Snow Day!

 This is what we woke up to this morning...

We had a little snow with a coating of ice over the top of it. It was cold enough that it didn't cling to the trees and the power stayed on. The road is snow and ice covered. We haven't seen a plow truck, therefore our mail box is still standing. You may remember that every time it has snowed the plow truck has taken out our mail box. 

Our neighboring farm always looks so idyllic with a little snow cover. The farm help worked quite late yesterday preparing for the impending storm. This morning it looked like all the cows were still snug in their barn.

Last night I made a yummy mac & cheese. This is my own recipe where I make a standard cheese sauce with cheddar and monterey jack cheese, then add sauteed onion, cumin, and red pepper flakes. When I mix it in the pasta I add a couple cans of Rotel tomatoes. Top with seasoned panko bread crumbs and bake until bubbly. Collard greens rounded out the meal. It was the perfect dinner to enjoy snuggled up on the sofa, streaming episodes of HBO's "Six Feet Under", and hearing the sounds of sleet falling on the metal roof.

Slip Sliding Away...

This is what my pretty blue mailbox looks like now. Thanks to the State of NC snow plow drivers. Do you think maybe they don't get enough practice? A road crew knocked it over last year as well. As you can see in the photo, it's not too close to the road. I am not sure why there were even plowing. There was no snow accumulation, they should have just spread some salt to melt the ice. I suppose they are overzealous because they don't get to take out the big toys that often around here!

A day of sleet and freezing rain gave me an excuse to slow down and skip working in the studio. I took advantage of a dark day and photographed work. I even spent the day in my pajamas. New photos means new pots in the Etsy shop. Most of these will get listed over the next few days.

and what would a day be without pigs?

brrrrr....

It's cold in the south this morning... only 25 degrees.

Have no fear, these are not icicles in Seagrove! These were hanging off of my little house on Bow Lake in NH. The picture was taken on January 23, 2010. We had tons of snow that year and I don't miss it a bit. It's supposed to get back up to 60 degrees here by the end of the week.

When we woke up this morning the wood stove was out, despite the fact that I had gotten up at 4:00 am and threw some wood in. It was down to 58 degrees in the cabin, luckily we have a back up propane heater. The stove here is a Vermont Castings from the 80's. Typically they are great stoves and very efficient. I have owned one in the past, although it was a little larger. Unfortunately, we realized that this one is supposed to have a pieces of glass behind the fan shaped detail on the front door. It was gone when we arrived, probably broken long ago. That pane of glass sealed the door and since it is gone, the stove is no longer air tight. That means the stove is no longer efficient and we tend to go through a lot of wood. Last year we researched replacement parts but because of the stove's age those parts are limited and of course the glass is no longer available. The local glass company said to custom cut a piece of high temp glass would be very expensive... Jeff is still thinking about how to remedy the issue...

If it isn't too cold out this little stove gets the cabin up to 80 degrees... but when it's 25 degrees it's working hard!