Yes, I know we live in western NY.  Yes, I know Buffalo is only 70 miles to the west.  Yes, I know Buffalo is synonymous with prodigious (perhaps seemingly perpetual) amounts of snow.  But, geez, this lake effect snow event (can't really call it a "storm" as it happens so often and it's not really vicious, just constant)  is, well, a bit surprising.



Cripes! That's a lot of snow! 



I don't know why we're still receiving a satellite signal.   The dish looks completely plastered. 



The icicles off the front porch are so delicate and a bit sublime.



The neighborhood kids were busy in the backyard on Sunday.  (This is before the additional 16 inches of snow that has fallen since then.)  They pretty much hoovered up the snow in the back yard and converted it to a Cask of Amontillado  type snow fort.  And, I counted. There were 8 kids.   Didn't lose anyone in the snow.   Every kid who showed up to build the fort, tromped next door  to defrost and have popcorn and hot cocoa.  (Love our neighbors!)

Going back another day to Saturday....  (prior to any snow fall)

We went to snag our Christmas tree from the usual place...





Yup, that's the one.




Decorations were hung. 

Including everyone's favorite.....




Headless Nut Baby.  (Headless Nut Baby did have a head at one point long ago.  But has been lost, probably to the bottom of a plastic bin, and is now only a memory.  I wrote about Headless Nut Baby and a few other of my favorite ornaments a couple of years ago here .)

And completely unrelated...

Something green and fresh.


DD#1 had a hydroponics unit her technology class and brought home fresh and very tasty lettuce.  (Can anyone else think of other  possible uses for hydroponics?)

And my new favorite breakfast food.



I like oatmeal.  I love dark chocolate.  Adding dark chocolate to oatmeal definitely cranks the oatmeal up a major notch.  Yum!

And my new favorite snack...


Chocolate dipped donut sprinkled with crushed peppermint candies.  Thank you Tim Hortons .

(There is lots of knitting going on right now, but it is all Christmas related.  So the discussion of recent projects will be a few weeks off.)