We awoke to light snow this morning. It feels like winter will arrive here afterall! More is expected throughout the week along with temperatures in the 30's. The holiday season is well underway and this adds to the atmosphere as nothing else can!

The rosemarys are giving off wonderful scents as I water them. They will get another buttermilk/water bath this weekend, everyother week seems to be good for them, as well as the daily mistings.

I found a new website this week which I have definitely desktopped. It is www.enature.com,which is the National Wildlife Federation. There is a newsletter, etc., but what I love is the section which pinpoints the wildlife in your area by your zipcode. It is an extensive list with photos and descriptions of the birds, butterflies, mammals, fish, etc in your environment. I found it really great so that those that don't migrate here are not among the lists. For me, who holds only so much info at a moment - this is perfect! There is also a section on developing your own backyard wildlife sanctuary, which we already have allowed to develop on its own, but now we will have more insight to what is happening there in those areas of the grounds.

Since all our winter preparations have held very well for this week, little needs to be done. We will be finishing the porch coverings with a door flap and maybe some additional coverage. The home is decorated, the cookies are baking, and all is right with the day.

The blue gray clouds hang in the southern sky, but I can hardly see them for the moisture on my windows :(, is there a way to keep this from happening, even with storm windows? I will need to investigate this today! But what I can see is the snow laying against the northside of the tree branches silhouetted by the steel blue sky - breathtaking!!

This day promises to be light, cool, and easy to embrace.
Sandra

Its a good time to write. I have had a wonderful dinner, a glass of wine, and a full day of accomplishments for dessert. We have been busy with holiday preparations and colorful wrapping papers and yummy smells in the kitchen. But the wonder of the day was this morning as we woke up to SNOW!!! WOW!!

We probably had about 4" total and the sun came out around 12:00 and the streets warmed up, which made it very easy for a walk. I finished one more covering job - the chimanea this morning - but it looks like all our coverings will survive the winter.

We put up our fresh tree in the library last nite amidst Christmas movies and Christmas music going simultaneously! It is full of heirloom ornaments from the family, and tinkling bells and Christmas boxes. The village is fuller this year since we had more of our decorations thanks to the 3rd truck's arrival in April. We have accumulated alot of new ornaments since we have been in Maine, but it was also fun to see our older ones. We finished the evening watching the Nutcracker and having Holland Dutch Hot Cocoa - yummy!

Robert and Joseph got all the tarps around the summer porch, and then the garage doors got their winter coats on. The protection they provide was already felt by last night, just cutting the wind down helps keep things warm and snuggy. I recovered the water pond with wood pieces that will keep the cover from being weighted down by water or snow. This should keep the pond fairly moisture free through the freezes

Well, I am settling in for the night and will tell you more, Journal, about helpful hints from the Garden Show tomorrow. Besides, a show about "The Lord of the Rings" movie is coming on at 8:00 - goodnight :)

Sandra