Weather Report: Fog

Foggy morning at Tulmeadow Farm

Last week was the first snow of the year, and it came after an afternoon of rain, and was followed by a morning of rain. It was a mess. Not exactly the winter of heavy snow that the farmer's almanac had predicted for the northeast.

Later on Thursday and then again Friday, following the snow/rain mix, came the fog. And with it brought flight delays. Jim had been away all week, and was trying sadly to get home from Houston, via Chicago O'Hare Airport, which can be a nightmare at the best of times. But introduce the least little bit of weather and it becomes delay after delay.

After arriving very late into O'Hare, they actually boarded the plane that was to bring him to Bradley Airport in Hartford. That was 11:30 pm. It amazed me that they hadn't cancelled that flight! They sat on the runway and waited to take off for an hour, then when they finally got to Bradley, the pilot circled three times attempting to find the runway but the fog was too thick, and he could barely see the lights. So off they went to Syracuse! They landed there at 3:20 am, and even though the passengers were told that they would be flown to Bradley, they ended up saying that they had to get a bus! In the end, Jim decided to fly to LaGuardia in New York City instead, where he rented a car and drove himself the two hour drive back to CT.

The joys of business travel!

Emma watches for Will, foggy field in the background

Footprints in the snow - this is all we got! Just enough to leave a footprint.

Three Years Old today!

Will and Emma on their third birthday

Will and Emma, our border collie 'twins' are celebrating their third birthday today. We celebrated by doing what they love to do - we took our usual walk through the woods and around the farmer's field of Tulmeadow Farm. This is our twice daily routine, on most days, since it is easy to get to from our house, and gives us all a good 45 minutes of exercise. They can run off-leash once we get to the end of the street and onto the path that runs through the woods, which means they get a lot more exercise than if they were on leash the entire time.

This time of year is a lot more interesting than usual, since the woods are filled with vignettes that have been set up for a haunted Halloween hayride that Flamig Farm puts on. The volunteers begin sometime in September, and just about every day there is something new to see at one of the locations. This year, there is lots of blood and guts at the 'Grimm Griddle' display, all fake of course. And one of my favorites is a field of about 100 or more pumpkins, all carved and sitting on cut logs ready for lighting on the nights of the haunted hayride. There are lots of ghosts and goblins that don't look very scary during the day, but with lights and spooky noises and flying through the air that is done at the actual event, I'm sure it draws more than a few screams!

Always together: on the path at Tulmeadow Farm

Will, lying down, watches Emma who is watching him!

Will with one of the pumpkins in the woods

Emma waits patiently while I photograph the pumpkins

Pickled skull at the Grimm Griddle

Where is spring?

This is the end of the first week of March and it finally seems like spring is really trying to get here. It's been raining non-stop all day, but here in the woods of Connecticut, we still have a good ground covering of snow. It's turning to ice as the rain melts it, but we are beginning to see the bare ground appearing around the trees and the edges of the high ground. It's been a long winter and we're really ready for spring to get here.

These photos are from a couple of days ago, before all the rain began to fall. We were still able to do our walk to Tulmeadow Farm without crushing through the snow and making it a difficult go. It was so cold that the snow was frozen solid and crunchy to walk on. That is not the case today. It was so rainy that I did not got out with Jim and the dogs for our usual daily constitutional. They were like drowned rats when they came back, and boy was I glad I stayed home in the warm confines of home! Even cabin fever couldn't get me out today.

Will on the trail, stick at the ready

Will and Emma listen intently for who knows what!

Where there is snow, there are skis! Our neighbors live right beside the trail, and they are out regularly with their skis.

Still lots of snow and hay bales line the fields. The horses won't go hungry!

Walk in Tulmeadow Farm pasture

Almost every day (and sometimes twice a day) we take the puppies for a walk in the woods and through the adjacent pasture that backs up to Tulmeadow Farms in our little town of West Simsbury. This is a series of trails that we can access just down the street from our house. These trails through the woods have been there for eons, according to our neighbors who are long term residents in the area. To us, they are a fairly recent discovery, and the puppies are happy we found them! The trails meander in many different directions through the woods, and we have now explored almost all the them, but our favorite daily walk takes us winding through the woods to a bit of a clearing, which is really a tractor road. Then, a right turn and a short jaunt takes us to an open meadow which then looks towards the series of small hills that make up a pretty view of the Farmington River valley. We have hills with descriptive names, like Sugar Loaf Mountain, Hedge Hog Hill and the Barn Door Hills in the distance. It is quite scenic and presents a pretty walk to us, whether it's in the morning dew or the early evening light.

Will and Emma know the way now, and love every step. I especially like coming out of the woods to see the first view of the hills, and one of these days I'll take my camera at just the right time to catch the perfect sunset. I'm waiting for the fall color of the trees to come, and I hope to catch it all with the sun setting over the hills. I'll be sure to post that when it happens. Autumn color seems a little late this year, but we are starting to get some vibrant oranges in the sugar maples, and reds of other trees, but mainly we are treated to the yellows of early autumn. I'm not wishing the time away, but just noting that the color is off to a late start.

Here's just a few photos of the puppies enjoying the clover meadow and hills in the distance.

Will lollygags in the clover

Emma is always watching for something to move, while Will watches her

Emma, still on the lookout

They both check on something interesting

The clover meadow, Sugar Loaf Mountain and Hedge Hog Hill in the distance

Clover pasture

Will hides in the grasses

Emma heads back on the trail through the woods

Just another note about the trail. The farmer that owns the property has an annual Halloween wagon ride through the woods and has been setting up over the last few weeks. We walk past a few of the little vignettes that are being created in the woods and each day we never know what we'll see. The 'tour' of the haunted forest starts at the Flamig Farm, which is at the end of one of the trails through the woods. They sell tickets to fill a hay wagon and pull it past all of the scary scenes in the dark woods. We are having fun watching the set-up and don't want to spoil the surprise, but here's a peek at one of the little vignettes of a what will be a haunted graveyard, nestled in the woods.

The haunted graveyard in progress