Winter Wonderland

P osting was light this week because there was so much going on.
Sunday was the Little's first double digit birthday. She was 10 years old!
I made macaroni and cheese (Her favorite) which by all accounts was the finest mac and cheese in the universe and we had pink frosted chocolate layer cake .
It was a hit and I will post the recipe tomorrow I think. Its rich and thick and so good.

But now it's time again to join with Debbie and friends for Foto Friends.

Temperatures were well below freezing for many days but warmed up a bit today. We will see how long that lasts, but probably not very long at all. I thought I'd show some photos of the Winter Wonderland that storms can create.

Snow fall on the bay. You can see the bay through the pine branches

Being by the ocean in the winter is icy at best. Especially when the bay freezes over as it did this past week. Now that is cold when salt water freezes my friends! But the icy wind is what gets you.  In the past people have walked on the bay and taken out ice boats with sails that slide across the ice.Too risky I say.

Peaceful view of the little pond through the front window

As if I am not surrounded by enough water, I have two ponds on the property: a tiny one out front and a big one in the back.The big evergreen tree was planted as a seed that I brought home from Lake Placid in New York state.

Another view of the little pond and the Lake Placid tree.

Night snow(click to enlarge)

A favorite view of mine.  click to enlarge to full size

I took the above photo a while ago in the evening around 8 PM or so and have used it as a header for the blog. I felt it needed more drama, however, so I painted in more dark clouds and a moon and a little moonlit trail on the water. Everything else, including the light paths on the water, was painted by nature and original in my photo.

 Snow is lovely as it falls at night.

click to enlarge full size

I like this night photo because the snow just sparkled as it was falling.

The two photos above show that there was almost a white out for a while. It got hard to see in front of you.  

Our power lines are not below ground by the ocean because the water table is too hight.

It is kind of fun to take photos from a moving car. This is the main road through town at 50mph.

Snow storms unveil a winter wonderland.
About 10 years ago or so I made a little cartoon self portrait that I thought I'd use today as a signature.