For lack of new photos, here's another from the NYC World Trade Center collection, May 1994. I'm amazed at how the skyline has changed over the years. I don't know the City very well, but I can pick out the Empire State Building and what was then known as Citicorp Center (now Citigroup Center) in Midtown.
The weather gurus tell us that some warming, however short lived, is coming, along with a little less rain. We shall see.
Here's another attempt to capture the tiny new leaves on the grape vines out back. They become more visible each day. I'm sure the growers are keeping their fingers crossed that there are no freezes over the next few weeks.
In domestic news, I've got to go to the pharmacy to refill prescriptions. Tasha goes to the vet for her annual vaccinations next week. I picked up fallen branches in the back yard yesterday. They're from the tilleul (linden tree). Now, if we could get some dry days, I could cut the grass.
Here we are on the first of April! But we're still suffering a stubborn spring. It's so not spring-like that I typed March instead of April. Turns out, I'm the April Fool. Even Tasha was saying, "Huh?"
There's a section of a vineyard parcel just to our north that is planted in chardonnay. I believe the grapes are used for blending in the winery's sparkling wines. Imagine my surprise when, while walking over there last evening, I noticed that many of the vines already have leaves! Better pictures soon. Happy March April!
Just so you know: I had two ideas for a post this morning. As I worked on them they sort of merged. When I tried to separate them, this is some of what I got. What a mess.
They start before sun-up. Can you dig it? Changing the clocks made things darker in the morning. The lights on the digger look much more spooky in person than in this photo.
The weather is still a little wintry. Each morning, it seems, the ground is soaked with dew, ready to freeze at any moment. I'm sure the grape growers have their eyes peeled, looking out for frost warnings.
Here's another shot of the digger that's working out back now. Even from behind thing is huge. I wonder how long it'll be out there. It's far enough from our house that we hear no noise when it's operating.
Spring (Easter) vacations start next Saturday for certain regions of the country. In our area, they start on the eleventh. Another two weeks off for the youngsters.
It's almost as tall as I am. Granted, I'm not all that tall. But who's counting? Oh... I am.
Yesterday's market run was productive. At the produce store I found green asparagus, shiny eggplants, some spicy chorizo (not exactly produce, but that's ok), and a bunch of sweet radishes (called radis roses). The rain stopped, so I stopped at the outdoor market after all. And there was the asparagus and strawberry man. It's too early for strawberries (his,anyway), but he had bunches of white asparagus. Ken made risotto with green asparagus for lunch. Yum!
It's humongous! It's the digger they've been using out back this week to pull up spent vines and start preparing the parcel for new ones.
It started raining early this morning. The morning low is much higher than predicted, no where near freezing. My plans are to go to the market for a couple of things. I may just go to the produce store and skip the outdoor market. We want to make a risotto for lunch with either eggplant or asparagus. I'm not even sure if local asparagus is available yet. I can wait another week.
In other news, we turn the clocks ahead tonight. How annoying.
