Snowy Start to a Beautiful Day!

 I was busy yesterday afternoon and didn't check the weather until well after dark. I was very surprised when I snapped on the outside light and saw all that snow! The flakes were floating down in big clumps - it was beautiful! I took these two photos around 7:30 or perhaps a little later. Apparently, it snowed pretty steadily for several more hours, and when I looked out this morning, the whole world was sparkling white!

There's something magical about the first big snowfall of the year. I loved seeing my back yard in its new configuration. Instead of trees lining the yard close to the house, I now have a broad lawn and a pond stretching out to the tree line that is now a few rods away from where it was last year. The pond didn't freeze over last night. There was a little "cat ice" around the edges, but it sparkled as the wind rippled the surface, all dark and beautiful set in a field of blue-white. The contrast of white against the deep blue sky is breath taking.

I took these photos around 7:30 a.m. and estimated we got around four inches of snow. When I took the measurements later for my daily report, I found 3.5 inches - but by then (9 a.m.) the sun had been up for a while and the snow was beginning to compact and melt. I had to shovel off my deck, a chore I do every morning when I go out to measure snow depth and precipitation. I considered giving that up, but I think I'll keep doing it for a while longer, if I can. I like the measuring part, but hate clearing snow off the deck, even though I know it's good exercise. Some mornings it's darned cold and miserable out there!

Tonight there are patches of bare ground, and the snow if gone from most of the trees, but I think the forecast is for more "snow showers" tomorrow and colder weather later this week. We can't complain - it's time!

My driveway was covered early this morning (see photo at right), but now it's completely clear of snow.

We've had a lot of precipitation from this last stretch of wet weather. I've measured almost 2 inches since last Friday. This was the first measurable snow of the season, although we've had a flurry from time to time in the past few weeks.

Today I had planned to do some sewing.  I save up sewing and mending projects to do when the spirit moves me, but for some reason my sewing machine isn't behaving properly. The thread is getting all bunched up and clogging the bobbin space. I know it's probably just a tension adjustment, but why all of a sudden? This sort of thing is particularly troubling for me now that my eyes aren't as sharp as they used to be, and things like threading a needle can take a toll on my patience, let alone trouble shooting a problem like this. After a few attempts to get the stitching right and having to re-thread the needle half a dozen times, I gave up. I'll tackle it again tomorrow - or some other time. The spirit may not move me again right away, and I don't have anything important to stitch up - just a zipper replacement. It can wait.

Now I'm enjoying a glass of Burt's cider that has just a little "tang" to it - it's been in the fridge for a couple weeks and being unpasteurized, it has turned a tad. Not really hard cider yet, but very flavorful with a little zing. I am reminded of visiting a friend in Concord, Vermont many years ago whose husband served us wonderful home-made hard cider. It was powerful, but oh, so smooth! He passed away a long time ago, but I hope his children are still using his cider recipe!

Cider was a staple at every farm years ago. My father used to tell about when he was a teenager, stopping at a neighbor's with his father one hot summer day and being offered a drink of cider. He said it was kept in the cellar and was cold and refreshing, so he drank it down quickly. His father and the neighbor sipped theirs as they sat on the porch, but my father was leaning against a post on the porch and remembered that the post began to move and he had a hard time remaining upright. Apparently the cider was well past being sweet. His father, a teetotaler, probably intended to teach his son a lesson. I think it worked - my father never drank alcohol and had no appreciation for cider, sweet or hard.