Snowy morning!

The forecasters were right on! We got at least three inches of snow during last night. I was up just after daylight around 5:30 and the trees were loaded down with wet, heavy snow - but by the time I actually got up a couple hours later, a lot of the snow had melted away, and now there are lots of bare spots again, but the ground around our house is mostly covered. It's melting quickly, though. The temperature is up to 45 degrees, and although we had a snow flurry at about 9 a.m., there seems to be nothing coming out of the sky at the moment.
    Henretta Splain thinks we might need to consider a summer Ice-Out contest. She wrote this morning:

The water in the pond had that greasy look that it gets in the fall b/f ice begins to form....

     The birds are confused - what was green is now white; the daffodils are bent over, snow tears dripping from their petals. My lovage plant, up about six inches is flattened and drooping, but I know it will spring back after the snow melts away. There is little or no harm done because in spite of the heavy snow, the temperature hasn't gone way below freezing for any length of time. However, our spirits hardly soar when we wake up to snow again on a mid-May morning! 
     This is not as unusual as one might think. Tom Dente reminded me yesterday of at least one spring meeting not too long ago when we cut the meeting short because it was so bitterly cold in the pavilion and we left in a snow squall.
     To help us overcome this brief interlude of nasty weather, Fred has posted the JPA spring newsletter that has just gone out to members and friends. Check it out in color - Joanne's cover picture is stunning - you don't want to miss seeing it in full color. And there's a lot more to see inside - also in full color! Good job, Joanne!
     Our new washing machine was delivered yesterday. The 13-year old LG quit just before we left for Maine last week. We've been told 13 years is about the limit one gets from new machines these days. Wouldn't it be nice if manufacturers did something really nice for the environment, as well as our pocketbooks, and made appliances that actually are built to last? I suppose it's nice to update one's kitchen and laundry frequently, at least from a home decorating point of view - but I'm happy with my "old stuff" in most cases and really don't appreciate having to switch, upgrade, reinvent the wheel every few years just because appliances are flimsy and planned obsolescence is built into every item.  We finally settled on a Maytag and will hope for at least another 13 years out of it. By then, if I'm still around, I won't give a darn how the wash gets done!