on weather, wine corks and little indulgences

 This is ice on the inside of my bedroom window this morning, you guys. (We say "you

guys" here in the Midwest in reference to "everyone".) I know the house needs new windows,

but c'mon. It was -12F this morning  ~ almost -30F with the wind chill factor. Needless to say,

 I'm plenty tired of winter. I also noticed from this photograph that the view out this window is

mostly houses. When we first moved into this house almost 25 years ago, there were 

no houses beside us or in back of us. It was all wooded land. I used to watch the deer and

 fat groundhogs come out of the woods from this window. I really miss that. 

Thanks for all the suggestions on fillers for my lamp base. I decided to try the wine corks

for now. I had a bowl filled with corks next to the wine rack in the family room, so I 

dumped them into the lamp base. I obviously need a lot more. So, I either need to up my 

vino consumption, or ask friends and family to start saving wine corks for me. 

Do you ever buy yourself presents? Not the usual clothes or things for the house, but

maybe a little something that makes you smile or that you "just had to have"? A couple

of weeks ago, I came across this Buzzfeed article:

23 Awesome Mugs Only Book Nerds Will Appreciate.

I loved just about every one of those mugs. And since I'm a cat lover as well,

I decided to treat myself to this mug. I think it's rather groovy and delightful.
This is one side; the other side advertises The Strand.

  If you're not familiar with this bookstore, The Strand (which I wasn't until I heard about it
 from Claudia at Mockingbird Hill Cottage), it's "18 miles of new, used and rare books"
 in New York City. I would love to visit this bookstore in person someday. 
(Note to self: make a Bucket List.)

 How's the weather where you live? 

Have you bought yourself any little goodies lately?