I think we've now turned the corner to Spring! We only have a few stubborn patches of snow left after our two inches of rain this past weekend. On Monday when the snow finally receded off the flower bed by the pool I saw that the daffodils had broken ground and just been waiting for their white covering to leave. The dogs have been running all over the yard, sniffing and taking in all the scents that they haven't been able to sniff since December. The trees have taken on a reddish tinge that means they are thinking about bursting their buds. Finally.

My amaryllis have started to bloom. The big one has already sent up a flower stalk which has finished blooming and it is sending up yet another one. The "baby" (shown here) also bloomed for the first time. I guess I should separate it out from the mother bulb when they're done blooming. My oldest amaryllis has two smallish stalks coming, but my favorite frilly one has only produced nice shiny new leaves. I don't think it's going to bloom which breaks my heart.

Tuesday was a beautiful day. The sun was out and even though it was still a little brisk it was really nice. I went to Skylands for a walk. I did the lower loop with all the woods and the pond. I heard the knocking of the pileated woodpecker and searched for it high in the trees. It was close to the nesting box at the pond. It's so much fun to see it. They are such cool looking birds. I was aiming the camera and staring up when a man and woman walked by and wondered what I saw. I pointed out the woodpecker and the woman said "Oh, it's a woody." I liked her cute little nickname and I think I'll adopt it.

I found the pond still mostly covered in ice.

This pair of geese were enjoying the parts of the pond that are now ice-free.

Once back in the car and on my way out of the park I had to pull over to see what the splashes of purple were by the side of the road. Crocus!

Welcome, spring!

Okay, maybe I am in a strange mood today, or maybe it's the winter doldrums, but I've wanted to post some of these pics for a while now. It's not my usual "thing," but when I see something I think is worth taking a photograph of, I do. I'm not sure you will agree, but here they are anyway, bizarre as they may be. A few were taken a couple of years ago and two were taken just yesterday. All but one were taken at Long Pond Ironworks.

Discarded doll. Long Pond Ironworks. April 2008

Barbie takes a break stuck in the railing on the Walkway Across the Hudson. Poughkeepsie, NY, May, 2010

Abandoned antique wheelbarrow. Long Pond Ironworks. Yesterday.

Abandoned toy in a dilapidated shed. Long Pond Ironworks, yesterday.

It makes you wonder how they got there and why they were abandoned. What is the story behind them? 

I’m still here! I just didn’t have anything much to say. I’ve just been going from gray day to gray day, hoping for Spring to arrive in person and not just on the calendar. Saturday was pretty nice when it got up to 50 but the wind spoiled any chance of sitting outside, plus the sun was in and out. Today the sun is out nice and bright but it’s below freezing. Tomorrow we are expecting some (shhh! not too loud) snow. We still haven’t  completely gotten rid of our snow cover from the past two months yet, although it’s melting slowly and we have more clear patches of yard than we do snow.

Even though it was cold and there was a chilly wind blowing, I took myself out this morning for a long awaited walk at Long Pond Ironworks. This was the first time since the snow started to fly and pile up week by week that I’ve been there. I wasn’t even sure if my legs would carry me over uneven ground since I’ve only been walking on paved surfaces and grocery store aisles. And also because ever since I slipped and fell on the stupid ice a week ago when taking the girls to the groomers and banged up my knee pretty darned good, I haven’t been walking long distances because of the pain. It’s still swollen some just below the knee around the leg bone, but it’s better than it was. 

It was nice to get out in the fresh, but cold air. The snow had pretty much melted but there were lots of spots that were just pure ice and tried to walk around them. When the path became more ice than it was clear I turned around not wanting to chance falling again. I learn pretty quickly that way.

In other news, we are still looking at vehicle. We have decided against the Toyota Sequoia for now because the one we test drove I didn’t like very much. It felt very boxy yet rode like a luxury car. This vehicle, whatever we end up with, can’t be a namby-pamby sort of girl. She’s going to be a country girl. In all other respects the Sequoia ticked most of our boxes except for not having a seat position memory. We also looked at a Nissan Armada which did tick all the boxes except it does not measure up as well in user reviews in Consumer Reports. We did not drive the Armada yet as they did not have a new one available to test drive. But when I sat in the driver’s seat it felt more like our Surburban than looking out over that huge hood of the Sequoia. We will revisit the Ford Expedition since we have just found out that the salesman who showed us the last one we looked at did not know how the seats folded and we dismissed it because they did not fold flat, but I guess they really do.

In the meantime, our Suburban decided to show us just who’s who and test us on our love for it. While Rick was driving it last week the brakes went out! It figures, doesn’t it? Rusted clean through. So, Big Red is in the hospital getting new brake lines and Rick is driving a loaner car. Not really an expected expense, but what else can you do?

That pretty much sums up what’s been going on (or not) around here. 

Photos: old window latch; barn shadows

Sorry, no new entries here right now. We’ve been in the midst of changing up servers for all our web sites over the past few days and we now think we have things in working order again. The only sad thing is that the comments that were added during that time period cannot be switched over and will be lost, so if you made a comment and it is no longer showing up, that’s what happened to it.

We’re having a thaw and the snow is slowly melting, melting, melting, and I can almost hear it saying “I’m melting …” just like the wicked witch. Soon, like her, it will just be a big puddle. Hooray! Although there is talk of a mid-week storm that could involve that nasty word we’ve all been avoiding saying — snow.

So, in the meantime while I come up with something to say here, have a look over on the T@B site. I’ve blogged about what we’ve purchased so far to outfit the tiny kitchen!

Our 2002 Suburban is starting to show its age a bit. Little things keep popping up and it’s developed a few quirks. It still runs great but we would like to replace it before Rick retires so we can get that cost out of the way before a steady income goes away. We looked last year but were not happy with any of the choices.

Yesterday Rick called me excitedly to tell me that the Chevy dealership had finally gotten in a 2015 Tahoe for us to look at. We’ve been waiting for them to change up the inside of the Tahoe and Suburban back to a flat cargo bed in the back. Right now our Suburban’s seats fold down completely flat and make one continuously flat surface (with third back seat taken out). It’s the only way to go with dog crates. For several years now they had changed the inside to attract the “soccer mom” crowd and the seats did not fold completely down, nor did they form a single surface. We weren’t buying one. They told us that the 2015 models would go back to the original cargo space with flat-folding seats. Hence, our excitement.

I drove down to meet Rick over his lunch hour and we went to the dealership. The first thing we asked to see where how the seats folded down before anything else. The salesperson thought this was odd. Well, guess what? They’ve really screwed them up — again! The third row seat is not removable, nor can you order one without the seat unless you are a policeman or you’re a municipality. It does not fold flat, but at an angle that would make it next to impossible for a dog crate. The dog would be all bunched up on the lower end of its crate. To make matters even worse the third row seat is only inches off the floor of the vehicle making it impossible to sit in unless you’re a child whose legs stick straight out. For an adult they would be sitting with their knees in their faces. Totally useless! There is a tiny space behind the seats for a few bags of groceries but that’s it. We were bummed. We are assuming that the Suburban will be much the same, so we’re looking in different directions now toward the Toyota Sequoia or the Ford Expedition. 

Rick stopped by the Toyota dealership yesterday on his way home from work and said we need to both go and look at it. The seats don’t fold completely flat but he thinks they could work. The Expedition we have not looked at yet but the downside of that vehicle is that the reviews hate the GPS/radio/navigation system saying it’s really hard to use. If we are going to pay that much for a vehicle we want to be happy with important parts of it, you know? They’re pricey!

This weekend we’ll visit both of them. Stay tuned …