Right out of a Currier and Ives painting

We had a snowstorm Saturday night into Sunday morning and the timing of it made it impossible to photograph the action. It was just too dark to get good photos. So  I was bound and determined to get some snow shots during today's storm.

It was after 4:00 in the afternoon so the light of day was fading. I drove by our town common and it looked magical. I knew I had to stop and take a few shots from my phone's camera.

The scene before me, the gazebo, Christmas lights, a steady snow, were perfect ingredients for my own Currier and Ives "painting".

In Summer, this little patch of green space is host to community concerts, kids playing frisbee, and dog walkers.

I am not sure why there are not more lights on the trees on the common perhaps funding is an issue. Isn't it always?

Never mind about the lack of lights, it was pure magic to me today. My town has never looked so pretty.

I got back in my car before pulling away and heading home, literally a two minute drive away.

But then I saw the Congregational Church, the subject of many of my Winter in Stoneham photographs. I had to get one more photo of the church in the bluish light of Winter.

And of course, a parting shot of the Fire Station. The Firemen are in for a long night. I have already seen several fire trucks and ambulances drive by my condo this evening. Beautiful and sometimes treacherous Mother Nature at work.

Catching Up

Well, we're all dug out from the major storm of about 10 days ago.  This is the front walk to the condominium building where I live. My neighbors were out fairly early trying to keep ahead of the storm.

One of the boys was standing at the end of the walk on a snowbank and he was almost level with my living room window!

I could barely make out the figure of my next door neighbor who was snowblowing his driveway.

They were making pretty good progress. The snow was heavy and wet. Sometimes it is light and fluffy but not this storm.

 

That's my car off in the distance.  I did not think I would ever get it out with all that snow. It looked like a daunting task.

The drifts had to be 3-4 feet. The plow guy did not show and so my upstairs neighbor, my sister and I dug my car out and then shoveled in front of my neighbors garage so she could get her car out.

 

The boys had done the back steps.

 

 

I shot this photo from the steps.

 

 

Percy loves to watch people doing manual labor. At least, he was safe and warm during the storm.

 

The final tally- we think between 22 and 26.5 inches. There were conflicting reports. I do know it was the fifth worst snowstorm in Boston history.

 

At least, I did not lose electricity during the storm. Friday night the winds were howling and the lights were flickering. I was stressing thinking at any moment I would lose lights and the heat so I went to bed. It was still snowing in the morning and since there was a driving ban nobody was going anywhere.

 

We hired another plow guy and he finished what we didn't. It was about 5:00PM on Sunday . I was mobile once again and Nemo was one for the history books. Good riddance!

 

 

 

Nature's Jewelry- A Winter Walk

We had about 6 inches of snow last night. I think this is about the perfect amount of snowfall, not too much and not too little. Although the temperature was in the 20 degree range and there was a howling wind, I ventured out to see nature at her best.

My hometown looks very Currier and Ives-esque after a winter storm. You would think that since snow is white that everything snow covered would look bigger but it is just the opposite. Everything looks smaller and in my opinion more beautiful.

The gazebo on the Town Common looks like something out of a Victorian painting. All we need is a small pondand a few skaters to add a little more romance to the scene. And of course, if we're creating a painting we can leave the snowplow out.

I walked down one of the streets in my neighborhood just admiring the pristine snow. The plants and bushes had little ice pellets on them and they were breathtaking.

I was hoping the beauty I saw through my lens would translate to my photos but it's not quite right. In person, it looked like crystals and diamonds were shining on the trees in the late afternoon sun.  As if someone had flicked a switch and turned on thousands of twinkle lights.

The snow has a way of hitting just the right spots on a house like the turret on my friend Kim's house.

I tried to zoom in closer to capture nature's crystal and diamonds on the branches.

Smow is really nature's jewelry. There is nothing prettier to me. It is special because it is so temporary. The ice on the branches melts once the temperatures rise so it is constantly changing.

Once the sun hits those icy branches, the melting begins, but not today. It was too cold for any melting and I was able to enjoy nature's illumination.

The snow and ice made for some magical views. And the sky would eventually turn a lovely pastel pink. Had my fingers not been flirting with hypothermia I would have stayed to record the beautiful sunset.

 

 

Icy coldness just adds to the flavor of the shot and makes the painfullly numb fingers and face worthwhile.

 

 

Some of the homes looked Christmas card perfect. The snow was better than any holiday decoration.

 

My neighbor's yard took on a wintry mystique. A big gust of wind blew snow off the barn roof just as I was taking this shot. So cool!

His garden ornament was dancing for joy at the beauty around him. Or maybe he was just trying to keep warm!

 

And in my own yard, some perfectly formed snow and ice crystals make a lovely statement piece for nature's jewelry.

Saturday snow

I woke up this morning to a pretty scene outside my window. Snow was falling. Our second small snowstorm this week.  This type of storm is perfect, more than a dusting but not too much.  I love how the snow sticks to the branches of the trees. It's Winter poetry.

Oscar enjoyed the subtle light streaming through the window. Nothing too harsh for a Saturday morning.

Oh, he is just so cute!  Those eyes get me everyone time. He has me wrapped around his little paw.

A lovely scene from my dining room window. When we have a gentle snowfall I like to take a walk around the neighborhood and photograph the snow covered old homes. I feel like I am in a Currier and Ives scene.

My attention was turned inside the condo as I spied Percy jumping on the couch and settling next to Oscar.

This usually means trouble. At least Molly was in the bathroom sleeping.  She's no dummy, it is the warmest room in the condo!

 And there he goes.  He likes to wake Oscar up from peaceful sleep. Doesn't it look like great fun?

He's not giving him a little brotherly nuzzle. He likes to bite Oscar's neck. Percy thinks he is a vampire! Oscar had enough and jumped off the couch.  This is exactly what Percy wants to happen because he wants to chase Oscar around the condo.

I'd had enough of the kitty shenanigans. So I went walking around the downtown area.  I decided to photograph the church next to the Town Common.

The common always looks so pristine when it first snows. And this church just screams New England to me.

The lanterns and benches complete the bucolic scene. If it hadn't been so cold I would have spent more time on the common.

Instead, I took my last shot of the church and ducked into the local coffee shop for a hot chocolate. Yum!

At night, I went over to my Dad's to celebrate his birthday. We dined on Italian food. Dad had veal parmesan and my sister and I had broccoli and penne. We had tiramisu for dessert. Delish!

My present to my Dad? A Netflix membership for the year. He really enjoys watching movies. Since we got him a bigger screen TV for Christmas I think this is a great gift!

I have my clothes ready for tomorrow. You know I am going to be parked in front of the TV to watch the Patriots play the Ravens.  And then of course I will watch to see the winner of the NFC Championship.
A full day I say!

Lazy Sunday morning

Good grief, it snowed again! This caught me off guard because I think it was forecast as a dusting. It was more than a dusting.



But it sure was pretty as it always is. I slept in a little later than usual.



The view was so nice from my kitchen window.



Molly wanted to sit in the new scratching post box and if you look at the side of it she took a few bites out of it too. And then she spit out the pieces on the floor, ew! Bad kitty!



Percy loves watching the snow fall and then it turned to rain. He enjoyed watching the raindrops slide down the window and he tried to catch them.



Oscar joined Percy in the snowfall watching.



And then he edged Percy off the table.



Don't let that angelic look fool you.



Percy is a little instigator.



And he can be quite destructive too. So far, he has ripped two of the three fabric shades in the living room, made scratch marks on the new fireplace, broke a teacup and two mercury glass candleholders, and pulled 6 nailheads out of my dining room chairs. He pulled the nails out with his teeth and then dropped them to the floor so he could play with them. I, of course, freaked out, thinking he could swallow a nail and do serious damage. He is a danger to himself and others. I had to take the chairs out of the dining room and put them in the basement office so he could not get at them.

Just a day in the life of three kitties!