. It’s the law here, but we’re one of about four houses with a clear walk. The sad thing is, the town gives us the salt/sand mix for free. Once that had a chance to work, the ice broke free. “Pavements?” That’s a new one.
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Ya done good here, Dan – story-wise and picture-perfect!!
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Thanks GP. Not many people bothered to clear their sidewalk. I wanted to go on record. No walk for Miss Maddie today. Maybe next week.
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Those that get sun on their driveways do not appreciate the need for a scraper and several hours of hard work. I can feel it because I have to do it every time except this week. We’re headed to SC in seven days so it can sit here and I won’t even think about it until the first of April. :-) Hope Maddie gets a ‘sit’ this weekend. :-)
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Thanks Judy. I’m glad you understand. Our neighbour gets straight sun, but his driveway was still a sheet of ice until yesterday. The temp fell deep into the teens after this storm I’m sure you’re looking forward to escaping this winter stuff. I think this is the worst December we’ve had in years. It must be getting you in the mood to start packing.
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I must confess, Dan, that I spent several minutes racking my brain for linkages between the words in the title of your posting and came up empty. Kudos for your creativity and for using “comingled” as one of your “ingle” words. “Jingle” was the seasonal low-hanging fruit in the challenge and my mind immediately went to it. Clearly your more abundant free time in retirement has stimulated your brain. :)
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Thanks Mike. I had a different title in mind, but when I was done writing, I hadn’t ended up where I thought I was going. I changed the title when I uploaded it to WordPress.
If you want to see creative prompt usage, follow that link to John Howell’s page. He gets a bonus bourbon today.
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Thanks, Dan. I checked out John Howell’s page–masterful–and several others with links to Linda Hill’s original prompt. There are a lot of fun, creative people who seem inspired by this prompt in particular.
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Well, you used one of the words I thought of …. tingle. NICE job on the prompt. Now about that superglue …. although in theory that would work, I don’t think it is advisable to put lip to rim with superglue …. that could turn out to be disastrous. LOL We’ve got a tad bit more of snow then you. Speaking of the season and snow …. I saw a huge flock of grackles the other day, who are supposed to be gone eons ago. Never have I saw grackles at this time of year here. Huh.
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Thanks Amy. I suppose the superglue could cause trouble if not allowed to fully dry. I should add a “don’t try this at home” label. I would have much rather this had been snow. Instead, we had snow, then sleet, then a thick topping of ice. This was close to the worst I’ve ever had to deal with.
I haven’t seen grackles for a long time. Do you suppose they got lost?
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No idea about the grackles, Dan. I did however capture them in our tree. Just to prove what I am saying. Sorry to hear about your nature ordeal. YUCK!
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hahaha . I love your banter!
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I’m glad, Pam. I hope you have a great weekend.
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I’m a purist and this entire ‘tini’ thing is an abomination. Don’t mess with the orginal 😉
Your photos of the ice buildup are beautiful – especially the ice-encrusted tree. Treacherous conditions but very beautiful.
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I have never liked Martinis, but I can appreciate your position, Joanne. I tend to be a don’t-mess-with-success kind of guy.
The ice was pretty. I captured a few nice photos, that I plan to share on Monday. The gallery was getting too big today. The hard part for us in when we have to take Maddie out. She has to go out on a leash (her choice, not ours, the yard is fenced) and we put spikes on our boots before taking that trip.
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I too have spikes for hiking, but there have been days they’ve come in handy for doing even simple things like taking out the garbage!
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Our daughter bought these for us for Christmas a few years ago after both of us had fallen on the ice in the back yard.
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Okay, I missed this? Maddie needs a leash in the backyard? How did she tell y’all this?
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If we let her out on her own, she just sits on the steps. She has neurological issues. Sometimes, when we take her out, she kind of forgets why she’s out there. We know the look she gives us. We bring her back in, and then take her back out after the “oh, I forgot to pee” moment.
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Nothing sends shivers (note I could have said “tingles”) up my spine like the weather forecast of “a wintry mix”.
Had a LOL momenat at this line: “Superglue would have worked.”
Cheers, Dan!
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Thanks Maggie. “Wintry mix” is the worst. I never know what to do. If we get a lot of snow, I try to remove some before it changes to ice, but if I time that badly, we end up with a sheet of ice on the driveway. This time, I left everything, but the sleet/snow layer was too thin, and the rain soaked through, leaving us with nothing but ice.
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I’m exhausted just reading this! You deserved that hearty meal after all that work!
We’re on the south side of the street so our driveway and sidewalk don’t melt in the sun like those across the street do.
Still, I wouldn’t trade and lose my view!
The frozen tree and sunset look very pretty. I’m glad Maddie got some cot time to look at the winter wonderland too.
Wouldn’t chocolate syrup drip even with crushed peppermint/candy canes stuck on it? Maybe hot fudge sauce would be better glue? Just wondering out loud sort of? 😀🍸
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Thanks Deborah. It was a lot of work, I was sore the next day. Still, I think I prefer the sun in the back. I know Maddie does; it dries off her porch.
The chocolate syrup might be closer to hot fudge. It seemed about as think as caramel. I guess you could conduct some experiments 😏
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That’s funny about the taste of the peppermint and chocolate. It’s the reason why I do not like mint in my coffe or tea. It either tastes like medicine or chemicals. Blech.
It’s warming up here today with blue skies. A good day for last-minute shopping. Have a great weekend, Dan!
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Thanks Mary. The peppermint schnapps we had in the hot chocolate at OSV was really good. I don’t think I’d like it in coffee/tea. We’re still sitting at 19° but nice blue skies. I have a tree to put up.
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Lively conversation and great response to the prompt.
I’d rather hear “You need a root canal” than “We’re going to have a wintry mix”!!! Your photos are a mirror image of here. We have some neighbors who apparently think shoveling snow is against the law! Then there are the idiots who don’t clean their cars off …..windows or roofs.
Glad you could reinforce the shield. I bet if you put your mind to it you could build one that would stand up to a Sherman Tank!
I want to curl up with Maddie. She looks toasty warm and comfy.
Some warmer temperatures heading our way Dan. Woohoo! Maybe warm enough for the redhead to take a walk.
Ginger
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Thanks Ginger. We have to wait for the sidewalks around here to melt. Only one other house on our street cleared their sidewalk. I saw several cars with the tiny peek-a-boo holes carved in their windshield. There should be. As n intelligence test for drivers.
I did think about rebuilding the entire frame. The factory frame is really pathetic. I’m hoping the additional support is enough.
Maddie has been curled up Ruth one of us all week. It’s just been so cold out. The warmer days will be welcone.
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Enjoyed the welding lesson, Dan. I never thought to remove the chunks of ice with a snowblower. Of course, it has been 29 years since I last used one. Thanks for the mention too.
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A friend of mine pointed out that using a snowblower isn’t always faster, but not having to lift heavy stuff is always better. The hardest part of clearing away the ice, is lifting it onto the snow pile. The worst part is watching it all slide back into the driveway. The snow blower basically makes it into a snow cone.
I added the link after I saw what you did with this prompt – genius!
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Thank you, Again.
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Whoa! I didn’t see ‘comingle’ coming. Excellent, Dan. Oh, that icy stuff. I can remember shuffling along the sidewalk to get to my car–hoping I didn’t slip. Nasty stuff. Maddie looks so cute in her plaid on that comfy bed. We have rain here–cold, cold rain. But not cold enough for ice–thankfully!
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Yeah, the icy walk to the car or, to the garage to get the shovel is what prompted me to keep shovels, scrapers, brooms and ice melt on the porch. I fell last year, trying to get down the steps so I could clear the ice off the steps.
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The rain/snow/ice mix is a bad thing, Dan. Glad you’re surviving in good style. As for “ingle”, “jingle” came to mind immediately as ‘tis the season after all.
Enjoy the weekend.
janet
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I guess “wintry mix” isn’t something you’re going to miss in the future.
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True, although I will miss snow.
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Omi points for co-mingle! I tried but damn jingle bells would not leave my head and I was NOT in the mood!
They should tell us when we are graduating high school, to pick a place to live where really terrible weather is not normal. I wanted to move to Montana but had friends there that told me the snow wasn’t bad but they kept provisions for a couple weeks due to wind blowing them into their homes…. could not imagine. And snow and rain are the worst… Only experienced it once and my SUV ended up over the cliff. Newbie to the Pacific Northwest, it was April and had snowed over a rain… nice hidden sheet with a sweet dusting of snow on TOP. I wasn’t hurt, and frankly, neither was the Toyota cuz it went over so slowly and got caught by the trees. Merry Merry…
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Thanks Kate. Freezing rain and freezing fog are the worst things New England has to offer. I crashed my car a few years ago on my way to work. I was almost there, but decided to stop for coffee. The parking lot had not been treated and the car just slid all the way across until I hit a pole. These are things they should explain to people who don’t come from a 4-season environment.
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Hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps makes a Snowman. I guess you could dress it up with a peppermint stick and marshmallows (or whipped cream, or both, or all three).
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I didn’t know it had a name, John. They started selling Hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps at the Christmas by Candlelight event we go to – a very nice addition when you’re walking around in the cold.
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Great use of the prompt, Dan. You certainly deserved that plate of comfort food after the ordeal of that ice (followed by snow) cleanup. I shudder to think about it. I’m still chuckling about the super glue on the martini glass. Merry Christmas hugs.
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Thanks Teagan. I know you had storms like this in your previous city, so you know what you missed. Snow falling after the ice makes it easier to walk, in some spots, and deadly dangerous in others. We’ve been wearing spikes all week.
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Kudos to the manager for trying a new holiday treat, although peppermint is not my favorite flavor, and to you for your welding creativity, and man that’s a lot of mustard! Thanks for your comment on my WM trauma.
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Thanks. They do tend to put too much mustard on their dogs, but this worked out fine. By that I mean, none of it ended up on my shirt.
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That would be me. I love hot dogs but rarely have them. They are too easy to fix at home.
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When ingenuity meets perseverance. You’re an awesome example of how to DIY.
I had to laugh about the holiday drink addition. I think I’ll splurge on a regular ole martini tonight. Peppermintini even sounds medicinal. 😂.
Maggie is styling in her checkered vest. We’ve been dog and people watching all morning. She takes the prize for virtual best in show.
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I’m not a fan of martinis, but that didn’t sound good. The rim was pretty, but it had a chainsaw quality to it. It looked like it could do some damage. Still, I got a free beer, so…
Best in show for appearance while sitting on a cot – I’ll hang that over the mantle.
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That welding picture is merry and bright! Man, wintry mix is the worst. Pretty, but deadly. We’ve lost trees to ice. They didn’t freeze; they broke up. :(
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Thanks. We used to have giant (70-90′) opine trees in our anemic little back yard. Every now and then in the winter, you’d hear “whump” and a huge branch would be on the ground. We were worried about us or the dog being crushed under that, so we had them taken down.
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I hear you. We had to take down some dead ‘uns close to the house.
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You know a lot of cocktails can be mixed to taste like medicine – and we had a car repair recently that needed welding (something in the wheel and Axle) anyhow – Food reward looks sooooo good and great ending tree
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Watching bartenders at work, I fear I could make many medicinal tasting cocktails.When I bought this welder, I was doing a lot of my own car repairs.
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“wintry mix” are two of my least favorite words ever. They mean nothing but trouble for everybody down here…
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It is the worst.
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I don’t think you’ll ever completely retire, Dan. You like to work too much. I always dread ice storms because Bradford pear trees split and crash to the ground. We made a terrible mistake by planting them on both sides of the driveway. And several of them have fallen across it over the years. So, I shudder when we get freezing rain.
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Unfortunately, we had to take down almost every tree on our small lot. The previous owner made bad choices with what he planted and where he planted them. We’ve planted some replacements, but they’re years away from providing shade.
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There were no trees when we moved here and we wanted lots of shade so we planted them everywhere. All we knew about a Bradford pear was it’s shade-providing beauty. Now it’s costing a fortune to have them cut down. Crepe Myrtles are the best choices we made along with several pin oaks and Maples. they are huge now and provide tons of shade. I love trees, but they’re messy and too much upkeep now that we’ve gotten older.
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follow me i am new here..
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I will check out your place.
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ok
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That’s a lot of “ingles”. Unfortunately, we too had snow comingled with sleet and freezing rain. It kept me on the treadmill for 2 days last week!
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Better than on the ground. We still can’t walk on most sidewalks in town.
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Good grief, now I’d like a pepperminttini, and I have everything to make one so… Goals! Clever idea for the chocolate syrup.
$80 to weld THAT? Wow, I should be a welder. Who only works in snow, obviously.
Wintry mix is a pain. We’re down to slush now. We had icicles the size and length of my arm and I noticed this morning they hung no more.
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We’re mostly slush now, too. It’s been in 40-50 range. If it’s broken in the snow, you can charge whatever you want.
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I guess. Sheesh.
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Oh my God, so much ice! A peppermintini eh? Well, I don’t like Mint Julep so….but! I got this flaming chocolate peppermint rimmed martini few years back. It was pretty awesome. You are such a creative repairman, Dan.
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Thanks Cheryl. A flaming peppermintini ? Now that sound interesting. When something breaks three times, it’s time to get creative.
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Agreed. I was telling hubby about your post and he instantly recalled the times you wrote about the ‘injuries’ to your Winter help mate. You guys and your machinery. Talk about commonalities. 😉
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I consider that being in good company.
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😊
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I laughed out loud at “It tasted like medicine.” The snow/ice was awful. Thank goodness I had a snow day at school. Since the snow came first, then the ice, we purposely did not snow blow until all was over. Snow blowing ice on top of a bed of snow isn’t so bad. The photo of your ice-scraping the driveway makes me want to go back to bed. Beautiful sunset. Merry Christmas, Dan. 🎄
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Thank Jennie. I didn’t remove the snow, but we didn’t get much before it changed to rain. The rain soaked the snow, it froze and then more freezing rain. This was the worst ice event I can remember.
Merry Christmas.
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Ah! Lucky us that it was colder and we had some snow first. I can’t imagine removing 4” of ice. That would be worse than raking the roof.
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Chocolate syrup and peppermint sound great to me. The alcohol combo probably made it taste a little like medicine, but sometimes it’s fun to experiment with things like that. I have a feeling you will never be bored, Dan. I think the last time I was bored was in my early 20s.
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Ha! That’s a good run, JoAnna. I’m hoping to keep this one rolling.
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I like the sound of chocolate syrup
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but i never tasted peppermint!
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Well, if you find some, try it with chocolate. By the way, advertising links are not permitted. People will find you from the link attached to your name, if they are interested, Don’t risk being blocked.
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Ok I will try it with chocolate and thank you for the advice
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