81

We haven't sprung yet. Still.

77

I'm guessing we'll be well into May before the wall-o-snow in the grocery store parking lot melts.

69

They say that we've got a major storm coming, and that today was just a taste. As though I didn't already know what snow, and winter, taste like.  Apparently the late, heavy snows here are yet another sign of climate change.

47

Woke up to a couple more inches of snow today -- the kind that wanted to make everything look magical again.  I wish I could take pictures when I'm driving, but I can't -- almost my entire drive to work is tree-lined back roads and I felt like I was in Narnia.

A photo a day over at Chicken Blog, too.

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A photo a day over at Chicken Blog, too.

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A photo a day over at Chicken Blog, too.

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A photo a day over at Chicken Blog, too.

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Visitors are always a bit amused and baffled by our "Thickly Settled" signs; just another one of those things that you don't "see" if you see them every day. We got out for a couple of walks this weekend, which does help me feel just a little less thickly settled....

And a mythical, storybook moon to say goodnight. SkyView, as I think of it, is a free app for your phone which I highly recommend; while the moon isn't a challenge to identify, it will let you know exactly what each star and planet (and space station/satellite) is that lights up your sky.

A photo a day over at Chicken Blog, too.

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A photo a day over at Chicken Blog, too.

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Last stretch of the morning commute, out my driver side window, while stopped to let the commuter rail train pass by just ahead.

A photo a day over at Chicken Blog, too.

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We went for a walk.

A photo a day over at Chicken Blog, too.

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Our weather here in the Northeast of the US continues to be strange -- warmer than usual, vicious storms that bring rain and sleet rather than snow -- and the bulbs I planted last fall are confused. It's not a good thing, actually, seeing them come up now; these tender leaves will most certainly be frozen and killed before long, leaving the bulb unlikely to have the energy to do any more once spring really comes.

Sigh.

Today I met my friend Marilyn for lunch; we are college friends and have for years gotten together for a lunch during January. We catch up, and look ahead -- it occurs to me that we rare look back. She's planning to retire soon, and move with her husband to their house on Cape Cod before eventually moving to Florida for the winters. We'll have to come up with a new tradition, and I'm not sure why thinking about that makes me so sad. Maybe just the acknowledgement that we are getting older, and that the waves of shared experiences start to take on a last-half-of-life kind of tinge (you know -- you go through those stages in life where everyone's deciding where to go to college, then when everyone's deciding what to do after graduation, then suddenly everyone's getting married, having children, etc.).

A photo a day over at Chicken Blog, too.

24

 

A photo a day over at Chicken Blog, too.

19

The decorations on a cold January morning.

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Another sunrise glimpse of a bursting moon, and a cafe I find myself dreaming of.  Mmmm, pure sugar.....

12

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 Another very pink morning.

And although this full moon got no press that came to my attention -- no special super moon announcements -- this beauty surely qualified as super indeed.

9

Bitterly cold today; -3 c. on the car ride to school. The seed catalogs have started to arrive, tempting me to over-commit to spring and summer once again...but I've got to give morning glories another try.

A photo a day over at Chicken Blog, too.

8

 Woke up to about 6 inches of bright snow; the storm began yesterday afternoon and it's always an adventure to go to bed while it's still snowing, not knowing what you'll wake up to. This, now this is manageable.

 Ken assesses.

 

Dean tackled the back deck; we are both so, so grateful for his help.

 

 

And I've still been stitching, playing, wintering, Christmasing. We were *going* to take the tree down this weekend (always have to keep it up until Epiphany, at least) but a quick vote was unanimous -- one more week.

 I see I was a little too speedy in cutting the outer disk with the scalloping shears, but I'm not too terribly concerned. I'll remember all the tricks and systems, the more I keep making.



A photo a day over at Chicken Blog, too.