I check the two on line weather sites, Accu-Weather and Weather Underground religiously. It seems that every day they adjust their predictions. There is a storm coming in this weekend but no one seems to know where it will hit and how much. Unfortunately they are saying it’s more of a coastal storm, which means we won’t get anything where we live. But just because they are predicting that it doesn’t mean it will happen.

Today when I checked Accu-Weather’s long range predictions I realized that they must be playing a joke on me. Take a look:

It has to be a joke. We’ve not had any measurable snow yet this year and I can’t remember the last time I actually saw it snow on Christmas. I’m not getting excited ... yet. I know that when I check tomorrow they will have changed their minds and snow will be out of the forecast. Still, one can only hope!

We had a little bit of snow overnight. Not much, just enough to cover the surface of everything—more of a what they call a “nuisance snow.” Meaning it’s not enough to really snow blow or plow.

I took the shovel, put on my “whewe is that wascaly wabbit”*** hat and scraped it mostly clean of snow. Of course, our tire tracks where we drove in and out taking Rick to the train (he’s in the city today) are frozen in place and won’t come up. It’s 18 degrees out there at 10:30 a.m.  It’s not supposed to be above freezing until maybe Friday and with the wind blowing the wind chills are well into the teens.

It’s nice to have a little of the white stuff finally. I needed to run a few errands today and took my camera with me because I noticed on the way home from the train station that Monksville Reservoir was looking very cool. Literally! Icing over with spots of new snow. I parked and walked along the road to get these shots. God it was cold! Brrrrrrr.

As an added benefit of getting out and walking I came across these three swans resting on the ice.

Here’s a closer look. Too bad I didn’t have the telephoto lens with me.

I was intrigued by the swirls and patterns of the half frozen surface.

The surface of the water wasn’t the only thing that was half frozen. The other thing would be me! As I was standing there taking these photos a big gust of frigid wind came along and lifted my hat right off my head! I watched as it rolled and tumbled across the road, only to disappear from view as it went down the slope to the other side of the reservoir. My head was really cold now! I waited for the traffic to clear then dashed across the road and scrambled over the guard rail. I found my hat no worse for the wear lying in the weeds. At least it didn’t keep tumbling until it reached the water’s edge! I dusted off the snow and wasted no time in putting it back on my now freezing head.

When I got back to the car I realized I didn’t have my lens cap so I retraced my steps to where I thought I might have lost it. I didn’t find it. I’m bummed. I am forever losing or misplacing lens caps. I need to buy a dozen or so! But I just now realized as I was typing this that I only retraced my steps to where the swans where and not to where I picked up my hat. Maybe I’ll have to go back and see it I can find it there! (but not today! I think I’ll wait for the warm-up at week’s end.)

I took another detour on the way home along East Shore road where I knew I could take a few photos of the weeping rocks. All the rock faces here in New Jersey “weep.” There is so much ground moisture here. The weeping rocks freeze into falls of icicles.

Am I making you cold yet? After all this silly outdoor photography without gloves on I was ready to come home and stoke up the fire in the wood stove! No more outside business for me today. I am going to get some knitting done right after I finish this entry: by the fire!

****What? you don’t know what I meant by a “whewe is that wascally wabbit” hat?  Why an Elmer Fudd hat of course!

It’s my go-to hat for dog walking, shoveling and at-home activities. I change hats when going out somewhere. It is a Calvin Klein though if you think that makes if a tad more fashionable!

... but not in December! Sigh. No snow and none forecasted. We’ve had over one inch of rain today and of course we had our annual festive dinner at Blue Hills at Stone Barns today. Also an annual event is, unfortunately, the rain. Last year the same thing happened. We had really cold temps last week but no moisture. The minute we get some moisture, the temperatures rise and it falls as rain instead of snow. The East is so strange. More tomorrow, but I just wanted to capture the rainy event today and as you can see by the photo I just took of our radar (see the blip?; that’s us in northern NJ) and the rain is moving south to north, we are in for a lot more rain tonight before it’s over with.

Geez I wish it would SNOW.

I am not a happy camper. The first ever bear hunt since we’ve lived here started on Monday. I am not in agreement with this at all, and probably feel as adamantly about this as I do about the abortion issue, only in reverse. I am pro-abortion and anti-bear hunt. I would gladly hold up signs and protest! Just tell me where and when.

I watched the nightly news in horror as some little boy about the age of seven or eight was filmed grinning ear to ear about how he shot this huge female bear. His father was equally thrilled. Great. Some other old bird of a man with a honker of a nose was quoted as “I see four of five of these suckers a day, so why not?” Hey, how about you? How would you like to be turned into a very ugly human rug or have that gross head of yours mounted on the wall of a bear’s den? Yeah, you go old man.

Most hunters were quoted as saying that the bears just came into view and they shot them. Dead. Cold. In the back. Hello. What kind of sport is that? You all make me sick. sick. sick.

I am disgusted with the state of New Jersey on this issue.

700 bear licenses were issued and sold out almost immediately. I don’t get it. Most of these hunters are out for trophies. Who eats bear meat? Why kill them? They have never harmed me or anything around me. They are docile creatures by nature.

Hunters, I hope it all comes back to you at some point.  I say have a season on you and see how well you fare. What goes ‘round, comes ‘round.

Addendum:
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! Call the Governor of New Jersey and tell them you don’t agree with the hunt. Follow this link for more information on how you can help and the phone number to call. I called! Let’s overwhelm them with phone calls and hopefully this won’t happen again next year!

Where the piece fell out after the first firing and I just left it because it really looked like a shell to me.

You can see that the pieces I glued back in on what became the front of the bowl popped out slightly in the glazing firing. No matter, it just adds a more three-dimensional effect that I find not unpleasing. All in all I am extremely happy with how it came out. The little mistakes in firing actually made the piece more interesting.

The best compliment I could receive came from my husband. He said that if he saw it in a gallery or show he would be drawn to it and would probably buy it! Now, what better compliment could you ask for?

You can follow this link to see what it looked like before the final firing.