Happy 2nd day of Spring!

Technically, yesterday was the first day of spring.  After any winter (even one as mild as this past one has been), I look forward to the "official" start of the new season.  (Not so much fall and winter.)

Spring to me means FLOWERS! First came the snowdrops . . .

Then came the crocuses ...

My daffodils are about to bloom . . .

and finally ... the tulips ....

What is it you like best about Spring?

Oh, the weather outside ain't frightful

I don't know about you, but I'm absolutely delighted that, not only DIDN'T March come in like a lion, but it looks like the lamb is here to stay.

The forecast for the entire week is in the 60s.  IN MARCH!

Yahoooooooo!

The robins are back.  The geese are flying north.  My daffodils are about 4 inches high.  The calendar isn't quite ready to say spring is here, but I sure am.

How about you?

The Weather Outside Is Frightful!

We are not snowed in, thank goodness, but we're sick of it already.  And it isn't even officially winter yet.

Read on the news yesterday that our town will probably be above average for snow for December.
No kidding!

My plans for the day are to rake the roof, shovel the driveway (that Mr. Plowman doesn't get) and STAY INSIDE.

Yesterday I went out five times in the yard for various chores (it was garbage day, took out the mail, raked the roof, shoveled, retrieved the mail) and I couldn't get warm again for anything.  Not even with longjohns, sweats, polar fleece and a granny square afghan.

Hurry April and May!!!  (And I don't mean people.)

What's the weather like where you are?

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow -- NOT!

Inevitably, about this time of year someone will lament "no White Christmas?"

I always think that person is either a recluse or has been brainwashed by one too many a chorus of the Irving Berlin song.

I live in upstate New York--in a snow belt.  The words "lake-effect snow" petrify me.

My ideal Christmas is sunny, the grass is green, and the forecast says clear skies for the foreseeable future.  It's happened more than once--and those are the Christmases I love the best.  No skidding down icy roads doing those last-minute errands or visiting friends and relatives.  No shoveling and heart attacks.

While today's forecast is NOT  for mega inches of the stuff, I know it's on the way.  It's just waiting to catch me/us offguard.  And then . . .

ARRRRRRGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So shut up Bing, Rosemary, Danny and Vera!  Stop!  Go away!!

Am I the only one already longing for spring?

Back to Winter?

Ugh.  Snow.

That was my first reaction when I looked out the window this morning.  It's not a lot of snow, hardly more than a trace.  But there's something very depressing about seeing snow covering your snowdrops, crocuses and around your daffodils.

The other day we had April showers.  Yeah, and they promise May flowers.  So April snow only brings...slippery roads, sidewalks, and COLD!

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for spring.  I'm ready for flowers and open windows and fresh breezes.  I'm ready to have the sliding glass doors open all day so the cats and come and go into the enclosed porch when they want. I'm ready to hear the wind chimes playing a tune.  I'm ready for sunny skies and planting my potatoes and tomatoes.

I'm ready for summer.

Unfortunately, the calendar isn't.

Frozen Stiff!

I've always maintained the February is the LONGEST month of the year.  Maybe not by days, but by the emotional toll it takes.

It's COLD.  And it's been COLD.  For days and days and weeks and weeks.  We had a brief thaw right after Christmas before we were slammed again with snow. Like the rest of the country, we've already had more snow than usual.  We're talking almost as much snow as we usually get ALL WINTER by mid-January--although not as bad as places like New York, Boston, and Washington,

This is what my backyard looked like this morning.  Doesn't that just send shivers down your spine?

There are little trails through the snow.  Cats and squirrels and bunnies.  All those poor animals are out there in bare feet.  I look out the window and my old-fashioned rose looks dead--like sticks.  They sky is gray behind the arborvitae. 

Spring is STILL 31 days away.

It can't come soon enough for me.

Careless drivers

Why don't drivers brush the snow from their car windows?

How long have we been in the midst of winter here in upstate New York?  Why don't people drive to accommodate the conditions on the road?  There's no excuse for not clearing the windows on your car.  Why on Earth would anyone be so stttttooooopppidd???

They clear one small hole on the driver's side of the windshield.  They can't see what's behind them, and usually their side mirrors are covered, too. Not only that, but they get on the expressway (freeway to you west coast readers) and the snow comes off in sheets--usually hitting other drivers' windshields.  I'm sure these jerks cause tons of accidents -- inconveniencing people and ruining lives -- all because of their laziness.

Grrrrrrrr!

Rant over.  What's bugging you today?

A job well done?

Think about the occupation of meteorologists.

Now there's a career where you can be wrong 90% of the time, never apologize, and still keep your job.

Not only are they usually wrong, they seem to delight in terrorizing us.  "There's a 70% chance of SNOW!  TAKE COVER--empty the grocery stores of milk and bread.  It'll last for two days."


Then you see a few flakes for half an hour, that immediately melt.  Ho-hum.
It was supposed to snow for five days straight.  Did it?

NO!

We were supposed to have up to three inches of snow overnight!

What did we get?  Nary a flake.

So what's annoying you today?

I'm Sick Of Winter!

I don't know about you, but I'm totally SICK OF WINTER--and it's only January 10th.  Officially, we've had winter for almost three weeks.  Those weeks of cold, snowy weather that happened before the Solstice were apparently faux winter.

The forecast has been bleak:  snow, snow, and more snow.  But there are benefits to winter, and believe me, I had to look high and low to find them.

First off, I'm staying home more and saving lots of money on gasoline for the car.  Of course, the furnace seems to be on 24/7, so we're making up for it by using a tremendous amount of natural gas to keep this place almost warm, so we'll probably be in the red for that.

I have a new giant freezer.  It's called my porch.  We ran out of space to put the Christmas goodies about mid-December.  Not a problem.  We just put them on the porch.  The temp hasn't risen above 30 out there in at least three weeks, so the cookies are still frozen, as is the big bag of ice.  All the craft beers hubby received for Christmas are nice and frosty, and I froze a big vat of turkey soup, which I first cooled outside, and then put in individual containers to freeze, so I wouldn't have to take up a third of my fridge/freezer to store it.

Oh dear.  That's only two good things.  I'm not into winter sports, like skiing, sledding, tobogganing, skating, or snowmobiling, and even if I'm not cold, seeing all that snow outside makes me feel like I should be either hibernating, or eating or drinking something fattening to make sure I survive this long, cold, lonely winter.

There must be other good things about winter.  Can you think of any?

And I wanted to have a picnic . . .

Yup, if you live in a snowy part of the country and have gutters on your house, you're probably well aware of ice dams.  Everyone says you have to have them, or the snow melt will wash away the dirt around your foundation, but to me gutters are pretty useless -- at least in the winter.  All they do is get choked with ice and ruin your roof.  Raking the roof of snow seems to help, but the back of my house it too tall for that, so I can only reach the roof around the front of the house.

This is what our barbecue looks like this winter.  (Note the Stalactite icicle.)


We won't be cooking hot dogs for quite a while.

How about you?

I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas . . .

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...just like the ones I used to know...."

It seems like these words have been ingrained into most of America and people wax poetically about those beautiful ice crystals mounting up and decorating their homes and yards.

Well, to that I say:  BULL!  See that picture above?  That's snow.  Oh, yeah, it can be pretty, but to people traveling to be with family and friends for the holidays, it can be lethal.  It not only snarls street traffic, it plays havoc with the entire airline industry!  I don't know about you, but I've already had enough of the stuff for the year, and it winter only officially started yesterday.

Our next-door neighbors drive to Indiana every holiday season to be with their "real" family.  Hubby has drive 78 miles to pick up his mother who'll visit for Christmas.  Several years ago it took him two hours to drive five miles when lake-effect snow off Lake Erie turned his 90 minute drive into a seven hour ordeal.  (That was before we had a cell phone.  Insert image of Ivy frantic with worry.)

One Christmas, many years ago (the one where I gave my brothers a new basketball--my Aunt wrapped it for me and I picked it up on Christmas Eve), it was 64 degrees and sunny.  My only real memory of that Christmas is of me sitting in the kitchen watching Jonny Quest, with just the screen door closed, while my brothers dribbled (doink, doink, doink) out on the driveway.

The first Christmas Hubby and I were in our current house, it was another sunny, dry, GREEN Christmas and we took a leisurely walk down the street.  That felt nice.  I wouldn't walk down our sidewalk in snow.  For one thing, despite paying tons of money for our town to clear our sidewalks, they really only make them more treacherous because the sidewalk plows do a lousy job and toss snow into your driveway (where it usually freezes and you have to wait weeks for a thaw, meanwhile bruising the underside of your car every time you drive over it).

Green Christmases are safer.  And wouldn't you really rather have people alive to enjoy the holiday than a picturesque landscape?

I would.