oh, great, two more feet of snow!

I can't take credit for this one -- my friend Mona sent it out this morning with the above subject line. I had to share it with you.

It is still snowing here.  Yesterday morning, as it was starting I took a picture of the table on the deck but it wasn't worth posting. But compare it to the one I just took, 24 hours later (and still coming down).

Later...I was cleaning off the cars before they came to plough the driveway and who was in the street in the middle of all this?
By the time I ran to get my iPhone they were further away, but they are huge! I was knee-deep in snow and didn't get everything cleaned off but better than nothing.  The sun is out, everything is melting - it reminds me of the way it was in Boulder when I lived there. Big snow - sun came out and there was never any ice on the roads. Delicious.

we need more snow?

It still hadn't started snowing at 6 this morning, so Marty got up to go to work.  By the time I got up, around 8:am, huge flakes were falling and this was the view out the front.  Needless to say, he never left the house.  The rhodies looked rather sad

  but the azalea bushes looked good enough to eat.

This was a heavy, wet, slushy snow and it was especially pretty so my camera got a workout today, capturing the woods.

 

 

 I won't post all of them, but you get the idea.  The plows and back hoes have been out all day and it is still snowing. Supposed to keep going till 4:00 tomorrow afternoon. My Studio Six crit group meeting was bumped to next week and my evening crit group, likewise.  But the Studio Montclair crit group is small, so we posted and commented on each others' work by e-mail this afternoon.  Turned out to be a pretty good conversation and while it will never take the place of a real meeting (with hugs and food and wine), it is a good thing to do between monthly meetings.

I leave you with this.  The current issue of Art Quilting Studio has an article I wrote, called "Cinderella Quilts."  They did a gorgeous job of photographing my work and I'm pleased with it. This beautiful magazine on heavy paper, is suspending publication after three issues. 
You might want to grab an issue, which will be a collector's item.

I spent the afternoon and evening throwing out piles of papers so I could rearrange the bookshelves in the sewing room and actually see what I have. If I couldn't file it, I threw it.  Anonymous would be proud of me.

P.S. - this is the last picture (for now) of Miss Emma. I promise. And you don't have to comment.  Just take in her expression and the pose. I wonder what she's thinking.

Mais où sont les neiges d'antan?

Elles sont partout, et elles sont devenues les neiges d'aujourd'hui.
The snow is everywhere today.
Voilà la famille Bambi (comme on les appelle chez nous) derrière la maison, en mangeant au bord des bois. Il y en avait six ce soir - d'habitude il y en a plus -- des fois, huit. Hier, je les ai vus courant tout ensemble, comme si quelqu'un les chassait.
Here is the Bambi family (as we call them at our house) behind the house, eating at the edge of the woods.  There were six tonight - usually there are more -- sometimes, 8.  Yesterday I saw them running together as if someone was hunting them.

Ces Bambis mangent tout, ils vous donne Lyme Disease (j'avais cette maladie il y a 10 ans) et à vrai dire, ils sont une nuisance.  Mais comme ils sont beaux et gracieux!  Mon mari peut passer les heures à les regarder sans s'ennuyer.
These Bambis eat everything, they give you Lyme disease (I had it 10 years ago) and truthfully, they are a nuisance. But they are so beautiful and graceful!  My husband can spend hours watching them without getting bored.

On another subject -- did my horrorscope give me a push this morning? Yes, indeedy!  No procrastination in this house!  You can tell by the condition of the formerly organized boxes (see, it never lasts long) that I was working all day. 

Here's the problem: I got myself involved in a project that requires thinking ahead. Not a good idea.  I tried an experiment that turned out to be so butt ugly that I actually laughed out loud. All by myself.  Then, I just went back to my usual M.O. and it is turning out much better.

But now the place is a mess again and I am hoping to get out of here tomorrow and spend time with a friend.

snowed in

Backtracking a bit - so bear with me.

Marty's right eyeglass lens fell out as he was driving to work on Monday, so he turned around and came home. A sign from the universe!!  He's been complaining forever that he can't see - but has he been to the eye doctor for a new prescription?

Happily, his regular eye guy wasn't in so he had to see someone else who could look at him with fresh eyes (sorry). She ditched his progressives for bifocals and gave him a new prescription. They should be in on Monday. In the meantime, he is walking around with one lens because it keeps falling out. He says can't tell the difference. Snort!

While we were there, his other doctor called with a cancellation so off we went, after the eyes. Then headed for happy hour at the restaurant next to the pharmacy. Aaaaah.

When we got home, there were 2 boxes waiting.  One was layette stuff for Shmooey (who has yet to make his or her appearance) and the other was a box of gems from Mrs. Closet. My joy is boundless!

Yesterday the skies were clear and blue and we were hoping the snow would change its mind. Another day with two medical appointments, which took till dinnertime. Sushi - and miso soup, which I already told Del I didn't think was as good as mine.

The evening was fun. For too long, I have resembled an overgrown tree and Marty was starting to look like Santa Claus. (Such a stunning couple.)  Then I read that a pricey salon was having a cut-a-thon with discounted prices; all proceeds going to the Unicef Haiti Fund. Hairdressers from other salons joined them to donate their time.

Another sign from the universe -- so off we went!  Since haircuts were less than I normally pay, I was thrilled. Strictly walk-in and you get whoever is free. As it turned out, I got a great cut from a hairdresser I will use again at a salon I have been to but didn't like the haircut I got from someone else.

Marty, OTOH is not used to paying such prices, so my treat. His b.d. is next wk, so an expensive (for him) h.c. and beard trim and a manicure were my gifts.   He was very happy and he looks very handsome.

I think it has stopped snowing, but not sure. The driveway had been shoveled and the streets plowed last time I looked, but I'm not looking again and I still hear the salt trucks. I cleaned a couple of feet of snow off the car but it now has an inch or so again -  maybe more by now.

Here are my annual woods-in-snow pix, taken while it was snowing.

This is how the photos came out of the camera -- misty, with sort of a reddish tinge.  I hit "auto correct" and got this:

But honestly, I think the first one, while less dramatic, shows how it really looked through the mist of the very fine snow coming down. Rather more ethereal than this corrected picture...and truer.

Here is how it looked tonight.

 Weather report says sun for the rest of the week. That would be nice.

snow day!!

Didn't you love snow days when you were a kid? I don't think we ever had them when I was growing up because everybody walked to school - no busing - you went to your neighborhood school, bundled up like Nanook of the North - hat, scarf, mittens, and those embarrassing snow pants and galoshes. My kids had snow days, though. I liked it because I had to stay home from work. We usually baked cookies. Today is a snow day. It doesn't look bad from this picture, but it is coming down so fast that I have already cleaned off both cars three times each. By the time I finished sweeping the second car, the first one needs it again. Forget it - I'm DONE. The plows are out. My husband's secretary brought him up the hill and almost had a disaster. Fortunately, there is no traffic on our dead-end condo street. No cookies today: SOUP. Snow days are soup days, too - and I used to play Stone Soup with my kids. We started with 6 cups of water and threw in took whatever random vegetables we had. Here's today's batch of stones: some peas and beans; some tomato paste. Oh, and a soup bone! I have been without bones for months but fortunately, I had bought some the other day - they make the soup rich and delicious. I keep them in my freezer. Salt, pepper, bay leaves, basil and garlic. Into the pressure cooker. I toasted some stale Italian bread and it was the perfect lunch. Between my housekeeper, DH, who happily came home early, and me - there was only a bit left at the bottom of the pot. Boo hoo. I will probably use it as the base for the next permutation. I think the Italians might call it Ribollita. With a salad, it would be a perfectly delicious dinner that is practically free! I have procrastinated the quilting thing long enough. Here I am last night, taking out stitches so I could put some other in that will probably be just as unsatisfactory. Does anybody really care? Why am I torturing myself? I am happy to have company in my Quilting Angst Network - makes me feel a lot better. But, back to the machine. I am going to post this so I'm not tempted to keep it going forever. Promise you'll check back tonight to see if I've posted again.

It wouldn't be March in NJ

without one of these. Not as heavy or beautiful as the last March storm, a couple of years ago, but heavy and slushy and icy. Blah. Today is Saturday. On Thursday, it was 70 degrees and we couldn't believe the forecast.

Below, a picture from the last March snow - a few years ago. Prettier and not the identical shot (which I can't find) - but my woods, nevertheless.

Not MINE, mine - but they are my view from the deck. It will kill me when I have to move someday and leave these woods. Here they are in the winter rain.

You will notice,no doubt, that my LLLLs are back. Now I am going to take advantage of another snow day and see if I can do some sewing. Sewing??? What is that???

a little bit of snow

In case you can't read it, it says 15". That was several hours ago and it's still coming down. Pretty, isn't it? It took me an hour to clean 15" off my car this morning, but at least it's on the driveway so the plow and the elves who come with their shovels will take it away. Of course, I probably won't be grilling tonight's dinner, so I should go make some soup. I had no Internet this morning and this afternoon, instead of using all that wax, I find myself picking stitches out of the piece I was attempting to quilt last night. I should not try that at night.