Snow Before the Frost

mums on ice

Happy Halloween friends! In the words of one of my favorite Halloween specials from the 1980's (old school Garfield of course), I hope you are enjoying, "candy! candy! candy!"

From my studio window, I can see porchlights flickering on as if by magic for all the little trick-or-treaters. I hope they stay warm as I can also make out the snowy climes steppes sidewalks of our neighborhood where we have about four inches of white stuff still melting off from our surprisingly chilly nor'easter this weekend! I've experienced early snowfalls before but two snowfalls before the first frost? I wasn't sure that was even possible. Our friends in the western reaches of the state actually got an entire foot and two days later, many areas are still without power. Though shoveling our driveway was not something I expected to be doing pre-Halloween, the combination of snow, fall colors, and autumnal sunlight certainly has been disarmingly beautiful.

Alas, *sigh*, cold weather does require indulging in so many of my favorite things: bulky knitwear, mountains of blankets, comfort food, hot drinks, more days inside for crafting cozy things, and hopefully some cross country skiing before too long! Anything that heralds the arrival of all those things can't be so bad after all so tonight we will start it off by hunkering down with caramel apples, Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin, and cheddar ale soup. I think we finally found the perfect pale ale to go in/with this soup at last and you can sneak a peek at it here as I couldn't bring myself to post flash food photography on the blog. I know, I'm such a snob sometimes, good grief  :)

scenes from a weekend

Thank you for stopping by! I've gotten so many questions about this pie since the original post so I'm just coming back to let you know I've tried to gather them all up and answer them here for you.

Finally got to make use of the fancy new pastry cutters my husband got me in my stocking.
he knows me so well...and also that it would get me to make him lots of pies...

The plowed piles of snow are so high that I can't see around any corners to make a turn without risking my life, forserious. On the other hand, what hasn't been plowed is perfectly awe inspiring.

And what better pairing for a winter's day than my knitting and favorite (full) coffee mug?

snow day!

the winter wonderland we woke up to this morning

this is out our front door early this morning and you see those greyish drops in the photo? those are individual snowflakes! see that big middle space in the middle there? there is road under there somewhere...

it snowed all night but came down heaviest this morning...we're just shy of 2 feet (for now) and that was enough to keep my husband home from work as there were delays all over the commuter and t lines in Boston. since we were up early to check on the train delays we decided to stay up and have a good breakfast of bacon, eggs, and hot coffee. and what else do you do then but go back to bed?! i really do love napping when the snow blankets the world and sometimes think it's god's way of telling everyone to slow the you know what down and soak in the beauty!

on the right is the snow and wind coming down in the wee hours of the morn

we finally did get out to shovel though and i am always glad for my big red Hunter wellies. i think we got a bit more snow with the first storm we had right after christmas but this was much heavier stuff so we certainly got a workout! by late february, i might complain but for the most part i like snow and always feel like i've done a good day's work once we're shoveled out...it's certainly easier than the hay-baling of my youth!! if i can just remember that, i can always manage to stay positive about the bit of work that so much snow brings.

yes, those piles of snow are what we shoveled out from around the car...crazy huh? another inch fell while we were shoveling as you can see from the car that is once again covered here. i expect we'll have to shovel out again tomorrow a bit more but at least this way it won't be trying to shovel piles of ice.

now it's time to snuggle up in my favorite wool blanket and work on some embroidery projects while we wait for the last of the roads to be plowed. secretly, i sometimes wish we could just not bother with them and live with the pristine snow for a couple more days before going back to reality...

p.s. angela, i totally made a snow angel just for you!

winter finally arrives in DC!

It has been a long wait, but finally, just as January was about to squeak by without a single drop of precipitation, snow has come to DC! I woke up this morning not feeling so well because of some loopy nightmares, but my day was immediately brightened when i opened the shutters of the window to see it falling swift and silently all over our street.

Now, I am from Michigan so I know that those of you in the north will—rightfully—give a chuckle at what DC considers "a whole lot" of snow. If i was still waking up to lake effect snow storms on a daily basis I would indeed be getting a bit tired of the white stuff. But it's rather rare here so there's nothing like a good snow to remind you of what a real winter is!

It's only an inch or so, but for Washingtonians, this is pretty much as serious as the apocalypse itself. For entertainment on nights such as this, we just watch some of the local news around the DC metro area where you will get to see reporters interviewing frightened natives who are stacking up on as much toilet paper and canned goods as they can carry. it's cute really, hehe.

Well, I shouldn't make too much fun though...when summer comes with it's hellish humidity to this old town built on swamp land, karma makes a beeline for me. I may be able to shovel several feet of snow and drive on black ice with the best of them, but the folks in these parts certainly have me beat when it comes to withstanding the august air, so thick with moisture that you'd start to wonder if it could be classified as a liquid! For now then, I'll just shut my trap and enjoy my blankets and hot tea ;)