You may have noticed that I haven't had much to say in the past week. I've been struggling with writing blog posts for whatever reason. I've started three different post and just abandoned them.

The weather has not been very conducive to getting out of the house. Over the weekend we had a nasty, cold, biting wind and being outside for any time past five minutes was no fun. It's hard to walk the dogs right now since there is so much salt on our street that the crystals act like little ball bearings and I'm afraid I will fall if the dogs pull hard on their leashes. We've had a couple of tiny "snows" again that just coat everything. Yesterday we had a mix of snow and rain which turned in to a gentle rain for most of the day. Even the rain could not wash away what we still have left on the ground from our snowfall of twelve inches.

Winter starts to look downright ugly about this time. The snow that is left is dirty and hard. Days without grayness are hard to come by. I'm ready for spring!

With Rick in Florida on a business trip until Thursday I am left to my own devices. I do things like watch movies I've been wanting to see again. Like Out of Africa …  I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills. That opening line alone can start me to sniffling. There are so many wonderful lines in this movie that I was almost tempted to sit with a pad of paper and write them down. The soundtrack by John Barry is so suited to the sweeping vistas of the African veldt. Just beautiful. It makes me cry too. So why do I watch? Because it's worth it.

Yesterday the wind was not blowing and the temperature was decent (high 30's) and knowing that rain was moving in later that afternoon I decided to go to Skylands for a walk. I don't know why but I decided to walk the two loops that are about 3 miles versus the one lower loop that I usually take, which is only a little over a mile. Silly me.

The sky was gray and stippled when I started out.

But look! These bushes think spring is on the way! Maybe they know something we don't. I don't know what they are, do you? 

Added Later: I found out they are witch hazel bushes and always bloom in February amid the snow!

About halfway through my walk I started to see little tiny snow pellets drifting down. Hmm, I thought myself, what's that all about? It was only noon and we weren't supposed to get any precipitation until later. 

As I walked along I heard the unmistakeable thunk, thunk, thunk of a large woodpecker working away. Pileated! Sure enough, there he was high in a tree. He had a huge hole!

He didn't care that I was right underneath him at all. He could not decide whether to work on his really big hole or the two other ones on the other side of the tree that he had started. By this time the tiny little snow pellets had turned to big, fat, wet flakes. I hurriedly took a few photos of him before walking on.

Soon the flakes were coming down in sideways sheets and I was not close to the car. I walked as fast as I could with my hood up and my camera zipped into my jacket, making it look like I had a big tummy. Why oh why did I choose to walk both loops? Thank goodness I had worn a jacket with a hood!

With  no harm done I was back at the car and on my way home from my wet walk. It was good to get out but I should have gone on a different day!

(top photo: Through the Window of the Gatehouse)

Note: After I got home and got a look at this pileated woodpecker he looks odd to me. His markings are off I think. His face is very white! Too white. Strange …

Last night it snowed again. According to the last weather forecast I had seen we were only supposed to get a coating or less. When Rick let the dogs out before we went to bed we were surprised to see them come back in with snow covered backs.

When we turned on the back deck light we could see the huge, fat, wet flakes coming down at what looked to be an alarming rate. Whoa! By the time we turned in there was at least an inch and it was still coming down. Beautiful to watch--coming straight down and huge flakes.

When we looked outside this morning we were both glad to see that it had not done as much as we were thinking it could, and we were left with about two inches of fresh wet snow. It coated everything in sight. I had to be quick with the camera because the minute the sun hit the trees it started to drop off of them in huge clumps.

I loved how the snow coating the branches took the places of leaves, closing in our yard as it does in summer when the leaves are fully out instead of our usual view of bare trees that stretch out and beyond.

The roadways were clear, the trees coated: a beautiful start to the day.

Who could ask for anything more?

(photos:)

Leaves of Snow

Coated

The night before last I had a bizarre reaction to an over-the-counter nasal spray. When I bought it at the grocery store it was in amongst all the saline nasal sprays and was called "Moisture" something or other. I didn't bother to read the small print. Heck, I would have had to get my glasses out anyway. 

That night I squirted a dose in each nostril like I would my normal saline spray. It's been really dry in the house and I thought my nasal passageways could use the "moisture." How wrong I was.

Within a minute the back of my throat between my nose and my mouth was on fire. It felt like it does only when I have a really bad cold and have had lots and lots of post-nasal-drip discharge. Burning. Raw. Awful. If only that was the worst of it. 

I laid down in bed to read and had to sit up because all of a sudden a huge amount of phlegm was collecting in the back of my throat. I got up to spit it out, but the minute I did I had more forming. It was foamy and stringy all at the same time and it just would not stop coming. I kept gagging and spitting non-stop for about ten minutes. I blew my nose and the same stuff came out of my nose.  I thought I was going to die. It was verging on me not being able to breathe. Rick asked if we needed to go to the hospital ER (we have no 24 hour/urgent care close to us) and I think I might have yelled back something like I don't know. I didn't want to get in the car and drive for 40 minutes only to find my symptoms go away.

So I went downstairs, drank some milk (which did not help), ate a teaspoon full of honey (sort of felt better) and took some aspirin for the rawness. The discharge had slowed down but was not completely stopped. I was spent, shaking, and worn out from constantly coughing that stuff out. Rick suggested a honey licorice cough drop might help so I popped one of those into my mouth and the vapors from the menthol in the cough drop did ease the discomfort in the back of my throat some. 

Finally after about 20 minutes or so the discharge had almost stopped and I was feeling good enough that I thought I could actually lay down and go to sleep.

Hey folks, they don't call them mucous membranes for nothing!

It turned out that the spray was not a saline spray, but a nasal decongestant. Still, I don't think it should have done that to my nasal passages, congested or not. On the back of the box it says " temporary discomfit such as burning, stinging, sneezing or an increase in nasal discharge may occur."  Uhm, yeah, no kidding. I plan on calling them since it says on their box "you may report side effects to this phone number." I think I had a more serious reaction than a 'temporary discomfort'. I would call it more a severe allergic reaction. So, I won't be buying Mucinex Moisture Smart Nasal Spray anytime soon. How about you? Care to try it out?

(photo: Course Bark [kind of like my throat] )

There is talk of yet more snow in our near future: not once, but possibly twice in the coming week. Our first chance is tomorrow night. It won't be much, maybe one to three inches, but enough that it has to be cleared from driveways, steps and sidewalks. Another potential storm is looming for Sunday into Monday. They are talking "major" and not just a couple of inches here or there. I really hope that one passes us by since Rick has a business trip and is leaving on Monday. To Florida!

A reader commented that they thought our foot of snow was pretty substantial and he thought that is more than he saw in one snowfall when he lived in New Jersey. It was substantial and more than we usually see in one single storm. But two other snow events stick out in my mind: one was the Snowicane from February of 2010. Please follow this link for that blog entry and photos.

The other, and possibly the most snow I've seen since we've lived here was this storm that came the day after Christmas of 2010. I don't think it had a name but it certainly deserved one! Click here for entry and pics. Here is one teaser photo. The winter that followed that storm was the snowiest we've had so far since we moved in 2006. It just did not stop snowing.

Our snow from the weekend is still here, albeit looking a bit sad after our above-freezing temperatures on Sunday and yesterday's icy rain. No way is it going anywhere before more snow is added to top it off. 

When I look back at the blog entries from previous years we were driving Mia in March and the trees were starting to bud out! By the end of April the trees are pretty much leafed out, but not fully. Right now that just doesn't seem possible. 

I can put up with a little winter as long as spring comes at the end of it! Spring is all the more sweeter after a true winter, don't you think?

(photo:) It's deep out here!

That's our backyard snow total. Officially, I guess West Milford got the highest snow total in NJ: 13.2 inches. But I could only see exactly 12 inches no matter where I put the tape measure. Still, 12 inches is nothing to sneeze at.

We spent our morning clearing snow from the enormous driveway that we have, all the steps (front and deck steps that lead to the back yard) and the poor truck that has to sit outside without benefit of being in the garage. We're now in for the rest of the day. Whew.

We did not lose power. Of course not. We spent all that money to have the generator wired in to the household circuitry, so why would we? In fact, we got very little of the wind that they predicted. Go figure.

I don't think Nemo was quite as nasty a storm as predicted, but I guess after Sandy they weren't taking any chances. Other locations such as Connecticut, Massachusetts, and friend Carolyn in Rhode Island got pretty much buried. Plus they got the wind as well.

Now that all the work is done it's a very pretty day out there! Except for the gusty wind, that is (which we did not have yesterday).

(photos:)

Poolside Pleasure

Go, Johnny, Go!