pea soup

there are two kinds of people in the world. those who like pea soup and those who don't. emotions run deep with this subject. pea soup lovers are passionate about the stuff and pea soup haters are repulsed by it. never have i met anyone who could take or leave pea soup. i myself am a huge fan of pea soup as is my mother before me. unfortunately for her, i did not pass the pea-soup-loving gene on to the girl. but fortunately for me, she married a pea soup kind of guy. so today i make the annual after-easter pea soup. for me, for my mom, and for my son-in-law with the discerning palate.

love it or hate it? take the pea soup poll to the right. --------->

eyeing the record

with yet another winter storm warning posted for tonight into tomorrow, i now read that this area is poised to set a new record for snowfall in a season. 112.4 inches thus far with an additional 4" to 8" predicted with this storm. record snowfall is 122". we've come this far. i say we just go for broke.

pictured, the front door when it was opened from the inside to take down last season's christmas wreath. it was the only way i could.

too close for comfort

this little fellow kept scampering up and over the snowbank outside the window and then down between the packed snow and the house. i don't even want to think about where he was going from there.

easter

in slipper-clad feet i ventured outside early this morning to fetch the traditional easter balloon. it was not in its usual spot though and i totally missed it. closer scrutiny a little later turned it up. thanks you tricky easter bunny! you sure are good to me!

balloon aside, it does not feel much like easter. yes, it's the first sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. yes, we sang all the easter hymns in church and carved the traditional easter ham at dinner. but there are no daffodils, no robins, no green grass, no warming sunshine. its just too early for easter. the last time the holiday was this early was 1913. the next time it will be this early will be 2228 - 220 years from now. so i take heart in the fact that i won't be around to see easter this early again. and as for this year, i'm planning a faux easter celebration for later on in april - when the weather is more spring-like and these mountains of snow have hopefully receded.

in honor of easter, the baby girl wore her first dress today albeit with leg warmers because it's pretty chilly down there crawling around on the floor. finally, i don't think i can yet negotiate my way over the snow to the compost pile with the balloon's carrots...

the-day-before-easter eggs

at a breakfast with good friends to celebrate the arrival of spring. such as it is.

spring

spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush.
~doug larson

snow on pine

more snow today. but at least it was the heavy wet kind that signals the end of winter. the same kind that lays white skeletal patterns on dark pine boughs.

sap rising

by the side of a frost heave-ridden back road there stands this ancient maple all tapped and ready to put forth sweet spring sap for maple syrup production. this sight is sign of spring #2 - with the frost heaves being sign of spring #1.

bananas!

oh yum! bananas for lunch! good thing babies don't determine food preference by appearance. oh yuck!

baby's eye view

later today my first opportunity to babysit at my house. and since the baby girl is now mobile i've been babyproofing all week. finally at a finishing point (or so i thought) i shot this from the floor. yes, after i vaccumed and washed it. no matter - i was going to follow her around her whole life anyway.

sign of the times

sounds like a plan. maybe if we collectively think really hard, sort of like we did when we were kids and tinkerbell was dying and peter pan asked us to clap our hands. maybe that would work.

in cognito

hmmmm. what can i disguise in this lovely tall hinged-lid wooden-handled basket i bought this afternoon for a paltry four dollars???

oh, i know! the toilet brush and its container!! how serendipitous that it fit!

all lit up

not lights but leaves illuminated this tree on campus as i left after class tonight.

in like a lion

looking for a change of scenery this morning i shift my work to the small bedroom desk. at least there when i glance up i can see outside and up into the woods to watch the snow fall. since it's lion-like in its entry, here's hoping the new month of march goes out like the lamb it's supposed to.