Christmas Cookies with Emma

Emma, our cute little six-year-old neighbor, loves to bake, and cookies are her preferred order of business. She and Patty did the Christmas version yesterday -- sugar cookies, specifically -- as Emma says they're the only kind to make.


Here she is, hard at work.

Rolling away.


The all-important decorating phase.

Decorating continues.


Enjoying the finished product.


Little sister Tamsin stopped by for the fun.

Into the Hibernus!

Well, it happens every year. It snows, then the temperature tanks. Eight inches (20cm) of the white stuff last night. Now there's a blizzard warning: winds gusting to 40mph (64kph), temperatures on either side of 0°F (-18°C), and wind chills in the -30° (-34°C) range. I look out the window and don't see Spring in sight. . . .

Here's a shot I took of our backyard on Christmas morning, 2009. We'd had more than a foot (30cm) of really wet snow.

"Every mile is two in winter."

   -- George Herbert (1593-1653)

     English poet and clergyman

"I have a recurring dream about being cremated -- not a nightmare, a relief."

-- Eddie Ryshavy, resident of Plymouth, Minn.,

commenting on the cold, in the Minneapolis

Star Tribune, 12-30-09.

Here's roughly the same shot, taken February 10, 2010.   You'll notice the snow is a bit higher.  Despite his protests, I put Guinness on top of the pile, thinking it might help show scale.

It's hard to see here, but on the horizon is a nice example of "hoar frost."  Basically, it's frozen dew. Quite pretty, actually. (This is our alley, facing west.)