Our front light post last night just after sunset.

Sigh. Yesterday during the day we got about a foot of snow. It stopped snowing just after 1:00 p.m., and Rick and I got out and cleared the driveway, front steps, back steps and part of the deck. Then it spit ice pellets at us for a while. We were supposed to get snow overnight but when I got up and looked out the window at 2:30 a.m. it had not done a thing. Good, I thought as I went back to bed, they were wrong.

I got up this morning and looked out the same window and much to my dismay I saw more snow! About six inches or so of heavy wet snow. Here are some photos for comparison.

Here is our deck table and chairs yesterday:

Same view but this morning:

Again, the other side of the deck yesterday:

And this morning:

And the poor poolside table and chairs with its “donut” topping. Here it is BEFORE the most recent snowfall:

And yesterday:

And today:

Sorry for the white balance difference. It’s the best I could do with early morning light.

Bella helped me with the deck shoveling. I shoveled, she barked and wanted snow thrown on her, so I obliged.

Here are some scenes from around my house this morning.

The snow is so high that the dogs can walk right over the fence, so I am hoping they don’t figure it out. (Taken in the back yard.)

Bella coming down from the snowbank in front of our house on the street.

Our ever-narrowing street.

It looks like our front windows are wearing toothy white grins!

eBay wanted to help with the front steps. It didn’t last too long but that cat loves the snow!

Have you had your snow fix yet? I know I have. Still, tomorrow we are supposed to get MORE snow — granted only 2-4 inches this time, but still …

We were afraid that they might cancel the RV show because of the storm, but the show is still on. They said that all the units arrived prior to the storm, which is good for them!

Yesterday it rained. Unlike the song rainy days and Mondays always get me down, it was really quite welcome. Besides that, it was Tuesday. At least you don't have to shovel rain and it's a step in the right direction towards spring. 

The dogs tried to persuade me to take them somewhere but for once I didn't give in to them. I just stayed dry inside and started my knitting project of Rick's felted slippers. His old ones have sprouted a hole in the toe. 

At times the rain poured from the sky, drumming on the skylights above me in the sun room. It seemed to come in waves. Whenever it started raining hard all of a sudden, eBay would lift her head up from her spot by the fire and look up as if to say what is that noise??  Once they resigned themselves from not getting to "go for a ride"  the dogs just laid around and didn't even ask to be let outside in the yard.

By late afternoon the rain had stopped and the sun came out for a short while. I loved how the raindrops reflected the sun's rays.

The rain washed most of the snow away except for a few small patches where it had been plowed or shoveled. Things are definitely looking brighter!

Linked in to Rurality Blog Hop

(photos:)

Puddled Reflection

Raindrops on Pine Tree

Raindrops on Branches

Pine Cone Afloat

Today our house will be without power for about five hours. On purpose! Today is the day we have a new electrical panel installed complete with a transfer switch for routing our generator into the household circuitry. It’s not the best planning since it’s still below freezing during the daytime, but today is the day the electrician had the time.

We’ve bumped the heat up about five degrees higher than we normally keep it to get the house really warm and the wood fire is burningly brightly.

We plan to hang out in the sun room around the wood stove for the duration of our power outage. We’ll put up the card table and start a puzzle. I’ve got plenty of books for reading (thanks to my library visit) and my iPad is fully charged. For lunch we’ll probably load the dogs in the truck and eat somewhere in town or maybe we’ll venture up to the winery café.

It’s an inconvenience, but one we hope we’ll be glad we did next time the power goes out for real. Until then we’ll just do all we can to stay warm!

(photo: eBay last night cuddling with Rick’s wooly hand-knitted slippers [knit by me!])

The biggest ending is of course the loss of our sweet cat Sam. I still have not done a tribute to him here on the blog. Soon.

Assorted leaves hanging out before the pool was closed.

The pool is closed for the season. Its winter cover keeping it tidy for the autumn and winter seasons to come. It’s sad, but it was time. Next year we are looking to install a heater to add several weeks on to the beginning and the end of pool season.

Yesterday also was the end of my photography classes. I wish they offered a more in-depth class to hone the skills I learned but they don’t. So for now I’ll just have to take what I did learn and practice on my own. I was amazed how so many people can talk the talk but can’t walk the walk. They can go on and on about this and that about their camera, throwing all kinds of terms around, but when it comes to actually taking photos they aren’t very good! Yesterday we had to go out into the parking lot and take photos of textures, reflections, patterns, lines and etc. and then come in and do a slideshow. It was enlightening for sure. One girl who claims to have a job in a photography studio didn’t even know what the hot shoe was! She also did not share her photos with the class. (It was optional to share.)

It’s also the end of summer. Even when the days get up in to the 70’s the air is different and you can tell the heat has lost its punch.

My neighbor’s tree.

Little mushrooms are popping up in the yard.

Apples and fall fruits take over the farmer’s market.

In other news, Sam’s death kind of took away the excitement and pleasure of seeing my photo/s in print in two local newspapers. They actually did use them!

The Trends reaches has a large distribution and reaches our whole county. They used their staff photographer’s photo on the front page (boohoo, but hey they have to pay him!) but used my photo on the inside.

I was also surprised and pleased to see that their affiliated paper, Aim West Milford, that is local just to our township used both photos I submitted. (Also on on inside page.)

I was very pleased. And proud. I am thinking they had a lot of photo submissions for the fire and yet they chose to use mine.

So, that’s it for today. Kind of a mish-mash, but there you have it.

I do hope you’ll bear with me. I am in a funk. Yesterday was pretty good, but today not so much.

Maybe it’s because I spent a good part of the day yesterday going through old iPhoto libraries looking for photos of Sam. Not only did I find plenty of Sammy photos, but photos of deceased dogs, my mom, and happy times at the cabin with all of them. Downright depressing.

Maybe it’s because the day after Sam died I had the patio doors open sitting in the sun room reading and I kept hearing what sounded like a cat meowing outside. I stood outside several times but could never pinpoint the sound. I think it might have been Aileen’s chickens next door making funny noises. Maybe not.

Maybe it’s because I keep catching things out of the corner of my eye that look like Sam in various places in the house. Logically, of course, I know this is impossible but my brain has yet to catch up.

He was just always there.

Maybe it’s because I can’t get the images of the last few hours of his life out of my mind. It was not easy to watch and equally hard being replayed in my head.

It’s a process and I know blogging about him will help. I’m just not quite there yet.

Photo above: My ming aralia plant casting its early morning shadow on the bamboo shade in the sun room.