Today we're expecting temperatures to reach 50-degrees Fahrenheit - very mild for this time of year. Northeast winters can be quite erratic. This encore blog was originally posted in December 2019, shortly after an ice storm covered the farm. I hope you all have a very safe and festive New Year's Eve. I look forward to another great year ahead.
Today is expected to be clear and sunny, but bitterly cold here at my Bedford, New York farm with highs only in the mid-20s.
I hope you’ve seen my Instagram posts @MarthaStewart48 - we’ve had quite a stormy week. Yesterday, I posted a video taken from a window at our New York City headquarters during a brief snow squall, a quick and intense burst of snow accompanied by strong, gusty winds - it covered the city with almost a half-inch of powder. Earlier in the week, we had an ice storm, characterized by freezing rain and the accumulation of at least a quarter-inch of ice on exposed surfaces. When I woke up, there was a coating of ice on everything.
Enjoy these photos.
I took many photos the morning after the storm. This photo was taken shortly after 7am. All the branches on the trees were covered in ice. Thankfully, we did not get too much damage.
Look at the ice that formed on this stone ledge – it’s about a quarter-inch thick. An ice storm is a type of winter storm also known as a glaze event or, in some parts of the United States, as a silver thaw.
Here, the ice covered the ground in a sheet of white.
This is a closer look at the ice covering these branches. Bad ice accumulations can increase the weight of tree branches up to 30-times. Fortunately, that did not happen with this storm.
Icicles form when ice or snow is melted by the sunlight and then refreezes as it drips. During ice storms, icicles also form when rain slightly below freezing accumulates. Over time, water runoff causes the icicles to grow. These icicles are on the overhang of my carport.
The ice looks like glass on top of this ‘Miss Kim’ lilac by my Winter House and apple espalier.
The ice has given this stone wall a very shiny new look.
This apple tree is also covered in ice just outside my Winter House. Look closely – there are two apples still hanging onto their branches.
This photo was taken with my new Google Pixel 4 – so beautiful. I love this view looking over the antique fencing and landscape to the ice-capped trees in the distance.
And here’s a closer look of those trees – covered in a coating of ice. This Pixel 4 takes excellent images.
This photo was taken from the carriage road near my stable looking up between the fenced paddocks with the roofs of my Winter House and carport in the distance.
On mornings after a storm, I always drive around to make sure everything is okay. I check all my animals, the buildings, the garden beds, and the trees. This is the original allee of linden trees down by the peafowl palais. Lindens have a very symmetrical conical shape, with strong central leaders. This allee looks so pretty in every season.
This is the netting over my chicken yard. It protects my flock from the hawks that fly overhead. When checking my chickens, I saw it completely weighed down with ice. It’s a very strong net, so it did not collapse.
I captured this photo from the carriage road that runs through the lower hayfield. The accumulations of ice after a storm are classified according to the impact made – nuisance, disruptive, and crippling. During a nuisance ice storm event, less than quarter-inch of ice accumulates.
Here is another look across the hayfield. Thankfully, the wind was not very strong.
And looking down, it’s hard to see the grass underneath.
This is a nice view up the length of the paddocks with the fence shadows on the ground.
This is my Copper Bird Feeder with Four Feeding Ports from my Collection at QVC. It hangs from my pergola and is filled every day for visiting birds.
I hang many bird feeders during this time of year. With 125 different bird varieties visiting my farm on a daily basis, it is important to keep the feeders full, especially during winter. Below is the hedge of boxwood that lines the beds. The entire hedge is now covered under a protective burlap blanket.
This is the back of my carport. Another series of bird feeders hangs here for all the avian visitors, and the squirrels that wait for falling seeds. Were you affected by this week’s storms? Share your comments below and go to my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48.com for more of my photos. We’re expected to hit 25-degrees Fahrenheit today here at my farm. Stay warm.
Here's the continuation of my family excursion to Costa Rica. This encore blog is from December 17, 2019 - enjoy.
There is so much to see in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica is a Central American country with coastlines on the Caribbean and the Pacific. It is bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, and Ecuador to the south. Costa Rica is known for its beaches, its volcanoes, and its biodiversity - roughly a quarter of its area is made up of protected jungle, rich with wildlife, plants, and trees.
Here are more photos from my trip, enjoy.
Costa Rica is not very large. The land area measures at about 20-thousand square miles – a little smaller than the US state of West Virginia. But the views over the water are vast and amazing. We took many photos of these spectacular views.
While driving in Costa Rica, one will see numerous fruit stands – many with pipa fría, or fresh chilled green coconut. Coconut water is full of electrolytes and packed with calcium, magnesium, and potassium – it is so good and so good for you.
Discarded coconut shells are made into beautiful bowls and other natural products and sold at these roadside stands.
We visited the Baru National Wildlife Refuge, which encompasses more than 800-acres of land along the Pacific, offering spectacular bird and wildlife viewing. There are many trails through primary and secondary forests, mangroves, grasslands, and even a beach. There are hundreds of types of birds and animals, including sloths, monkeys, peccaries, and toucans. Looking up, we saw this huge ant colony in the tree.
Up in another tree, we saw several capuchin monkeys. They were all swinging through the trees playing with each other. This duo stopped to look at all the activity below.
There are four monkey species that are native to the forests of Costa Rica. They include the Central American squirrel monkey, this Panamanian white-faced capuchin, the mantled howler monkey, and the spider monkey.
Capuchin monkeys, also called white-faced monkeys, occupy the wet lowland forests on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and Panama and in the deciduous dry forests on the Pacific coast. These animals are very curious.
The boardwalks have wire netting along the top to make them more non-slip when wet. This is a great idea.
Here’s Ari next to the buttress roots of this huge tree. In Costa Rica, these roots line the forest floor.
Here are the roots of another large tree. Like the name suggests, these roots buttress or keep the tree from falling down.
We also visited another mountain top animal facility, the Alturas Wildlife Sanctuary – dedicated to the protection and conservation of Costa Rica’s wildlife. the facility provides wildlife rehabilitation and environmental education and research.
Peccaries are adorable little wild pigs found in the deciduous dry forest, tropical rainforests, low-lying shrub forests, and agricultural areas in Costa Rica. They are quite resourceful and adaptable and live in herds of between three and 30 other peccaries, maintaining a hierarchical structure within their herd.
There are six sloth species in the world, and two of the six live in Costa Rica. Sloths sleep about 20 hours a day. Here is a pair napping in their enclosure – they didn’t mind our visit one bit.
Here’s another capuchin monkey at the sanctuary. The sanctuary has a more private area for wounded animals that need special care during rehabilitation.
This is a yellow-naped Parrot, Amazona a. auropalliata. It is almost entirely green, with a large patch of yellow on its nape.
This is the Chestnut-mandibled Toucan or Swainson’s Toucan, a brightly marked bird with a large bill. The male can reach up to two feet in length, while the smaller female reaches about 20-inches long at maturity. This toucan eats a variety of fruit, including different seeds, berries, drupes, and fruit fleshes. They also like insects or small snakes and hunt for birds’ eggs, nestlings, and lizards.
We also went on a Titi Canopy Tour – ziplining through the rainforests. Titi Canopy is the only zipline tour located close to Manuel Antonio. The company runs 12 lines, 22 platforms, one rappel, one Tarzan swing and a treetop suspension bridge. It was a great way to see nature.
We ate at my friend’s restaurant, Restaurante La Parcela, specializing in local cuisine, and seafood, as well as more beautiful views.
On another day, we looked at some of the fruits of Costa Rica. Breadfruit, native to Southeast Asia, arrived in Costa Rica with sailors in the early 1800s. In Costa Rica, breadfruit trees grow up to 50-feet tall and have smooth, brown trunks. This flowering tree, which is part of the mulberry family, can produce up to 200 fruits each year.
And do you know what this is? Theobroma cacao also called the cacao tree and the cocoa tree. It is a small evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae. After four years, the mature cacao tree produces fruit in the form of elongated pods; it may yield up to 70 such fruits annually.
If you saw my photos on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48, you may have seen these two black vultures, Coragyps atratus. We saw vultures everywhere – these large, mostly black birds with bald, wrinkled, charcoal-black heads and wingspans up to five feet. With keen eyesight, they can spot carcass from far distances, but these scavengers have a poor sense of smell.
And, on our way back to the airport, we went over the famous Tarcoles River. Driving over the Tarcoles Bridge, you might see dozens of crocodiles. We saw glimpses of some just under the water.
And look at the gorgeous view beyond. If you get the chance, visit Costa Rica – you’ll have a great time. We certainly did.
As we continue the holiday week, I hope you enjoy this encore blog from my Thanksgiving vacation in Costa Rica. It was originally posted on December 16, 2019.
I hope you are all enjoying this holiday season.
Some of you have asked for photos of my Thanksgiving. This year, my family and I went away. It felt odd at first - no turkey, no cranberry sauce, and no pie, but once we got to Costa Rica, near Dominical, a beach-front town in the province of Puntarenas, I started to relax and loved every minute of the five days we spent there. We enjoyed the beaches, the wildlife, and of course the many spectacular views from our villa.
Enjoy these photos.
Here I am at Los Elementos, an extraordinary villa built on a hillside overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
The house is superb – a large, secluded home built by two very talented garden designers. The pool area was one of our favorite spots.
Los Elementos has four levels and is reminiscent of an open-air house in Bali. In fact, the house was inspired by five Balinese elements – water, earth, fire, air and ether. All the couches were so beautiful and generously sized.
The entire space was so tranquil – look closely at the hammock at the back. There were many spaces in which to lounge.
There were also some resident pets – this cat was so friendly and loved entertaining my grandchildren.
Here is my gorgeous daughter Alexis. She did her yoga exercises every morning by the pool.
Los Elementos has a wonderful infinity-edge swimming pool. Jude and Truman, who love the water and are excellent swimmers, swam nonstop.
Los Elementos is just a short walk to some of the area’s most beautiful and secluded beaches. Here I am with our friend, Milena. She loves the beach.
The views from the beach were endless. Dominical Beach is well known around the world as one of the best places for surfing.
My grandchildren played and played and played – they adore the water.
We were there for the end of the “green season” or wet season, which runs from May to mid-November. The weather was excellent – mid to high 80s during the day with lows in the 70s – perfect beach weather.
The modern garden at Los Elementos was designed by Dennis Schrader, owner of Landcraft Environments, Ltd., a pre-eminent wholesaler of tropical, tender perennials, and exotic annuals, in Mattituck, New York. This garden showcases tropical plants, including water lilies, Calathea, palms, and Heliconia.
Bismarckia palms, my favorite fan palm, abound in Costa Rica.
The water lilies are so beautiful – they are in full bloom every morning.
Here’s a closer look at the water lilies, Nymphaea. These are hardy pond plants that live as rhizomatous aquatic herbs in temperate and tropical climates. The family contains five genera with about 70 known species.
I was so intrigued by this extraordinary vine. Its leaves cling to the tree trunk, all separated and exposed to the light.
Jude floated purple flowers in the pool. She also loves photography and took this picture herself.
And here is another photo by Jude.
The flowers are picked off this pergola – the gardens were so well-maintained – everything was groomed and swept every day.
Here is a beautiful sunset seen from the infinity-edge pool. The sunsets were so stunning.
Here is a photo I took one early morning of a gecko on the screen. It reminded me of an Aztec lizard print.
We also visited Playa Ventanas. The name comes from the caves that look like little windows – ventanas means windows in Spanish. The caves of Playa Ventanas are natural formations.
Our boat was able to go through some of the them – this can only be done at low tide.
Playa Ventanas is located south of Dominical and Uvita and north of Ojochal and San Buenas.
At both ends of the beach are huge boulders covered with lush vegetation that extends to the sea.
Here is another view of one of the “windows.”
Here is Milena standing at the entrance of one of the caves. During the low tide, one can walk through and see the waves breaking inside.
At night, we enjoyed dinner back at Los Elementos. Jude and our friend, Ari, who also accompanied us on the trip, made these arrangements for the table. In my next blog, I will share more photos of our holiday in Costa Rica.
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