Groundhog Day!

Here is the 1st of February photo of The Puddle Pond which was yesterday.  As you can see there is a lot of open water at the pond.


Not so today.  My walking buddy, R, and I postponed our 6 AM walk when the temperature outside was 10 degrees.  We met up at 1PM right after lunch.  The temperature had climbed to 24 degrees but boy, it was still cold.  I had a hot cup of coffee when I got home and then Mr P suggested a walk to The Puddle.  The entire pond is frozen but certainly not thick enough to support any weight.  It was beautifully smooth and we took a picture of the light snow that was falling and skimming over the surface pushed by the wind.  I will post that pic at a later date.

Mr P is always on the lookout for the herd of deer that seem to call the area around our house "home".  He took some picutres of them this week out back foraging in the garden.  There can't be many delectable goodies in the garden right now but the deer seem healthy enough and well fed.

For those of you in Pennsylvania, you are probably already aware that today was Ground Hog Day.  Sometime this morning Punxatawney Phil was taken from his cage and a determination made by the powers to be that Phil saw his shadow.  The meaning of this is that there will be six more weeks of winter weather.  Come on now, it's February 2 and the months of February and March are typically winterlike here so he really isn't telling us anything we don't know.  

The copper bowls (above) that Grandsons #1 and #2 made us for Christmas will be put into use tomorrow evening.  For the past umpteen years, a couple we have been friends with, for umpteen years, will join us for dinner.  After dinner, we will all settle in to watch the Super Bowl or the Harbaugh Bowl as it is being called in the media.
The smaller bowl will hold nuts and the larger bowl Chex mix that I made up today.  Our dinner menu consists of spiral sliced ham, baked russett potatoes, steamed green beans, rolls, and sliced fresh pineapple.  Our friends are bringing dessert, punch bowl cake, which is Mr P and Mr C's favorite.  It's like a triffle and made up in a punch bowl in layers consisting of cake, strawberries, strawberry jello, vanilla pudding and whipped topping.  It goes down a treat and makes a lot which the guys absolutely love!  I will try to get a picture of the feast and especially the dessert before we dig in.
We are to have snow overnight, just a dusting, and it's to be cold again in the morning.  R and I decided to forgo our morning walk tomorrow and since both of our schedules are full in the afternoon we won't get out at all on Sunday.

I hope you are staying warm wherever you are and enjoying the weekend.  If you are watching the Super Bowl tomorrow evening and don't have a team doing battle, Mr. P asks that you root for the Ravens.