Snow on the Easter Eggs

     Another Michigan winter surprise!  Just when we thought it was spring, it snowed again.  Don't put away the boots, mittens and snow shovel quite yet! 

Old & New

Here is my old much loved iMac that became slower and slower to the point of unresponsiveness.  It's screen is 17" wide and it has always amazed me.   But what could I do when it couldn't do the job anymore?  Off we went to the Apple store.

The young people who work there are younger than my old iMac!!!   For crying out loud!  But couldn't spell my password.  It wasn't difficult.  No need to learn to spell anymore when the computer does the spelling, huh?  However, they are absolutely brilliant with computers.  My spelling skills are obsolete.

Anyway, here is my new similarly equipped computer.... oh, how I love it, love it, love it.   I had no idea how slow the other one had become.  This new one is soooo fast.  Screen is 21" wide.  

For a change, I read the entire instruction booklet through cover to cover before I took the computer out of the box.  Set up was easy as pie!  And I was inspired to do some straightening beforehand.  Always nice to begin anew. 

Ice Break Up

This morning the lake was ice covered with a layer of fog floating around.... beautiful!   By late afternoon, the temps were in the high 70's, the wind was whipping and voila! ~ open water!  Glorious!
It's the earliest ice break up I can remember since moving here in 1970.  What was your day like?

Hope Springs Eternal

This lovely crocus appeared in my yard immediately after the 20+" of snow melted!  The robins returned from the south.  Such a dramatic March.... and today "The Ides." 

"Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never is, but always to be blest:
The soul, uneasy and confin'd from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come."

~Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man

Settling in without Electricity... again!

Following the initial storm last weekend with all those 20-ish inches of snow, the power came on for a couple of days, then went off for two more days.  We again stoked the fireplace, lit the candles and hunkered down.  I rather enjoyed the routine of knitting by the fire each morning, getting my simple chores done, reading for awhile and back to bed to stay warm.  I suppose if your attitude is adjusted, this way of life would be like the "good old days." 

The snow is melting fast and today we are expecting 60.*  We saw our first robin while walking the dogs this morning.  My husband just popped in to say he spotted sprouting daffodils while hauling some of the fallen tree branches.   I took advantage of the nice weather and photographed this chenille patchwork quilt I listed for sale in my Etsy shop.  More quilts to come. 

Here are some pics of the ranch I have been visiting Friday afternoons.  It was so cold and windy this past Friday, we didn't want to stand around brushing horses so we hauled the broken pine boughs to a burn pile.  The horses were so curious.  They had to check us out.  We accomplished clearing out the area under the trees where the horses like to congregate.  The activity warmed us up so that we then felt like grooming the horses after all.  These are mostly rehabilitated rescued horses who become wonderful for rehabilitating kids and adults alike.  It's a joy getting to know them.

March came in like a lion.

This is not my usual weekend pot of stew.  I gathered kettles packed full of fresh snow to melt on the stove for a bit of French Press coffee, for watering the dogs and cats, for tea and for brushing teeth.

We had quite a storm beginning Friday afternoon and found ourselves without power for 24 hrs.  My gas stove will light with a match and the fireplace in the living room kept the house warm enough ... that is if you wear your long underwear and layers of wool and/or fleece!

We received 18" to 24" of heavy wet snow in our region.  Lots of tree limbs came down taking power lines with them.   Here four deer were happy to find this maple branch down in our driveway.   The clusters of leaf buds were especially sweet.

Our hero arrived this morning.   Our driveway is steep and a tough one to plow.  This fellow had been plowing for 29 hours straight with more drives to clean out after leaving our place

Here's a view looking out across the lake.  These twin birch trees suffered no damage and straightened up after the snow fell off the branches.  Luckily there was little to no wind.   Lots of people still are without power, some roads are impassable and schools are closed tomorrow.  I know there have been some wicked storms across the country and hope you and yours are safe.