boing! just saying.

so, as you know, i put away all SNOW references

at both home & work yesterday.

all i can say is:  it worked.

spring has sprung.  there's no turning back.

to reiterate, i am done with winter!

our yard is backing me up on this.

croci (a word which always makes me picture a frog)

a stand of daffodils

white lenten roses

pink lenten roses

even the fungus is getting all excited about spring.

it's practically blushing.

snowmore

it's official.  i am ready for SPRING.  the snow's been great, but now it's time to move on.  i am finished with winter.  time for some warmer weather, gardening, & longer days (which, yes, i know, have been happening for a couple of months now).  really, is there any more seductive a word than gardening?  i think not.

so, to really get this winter thing wrapped up, i have finally taken down the last of the Christmas lights from the den & am putting away my snowman nightlight, which has been living cheerfully in the kitchen for the past few months.

that should do it, right?

but, just to be on the safe side, i also put away the snowman tablecloth

that has been gracing our lunch table at work.

(actually 3 tablecloths that i got at the dollar store and taped together

because it was really bugging me that the tablecloths would separate

and the snowmen wouldn't line up.)

just to make it, you know, really clear that i am

DONE WITH WINTER.

Blizzard of '14

Samuel's declaration greeted me on our back porch this morning.

(& it reminds me of the scene in my favorite movie, room with a view,

when george climbs to the top of a tree and shouts 'truth! beauty!')

the snow started midday &, truly, fell at about an inch per hour!  it was windy, too, so the snow was in our faces most of the time.  as you can see, we didn't mind :)

the boys wore their running shoes in the snow.  all winter boots are outgrown & have not been replaced.  i offered plastic bags, but (for some reason) these were declined.
to each his own.

photo by Mike

you might recall that, about a week ago, we had no heat.

oh, my! i am so.very.glad to hear this lovely unit

humming along so magnificently.

winter lavender with snowy webs

& to our great fortune, it has been almost all SNOW falling from our skies - unlike our neighbors farther east.  we had only a thin crust of ice on top of the snow this morning (packing down our seven inches to more like five on the ruler).  &, briefly, we had freezing rain turning to sleet turning, quickly, back to snow this morning.  in fact, it is actually still snowing as i type this!  we think our total will be closer to ten inches when it finally ends this evening.

they tell me there's nothing like playing a little two-hand tag football

in the driving snow.

so, i was trying to figure out what, exactly, i should start taking time-lapse photos of that was not too far from my front door.  i took a few different series, and The Tree won.  (runners up were The Bird Bath and The Path.)

in a similar vein, i decided to also take a time-lapse series of the Base of Me.

(never fear, unlike the tree, i went inside & got warm between takes.)

it's starting to look like the snow has measles!

our youngest went down to a friend's house for the evening, and we thought to trail along behind for a short walk in the snow.  as he sprinted on down the hill (in aforementioned running shoes), we decided on a much abbreviated walk and turned around for home.  (did i mention all the snow and wind?  it was cold!)

this morning, i enjoyed tromping around the yard with the camera!

snow pictures are so, well, snowy...everything just white.

but i like these few, that offer a little contrast.

sunflower patterns on the back porch

teardrop icicles on the camellia

evergreen snowflake

rust & algae

dogwood buds

 it continues to snow, so the shovels remain in repose.

porcine pin-up

i would like to make a pigs-in-a-blanket statement:  i am NOT obsessed with Miss Piggy, nor do i particularly relate to her rather aggressive, pigatistical approach to life and towards her fellow muppets; however, i will confess to desperately wanting & acquiring, as a pre-teen, her eponymous Miss Piggy's Guide to Life.  SO, imagine my delight when, at an estate sale recently, i spied this sweet not-so-little paperdoll for a pittance of pennies!

she has made herself right at home ~

dancing on a chair in her silky drawers.

as a pig, you can never wear too many flowers

i am more a fan of The Muppets, in general.  Miss Piggy is just a larger-than-life character who has great branding.

but, really, she's not very nice, is she?  what with all that karate-chopping & frog-bullying.

anticipating a doubles-match with Kermie at her side

just after i caught her in the kitchen raiding the slop jar.

i think she would excel at roller derby, no?

i get such a warm, fuzzy feeling when i hear the theme song to The Muppet Show.  i just love it!  i even bought a DVD boxed set a few years ago, hoping to engender some interest in the show from my progeny.  i was the only one entertained.  The Swedish Chef!  Gonzo!  Beaker!  what's not to love and loudly guffaw at?

or snort, even?

just practicing.  you never know when you'll manage to trick a frog into marrying you.

i never did like Pigs in Space.  is that sacrilegious to say?  i just don't recall finding them funny.  at all.  and the blue eagle that read the news.  nope.  not my thing.

p.s.  i don't really care for Kermit the Frog, either.  he, kind of, gets on my nerves.  please don't tell the pig.

a Bo Derek moment in the bathroom.

 

moi! moi! moi!
au revoir!

merci beaucoup!

c'est la fin.

a glamping staycation

i'm not going to pretend that our week without heat gave me insight into anything but first-world living with very mild, short-term discomfort.  but this is what i did learn, for what it's worth:
1.  layers of clothing really do work to provide human insulation;
2.  however, velour pants (see #6 in link) will give you a wedgie when you sleep in them.
3.  i am spoiled by having multiple rooms in which to do my living;
4.  i felt stunned, trapped, and kind of just shut down when that narrowed to one heated room (thank you, old space heater).


the coldest the house got was about 55 degrees, which was fairly manageable with our winter coats, hot water bottles, and little space heater.  (&, truth be told, our upstairs unit was still working - so we always had that option.)  what just surprised me about myself was how quickly i reverted to accomplishing only the essentials and otherwise installing myself in the warm den for hours on end - a room i don't usually spend a lot of time in.  i'd have to get myself really motivated to, say, walk to my desk and find a stamp - or some other brief but necessary journey.  (yes, stamps are still necessary in my life, and i still find it weird that you don't lick them.)

so, given the JOY and hedonistic comfort that blossomed as the house's temperature increased, i approached the new HVAC unit with quite a bit of reverence, camera in-hand.

the beautiful fan

close-up...so silvery!

i realized, attempting to take photographs that really captured the essence of the HVAC unit, that i, mainly, had no idea what i was looking at.  & this really made it challenging to do what i set out to do.  the fan, yes.  i know, in a very broad way, what that does.  but....this other stuff?  absolutely.no.idea.  lots of shiny metal, ventilated parts, gray hoses....aren't they beautiful?

another view of the fan & some shiny metal

zooming in to better appreciate the fan-like attributes

so, we are happy campers.  i use that term loosely.