Over the weekend we had fog. Pea soup. The trees loomed eerily out of the gray mist like lost soldiers that forgot where they were marching to or from.

The air oozed wetness. Drip. Drip. Drip.

Best to stay inside and finish our Christmas puzzle we started over New Year’s next to the cozy wood fire in the sun room. Not that it was that cold outside, because it really wasn’t. Just very damp.

Last night we were sitting there watching TV and heard it raining hard. Not predicted by our local weatherman either. This morning there was a tiny tiny spritz of snowflakes on the deck.

Tonight we’re supposed to get a predicted 1-3 inches of snow.

So, there you have it. New Jersey weather in a nutshell.

(photo: Out the Window)

I shot this photo of our pool cover after a heavy frost about a month or so ago before the snows came (and stayed). It looked like a smiley face to me. Or maybe the pool was taunting me (neh neh neh neh neh neh you can’t swim in me!) Either way, it caught my eye.

Hopefully this will be my last post before the new look for the blog will be revealed. We are getting so close! I’m so excited to have a new, fresh look. I can’t promise that the content will be new and fresh—just the daily life of a ‘new’ Jersey Girl as it unfolds day by day.

I did manage to go over to Skylands on Friday, but it was a rather disappointing trip. The constant freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw of our snowpack has left a solid sheet of ice in spots as I found out when I tried to go cross-country instead of keeping to the paved areas. I slipped my way to the slimy bullfrog pond only to find it with barely a covering of ice and looking very un-photographable. My next slippery stop was the koi and lily pad trench which I found out they drain completely in winter. Even the Duck Pond was boring as it was totally frozen over with a heavy sheet of ice and no reflections to be seen. I would have walked the loop but I didn’t have a hat on my head and a nasty little wind was blowing. I went home. This was the only shot I took the whole time.

With the warmer temperatures this weekend we hope to get down the Christmas decorations outside. I think the lights on the trees have unfrozen by now and the snow has shrunk enough to gather up the extension cords that are on the ground. I am tired of looking at them.

One of my amaryllis has a bud coming! I think it’s the oldest one of the three, and if so it will be its sixth year or so of blooming. It’s going to be a small one, but still—six years of consecutive blooms! The other two are still not showing any signs of a bud issuing forth but they still have nice green leaves. I was contemplating cutting them off with the thinking behind it of them putting all their energy into the leaves and not in producing a bud, but my master gardner neighbor Aileen nipped that idea in the bud (so to speak). She told me not to cut them. So, I guess I’ll wait and see what happens. I’ve treated them the same way I have every year so there should be no difference.

Next up: the big reveal!

On New Year’s Day we took the dogs for a “big” walk, meaning we walked down our street, and crossed the main road and entered the woods by Green Turtle Pond. You know: The Thorn Queen’s Kingdom.

By the looks of the entrance you would think she was once again plotting a new way to keep people (me) out since her thorns are lessened by the snowpack. These trees no doubt blew over right across the trail during Hurricane Sandy. It did not deter us!

Her kingdom looks very different from the last time I took you here.

I liked this woodpecker-holed tree. Did the bird drill from both sides to achieve the see-through hole?

The dogs love the freedom of running off-lead and exploring. They get lots of exercise since they run down the trail, then run back to get a treat from us. (Which is the way we trained them to stay close to us at the cabin.)

Bella

Here is Alex coming back for a treat and Hailey in the background not wanting to be left out where any kind of food is involved. Here I come, wait for me!!

Lunch involved our favorite champagne (Veuve Clicquot) with a toast to the New Year.

(Don’t look at the photo too hard for anything much in focus because I think it’s somewhere in the bubbles! I know, I know, but somehow it worked for me.)

And, we tried out a new recipe from a new cookbook Fireside Feasts & Snow Day Treats: Parmesan Custards with Anchovy Toasts.

The cookbook is British but has both UK and US measurements and usage of words which helps. I know most people don’t like anchovies, but here they get mashed with butter, spread on the bread and then panini-ed. The salt of the anchovy matched really well with the custards. You have to admit that at least they look good, yes? The custards didn’t come out quite as expected by following the directions, so if I make them again I’ll adjust the recipe. Still, they were really good. You can always go really light on the anchovies or leave them out altogether I suppose, which would probably be most people’s choice!

The cookbook has lots of tasty looking recipes and only one vegetable that I don’t know what it is since they only used the British word for it: a swede. I am assuming I am not supposed to slice up a person from Sweden! (Take one Swede and cut in half … ) Maybe a rutabaga since it’s a root vegetable gratin?? Anyway, that’s my best guess.

Now that I’ve turned you off our cooking completely I’ll get on with my day!

I’m not sure why but there is something about this time of year that turns the sky pink at dawn. We have quite a few of these blushy sunrises.

I will be going through separation anxiety today as Rick returns to work after being home for the entire holiday. He probably won’t work all day, but still. Then one more day of holiday time and normal life returns. Our garbage pickup day will go back to normal having been interrupted twice by holidays falling on our usual day, the Christmas decorations will come down and be packed away for another year.  (At least the inside ones will. The outside decorations are frozen in place right now.)

We don’t have any plans for New Year’s Eve. Most years we are in bed asleep when the clock strikes midnight. I expect to raise a glass or two of champagne before that though.

Whatever your plans are tonight, stay safe! Happy New Year everyone!

Gloomy sky at Skylands yesterday.

Good Morning! We had rain (nearly one inch of the wet stuff) and lots of wind overnight which kept waking me up. The rain has tapered off now from sheets of driving rain to just rain but the trees are still frantically swaying to and fro with the wind, waving their branches around in some kind of native dance known only to trees.

Yesterday I took myself off to Skylands for a walk and also in search of the pileated woodpecker’s nesting box that we saw the last time we were there. But that’s another story for a different day.

The day was mostly gray with some sun peeking through at times. It was kind of strange. Hardly anyone was there. I think I passed one couple walking their dog and another man who was on his cell phone. I thought to myself, is that really necessary when you are out communing with nature to be on the phone? I don’t get it. I walked the lower loop that is mostly woods and outside of the actual park.

The duck pond (which was my intended destination) was partially frozen from the cold nights we’ve been finally having which led to half frozen/half watery reflections. I found them interesting.

I spent quite a bit of time at the pond taking photos, some of which I will be sharing in another post. The rest of my walk was pleasant, if a bit damp and chilly. The only other creatures I saw (besides the couple with the dog and the man with a phone in his ear) were squirrels scurrying through the underbrush, who just flicked their fluffy tails at me and went on about their business. I always find this walk calming and relaxing.

When I got up this morning I checked the weather on AccuWeather as I normally do. And I saw this:

Are you reading the print under the forecast where is says something like “Snowfall Monday night will total 4-8 inches”? A White Christmas? Surely they jest!