When I opened our upstairs bedroom curtains this morning this was the first thing I saw. Our resident broad-winged hawk all puffed up in the 7 degree weather, and obviously hoping to score a meal. He sat there for at least a half an hour without moving. As far as I know he was not successful in his hunt for food. Beautiful bird.

We did have two days last week that got into the 40’s and some melting went on in the yard. The snow depth went down quite a bit but we still have about 8 inches of solid white stuff firmly holding ground. What is out there is impossible to walk on (the dogs can just walk on top of it without falling through) and is glacier hard. I can only remember one year since we’ve lived here that we had so much snow cover. And, that was basically from one big storm, whereas this has been non-stop every week since the end of January. 

This week we have plunged back into the “polar vortex” (which to me sounds very much like a sci-fi film) and have not gotten above freezing. In fact, Tonight it’s supposed to go below zero. 

During our short meltdown, we had some lovely black ice on the driveway. We went out one morning to get in the truck and Bella was jumping around like her normal self and took a good fall on her shoulder. She’s still gimping around a little bit. I could barely stand! Nasty nasty stuff.

They tell us that more snow is on the way. Oh joy. Really? They were saying 3-6 inches over Sunday and Monday this morning, but now I see they have upped it to 4-8 inches. Just what we need — more snow! As it is we’ve had little squalls of snow come through every day this week or flurries flying around willy-nilly in the air. It didn’t amount to much, just a coating, but still.

In other news, we’ve been “feathering our new nest” and outfitting the T@B a bit. We got these great stackable pots and pans that I will show you soon. Very cool. They all fit together in one neat package (handle is separate). Other things include a few necessary kitchen utensils and supplies. We need to be careful because we don’t have much room for storage.

I saw on our T@B owners’ group the other day that someone has just ordered their new T@B and named it “Downton T@BBY”. How cute is that? It seems everyone has a name for their T@B. Now I don’t feel so silly that we name our vehicles. We’ll fit right in! Question is, what to name it? I hope to get the new blog up and running soon and it will mostly be things we have purchased while waiting for ours to arrive. Maybe it will help other new owners with what to buy (or not) as the case may be. 

I finished my sister’s cowl and shipped it off to her today, and I love mine so much I am making myself another one in gray.  I am (as predicted) still making my way through Kristen Lavransdatter. 

A few days ago I stood at my front window and watched this herd of deer come down the hill next to my neighbors’ house. They were have a rather rough go of it through the deep snow. I feel sorry for the poor things, there isn’t much out there for them to eat with all this deep snow cover. They reached the road and just stood around scoping out the territory.

They decided to come through the woodsy part of our front yard, but one small one got curious about the food on the ground that I scatter for the birds and squirrels. He/she approached cautiously.

He/she finally decided it was safe and started eating. I know some people hate for the deer to come around because they eat down the bushes and trees, but I don’t mind at all. They can eat whatever they like. Lip-smackin’ good!

Such sweet eyes!

Pretty soon it took off to join the rest of the family.

Yesterday morning I looked up from computer and saw this scene out the window.

Only four deer this time and only the one came over to eat. The other three seemed content to roam our front yard.

She stayed and ate and ate. She must have been out there for at least fifteen minutes. A short while later I was sitting once again at the computer and caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Imagine my surprise (and delight) to see that the turkeys had joined her! Now, that was a sight to see. 

They were not completely comfortable with each other and every time the deer raised her head the turkeys jumped back a couple of feet, but I guess in this brutally cold and snowy winter it’s share and share alike! 

 A buried STOP sign in town.

At the end of the snow tunnel, that is. We got three more inches yesterday. When we turned on our news (which is NYC Channel 7 News) Amy Freeze the meteorologist (and yes, that is her REAL name), didn’t even want to give the weather report. Yes, more snow is headed our way Monday night into Tuesday. Maybe as much as 5 inches! 

We did have a slight thaw on Friday as it got up to 36 degrees and the snow height went down a little, only to be topped up again. 

We are having hamburgers and french fries tonight. Think we should fire up the grill?

And eat outside on the deck?

What’s that? You said you’ll pass? Hmm … I guess we will too. Too much work. Too cold.

We did go to the RV show yesterday but they didn’t have the exact T@B model we were looking for. In typical Lucy fashion, it was a bit smaller than we had envisioned it but it did not deter us. It was tiny inside, but the cutest thing we have ever seen and so well made. A real classic that will hold its value. We were amazed at the work and thought that goes into the manufacturing of these tiny trailers. 

We found a dealer in Pennsylvania that’s about two hours away that has the exact model we were hoping to see, so tomorrow we will drive down and take a look at it. Rick can’t really stand up fully inside and he’s worried about cooking in the inside kitchen, so this will be interesting to see. The one they had at the RV show was the clamshell model with the kitchen outside under a lift-up hatch instead of being inside. I don’t really want to be cooking everything outside and we both agree it *must* have the wet bath included. We are also taking the dogs to see how that would work. It could be an interesting day!

In the meantime we will bide our time until Friday when it’s supposed to reach the tropical temperature of nearly fifty degrees. Woohoo!

Our front light post last night just after sunset.

Sigh. Yesterday during the day we got about a foot of snow. It stopped snowing just after 1:00 p.m., and Rick and I got out and cleared the driveway, front steps, back steps and part of the deck. Then it spit ice pellets at us for a while. We were supposed to get snow overnight but when I got up and looked out the window at 2:30 a.m. it had not done a thing. Good, I thought as I went back to bed, they were wrong.

I got up this morning and looked out the same window and much to my dismay I saw more snow! About six inches or so of heavy wet snow. Here are some photos for comparison.

Here is our deck table and chairs yesterday:

Same view but this morning:

Again, the other side of the deck yesterday:

And this morning:

And the poor poolside table and chairs with its “donut” topping. Here it is BEFORE the most recent snowfall:

And yesterday:

And today:

Sorry for the white balance difference. It’s the best I could do with early morning light.

Bella helped me with the deck shoveling. I shoveled, she barked and wanted snow thrown on her, so I obliged.

Here are some scenes from around my house this morning.

The snow is so high that the dogs can walk right over the fence, so I am hoping they don’t figure it out. (Taken in the back yard.)

Bella coming down from the snowbank in front of our house on the street.

Our ever-narrowing street.

It looks like our front windows are wearing toothy white grins!

eBay wanted to help with the front steps. It didn’t last too long but that cat loves the snow!

Have you had your snow fix yet? I know I have. Still, tomorrow we are supposed to get MORE snow — granted only 2-4 inches this time, but still …

We were afraid that they might cancel the RV show because of the storm, but the show is still on. They said that all the units arrived prior to the storm, which is good for them!

Does this look like the feet, body and beak of a bird to you?

Oh, Lord. They are using the “B” word for the storm that is bearing down on us, ready to unleash 10-16 inches of snow on Thursday. “B” as in Blizzard, but frankly I would use another “B” word to describe this winter. 

Really, Phil? Don’t you think you are taking your predication a little too far?