Just as we start the second week of March, we are ready to plow out from another winter storm.  I'm looking at about a half foot of snow out in our yard.  It wouldn't surprise me at all to see more unsettled weather over the next couple of weeks.  It seems that the old season of winter is in conflict with the milder, new season of spring that will start on the 21st.  Soon enough, winter will realize it's futile to fight and will surrender to spring.

Iv'e been dreaming of pussywillows, forsithia, tulips, jonquils, and lilacs.  Easter is just about a month away.  I would love to spend tthat day at the beach just like my Mom did for so many years.  We would take our whole Easter Dinner of sliced ham, potato salad, baked beans and ambrosa salad and have an easter egg hunt with the children.  The kids always got kites in their baskets and the beach was the best place for them to try them out.

Today is a great day for a dinner of chilli and home baked bread!  I have the meat thawing already.  Time to get going and get some housework done.

Another winter wonderland just as we are starting to dream of warmer days ahead, flowers in the garden and outdoor adventures.  As annoying as this may be, we, here in New England, are use to storms like this in March.  At least March has come in like a lion and should go out like a lamb.

In actuality, March can be very damaging.  These late winter storms, although not this one, can be very heavy with a pasty wet and heavy snow breaking tree limbs and damaging rooftops.  On the other hand, the sun is stronger and the snow melts quickly.

Instead of going to the gym today as I had planned, I will put my energy into house cleaning.  It's a hearty beef stew for dinner tonight and if I have the time and energy, I will bake some bread.  I will dream of Spring......only nineteen days away!

So, here we are. Christmas week. I don't know about anyone else, but, this is going to be a full week for our house. I still have a few gifts coming from "Santa's Brownies"........you know......The UPS guys!!, I am trying my hand for the first time making a yule log cake. I'll let you know how it all turns out. My wrapping is almost done, but I still have a bunch of fudge to make for my candy tins for the neighbors.

By now, I'm usually burned out, ready to have all the gift wrapped presents out of my site and counting the days for when I can take the Christmas tree down, and my house back to normal. For some reason I don't feel that way this year. For the first time in over fifteen years, I will leave the tree up until New Years. I have no desire to take it down and starting last night, the tree will be lit around the clock until Christmas day.

Because of everyones work schedules this year, I will have a feast ready late Christmas Eve as my hungry family will be coming in shifts. Sally will be bouncing off of walls even after she is put to bed. As tradition, Vern and Dee will spend the night here too. Santa knows to come to our house for Sally. The cookies and hot chocolate are already to be set out for him. She will open one gift before going to bed and then the adults will open our gifts before ending the day. Of course, we will all have our hot chocolate toast at 9pm to my Mother, Jamy and friends and family who passed over the past few years.

Despite the fact that it may rain on Christmas Eve, we will have a white Christmas this year. From Friday through Sunday, we picked up more that a foot and a half of snow. It is beautiful. Should we get the rain and hardly any more snow for the season after Christmas day, we would be more than grateful. An early spring would also be appreciated.

So, off I go......time to get back into my housework and baking. Just in case I don't get back here before the holidays.....

Merry Christmas!!

One of my favorite birds is the Junco.  I'm told they are here year round, but I seem to only see them just before Thanksgiving until the end of winter.  I get all excited, like a kid, when I first see one near my feeders.  Years ago, one hit my den window and fell, head first, into the snow below the window.  I went outside, pulled him out and held him in my hands, wrapped in a soft towel until he was ready to fly again and then let him go near my feeders.

It's just one of those experiences that means so much in my life.

Enjoy your day and seek small miracles along the way.

Summer is ending on a cloudy, damp note and temps not quite reaching 70.  I'm not sure what is going on, but when I took Fred out this morning up on the hill, I was greeted with the cries of blue jays, chickadees, titmice and nut hatchers all around me.  One chickadee was brave enough to land on a branch not more than six feet in front of me.  They haven't been eating at feeders for the past couple of weeks and I'm hoping that changes soon.  I miss looking out my window and seeing them all on and around the feeders and the bird bath in my garden.

Preparations are being made for winter here.  Yesterday Steve, Dee, Verne and a couple of friends of theirs painted the new shed.  What we thought was a sage green turned out to be more of a pea green, but that's ok.  It's nice and bright and looks good.  One more coat and it will be finished.  We have to start going through the contents of the old shed and weeding out what we actually use and need and giving away or throwing away the rest that have just been stored there for the past five years and haven't been touched or used.  Steve is going to organize a tool and workbench area and I am going to organize my garden area just under the window on the opposite wall.

We had our last, big outing with Sally for the year.  We saw High School Musical at the Ugunquit playhouse in Maine on Saturday.  She had a great time and even had her playbill autographed by the cast.  We are going to have it framed for her to hang in her bedroom.  Only one more play for this season.  On Oct. 5th, Steve, myself, Dee and Verne are going to see La Misaralbe (I'm sure I spelled this wrong.  It's as hard to spell as it is to speak!).  We are looking forward to this.

After the play, Steve and I are going to take our yearly anniversary vacation time (We have been married 14 years) and then we are going to hibernate for the rest of the season.  I have some projects that I need to get into like making the Christmas presents I have planned for and writing down more of the genealogy that has been found and searching for more pieces to that huge puzzle.

So, now it's time for me to get into this day!

Just one day after sending flowers for a funeral, I am sending flowers for a new baby born.  And so goes the continuation of life's cycle.  Sister in Law Sandy, lost her Dad to cancer early this week and I am so glad she was there with my sister Beth to welcome sweet Maddie into the world yesterday.  Maddie's middle name says it all.......Hope.

To look at conditions here in New England, you would think that Autumn was already here.  Because of all the rain we had, the swamp maples are already turning and there are autumn leaves already on our front lawn.  I'm even starting to hear September's crickets from my open window at night.  I have turned off the air conditioners and with open windows, I am only using fans.  A few nights we have had to turn off the fans as the temps have dipped below 50 degrees.

And so.......life continues and seasons turn from one to the next.  A perfectly formed circle that only God can master.