This rather ugly statue sits in a front flower bed of our house. It came with the house, presumably left by the first owners. We can’t decide whether or not to get rid of it. Is it good luck or bad?  What is it? Does anyone know?

Please help us decide:

good vs. evil?
good luck vs. bad luck?
or just plain ugly?
toss it?
keep it?

Yesterday morning upon rising we were greeted with our first measurable snowfall here in the ‘mountains’ of New Jersey. Not much—about a half inch—but enough to cover the ground. As the sun rose and grew stronger, it started to chase the snow away. I managed to snap these photos before it left.

This photo gives new meaning to the term Snow Fence.

And of course, my favorite tree had to cast its own shadowy spell over me. I’ve never noticed its shadow before. The first shot is when I first saw it; the second one is a little bit later. You can see how much the snow had melted by then.

This past weekend we went to Sunday lunch at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Tarrytown, New York. This unique restaurant is situated in the rolling countryside along the Hudson River, just a mere 30 miles from New York City. It’s a part of the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, situated on the enormous estate Kykuit built by John D. Rockefeller. Blue Hill prides itself on serving organic, seasonal food straight from the farm and the richly blessed Hudson Valley.

Our route took us over the Tappen Zee Bridge and on to Route 9 through the towns of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow. I’m sure that on a beautiful spring or summer day the drive is quite beautiful. However, our day was murky and very foggy. Even the top of the bridge was not to be seen. Really though, it was perfect weather for driving through the town of Sleepy Hollow. You know—the good old Headless Horseman’s stomping grounds? We expected him to ride by at any minute, head in hand. Surely you’ve all heard of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving?  In any case, after a 45 minute drive we arrived at our destination.

As you can see by my collage of photos above, it was not a day for standing around trying to take pictures. The tops of the beautiful silos were completely shrouded in fog. It’s a shame because it was such a photogenic place. At least I managed to get a few.

Stone Barns is a collection of barns built in the 1930s for the Rockefellers to house their cattle farm. The restaurant is actually the old dairy barn. It’s the building in my collage above, [the top left photo] that can be seen through the archway. Here is a photo I ‘borrowed’  from The Food Section web site of the inside.

It was simple, yet elegant. We chose from a prix fixe menu [$42.00] for three courses: Starter, Main Dish & Dessert. For my three courses I chose Most of the Greenhouse Greens; Veal Canneloni on a bed of fresh beans; and Poached Bosc Pear on a slice of Hazelnut Cake with Cardamom Sauce. Rick chose the Blue Hill Charcuterie; Berkshire Pork; and Warm Chocolate Bread Pudding with Caramel Ice Cream. 

My salad was wonderful! Lovely flavor-packed, meaty, mushrooms [not sure what kind they were], fresh greens and topped with an fresh egg just collected that morning that was soft cooked, cut in half and had a fried breading of some kind on the outside. My veal cannelloni was excellent as well, just too rich for me to eat them all. And dessert ... well ... marvelous! Rick enjoyed his meal as well, though he told me that he wished he had ordered what I did. But he always says that. We always choose the same things and he has it in his head that he can’t order the same thing I do. Too boring; but good!

The service was excellent and the presentation of the food was superb.

I wish the weather had been more conducive to walking around as I’d like to explore the farm more. I can see us definately going back in the spring or summer for a leisurely late dinner. Yes, Blue Hill at Stone Barns is a ‘keeper.’

Watch the video!

I couldn’t stay home today knowing that the pond is finally freezing over. Tonight it might even snow, so I wanted to take a few more photos of strange ice formations before that happened.

Nature formed its own natural vases for these stalks, almost like blown glass.

Or, how about a new skirt?

Cool patterns in newly formed ice on the pond.

I didn’t get a photo of it, but as I was taking photos of leaves entombed in ice a tiny muskrat swam by under the ice. It was awesome! At first I thought it was a fish going past, but then I saw a long rat-like tail! At least I think it must have been a muskrat… hmmm… ?

I was all alone except for this ruddy duck that watched me from his not-yet-frozen part of the pond.

Old Man Winter arrived last night in the form of cold and wind. As I lay in my bed, trees rattled and scraped their branchy fingers against the house.  squeak squawk. The ghost in our attic returned, walking to and fro. I know the ‘ghost’ is just a phenomenon of the wind somehow, but it truly does sound like someone walking in the attic.

A brisk walk this morning to Green Turle Pond rewarded my chilly effort with some interesting ice formations. The wind left branches looking like those rock candy swizzle sticks they used to put in children’s drinks.