The works being my sister’s cowl and reading Kristin Lavransdatter. I am making progress on both and will most certainly finish my sister’s cowl before I complete the 1,124 pages of Kristen.

I was going great guns on my sister’s cowl only to realize, after counting my stitches, that I had made a huge gaffe and needed to take out four rows. So, that set me back a bit. My goal is to finish by this weekend so I can wash it and block it and send it out to her before North Carolina’s weather turns warmer. Too bad she doesn’t have it right now since they are getting snow and ice!

The cowl and the book are connected in a way because my sister recommended that I read the book. It’s about a woman in fourteenth-century Norway and is really a trilogy written in the early 1920’s: The Wreath, The Wife and The Cross, rolled into one huge issue. It takes her from girlhood and throughout her life. It’s really good! I am not reading it exclusively as I have too many library books out right now and those have a limited amount of time; Kristen does not since it belongs to me. I am making progress one or two chapters at a time. (I am still on The Wreath.)

Tomorrow should be a good day to catch up on both of my “works” while sitting in front of a cozy fire watching the snow fall. All 10 to 16 inches of it!

Here I sit in front of my computer feeling the need to blog. I don’t really have anything to blog about but I feel like it’s my duty to do at least one post per week. Let’s just see what comes out of the tips of my fingers. Maybe if I sit here long enough something will come to mind.

Rick had jury duty this week. He took the above photo in the rotunda of the courthouse in Paterson. I love it for so many reasons. He spent three days sitting around for a civil malpractice case. Nearly all of that time was taken up with choosing the jurors. The two lawyers kept dismissing everyone they seated. He got lucky because one of the lawyers dismissed him as a juror too and there were only two potential jurors left after him. I have to wonder if they decided on one of them or if they had to call in more people. It’s an interesting look at our justice system but it can be boring just sitting there waiting to be called.

If you don’t already know, the Super Bowl is coming to town. Seahawk and Bronco frenzy has overtaken the whole city of New York. In fact, it’s kind of funny that even though the game is being played in the Meadowlands in New Jersey, New York has seemed to claim dibs on the whole thing. Poor New Jersey is hardly even mentioned. I’ll be glad when it’s over and I don’t have to listen to the hype anymore. As you already know, I am not a fan of the game. Just a bunch of grown men throwing themselves on top of a ball and running with it if they are lucky.

Speaking of duties, I am dutifully and diligently knitting away on my sister’s cowl. It’s such a fun pattern and very satisfying to see it coming together. Something I made from my own two hands!

Lately my photography has taken a back seat. I could say I have nothing to photograph but that wouldn’t be true. I’m sure if I trudged through the snow in the woods that I would find something of interest. It’s been so cold (in the single digits and teens) that it doesn’t really appeal to me. I could, I suppose, photograph something around the house and make it interesting but that seems like too much effort and not my style at all. So, my camera sits there waiting for inspiration to strike.

Now that I have bored you all with my minutia I’ll close for now. I am hoping to jump start my blogging —and my photography.

Well, so much for my “promise” of blogging more often. Three weeks?? That has got to be a record. My poor blog is as neglected and forgotten as this old house. (Autumn reflections in windows.) No, nothing is wrong — just living life away from the keyboard. I haven’t even been around to read or comment on anyone else’s blogs either, so for that I apologize. That having been said, this will be a catch-up post and longish. I will be by to visit your blogs soon!

We’ve been having a series of clipper systems coming down from the North and snowing on us with frigid temperatures. Last Tuesday we got snow —about 4 inches worth — while the city got about a foot. On Saturday we were supposed to get “a coating to an inch” and ended up with 3 inches. And just yesterday we had an unpredicted little snow that coated all the surfaces we had just cleaned the day before. We’ve had so many gray days that it’s hard to count them all. We saw blue sky yesterday morning for an hour or so and it was a welcome sight.

With the temperatures not getting above freezing for the past week we’ve had the wood fire going all day. It keeps that part of the house so toasty warm! Today is the first day above freezing in a while but tonight it is supposed to plummet again to the single digits. 

The dogs like it when I don’t clear all the snow off the decks and leave them something to lay on. Hailey turned ten years old on Friday. A grand old age for her breed. She does not like the weather we’ve been having other than to lay in her snow pile. I attempted to take them for a walk last week when it warmed up to 20 degrees but there was still patchy ice on our road. She kept pitifully picking her paws up and holding them in the air as if to say “mom, it’s too cold on my poor little pads!” So I brought her back home and went with only Bella who didn’t seem to notice. I’ve never seen one of our dogs ever do that before. If was almost funny if you didn’t think she was in some kind of discomfort. 

She and Bella have become closer since we lost Alex. She was even playing in the snow with Bella the other day on the deck like a puppy. They have also taken to lying next to each other like siamese twins. It’s really sweet.

I have been somehow keeping myself busy even though I stay home a lot. I have been knitting this Katniss-inspired Cowl (from the Catching Fire, the second of the Hunger Games movies) and I’m super excited how easy it was and how well it turned out. I tried to get a pic of me wearing it and it was harder than you think it would be. (Getting the photo, I mean. Self portraits are not my forte.) I’m now making a second one for my sister. And yes, it was one sleeve and the other side just drapes over the shoulder.

For Christmas I gave us a trail camera. I mostly bought it for the cabin so we could catch those animal visitors that we never get to see, but I also thought it might be fun here as well. It takes photos both in daylight and at night by infrared. We set it up the night after it snowed and here were a few visitors we caught. It’s very cool because each pic has a read out of the temperature, the date and time that it was taken. I think the photos are pretty good quality! It was fairly inexpensive so I’m sure we’ll have more than one set up in different areas at the cabin.

In this mash-up of topics I just had to include a photo of our lunch yesterday: Roasted Pears with Honey Mustard Glaze, Brie & Pistachios. We’ve had this several times and each time it seems to get better. We serve it on a bed of arugula with high-quality balsamic vinegar splashed on top. 

We are also moving forward with retirement plans, which are still two years in the future. We are excited about the most recent development for the winter months if we decide the cabin is just too “out there” for spending the winter in, but I don’t want to talk about it just yet on the blog for some personal reasons. Let’s just say it makes perfect sense for us. I am also forming a blog post in my head about the sense of belonging. It just has not jelled completely yet.

We are also thinking about getting one of these cute little things. We have always had in the back of our mind to get a motorhome and travel some in retirement, but after going to an RV show recently and playing with all the numbers and the amount of times we’d be traveling, we came to the conclusion that it didn’t make sense money-wise. To get  a T@B, however, would fill the need to go “glamping” and it’s priced reasonably enough to justify its purchase. We still need to see one in person since we are fairly certain Rick won’t be able to stand up to cook if we get the one with the inside kitchen, so a close-by RV show in February should decide that issue. 

So, that’s my life lately summed up in a clamshell (or teardrop), and if you didn’t follow the link you won’t get the inside joke. 

I really don't have much for you today, so you're going to get a little of this and a little of that. As you can see by the photo above, my view on the world has turned to green. The trees seemed to burst into full leaf nearly overnight with our rain last week. Sometimes they fill in gradually and it seems to take forever, but this year they seemed to need to make up for their later than usual start. My tomato plants that you can see have not been potted and put outside just yet because our temperatures this week are dipping into the mid 30's and flirting with frost. It's  kind of hard to imagine the pool opening that is scheduled for Monday.

I forgot to mention the hummingbirds. They arrived right on time about two weeks ago and somehow remembered exactly where the feeder was. The rose-breasted grosbeaks made an appearance at the front feeding station yesterday but I have yet to see them on the back yard feeder. They only stay a few days and then they are off to other locales. We had so many little white-throated sparrows a few weeks back singing their sweet little peabody, peabody, peabody song, but they too seem to have been just passing through. The cardinals are singing their heads off and I love having them around. I am still waiting for the wood thrush and now that the trees are fully out I shouldn't have to wait for long.

white-throated sparrow

The fox has been back. I always know when it's in the front yard because Bella goes nuts. She hates the fox. If this is one of the same foxes that visited  before and distributed mange amongst the dogs, then bark away Bella! If it is the same fox, it looks like it's a lot healthier than before. The only part that still looks bad is its tail.

Figgy is leafing out and has been living outside now for about a week. We did bring it into the garage last night because of the predicted (but didn't happen) frost. She seems to have survived the winter in the garage just fine. The leaves might not be quite large enough yet to cover Adam's parts but they are looking good.

RIght now the crabapples are about done and the dogwoods are blooming. Wisteria is also blooming right now and I need to take some photos of it just growing wild, hanging in the trees. I don't have any in my yard but down by Green Turtle I noticed some right by the road the other day. Azaleas are also pretty showy right now.

I mentioned last week that I was knitting on a project. It's a market bag for my sister. I made myself one and loved the pattern and the end result so much that I wanted to knit another one and asked her if she might like one. Here is what mine looks like, and you'll be glad to know I didn't have to take the other one completely out. It's coming along but I haven't worked on it very much in the past few days.

Now that the roof is finished there is a small project in the laundry room that is being tackled. We needed a new slop sink and faucet and are ripping out the old fake tile wallboard and having actual tile put in behind and around the sink. Then we'll need to paint the whole room, but I' m not so sure when that will get done. You see, our schedule for the next month or so is going to be a bit crazy.

On Friday we are leaving for the shore since we have had an invitation from friends Andy and Linda to visit them at their shore house for the weekend—dogs and all! The last time they invited us was the weekend that Sandy hit so we are hoping for good weather this time. They've only just finished the repairs on the house since the damage that was done by that superstorm and we'll be their first guests. I hope the dogs behave. We're anxious to see how water dog Bella likes the ocean.

Monday is pool opening day and Rick has business and an overnight stay in Philadelphia, returning home on Tuesday. Wednesday we have the pool deck and sides of the house being power washed. Thursday brings Rick's Mom (also named Lynn but without the "e") for her visit of ten days. After Lynn leaves on June 3rd we have a week and a half before we take off to Cartagena. So you can see what I mean! After that things calm down again until September and we can kick back a bit and enjoy the summer in full swing.

How's that for bits of this and that?

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