Here I sit in front of my computer feeling the need to blog. I don’t really have anything to blog about but I feel like it’s my duty to do at least one post per week. Let’s just see what comes out of the tips of my fingers. Maybe if I sit here long enough something will come to mind.

Rick had jury duty this week. He took the above photo in the rotunda of the courthouse in Paterson. I love it for so many reasons. He spent three days sitting around for a civil malpractice case. Nearly all of that time was taken up with choosing the jurors. The two lawyers kept dismissing everyone they seated. He got lucky because one of the lawyers dismissed him as a juror too and there were only two potential jurors left after him. I have to wonder if they decided on one of them or if they had to call in more people. It’s an interesting look at our justice system but it can be boring just sitting there waiting to be called.

If you don’t already know, the Super Bowl is coming to town. Seahawk and Bronco frenzy has overtaken the whole city of New York. In fact, it’s kind of funny that even though the game is being played in the Meadowlands in New Jersey, New York has seemed to claim dibs on the whole thing. Poor New Jersey is hardly even mentioned. I’ll be glad when it’s over and I don’t have to listen to the hype anymore. As you already know, I am not a fan of the game. Just a bunch of grown men throwing themselves on top of a ball and running with it if they are lucky.

Speaking of duties, I am dutifully and diligently knitting away on my sister’s cowl. It’s such a fun pattern and very satisfying to see it coming together. Something I made from my own two hands!

Lately my photography has taken a back seat. I could say I have nothing to photograph but that wouldn’t be true. I’m sure if I trudged through the snow in the woods that I would find something of interest. It’s been so cold (in the single digits and teens) that it doesn’t really appeal to me. I could, I suppose, photograph something around the house and make it interesting but that seems like too much effort and not my style at all. So, my camera sits there waiting for inspiration to strike.

Now that I have bored you all with my minutia I’ll close for now. I am hoping to jump start my blogging —and my photography.

Well, so much for my “promise” of blogging more often. Three weeks?? That has got to be a record. My poor blog is as neglected and forgotten as this old house. (Autumn reflections in windows.) No, nothing is wrong — just living life away from the keyboard. I haven’t even been around to read or comment on anyone else’s blogs either, so for that I apologize. That having been said, this will be a catch-up post and longish. I will be by to visit your blogs soon!

We’ve been having a series of clipper systems coming down from the North and snowing on us with frigid temperatures. Last Tuesday we got snow —about 4 inches worth — while the city got about a foot. On Saturday we were supposed to get “a coating to an inch” and ended up with 3 inches. And just yesterday we had an unpredicted little snow that coated all the surfaces we had just cleaned the day before. We’ve had so many gray days that it’s hard to count them all. We saw blue sky yesterday morning for an hour or so and it was a welcome sight.

With the temperatures not getting above freezing for the past week we’ve had the wood fire going all day. It keeps that part of the house so toasty warm! Today is the first day above freezing in a while but tonight it is supposed to plummet again to the single digits. 

The dogs like it when I don’t clear all the snow off the decks and leave them something to lay on. Hailey turned ten years old on Friday. A grand old age for her breed. She does not like the weather we’ve been having other than to lay in her snow pile. I attempted to take them for a walk last week when it warmed up to 20 degrees but there was still patchy ice on our road. She kept pitifully picking her paws up and holding them in the air as if to say “mom, it’s too cold on my poor little pads!” So I brought her back home and went with only Bella who didn’t seem to notice. I’ve never seen one of our dogs ever do that before. If was almost funny if you didn’t think she was in some kind of discomfort. 

She and Bella have become closer since we lost Alex. She was even playing in the snow with Bella the other day on the deck like a puppy. They have also taken to lying next to each other like siamese twins. It’s really sweet.

I have been somehow keeping myself busy even though I stay home a lot. I have been knitting this Katniss-inspired Cowl (from the Catching Fire, the second of the Hunger Games movies) and I’m super excited how easy it was and how well it turned out. I tried to get a pic of me wearing it and it was harder than you think it would be. (Getting the photo, I mean. Self portraits are not my forte.) I’m now making a second one for my sister. And yes, it was one sleeve and the other side just drapes over the shoulder.

For Christmas I gave us a trail camera. I mostly bought it for the cabin so we could catch those animal visitors that we never get to see, but I also thought it might be fun here as well. It takes photos both in daylight and at night by infrared. We set it up the night after it snowed and here were a few visitors we caught. It’s very cool because each pic has a read out of the temperature, the date and time that it was taken. I think the photos are pretty good quality! It was fairly inexpensive so I’m sure we’ll have more than one set up in different areas at the cabin.

In this mash-up of topics I just had to include a photo of our lunch yesterday: Roasted Pears with Honey Mustard Glaze, Brie & Pistachios. We’ve had this several times and each time it seems to get better. We serve it on a bed of arugula with high-quality balsamic vinegar splashed on top. 

We are also moving forward with retirement plans, which are still two years in the future. We are excited about the most recent development for the winter months if we decide the cabin is just too “out there” for spending the winter in, but I don’t want to talk about it just yet on the blog for some personal reasons. Let’s just say it makes perfect sense for us. I am also forming a blog post in my head about the sense of belonging. It just has not jelled completely yet.

We are also thinking about getting one of these cute little things. We have always had in the back of our mind to get a motorhome and travel some in retirement, but after going to an RV show recently and playing with all the numbers and the amount of times we’d be traveling, we came to the conclusion that it didn’t make sense money-wise. To get  a T@B, however, would fill the need to go “glamping” and it’s priced reasonably enough to justify its purchase. We still need to see one in person since we are fairly certain Rick won’t be able to stand up to cook if we get the one with the inside kitchen, so a close-by RV show in February should decide that issue. 

So, that’s my life lately summed up in a clamshell (or teardrop), and if you didn’t follow the link you won’t get the inside joke. 

No, those are not betting odds! That is the temperature swing we had between yesterday morning and this morning. Yesterday morning it was 50 degrees F and pouring rain with fog. Very strange. Throughout the day the temperature kept dropping. Here is a photo I took of the ice melting on the pool cover because I loved the reflection.

And here it is about one hour later: frozen!

A very strange day. This morning our weather station registered 1.2 degrees F with a minus wind chill. I think it’s about 8 degrees F outside right now at 2:30 p.m. Up and down — a weather yo-yo.

Hailey did not like the freezing rain we had the night before last. She stayed covered up in the towel I used to dry her off when she came in.

I can’t believe it’s really been a whole week since I last blogged. I am really falling down on the job here. I will try to do better in the weeks to come. Promise!

gee mom, I thought you said it was ripping paper. oh well. i had fun anyways. 

signed, bella

Last night just after dark something magical happened. It snowed. Not for long, but ever so prettily. The flakes were huge and plentiful. We turned on all the outside lights and just watched it fall. Unfortunately after about 15 minutes it was all over but it left everything with a covering of white. The perfect Christmas present.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, white or not.

Cabin Christmas 2003