Yup… definitely feeling the winter now. We’re all messed up with sleep over here since coming back from California. We’ve been wide awake until the wee hours of the morning and we’ve been sleeping way too late. Though I guess it’s good to get that all out of our systems in these few days before the new year begins. Sleeping late in the winter is sort of dangerous though – because all of a sudden, you have only five or six hours of daylight and then the dark sets right back in again. The days are going by much too fast and becoming one big blur!

Tomorrow we’re heading out to Redding, CT for a cozy New Year’s Eve fondue extravaganza. I’m in charge of the cheese fondue (of course) – so I went out today to get all the fixins. The recipe I’m using calls for one pound of Gruyere and one half pound of Emmental – both Swiss mountain-style cheeses. I decided to mix it up a bit and bought Comte instead of Gruyere (a French mountain cheese – very similar in style – though much cheaper at the shop I was in).   I also bought Challerhocker (pronounced “holler hocker”) – another mountain-style cow’s milk cheese from Switzerland – and one I had never tried before!   I preferred it to the Emmental (it’s totally delish) so I decided to go for it.  I bought a crusty French baguette for dipping, but also decided to get some other goodies – mini potatoes and mushrooms (for roasting), some ham and salami (I’m such a good Jew) and a red pepper, which I figured I’ll serve raw for a bite of something crisp and refreshing – and also for some color.  Yum – melted cheese for dinner.  I’m happy.

Anyway, here are my snowy themed photos from the last three days. Yesterday I got my hands on a 10-22mm super wide-angle lens. I took photo #264 with that one. Again – a whole new world once you pop a new lens on the camera. Fun stuff.

Photo 262 out of 365 – “Ice Moon”

"Ice Moon" - Settings: ISO 400, f/11, 1/125 sec, 100mm macro lens

Photo 253 out of 365 – “Where’s My Bike?”

"Where's My Bike?" - Settings: ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/100 sec, 24-70mm lens (30mm)

Photo 264 out of 365 – “Tompkins Square Park at Dusk”

"Tompkins Square Park at Dusk" - Settings: ISO 800, f/6.3, 1/100 sec, 10-22mm lens (11mm)