I am branching out here and have joined the Rurality Blog Hop with my photo: Abandoned

Taken today at Long Pond Ironworks, Hewitt, New Jersey.

That describes the world outside my windows today. And oh yes, please add in the word rain as well. At least it didn't turn out to be a big wind and rain storm as predicted, so we mostly slept blissfully without being wakened by wind whipping around the house, or by being aware of Alex's breathing and every little movement like we did the entire night the night before. You know, right, the watchful feeling when a dog is still feeling the effects of having been under anesthesia? This morning, like us, he's  …well … right as rain!

I am however feeling a little housebound. I am so ready for spring! Spring is such a sweet season here in New Jersey.

So ready to walk in the yard without putting on boots or some kind of overshoes or slipping and sliding my way around.

Ready to throw open the windows and hear sweet birdsong.

Ready to hang laundry on the line outside again instead of over the shower curtain rod in the guest bathroom.

Ready for the peepers to sing me to sleep at night.

Ready for the fireflies to light up the yard. (If you want a good laugh at me, follow the link!)

Ready for rides in Mia.

Ready to celebrate the pool opening.

READY.

But, I have to wait. After all, it is only the end of February. I am getting impatient!

Isn't it strange that the very season we longed for at its beginning with its need for cozy wood fires, warm jackets and gloves, watching  movies, reading, jigsaw puzzling and comfort food is the very same one we are so eager to be rid of now. Thank goodness for the four seasons!

(photo: Abandoned House: Skylands) I liked how the wall was comprised of two different kinds of haphazard stone, as if there was a huge hole (or garage under the house?) that they filled in. I found the textures and colors interesting.

We've been doing without our glass shower door for about two weeks now. It's a real annoyance because we have to tilt the shower head to the back wall and basically stand in the corner so as not to splash a lot of water outside the shower.

We renovated our bathroom about four years ago: completely ripped out everything and changed the whole configuration of the layout, including changing the doorway. The person who did the renovation (Tim, who has done all our other extensive reno's like the kitchen, powder room and guest bath) used a local company for the frameless shower.

We'd been putting up with the door not closing for about four months or so and I finally called Tim to come and take a look. He couldn't see any way to adjust it or just what the problem was so he called the company to come and take a look.

When the service person showed up he immediately took the door off its hinge and could see that the problem was the fact that the glass was pulling away from the metal rail. He said we were lucky that one day we hadn't opened up the door only to have the entire glass panel fall out, that it was that close to disaster. Gee, now that would have been an exciting way to kick off a morning! 

He didn't have any rails with him, so he took our door away with him. We were under the understanding that even though the door was out of warranty, there would be no cost to us. I asked how long it would be before we got the door back and he said, "oh, about seven days." Right.

I called last week to inquire about when they might be bringing it back but it wasn't completed yet. Finally, a few days later (and after Tim called them too) they called to set up a time to deliver our repaired door. The receptionist told me that there would be a charge of $85.00. I argued back saying I thought there was not going to be a charge and she said it was a service charge for re-hanging the door. I told her I was not happy about that, that no one had mentioned any additional charges. I mentioned that I could probably get Tim to come over and hang the door for free. She transferred me to her manager and he and I went through the whole thing again. He put me on hold for about five minutes and I suspect he was calling Tim during that time because he came back on and told me there would be no charge, that the door should never have failed like that to begin with.

I'm glad I didn't just cave in and say I'd pay the service fee. 

I am also glad to report that our shower door has just been installed. I can't wait for tomorrow morning.

(photos: Trees in My Pool)

It seems like that's about all we did this weekend: eat! The weather on Saturday was sleety/rainy/windy/not nice. I am ready for spring! The snow we have left on the ground is now the consistency of snowcones and very slippery. Ugh. We kept a fire going in the wood stove all day to take the damp chill off. It's hard to imagine that last year we had crocus coming up two weeks from now and we were driving around in Mia with the top down. I don't think that's going to happen this year. Even harder to imagine is swimming in the pool. Right now it's covered with a layer of slushy ice. 

While we were housebound on Saturday, Rick baked bread (above) and we made Coq au Vin. Well, it was really Poulet au Vin if you want to get technically correct. Good food for a still-winter day. Here is the chicken as it came out of its marinade of red wine before cooking, making it look like it has freckles.

We caught up on our TiVo'd shows and went through our closets. We now have bags and bags of clothes going to Goodwill. I went through my bookcase by the computer and took out all the manuals on outdated computer programs--they are scheduled for the recycle bin on Wednesday. It feels good to get rid of things that are just useless clutter. 

Sunday was a nicer day temperature-wise and we even managed a walk down the road with the dogs. Lunch was one of my all-time favorites: Salad Lyonnaise. We used to eat these all the time when we lived in France. The Lyonnaise part of its name comes from the city of Lyon which was close to where we lived. Rick has mastered the perfect poaching of the eggs. Delicious. (We used the homemade bread for the croutons.)

My first amaryllis to bloom is now on its second stalk of blooms. This one only has two huge flowers just like the last one. I am pleased to report that the second amaryllis, which is only two years old, has a hefty flower stalk and is also about to bloom as well (I suspect more than two flowers inside), and even more surprising, the oldest one has a bud poking up from the bulb. This will mark its sixth consecutive year of blooming. Wow, I am thrilled!

Alex, our oldest dog had minor surgery today to remove a nasty little tumor on his butt that looked like a hemorrhoid which was causing problems. According to the vet, this kind of tumor is widespread in older intact male dogs and most of them are benign. We decided to do a biopsy just for peace of mind but we are not expecting it to be anything other than what it appears to be. Poor dog is going to have a little trouble with sitting for a while. But we are glad to have it off since it was smelly and trying to keep him clean back there would cause the darned thing to bleed. I'm sure he's glad to be rid of it too. Be gone you nasty thing! He's resting comfortably at the vet's right now and I can pick him up just before dinner. Rick recently did a blog post with a video of Alex being silly and playing with his toys. You can check it out here. He's pretty cute if I must say so myself.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope your weekend was a good one!

Looking for all the world like exotic mushrooms growing underneath the huge pines, the statues of Asia, America, Africa and Europe take their winter rest under cover.

(photo: Skylands Botanical Garden)