That light at the end of the tunnel I was talking about in my last post just turned out to be another train, or should I say another storm. Sunday night into Monday morning we had 8 inches of snow. Officially I heard on the news it was 7.5 inches, but here at the house I consistently measured 8 inches with my trusty measuring tape. It was only supposed to be 1 to 3 inches, but it turned into 8. Just when we were beginning to see patches of ground that have been covered for nearly two months. Now it looks like it did before the melting started. I was even starting to let myself get excited about spring.

It hardly seems possible that last year we had just purchased Mia and were driving around with the top down on March 20th. Will that be happening in a month? Somehow I doubt it this year. The prediction I last heard was for up and down temperatures through the end of February and into the beginning of March, but they were worried about the storm track and low temperatures that they foresee for the end of March and into the beginning of April. That does not sound promising! Especially when as I look out my window, all I see is a blanket of white.

My neighbor Kim blames our winter on me. She said I kept wishing for (and wanting) snow. So therefore it’s all my fault. I wished too hard. Wanted too much. I had to tell her that I stopped wishing (and wanting) about four storms ago! I am ready to move on with the seasons!

So just in case you missed it the the first time: I’ve had enough! Did you hear me this time Mother Nature?

Rick did not go to work today. A state of emergency was declared by the state of New Jersey. We got dumped on royally. Hammered. Slammed with snow. At least it wasn’t heavy, wet snow.

Would someone out there please remind me the next time I want to get more or less snowed in? Would you remind me that sitting by the fire with the snow falling outside and watching Lord of the Rings is a lot of fun and all very nice but the price one has to pay the next day is not as fun? Digging out is hard work! We probably got about 20 inches of snow on the level and drifts that are much higher. The snow on our deck is around 30 inches I think because it blew off the roof and drifted pretty badly.

And the price one pays for having a cute little sports car sitting snug in its little cover in the garage is digging out the poor old Suburban that now lives outside in the driveway. Mia, I hope you realize how good you have it!

I tried to get on the deck from the driveway but I had trouble getting up the stairs so I had been letting the dogs out the basement door since we could not get out the sliding doors to the deck without letting a lot of snow fall inside the house. I let Bella and Hailey out downstairs, then came back upstairs thinking I would let them in in a few minutes. I heard Hailey bark and it sounded like she was down there wanting to come in, so down I went. Bella was happily laying in the snow bank, but no Hailey to be seen. I went back upstairs and it occurred to me that she might have tried coming up on the deck and maybe was stuck. I went to the sliding door and this is what I saw. Hailey. Wanting in.

After seeing that sad face I couldn’t turn her away, so we let her in and dealt with the avalanche of snow that came tumbling into the house with her. At least now there was a path through all that snow! Oh, and by the way, she is standing up!

After I shoveled a bit it looked like this:

Poor Rick looked like the abominable snowman on Johnny with the wind whipping the snow around.

I don’t think we’ll be eating at the table outside on the deck anytime soon.

Or by the pool for that matter!

Bella is probably the only one who is having fun today.

We are as “dug out” as we’re going to be and are now in for the rest of the day! Whew!

Finally.

The air is crisp, the light golden and soft. As we drove to the farmer’s market in Mia on Sunday (top down) we both had our seat heaters on and light jackets. The wind tugged at the brim of my hat, threatening to dislodge it from my head. I thought that spring and summer were the best times for a convertible, but I was wrong. Fall definitely is.

At the market we bought apples for a pie, acorn squash which we’ll make tonight, and lots of veggies to go into a stew that I will make tomorrow as the predicted Nor’easter brings us rain—lovely rain.

The trees are starting to change. Just in the one week that we’ve been home we’ve seen a big change. Today I took all three dogs for a walk (two at once, then Bella). While on my walk with the dogs I noticed some things I wanted/needed to photograph. What follows is the beginnings of fall where I live.

Virginia creeper along our chain link fence.

Love that red!

The leaves of this particular kind of tree (of which I do not know the species!) look like web-fingered hands.

The day was nice, but with spotty clouds obscuring the sun at times. Not the most ideal conditions for taking photos but sometimes the lack of sun is a good thing. I decided to walk down to Green Turtle Pond to see how the colors were coming along. It’s coming along nicely.

I can predict a canoe paddle soon!

More creeper!

Fall ... you’ve gotta love it! I know I do. Now we just need to get all that wood moved in time for fire season!

On Saturday we took a picnic lunch and drove through Harriman State Park in New York and up Bear Mountain. The weather was perfection: not too hot or humid. Just clear blue skies and a lovely breeze. What better weather for a convertible like Mia to stretch her legs in?

The view is beautiful no matter which direction you look.

What a great day to just sit on a rock and take in the beauty of the countryside and the Hudson River.

The next few photos were taken from the scenic view point.

A barge was nice enough to be heading up river while we were there.

Under the Bear Mountain Bridge it goes!

We stopped at roadside picnic area to eat our lunch. I just love our picnic backpack. It has everything you need: plates, cutlery, salt & pepper, cutting board, and even a tablecloth and napkins.

Lunch was chicken salad sandwiches. Cha-Cha-Chicken Salad has a can of crushed pineapple, cream cheese, mayo, a touch of curry and orange flavored cranberries. (And chicken of course!) Very tasty!

This tree was right by our picnic table. What makes people want to carve their names/initials into a tree’s bark? This one has certainly had more than its fair share of signatures.

A nice drive that didn’t take all day. We were back home and in the pool by two o’clock. We’ll do this again in the fall to catch the colors!

No doubt about it. Summer has arrived in New Jersey. It’s HOT. Our pool is really getting a workout. This year the water is crystal clear and the temperature is staying above 80F. Sheer heaven! I am starting to turn a lovely nut brown with all this sun.

Our air conditioning is also getting a workout which isn’t so good for the electric bill. For the past two nights now we’ve opened the windows and slept pretty well with a fan in the window.

Having a second-story bedroom is not ideal in the summer! Add to that the fact that our main attic fan quit a couple of months ago, which makes it all that much hotter upstairs since all that hot air is just trapped in the attic. I waited for the roofer to call all last week for the installation of two new ones (the other one over the garage space makes a huge racket and need replacing too) but due to rain he didn’t make it. He was scheduled to come on Saturday, but of course he was running behind and it just got too darn hot. So he rescheduled for this morning, and of course, we had a thunderstorm! Hopefully he’ll still make it today. [Nope. He just called and will try again tomorrow.]

Which brings me to the thunderstorm topic. This morning’s storm gave a few rumbles of thunder before it arrived and only a few more once it got here. I think I saw one little flash of lightning. That was it. We haven’t had a “real” thunderstorm yet this year. Usually we get house-rattling storms with lots of lightning and thunder. Other areas have gotten them, but here at the house they just don’t seem to materialize. I know it’s crazy, but I miss them. Somehow a good thunderstorm just discharges all that energy and washes the atmosphere clean again. This morning’s storm held promise but in the end it did not deliver. At least it rained.

Another reason we know that summer is really here, the cicadas have taken up their summer buzzy songs in the trees. They sing a different song during the day than they do at night. They love it when it gets hot and humid. During the day their song is just a steady buzzy trill—one note. At night it’s kind of like this —CHE CHE CHE ... che che che—one set of “che’s” being lower than the other, almost like they are talking to each other. The frogs are still in the background too at night, so it’s like a nature symphony. Very soothing.

We had a lovely drive to the market in Warwick on Sunday in Mia. The morning was beautiful and we took all the winding little back roads. We ate breakfast outside at the little French restaurant, sharing a baked egg, potato and ham casserole and sipping a huge bowl of café au lait.

On passing one of the shops as we made our way over the market, I couldn’t pass up this straw market bag. I am thinking it will also make a great beach bag for toting towels, books and whatever else we want on the beach with us when we go down the shore next month for a weekend. I love it!

The market was very busy and we were surprised and delighted to see fresh Jersey sweet corn (white! yum!) and the first of the tomatoes. Peaches are also now in season and so juicy and delicious! It’s best to eat them over a bowl or something to catch all the juice that dribbles down your chin.

I also could not resist this gorgeous sunflower for $2.00.

We took the “long way home” from the market. As we drove up our street a doe and her two tiny fawns were in the road right in front of our house. So beautiful! They dashed into the woods all too quickly.

When we got home we grilled spicy hot chicken wings (our go-to Sunday lunch) and then into the pool.

We decided to eat outside by the pool last night even though it was still pretty hot. I moved the furniture out of the cabana and set up the card table.

Last night we tried a new recipe, a sort of deconstructed BLT sandwich in salad form. It was the perfect meal for a hot day. Romaine lettuce, chopped bacon, chunks of fresh watermelon, orange cherry tomatoes from the market (super sweet!), fresh baguette croutons (done in a little of the bacon fat) and topped with a homemade Parmesan peppercorn dressing. Very very tasty. We’ll be having this again.

It’s kind of nice to have summer (compared to last year’s summer-that-wasn’t) but if this heat keeps up we’ll be glad when it’s over! Like this blossom that fell into the pool, we’re just trying to stay afloat through this second heat wave.

Stay cool!

P.S. Have you checked out the “On this day ...” feature on the right hand side of the blog? It’s right under “My Favorite Links” and features blog entries from previous years that I wrote on or around this same date. Check it out!