We made it through what will be (hopefully) our last snow storm of the season.  There are flakes in the forecast for Wednesday night but they are not supposed to amount to much.  I didn't have to take a day off on Monday so I can start accumulating vacation time for the days when the sun is out and I can get outdoors.

Here's a few of the things happening in our world here in NJ.

There have been interesting ships in the river.  This is an amphibious craft docked on the Delaware river.  It looked like a giant Lego ship.  I kept trying to get a photo every day as the train went across the bridge. 

There have been soccer games on weekend mornings.  This was the reason we broke down and bought a television and Pk has been taking full advantage of it.  The English games are winding down and the  MLS games here are just starting up so it's soccer all year round.  And let's not forget World Cup this year. 

Peter Kevin gets up early and sits there in the sunshine, "photosynthisizing". 

Kate wanted a pair of socks to wear with her boots when it's warmer and naked legs won't be too cold.  She admitted she hates making socks so I started a pair of Snow Queen socks for her.  They're about 9 inches tall, just enough to stick out the top of her boots and look cute. 

We get the NYTimes electronically.  I like reading the paper and it has lots of links to additional information (and lots of photos).  One thing I did not anticipate was Food.  They have one or two food writers.  Not critics but actual food writers. 

We've tried a few of their recipes with mixed success.  This one was a hit.  It's Polenta with butternut squash and sausage and fried onions.

I've only ever had polenta in one of those plastic tubes where you cut it into rings and cook it.  It has some corn flavor and some interesting texture but not impressive.  The food writer said this stuff would blow the tube stuff out of the water.

So, we went out and hunted down a butternut squash and Peter Kevin ground our polenta a bit to make it finer.  I grated the squash and cooked it with the polenta and then spooned the sausage on top.

I liked the polenta itself.  It was warm and soft and very comforting.  It had good corn flavor, slightly salty but not overly so.  I will state right out that I am not a sausage fan.  I should have just gone for the onions and left the sausage off but Pk and Elanor really liked it.  This will be added to our resevoir of recipes.

DST is kicking my ass this week.  I am dragging.  I had a hard time sleeping Sunday night but last night I slept fairly well and I am still not my energetic self this morning.  I know it takes about a week for my eyes/brain to get accustomed to the change in light.  This week will be a bit of a struggle. 

So, life has been fairly quiet.  Kate and I are going out Sunday to look for fabric to make her wedding dress.  It should be fairly easy since she already knows exactly what she wants in the way of a dress.  I made her one to wear to a formal in high school and she wants the same dress, only in a different color.  It's fairly plainly designed with an off the shoulder neckline and short sleeves and a fitted bodice which falls away to a slightly a line skirt.  It was ice blue taffeta with a lace/sequined overlay.  She looked beautiful.  It was feminine without being frilly.  I still have the pattern so she can get exactly what she wants. And I get to spend time in a store with fabric and sewing things.  Win/win.

It will be 60 degrees today (15.5C) and will be 29 degrees on Thursday (-1.6).  Welcome to Almost Spring in NJ!