We are now officially on daylight savings time. The dogs seemed to know somehow because they were ready to get up at 6:00 a.m. That's 6:00 a.m. old time. Normally they would wake us up at 6:30. It was really 7:00 a.m. Still not sure how they knew.

Yesterday was a beautiful day! It was sunny and in the 50's although snow covered the ground. We had a bad case of Spring Fever. We bought things we can't use for at least a couple of months.

We knew when we took down the curtains from the pool cabana that they were on their last legs. We've had the cabana for five years and by taking the curtains down and packing them up each year we've managed to keep them in pretty good shape. But, their time was done. They were faded and we'd had to tape the screen once when Bella did not see it and stuck her head through. I had seen a cabana at BJ's where we had purchased the old one. So yesterday morning we headed down that way to take a closer look.

We didn't like the one at BJ's so we also stopped at Home Depot and Lowe's. Home Depot didn't have any, but Lowe's had the perfect one! It was love at first sight. Just wait until you see it! We also bought a mat to put down as a flooring. And a cabana chandelier. And some cushions for the outdoor chairs that are wrought iron. Now I am thinking I need a few potted palms to make our outdoor oasis complete. But not just yet. For now the cabana and its accouterments will have to stay in the garage.

We had the dogs with us so we had to take them home and come back and get the larger items. Sheesh. 

Today we took Alex with us to the Warwick Valley Winery for a pizza and a bottle of wine. We were the only ones sitting out on the patio to eat although the place was pretty much packed with people inside. It wasn't quite warm enough--not really--but we sat in the sun by ourselves, ate our pizza, drank our wine, and tossed Alex the pizza "bones." 

Tonight we plan on grilling hamburgers outside and having oven fries. We might even put those new seat cushions on the chairs just for tonight and sit outside with a glass of wine while cooking our dinner. It's supposed to rain heavily on Tuesday so I will have to bring them back inside, but still, progress is being made towards Spring!

(photos:)

Amaryllis  & Ming Aralia Shadow

Too beautiful to resist

A photo just so you can see how truly HUGE this amaryllis is.

Need I say more? This was the scene around our house on Friday morning. Just this week the snow had finally melted from the flower beds next to the pool and I saw that my daffodils had broken ground. I was so excited to see them! Now they are  covered with snow once again. We got about five inches overnight and it continued on to snow another two inches or so during the day yesterday. But, our temperatures are supposed to be "spring-like" this weekend so we'll see. Still, it's disheartening.

It was pretty though. It was the kind of snow that left all the tree branches looking that they had been traced with a fat white marker.

If you like that kind of thing, that is. And I normally do except that I am tired of it. That's very unusual for me since I am the one always hoping and wishing for snow. But I've had enough this year. I'm done! Especially since daylight savings time goes into effect tonight, which to me always signals the start of warmer weather. It seems early this year and I'm not ready. What's the point of having it be nice and light in the evening if one can't enjoy it? Plus I was just getting in tune with the sun coming up earlier each day. Now it's going to be harder to get out of bed at a decent time because of the darkness.

Spring will come. I know it will. It's just the waiting that's hard.

Photo P. S. : I know my white balance is different in the first pic but I liked it because it looked cold.

On my walk the other day at Long Pond Ironworks, I took a photo of this house at the beginning of my walk because I loved the shadows the big tree next to it was casting. 

I continued on my walk and spent some time at the Abandoned House again. I might have been gone 45 minutes at the most. When I walked back by the house it was quite obvious the sun was on the move. 

Once the trees leaf out these kinds of shadows are not possible, so that's one good thing I can find to say about it still being winter! It might be the only one …

P. S. In that first photo does anyone else besides me see a big gaping mouth and a long Pinocchio-esque nose in the tree's shadow? I know; I'm weird!

Top Photo: Shadow & Light

(photos:)

Morning Light

Almost a Watercolor

Close-up

Late Afternoon Light

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!