Just look at my feet and tell me what you see. Anything wrong? Uhm, I didn’t realize I had put on two unmatched shoes this morning until I got to the grocery store and looked down. Good grief. One old Merrill yard shoe (complete with hole) and one newer Merrill. One grey and one brown. Such a class act. I hope no one noticed.

Even though my day started off on the wrong foot, it’s not going badly. I just got back from taking the two big dogs for a walk in the wintry white greyness that is hanging around outside today. It looks like winter and if feels like winter. The snowfall from the other day is staying solidly in place, probably because of the coating of ice on top that is like a layer of shellac. Crunchy stuff, that. It’s just above freezing and that’s a heat wave compared to the frigid cold moving our way. Friday’s high temperature is supposed to be 10 F. brrrrrrrrrrr. Even some snow here and there over the next few days. But we all know how well the weather can be predicted, especially snowfall. I am sceptically optimistic.

Even though it’s white and grey outside, look what I get to look at inside to brighten up my day.

Gorgeous, isn’t it? Neighbor Aileen gave me this lovely amaryllis bulb for Christmas and it’s just now starting to bloom. I took it outside for a photo shoot because I liked the contrast of winter and spring.

And, look what I kept alive since last year and managed to force it to bloom again this year! What green fingers I am acquiring here on the East Coast! I am thrilled!

All summer long it lived outside and thrived. I brought it in before the first hard frost and stopped watering it. About three weeks ago I started watering it again. The growth you see here has all taken place in about one week. Here is a link to what it looked like last year blooming.

Bringing in a little sunshine with its warm color, here is the first half of my scarf completed. I’ve now started on the other half. I am just loving this pattern!

and even more sunshine for the soul ...

I hope you find a little sunshine in your day today too!

In my next life I want to come back as a weather person. They get paid lots of bucks and never have to be right. They never seem to be held accountable for getting it wrong.

We’ve heard nothing for days on the news but what a storm was headed our way. Snow totals were projected only to be re-adjusted, seemingly on an hourly basis. Consulting different online weather sites was even more confusing with very different snow projection totals. In the end it was pretty much a disappointing bust. We may have a little over 3 inches to show for all their hype. Big deal.

The grocery store this morning was packed with people cramming the aisles—all in a foul mood. I couldn’t wait to get our few essentials and get the heck out of there. Honestly, you’d think we were going to be snowed in for a week the way they were all acting. And it hadn’t even really started to snow yet. Give me a break folks!

To add insult to injury, our Wii took a hike today. We sat down all ready to have Rick rescue Pitfall Harry from his latest and greatest dilemma only to find it couldn’t read any of our game discs anymore. So sad. We hope that after repairs they will be able to save all our game data (and trust me, we have a lot of games in various stages of progress!) and all will be restored to normal. If not, we’ll have to start all over again which will really be a royal pain.

Feeling cheated and grumpy here tonight.

The Snow Queen must have been jealous because yesterday morning she swept through, covering up the work of the Ice Queen with a fresh coating of fluffy white new snow. So there, she said. I can cover up all your work just like that. Of course, the Ice Queen’s work is still there, lying treacherously only an inch below. Some of the tree branches still carry their icy coating and our driveway shows no improvement. Our local stores are all sold out of ice melt. Me thinks the Ice Queen still rules.

Bella likes it when the Snow Queen comes. She likes to try and catch snowflakes in her mouth just like any other little kid.

Yesterday the Ice Queen paid us a visit. She captured everything in her icy grip. Bare branches, pine needles, and buds awaiting the spring were all trapped in their icy prisons like flies in amber.

She left ice sculptures behind.

She made a crystalline carpet out of the grass that crunched underfoot and sounded like glass breaking when walked upon.

Thankfully she didn’t do any damage. We may have lost a few small branches but nothing big. It could have been much worse.

There is something very sad about Christmas decorations after Christmas is over with. Just look at these reindeer in my neighbor’s yard down the street. They’ve keeled over from the stress of it all, while the one left standing looks on forlornly. I’m afraid there is no rescue for these poor little reindeer if last year is any indication. (Last year they left them up until Easter.) Take them down, put them away, and get on with life after Christmas folks!

We certainly did. On Sunday the tree and all the trimmings came down and got packed up and put away. The living room looks naked without the bedecked tree but we’ll get used to it. It’s nice to have the house back to normal again. A fresh, clean house to start the new year with.

As for the weather, it bounces back and forth. We had a bit of snow on New Year’s Eve which is still around in spotty bits, but right now it’s raining. At least I think it is but it’s too dark outside to really tell. I think it’s freezing rain. That is something I can’t quite get used to. Here it is 31 degrees F and it’s raining instead of snowing. I can see icicles and a good coating of ice on the deck’s railings. Yuck. When it gets lighter I will try and get some photos if it’s worthwhile. But by the time it’s bright enough outside to take photos the ice will probably be melting. We’ll see.

I think canoeing is out of the question, don’t you? Green Turtle Pond now belongs to the ice fishermen.

As for me, I am feeling pretty much back to normal thank goodness. Still coughing some but it’s a dry cough instead of the one I did have.

How is Bella doing, you might ask. She’s doing just great. Growing like a weed in rich soil. She weighs in at 50 pounds now at 4 months of age. I think she’s going to be a big girl. I can’t even write about her misadventures much anymore because she’s turned into a little angel. She’s really a very good puppy. Well, most of the time. She still has her moments. Like when I just now tried to take her photo and she started barking at me.

Poor thing. I just let her out to pee and it’s so icy out there her legs went in every direction trying to squat. I can see now that everything is coated with ice. Lovely.

Did I tell you that I saved a bird’s life the other day? We came home from running errands and saw Sam staring intently at a female downy woodpecker just sitting in the snow on the other side of the glass door. I knew just what to do as I’ve done it many times before when we’ve had birds stunned from flying into the glass. I put my gloves on and went out and picked her up. At first she tried to fly, but couldn’t. She soon settled down in my cupped hands, turning her head this way and that looking at me. I stroked her feathers every so lightly, trying to warm her up. After a while I opened my hands and she still just sat there. I was hoping she wasn’t hurt internally when all of a sudden she took flight. Hurray!

With the nasty weather outside I’ve decided not to go anywhere today. I am going to make this Irish stew this afternoon, complete with cheddar scones. Just the meal for a day like today, don’t you agree?