The first day of spring has come and gone with nothing to show for it. Our ground is still covered in white from our 4-5 inch snowfall on Monday. It's melting, but slower than you would expect it to at this time of year. The thermometer is stuck in the 30's. When I look back on the blog entries from years past at this time it's almost surreal. Last year the forsythia was blooming! This year its buds are closed tight with not even a glimmer of yellow showing. I know, I checked it yesterday. I also know I promised no more white photos, but I couldn't help myself the other day with the late afternoon sun on the melting snow.

It's hard to motivate myself to go out with the camera to find anything of interest so I headed to the local garden shop yesterday since I had noticed that they were flying a big OPEN sign the other day. No flowers yet except for a few potted bulbs inside. And these colorful hummingbird feeders.

And this cheeky little guy who is much cuter than the pesky squirrels in my yard that have now chewed an even bigger hole in my best bird feeder. Other than that there was nothing to see or buy at the shop.

The weekend is supposed to be a bit warmer with temperatures in the 40's, but they are saying the wind chills are going to make it feel much colder. And, a little  more snow is expected on Monday. Alex keeps pulling out his snowman toy that was a Christmas present to play with and I think he might be jinxing us. I'm seriously thinking of putting it away until next year.

In other news, the last amaryllis is just about ready to bloom and it looks like it's going to burst forth with three flowers at the same time.

And on closer inspection, the huge amaryllis that still has one last flower blooming has another flower stalk poking out of the base of the bulb. Wow, I'm thrilled it has the oomph to send up yet another bud stalk!

So how's that for a mish-mash of stuff in one blog post!

I've visited this old abandoned house before on my blog. It's haunting. The windows gape openly or are boarded up. The wood siding is peeling away and faded to interesting variations of the color it once was.

They say that for people, the eyes are the windows to the soul. So if the windows on a house are its eyes, what do they say about the soul of this house? That once it used to be loved? That once a child might have played and slept in the room with the peeling ceiling? That it heard laughter reverberate from its walls?

Or was it always just an empty shell?

 Photos taken at Long Pond Ironworks, West Milford, New Jersey

 Linked in to Madge's Rurality Blog Hop

Our dinner party was a huge success. The food was wonderful, the guests all got along and had a great time and everything went according to plan. 

The day of the party was a little strange because it snowed most of the afternoon. Big, fluffy flakes that mostly evaporated as soon as they hit the ground but did in fact manage to pile up enough to leave the branches and grassy areas coated with white. At least it didn't stick to the roads. I didn't take any photos because, well, frankly I'm tired of taking white photos and showing them here on the blog. And I'm certain you are getting tired of me prattling on and on about our weather as well.

The temperatures haven't varied very much since last month. Yesterday it barely got above freezing! Our nighttime temperatures are still dipping down in to the 20's. As I type this entry this morning at 8:30 it's only 24. I am tired of wearing jackets and gloves and layering my tops two deep. Tired of lugging firewood up the stairs (our stash for this year is running dangerously low).

Today we are expecting more snow--this time leading to one or two inches, then some ice, then rain. I hope this year's spring is really sweet and pleasant to make up for its late start. At least I sure hope so. If it ever does get here that is!

I am tired of pointing my camera at the colors of gray, white and brown. I'd much rather point it towards blue and green.

(photo: Doorway to … Spring?)

Thanks to all who came, either in person or vicariously.