Snow snow snow snow

It's wonderful to have the day off and be inside enjoying a snowfall. And today I got to do just that!

My DH took care of all of the details so the only thing I had to do was make a nice hot dinner (borek), knit as much as I wanted (socks) and look out the window at the snow.

It's so much prettier when you don't have to shovel it!

Storm Aftermath

No picture, because there's nothing to see.  We lost power for about 2 hours - just at to the point where we were thinking about getting up and doing something about it.

No damage.  No flooding.  Nothing bad at all.

It was a first for us.  We usually get hammered - trees down, water everywhere, debris everywhere.

But this time?  Nothing.

Of course the trains aren't running - so working from home.  And some of my friends and family got hit - but nothing too bad.

So thankful.  So lucky.

Oh Hail

Another hot and humid day today, but we finally got a bit of a break with some quick thunderstorms.  Unfortunately they also brought us a bit of hail.

Normally I wouldn't bother a bit about some hail coming down (so long as there was no damage to the houses), but with less than 2 weeks until the garden tours I was a lot freaked out about the whole thing.

Maybe I should just take the view that we are getting the winter icy mix now instead of this past February.  Maybe that will make it all better.

Sure.  Right.

Not happening.

Night & Day

After 3 days of high heat and humidity, it's nice to get back to some cooler weather - you know, in the 80s.

When the front came through yesterday it was like a mini tornado - high winds, quarter-sized hail, torrential downpour (almost 2-inches of rain in 30 minutes!).  I thought that the gardens would be trashed beyond repair.

After walking around, though, I found most everything was just fine.  Even though the clover field got knocked down, I'm hoping it will perk up over the next couple of days.  And quite frankly, I was just happy that none of the trees came down on the house.  There were a few small branches here and there, but overall, it was all fine.

I'm glad we took the time to put in all the plants before the heat hit.  I think they would not have done so well if they were still in pots out on the back patio.  Being in a cool garden bed really let them do well with the heat and the heavy rain.  Now all they need to do is grow - a lot - before the tours start.

And today was all about the tours.  Not the fun outside things, pruning and primping, but the million details of paperwork, flyers, brochures and phone calls.  So I didn't get to go outside much at all today.

Because even though I kept looking out the window and thinking that I would be done any minute, the next thing I knew, it was night.  Apparently even though it's lighter longer in the summer, they didn't add any extra hours to go along with the extra light.

I'll try again tomorrow...

Snowy Surprise

I've never understood how it is even possible that weathermen get the weather wrong when they are reporting what is happening at that moment.  All they have to do is look out the window.

But day after day, I listen to the weather and (foolishly) I believe them.

Yesterday, I was watching the weather.  The man said it was currently raining outside.  The radar said there was rain outside.  I heard dripping from the eaves.  I heard cars passing by on a wet road.  I truly believed it was raining outside.

Until I walked outside and found almost 2-inches of snow on the ground.

Seriously.  How hard is it?

I really have to stop listening to the weatherman.  He's really never ever right.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and find my umbrella.  It's supposed to rain like cats and dogs tomorrow.

Storm Is Coming

Part of me is loving the storms coming through because each one is bringing Spring closer - the other part of me is cold, wet and so tired of no sunshine.

The part of me that is cold and wet is a lot bigger than the part that is loving the storms.

Okay.  Much better now.

Footsteps in the Snow

This morning I was greeted by a carpet of snow.  Surprise!  Crunchy, slippery, heavy, wet snow.

It was great just hearing it crunch as I walked down the driveway to the truck.  Little footprints from nighttime visitors crisscrossed the patio explaining clearly why my puppy was so excited last night.  But now there was nothing but a still calm and the crunching snow underfoot.

There's no way I can possibly complain about 2 tiny little inches of snow in mid-January this year.  It was warmer than this weekend.  The snow slid off of the truck in big clumps.  No trees were falling.  No roofs needed shoveling off.  There's not enough to shovel - let alone plow.

There wasn't even enough to stick to the road for slush or ice.

I could get used to this.

Nature's Christmas Tree

The rain was coming down this morning.  By the time I got to the train station, it had let up and droplets were sparkling like diamonds on the branches of the trees and bushes - like nature's own Christmas tree lights.

You have to love Friday's, of course, because it means that tomorrow you can actually sleep until you want to get up.  Sometimes though, you only get to see beautiful things like this in the dark mornings of a cold and rainy winter day.

It reminds me to keep balance in my day and to cherish the little things.

Warm Hearth, Warm Toes

We've been really lucky this winter because so far it hasn't been too cold.  That's changing now though - this week it was 2 overnight.  And no, I didn't miss a digit on that - it was 2 degrees.

Since we are still in the process of restoring our bucolic manor home, it still has the original insulation and an ancient heating system.  They both work equally well - on other words, they don't do much to keep out the cold.  One thing we do is close down most of the house so we only have to heat what is absolutely necessary.  But the rest of the place needs to at least be kept above freezing.

We do have a lot of trees here.  And some of them were downed during a summer storm a few years ago.  So we chopped them up into logs and let them "season" (dry out).  Now we have firewood!

Let me tell you, nothing beats a warm fire on a cold winter's night.  So for the next few weeks, we'll be heating the old fashioned way with wood stoves.

We start with a cleaned out stove.

Then add crumpled newspaper.

A layer of ripped up cardboard.

Some kindling - twigs and small branches and small bits of the logs that were pruned from the gardens.

And finally some split logs from our trees.

Close up the grate.

Light the newspaper layer.

Make sure it's going.

And close up the stove, just leaving the bottom cracked open for a good draught.

In about 5 minutes, the fire gets going and the cast iron wood stove heats up providing warmth that will last all night long.

Toasty warm!

We save the ashes and will use them instead of salt on the icy walkways this winter then whatever is left over we will take and work back into the soil in the gardens this spring.

Believe me when I tell you it is backbreaking labor to heat a house with wood.  If you have oil or electric  central heating, take a moment and rejoice!  

When we lived in Manhattan we had no control over the temperature in our apartment.  It isn't unusual to see windows open on the coldest bitter February days down in the city - some of the buildings are just that hot.

Up in the country, though, every window and door is shut tight, every gap filled in and layers of clothing go on before the fire is lit.  Heat is something we appreciate during the winter.  And we really appreciate those trees that came down and are keeping us warm this winter!

Wood stoves - they're a beautiful thing!

Rainy Lights

Some folks were complaining about the rain today - so messy, their hair was all frizzy! - but not me.  I love a nice rain in the city.  Everything sparkles.  

It gets so shiny and bright!  ('Tis the season!)  All the streets and sidewalks get cleaned at once.  All the plants perk up, drinking it in.

It was a gentle rain for most of the day.  It was nice! (Way better than snow!!!)

Warm House

The victim - 1 small piece of black locust from the tree that feel during a summer storm 2 years ago.

The weapon - 1 lightweight electric chain saw with enough power to slice your foot off.

The act - steady hand, firm grip, good balance, pink gloves (a must!)

The result - enough firewood to heat our winter rooms for the night and wood ash for the garden come springtime.

Heat in the winter - it's a beautiful thing!

October Snow?

As much as I loved staying home during the snow storm, I finally returned to work in the city.  I was dressed for the wintery weather aftermath - warm sweater, boots, bundled up in my winter coat.  But look!  No snow!  No broken limbs on the trees.  They still have their leaves which are just starting to turn.

After a long weekend with no electricity, the calm quiet of snow and a crackling fire it was strange to go back down to the busy noisy city.

Of course the trains are still not running all the way upstate - so transportation is a challenge.  Ack!  

Snow Puppy

Our puppy is a winter girl.  She was born in the winter and came to live with us in the winter - and for the first 6 months of her life was convinced that the ground was made of snow.  

During her first spring, we had to convince her that it was okay to walk on un-snow-covered ground.  She would hop from one melting pile of snow to another until she was stranded on the last little pile of whiteness with no options for moving forward - and a little worried look on her face as she saw the ground around her disappear.

During the summer, she chases after the little white moths in the lawn as if they are snow flakes - pouncing and batting at them.  When she catches them she seems surprised that they don't melt.

When we went out to check the property, she got her first run through the newly fallen snow and took off in a blur!  She bounced and romped and rolled - thoroughly enjoying the ground having been restored to its' "proper" state.

All is right in her world!

Hydrangea

Happy Halloween!  Mother Nature played her tricks on us this weekend, so we had no ghosts and goblins knocking on our door.  In fact, the only knocking we heard was from our knocking the snow off of the trees and bushes.

This lovely beauty was weighed down to the ground by the heavy October snow.  After a good shaking midway through the storm she straightened up a bit and I am hoping she will survive to bloom another year.  

Her formal name is hydrangea paniculata and she is 8 years old this Fall.  She is a standard - pruned into a tree form - and fills our flower bower with her creamy blossoms in summer which fade to this fabulous tea rose.  I hope that I can get enough blossoms to make a little wreath or flower arrangement for Thanksgiving, but at this point I'm just happy that she lived through the storm.

Snow Days

When you live in the Northeast, you have to expect snow.  And we do expect snow - just not so much - at the end of October!  It was a bit more than we were prepared for.

This Saturday morning was a beautiful Fall day.  I was out in the garden bringing in the last of the tender plants for overwintering indoors.  Just as I finished up, the first flakes began to fall.  And they kept coming down for the next 12 hours.  After 5 hours of the heavy wet snow, we lost power.  Cell service lasted for another hour, but then the tower went out as well.  Luckily we have the wood stoves for heat and the water stayed on during the entire outage.

Midway through the wintery blast, we went out to do maintenance on the property.  Shaking the snow off of the bushes and trees, checking the outbuildings for snow-load, and running away from the larger trees when we heard the *crack* of a limb breaking and crashing to the ground.

I have to say we were very lucky.  The large limbs from our 150 year old pine trees did not fall on the house.  The black locust limbs that plummeted from hundreds of feet in the air slicing through anything they encountered in their path to the ground only hit gardens - not us!  One of our rescued apple trees was pruned by Mother Nature and seems so sad at half of its' height, but its' roots are snug in the earth.  We were lucky.

Once the snow stopped on Sunday and the roads were clear of emergency vehicles, we shoveled the driveway (the tractor is still set up for mowing - not plowing) and ventured out.  As is usual in the country, we stopped  to move downed trees from the road (sans power lines!).  Our little town was out of gas, so we headed north where we found gas and hot food.  After filling the truck and warming up, we headed back home to our bouncy puppy and another night of monitoring the water lines.  

Our power came back up on Monday, the snow is almost all gone now, but the damage to the gardens is bad.  It could have been worse, though.  Like I said - we were lucky.