Getting Colder, Some Flurries, A Just Visible Sunrise

A Cross Country Skiing Selfie

7:15

Up at 6:40, overcast sky, light snow, and a cold 11º with temperatures below zero on the deck for tonight and tomorrow morning.  Winter is here to stay despite the fact that Spring is only 21 days away. I am hoping it warms up some later in the day so we can go outside enjoy a hike or cross country skiing.

Marisa and Evie's Favorite, A Ruffled Finch (looks like he just rolled out of the nest)

Unkempt But Warm (same guy)

Back to routine yesterday, with yoga for me with the girls at 10:00, a workout for Evie at the YMCA as well.  It felt good for both of us to be out doing something physical, though Evie is increasingly frustrated by the WiFI at the YMCA because it makes it difficult to get music on her iPad.  And what's a good workout without great music to dance to on the machines.  We for once did not stop anywhere, no shopping, no coffee shop, and came home in the very cold morning.

For lunch, we had our typical Sunday breakfast, which we skipped this past weekend, eggs, bacon and bagels, a great way to start the afternoon. Our afternoon was bright and sunny, an amazing blue sky, so we enjoyed being cozy inside, reading and watching some Stewart and Colbert.  I decided to get out before the sun hid behind the tree line, to see if it was good skiing on the lake.  And it was, for once, no slush, no crusty snow, just a great surface for skiing.  It was so bright I needed sunglasses, and I seemed to be the only person on the lake, as the fishermen did not hike out until after I finished skiing.  It was cold, especially skiing into the wind but worth it.

Late Afternoon Skiing On An Empty Lake, 

Evie made a great dinner, scallops in a vermouth, shallot, garlic and butter sauce, and an old favorite from our days in Istanbul, a sage, tomato paste and butter sauce called Burro Russo, which you add to spaghetti noodles. We wondered where we had gotten the recipe, so Evie googled it and my nephew, Pat Holzheimer's food blog came up; he had obviously included Evie's recipe from years ago and put it on his blog.  It's amazing what you find by googling a word. Dinner was great, as was the German chocolate cake brownies for dessert, with a scoop of Wegman's finest French Vanilla.  I am a lucky guy!

We have one more episode to go in HOUSE OF CARDS.  Francis did away last night with his underling, making it look like suicide.  Francis gets more and more evil, Machiavellian, which makes him even more interesting I suppose.  He makes Boehner and Pelosi look good, even admirable...hard to believe, right.