Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 9:30 p.m. in "the City."

This is just the place to insert tomorrows sunrise and sunset times of 7:51 a.m. and  6:07 p.m. respectively.

Our current temperature is 16°, but it feels like 9° with an east wind blowing @ 5 mph.

We also have a Winter Weather Advisory in effect for the counties of Allegan, Muskegon, Ottawa, and Van Buren in MI that will be in the forecast from the NWS until 12:00 p.m. tomorrow.

The NWS tossed in a meteorological term I'd not seen before, Mesolow. Apparently, according to NOAA the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a mesolow is a low-pressure area that forms just behind a severe weather event, like the Winter Weather Advisory that we have in the forecast. Who knew? 

At any rate, while it was snowing lightly earlier after some heavy snow this afternoon, the skies are still cloudy and they will remain so, even after that snow is out of the forecast tomorrow. 

Our snow-service came by earlier today and we expect that they will return tomorrow. 

The NWS calls for tomorrow's high to reach 18° with an overnight low of 10°. 

Late last evening, I espied MMRR locomotives 2019 and 2170 as they towed 10 empty CGCs heading south.

I heard the northbound run @ 3:45 a.m. this morning, but that's all I have to say about that.

I made another batch of my soon to be famous vegan Italian meatballs that found their way into what Mary described as not her best pasta sauce. I don't know, I liked it.

Otherwise, I finished a crossword, put more paint on canvas, and did some coloring. I like to have time to do some artistic things.

Mary and her wing-gal, Ginger, made a trip to that Big-Box nearly everything store and then came home. The roads were too treacherous for safe travel.

Tomorrow, we should be able to pick up this library books and also do our regular indoor chores. Mary will be starting her portion of those tonight. So, that's all folks. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past  9:50 p.m. in "The City."

We did a short driveabout to go to the library for a book pick up that we were unable to accomplish and also to allow me to take some pix of our BLP power plant on Harbor Island that is nearing its final demise. I also decided to add a pic here of what the plant looked like in the "Before Time."

As it was.

As it currently appears, long range.

Not too long ago, this was the state of the power plant, and soon this part will be gone. 

We also took a drive to the waterfront for some pictures of the lighthouses, the south pier, and the sky.

There were people on the pier.

Ice is not an obstacle if you have no fear.

I like how the sun was trying to poke through the cloud cover. 

What would winter be like here on the Palatial Estate if we didn't have large piles of snow. that I no longer have to contend with. We love our snow removal service!

The rear stairs of the deck and and our brick paver patio.

The pergola over the deck is snow covered, as are the trees.

More trees that are near to the ones over the pergola. Heavy snow has bent them nearly to the ground

Our snow service does an excellent job!

Somewhere out there are our vast gardens. 

We have a current temperature of 13° that feels like 0° with a wind out of the west @ 10 mph. We have no advisories, watches, nor warnings in effect at this time. The current barometric pressure reading from the NWS is 30.30" and rising, while my own DTWS is reporting 29.68" and falling.

I baked a batch of my Funfetti Cookies today and Mary followed with an old family recipe for potato and bean chili that became our dinner. Whose old family? I don't know, but it is a keeper. 

I watched enough of Super Bowl LV to know that I liked Puppy Bowl XV11 a lot better. I am tired of Brady getting all the calls from the officials. Sure, the Chiefs could be playing better, but the Buccaneers are just being gifted the game.

Tomorrow we hope to be able to pick up our library books and Mary has to go to that Big-Box Nearly Everything store for a pickup. 

I have a book to read, but I wanted one that I had ordered from the library. Ciao

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation  and across the world. It is just past 8:45 p.m. in "The City."

Well, it finally happened. The regular Winter Weather Warning that is often in the forecast from the NWS finally produced some serious snow. In fact, I'd guess that we had about six inches drop from the heavens over the last two days. But fortunately, our snow removal service came by early this morning and cleared  the sidewalks, the driveway, the dog run, the front porch and the deck. All we had to do was watch the proceedings. 

I took some pix to memorialize the snowfall.

Ginger sniffing her way around the dog run.

Our deck.

The snow pile at the end of the shared driveway.

The shared driveway by the garages.

We have a current temperature of 18° that feels like 1° with a west wind blowing @ 23 mph! The barometric pressure reading from the NWS in GR is 29.72" and rising, while my DTWS here in GH is showing 29.09" and falling

Tomorrow's high temperature forecast from that same NWS calls for 19° with west winds blowing @ 18 mph. In addition, the NWS has continued the Winter Weather Advisory until 12:00 p.m. tomorrow for counties north of our own, Ottawa County, MI.

However, there is a Heavy Freeze Spray Warning and Small Craft Advisory in effect from St. Joseph to Manistee until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow for the former and until 7:00 a.m. Sunday for the latter. 

I was able to do some trainspotting yesterday and early this morning. At 9:00 p.m. last night, I espied MMRR locomotives 2170 and 2019 heading south, towing eight CHCs, nine DBTCs, and 17 CGCs. I heard the passage of those same locomotives early this morning as they deadheaded going north.

Mary has been busy coloring, knitting, and cross stitching on my artist's apron. When she is done, I'll add a picture or two. However, she finished her latest knitting project, that Perky Little Hat on Wednesday night/Thursday morning and modeled it while taking a selfie.

Knitter, Colorist, Senior Staff Photographer, and Journeyman Trainspotter in her hat.

I made some vegan pepperoni today and started my latest novel, as I finished my last novel early this morning. 

Mary was coloring most of the afternoon, but I inherited her last effort, as she felt it looked too much like a fomite for the Corona Virus. Her loss, my gain. I will be getting to work on a project that Mary ordered for herself, a miniature greenhouse that requires my efforts to complete.

I found time yesterday to finger pick my 12-string guitar and also do some painting. It is too dark here in my studio many days, so it will be a long drawn out process. But, it is likely that Michelangelo didn't finish  the Sistine Chapel in a short period either. 

Tomorrow is indoor chore day and that's about it. 

There is nothing new to report on the Spring Training reporting dates for my MLB teams, the Chicago Cubs, my beloved Boston Red Sox, and our Detroit Tigers.

I nearly forgot to mention that at 9:00 a.m. this morning, the manse shook like we'd had an earthquake. It turned out that the first of three planned demolitions by explosives occurred this morning. The shock was felt for several miles as was the noise from the blast. No injuries occurred. 

Of course, Super Bowl LV is Sunday evening and I'm not sure I'll be watching as I don't have a horse in that race. 

The sun will rise tomorrow @ 7:55 a.m. and set later tomorrow evening @ 6:03 p.m. Ciao. 

Good mornig or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 6:00 p.m. in "The City."

I had a busy day today. I worked on my paintings, made Coleslaw and vegan Italian burgers, and read more of my latest novel. More importantly, Mary summoned me to the upstairs and a newly washed window, to take some pix of the setting sun. I'll get to those in a bit. All in all, a very satisfying day. 

We have a current temperature of 33° that feels like 28° with a west wind blowing @ six mph. The NWS is showing a barometric pressure of 30.05" and falling, while my own DTWS is showing 29.40" and rising. In either case, the readings appear to be a harbinger for what is to come for the next several days, at least weather-wise.

The NWS has issued a Winter Weather Advisory beginning @ 7:00 p.m. tomorrow night and continuing until 7:00 p.m. Friday night, for portions of Central, Southwest, and West MI. The forecast calls for four to eight inches of additional snow and a hazardous commute tomorrow evening and Friday morning. 

If that wasn't enough, the NWS has also issued a Gale Warning from St. Joseph to Manistee beginning @ 10:00 p.m. tomorrow night and continuing until 7:00 p.m. Friday evening. 

The forecast calls for windspeeds of 20 to 30 knots with gusts to 40 knots and wave heights from seven to 10 feet! Surf will be up if you are of a mind.

Last night @ 8:40 p.m., the southbound run of the train on the RSTL took place. I watched MMRR locomotives 2019 and 2170 pass by towing seven CHCs, five DBTCs, and nine CGCs. I heard the northbound run, but which Mary saw. It was just those aforementioned locomotives deadheading solo.

But back to pictures. Mary recently modified a recipe for vegan macaroni and cheese with a homemade cheese sauce and broccoli florets baked in the oven. It was delicious. Who says that vegan has to be boring?

Very tasty!

But, since I had my camera up here for other things, I quickly grabbed it and took some of those pix I mentioned earlier. While not perfect, overall, I like how they turned out. All pix were shot from the same location in the manse and looking to the southwest.

I tried a different setting for this one.

Basically the same shot, but another setting. 

This one is good.

But I like this one and the next even more. 

Again, different settings.

Mary has spent a large portion of her afternoon coloring. She is once again finding coloring relaxing now that orange aberration is no longer POTUS. Maybe that's why I am painting again too.

I am now enjoying reading more and also playing music. Of course, it could just be that the snow is being handled by the snow removal service. Whatever the reason, I like doing artistic pursuits here in my studio.

Tomorrow, I hope to read more, play with my stringed instruments, perhaps play my harmonica and just enjoy life as a retired person.

Mary will probably continue to color, knit, and cross stitch. 

The sun will rise tomorrow @  7:57 a.m. and set later @ 6:00 p.m. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 9:00 p.m. in "The City."

We had another good day today. Surprisingly, I like doing some forms of housecleaning. I just don't like doing windows. 

At any rate, I did some vacuuming, some carpet cleaning, some crossword solving, and that was the extent of my activities for the day. Oh, we did make it to that walkabout at the Lake Forest Cemetery and parking was not an issue, as the workers at the cemetery had cleared a spot for a recent internment and so Mary parked the car there. 

We walked on the dry pavement with our fur-children and then we drove over to the Grand Haven State Park to see what we could see. As is all too often the case, I hadn't taken my camera, but Mary had brought hers along, so I used that to take some pix of the lighthouses, the sky, and the setting sun and its reflected light on the waters of Lake Michigan. I'll add some of the ones that I like here.

This one is a great view out over the lake looking west.

So too this shot, but with more elevation. 

I like how the colors popped in this pic. 

The bare trees formed a nice frame for the sun over the lake. 

Again, great colors in the sky.

Enough with the fun stuff. We have a current temperature of 29° under fair skies. However, it feels more like 20° with a wind out of the north @ nine mph. Tonight's low is forecast by the NWS to drop to 22°, before we rebound to tomorrow's high temperature of 34° under sunny-skies. The NWS is also showing a current barometric pressure of 30.24" and rising, while my own DTWS is showing 29.62" of Hg and falling. We still have a Small Craft Advisory in effect until 4:00 a.m. Wednesday from Holland to Manistee. Wind speeds of 10 to 20 knots with gusts up to 30 knots, which may produce waves from two to five feet.

The sun will rise tomorrow morning @ 7:59 a.m. and set tomorrow evening @ 5:57 p.m.

Last night and early this morning, I watched and heard the passage of MMRR locomotives 2019 and 2170 as they headed south @ 9:53 p.m. towing six CHCs and 10 CGCs. Early this morning, @ about 3:30 a.m., I heard those same locomotives passing by heading north, towing a very long line of mixed cars, but I did not get up to see what they were.

Tomorrow, we have no actual plans, but I want to read more, do some painting, play some music, and solve yet another crossword puzzle. Mary wants to take her wing gal and go to the grocery store for a pick up and then sit down to knit etc. Ciao. 

Also tomorrow. it is Tuesday, so another set if indoor chores awaits. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 8:30 p.m. in "The City."

What a great day we had. We got up late, had a nice lunch of salad and vegan burgers, and then settled in for some crossword solving and reading. 

Our snow-removal service came by as we were ready to let the fur-children out after their breakfast, but we managed to squeeze then in before the service moved around to the back forty. It looked from our warm vantage point here in the manse like he had to move between three and four inches of snow.  All good.

In addition, we managed to give a pawdicure to our fur-children. They are getting much more agreeable to the process. That, or they are more attuned to the dental treats that they always get afterwards. Either way, it was not an unpleasant experience.

We have a current temperature of 33° under cloudy-skies, that feels like 25° with a north wind blowing @ 10 mph. Tonight's low will drop to an actual 21° before we rebound to tomorrow's high temperature of 31° under mostly cloudy skies. 

The Small Craft Advisory remains in effect until 4:00 a.m. tomorrow, with wind speeds of 15 to 25 knots and wave heights of one to four feet.

The NWS forecast also includes a barometric pressure of 30.11" and rising, while my DTWS is showing 29.51 inches and falling. The sun will rise tomorrow morning @ 8:00 a.m. and set later @ 5:56 p.m.

We decided to return some books to the library this afternoon and then continue our sojourn around GH for some picture taking. Mary drove and I snapped. A nice division of labor. I have chosen some pix that I like along with a pic of the coal tipple here in GH that I colored yesterday and which I also snapped for comparison. 

My colored pencil drawing. 

The real Coal Tipple.

Of course, the trip took us to many places here in GH. We also traveled to Grand Haven State Park and Harbor Island, and the Lake Forest Cemetery too. As I said, I snapped a lot of pix, so here are a few for your enjoyment.

I captured this gull in flight as we drove through Grand Haven State Park.

This tree is growing, or not, in the Lake Forest Cemetery.

Some of he heavy equipment deconstructing the BLP power Plant on Harbor Island. 

Mary suggested this shot when I was out taking pix of the power plant. It is view under the small bridge leading to the power plant. 

The sun behind the clouds at the State Park.

Another angle on the gull in flight.

Snow covered Dewey Hill.

People bundled up near the catwalk that leads to the lighthouses. 

We settled in for the final episode of Mr. Robot and then a great dinner of acorn squash and vegan sausages. 

We have nothing specific on our agenda for tomorrow. We scoped out the cemetery as a possible walkabout destination. Parking may be an issue, but we think that there are a few places that should work.

Otherwise, more reading, more music, more arts and crafts, etc. Ciao. 

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 9:30 p.m. in "The City."

I am taking a short break from watching one of my favorite musicals, The Music Man, starring Robert Preston as Professor Harold Hill and Shirley Jones as Marion the Librarian. As you may know, there is trouble right there in River City and the Music Man is there to solve the problem.

At any rate, we have a current temperaqture of 29° that feels like 17° under cloudy-skies, with a west wind blowing @ 17mph! That wind is part of a Winter Weather Advisory that is in effect until 12:00 p.m. tomorrow and a Small Craft Advisory  that is in effect until tomorrow evening @ 7:00 p.m.

The Winter Weather Advisory was issued by the NWS for south central and southwest Michigan with a possibility of from one to three inches of snow accumulation. The Small Craft Advisory was also issued by the NWS, from St. Joseph to Manistee, with 10 - 20 knot winds and gusts up to 30 knots and waves from one to four feet.

The current official barometric pressure is 30.11" and falling, while my own DTWS is showing 29.48" and rising.

The sun will rise tomorrow morning @ 8:01 a.m. and set later tomorrow evening @ 5:55 p.m.

What did I accomplish today? Well. I finished a crossword puzzle, made more vegan Italian meatballs, and we collectively we watched two episodes of Mr. Robot and two episodes of Wing's. I also did the regular Saturday indoor chores and went out with the fur-children too. 

Last night, I tuned in to a presentation by Mike Amico of Olympus Cameras regarding landscape picture taking. I have a lot to learn. Oh well, I have plenty of time.

Mary made a nice lunch of cottage tofu, macaroni salad, and a green salad of Romaine lettuce. She also made the French dressing too. She incorporated my vegan Italian meatballs into her secret recipe pasta sauce which she served atop mine, Ginger's and STWD's favorite, whole-wheat spaghetti.

Tomorrow, we have to do more grooming on Ginger and grinding on the nails of both of our fur-children. No bath for Ginger.

Right now, I am going back to watching The Music Man and that's about the extent of my ambition. Mary will be downstairs cross stitching and knitting. Ciao.