Winter Wonderland in October

  Many of you have commented nostalgically on how beautiful Fall in New England is.  On Saturday, we were hit by an unprecedented Nor'easter (a storm that forms in the tropics, bringing warm air that clashes with the colder air up North).
   We typically get frost and maybe a few flurries in October, but not a huge storm like the one we experienced over the weekend.
   I am posting these photos today (Nov.1st) because we had no cable, internet or telephone (land line) until last night.  We were were lucky and only lost power for five hours on Saturday, but there are still thousands in the state (and in our town) that are without electricity.  School was cancelled yesterday due to the large numbers of fallen limbs and trees blocking the roads, and downed powerlines.  Sadly, many towns also "cancelled" (postponed) Halloween for safety reasons.
   I give you some photos of an atypical--but pretty in its own way--Fall in New England...

The snowfall started Saturday.  We were at my nephew's Zombie-themed birthday party in northwestern CT at the time.

A Zombie Sammy playing outside in the snow without his coat, boots or mittens (all of which we brought).  It's no wonder that he is now sick with a cough and a cold!  Poor boy.  (Bad Mommy!)

My sister's yard as the snow was coming down.

THE MORNING AFTER.... 

    You can see from the photos that it was a heavy, wet snow and all of the tree limbs are sagging.

    Below is the uprooted root system of a HUGE tree in our backyard that split three ways. (In no way does the photo do justice to the size of this tree).  For scale, if I were to stand next to it, those root systems would be taller than me.  One section of the tree fell directly onto wires and across the road that runs behind our house.  Luckily, we have 2 acres in our back yard, and the other 2 sections fell parallel to the house at the far end of our property.

   Here is my daughter next to one of the three split sections of the huge tree that fell.  Multiple crews (town, police, electric company) have been out on the road since Sunday with chainsaws to clear it, direct traffic and maintain safety.

   On the bright side, it sure was a pretty storm, and thankfully we and all are friends and loved ones are safe. :0)   The kids had fun playing in the first snowfall of the season, and I got out in the fresh air and shoveled (I actually love getting out there when the snow is still fresh-- its so pretty.  It gives me some much-needed exercise, and shoveling the walkway makes me feel like I accomplished something.)

   I have been spending some treasured time at my sewing machine and will do a quilty post soon!

   Hope you enjoyed the photos of our freak Fall snowstorm!