Showing posts with label Snowstorms / Blizzards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Snowstorms / Blizzards. Show all posts
Famous Last Words?
I want to post today, but it will have to wait until later (ergo my "famous last words"). There's a late-winter storm imminent that's supposed to dump 2-7" of wet snow on us. So (!), I need to get outside to get some things done this AM before that (if it) happens!
Howdy
Well, it's no big surprise that I didn't have a chance to check in after Sunday's snowstorm. I'm still not completely dug out - not all the paths shoveled nor the solar panels completely uncovered (which doesn't really matter since we haven't had any sun, either!).
After plowing twice on Sunday, I again headed in to work with the plow truck on Monday morning. I left 45 minutes early to accommodate the additional time it would require to plow the 4.5 mile winter driveway for the 3rd time in 24 hours. Still, I was 45 minutes late to work! Why? Ummmm, check this out:
So, I had to plow an ADDITIONAL 12 miles down to the highway!!! And, truly, the depth of the snow (over 12") really wasn't the problem as far as plowing went . . . but it kept building up over the radiator of the truck! That effectively knocked out the defrost inside the truck (couldn't see out the windshield!) AND threatened to overheat the engine. So, I had to stop 3 times during that long, slow drive to try to chip away the snow now-melting-into-ice on the front of the grill & radiator! Never a dull moment, eh?!
Here are three pictures out the kitchen window, showing the accumulation of Sunday's snow throughout the day:
When I came in from the evening's plowing, I figured it was time for an Irish whiskey slushy made with that fresh snow. I opened the front door to step out to the open entrance porch to scoop some of the white stuff, and . . .
After plowing twice on Sunday, I again headed in to work with the plow truck on Monday morning. I left 45 minutes early to accommodate the additional time it would require to plow the 4.5 mile winter driveway for the 3rd time in 24 hours. Still, I was 45 minutes late to work! Why? Ummmm, check this out:
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| The main road was still unplowed!!! |
Here are three pictures out the kitchen window, showing the accumulation of Sunday's snow throughout the day:
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| 1:35 PM |
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| 3:57 PM |
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| 8:45 PM |
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| The storm had blown in the screen door, and the snow was packed against the solid inner door! Here, Dosie (Dead Cat) checks it out. Obviously, I didn't have to go far to fill my glass with fresh snow!! |
Meanwhile, Jinx, the baby, was having fun attacking my felted wool handwork bag.
And, with that, I've gotta get back to my day. Happy Thursday!
Winter's Here!
Well! It's finally winter! I'm in the middle of a heckuva good, ol'-fashioned snowstorm! A storm's been predicted all week, but, what with the limited success of weather forecasts (!), I don't think any of us expected it would actually arrive. But, it's here in full force!
I'll definitely have to go out this evening to plow again. Then, I'll drive the truck tomorrow to work and plow on my way out in the morning. Papa Pea will be able to use the truck during the day to get their driveway and yard cleaned up. (Hey, parents, want to give me a vehicle to use in the AM to get to work?)
I'll try to report back in later on. It's convenient that the storm came on my day off . . . but also frustrating that I have to spend so much of my day dealing with it rather than the million other things that need to be done! Ah, well - still good that it arrived today. Besides, it sure is pretty, and I love snow . . . and we REALLY need the moisture it will provide come spring!
I'll definitely have to go out this evening to plow again. Then, I'll drive the truck tomorrow to work and plow on my way out in the morning. Papa Pea will be able to use the truck during the day to get their driveway and yard cleaned up. (Hey, parents, want to give me a vehicle to use in the AM to get to work?)
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| 10:59 AM - Tucker ventures out on our way to plow. |
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| 12:41 PM - It took a while longer than usual to plow what with the driving wind. I had to stop to scrape off the windshield, hood, and radiator innumerable times. The wipers were not enough to conquer it! |
Monday's Late Season Snowstorm
This post is now in its third incarnation. I started it on Monday (I think?), wrote the bulk of it this morning and am just now finishing it 12 hours later, tonight. Yeesh.
I'll also both preface and add to it by saying that I couldn't BELIEVE the amount of melting that went on today! Wowzer: inches and inches! This being the winter of heaviest (most) snow since living here at Swamp River Ridge, I haven't had to go mud-boggin' just to get out to the main road . . . until this morning. Yep, there is one spot that is so soft that I was actually spinnin' my wheels, trying to get up the hill. A lot of sinkholes are forming in places I've never before seen them, too. I'm keeping my eyes on 'em and starting to plan for the day I find one too huge to drive around . . . or a culvert washed out.
* * *
Oh, but plans are meant to be foiled, aren't they? No, no, it wasn't anything big, but I was planning on jumping up this morning with the first chirp of the alarms to go out and get at least an hour of woodwork in before heading into town for the office. Instead, I woke up half an hour ago . . . and I should leave in half an hour. (Not gonna make it, am I?) And, I feel a bit like I've been run over by a truck.
I blame it on the dogs. For the past FEW nights, they've been asking to go out around 1:00 / 1:30 AM. Then, Maisy (or Tucker) barks incessantly. Maybe it's the raccoon? Maybe one of last fall's leaves fell from a tree. The times I've gone out to listen, I can't hear a thing. So, by the time they're barking to be let in, I am in a bark-induced coma of sleep. Generally, that means that I don't get up to let them in until morning . . . but I know I must be sleeping with one ear open because I'm waking up just BEAT! (Yeah, yeah, I know there's all that emotional stuff kicking around in my brain, too.)
An-y way . . . .
Here are the pictures I took of Sunday night's into Monday morning's late season snowstorm.
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| The view out the front door. Can't even see the bright red of the little car in front of the garage, can you? |
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| The view out the side door. Granted, it *WAS* beautiful, but that snow weighed as much as wet cement! |
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| The white stuff was so wet that it didn't take long to slide off the roof. |
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| The open yard in front of the garage is . . . where?! |
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| My woodpile was FREE of snow before this. (Sob!) |
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| This picture & the one below: the view down into the valley from behind the garage. |
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| WHAT valley?! |
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| 8" (nearly) of heavy, wet cement. |
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| Poor Tucker: the snow was halfway up his ribcage. He always reminds me of The Little Engine That Could when he has to plow through deep (to him) snow: "I think I can, I think I can!" |
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| Because there had been so much melting BEFORE this snowfall, the banks at the sides of the winter driveway were lower than usual. Sooooooo, as I was plowing Monday morning, there were places where I couldn't tell WHERE the road WAS! (Like here.) |
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| I haven't (ahem, hadn't) gotten stuck once while plowing all winter (a first). (And, no, getting "stuck" on the driveway does NOT count!) However, due to my previous picture illustrating how I couldn't see where the damn road WAS . . . I drove off it! Of course, I was all dressed for work with my hair and makeup done (for once) when it happened. Sigh. FORTUNATELY, I still had the bucket of ashes in the back of the truck, so . . . much shoveling + liberal application of ashes . . . and I was out and back on my way. |
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| Those of you who watched the video already know this, but the main road, once I got out to it, was in just as bad shape as the winter driveway was. And, actually, there was MORE snow here: 10-12". |
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| But, my GAWD, what a difference the Big Lake makes! This is what I found when I got down to the highway! Who woulda believed it!? I think the conditions we experience here "down by the lake" and "up over the hill" are comparable to towns at the base of mountains. The weather can be innocuous down in the valley, but climb up to one of the passes, and it's another story, entirely! |
On a Lighter Note!
THANK YOU, friends, for all your kind words and wonderful advice following yesterday's post. And, thank you to those of you who wrote personal e-mails to me, too. What a wonderful eCommunity you are! And, I will respond to all your comments . . . as soon as I have the energy to revisit that stuff. For now, I don't want to "ruin" my lovely morning with more time spent there. I know you understand, and for that, TOO, I appreciate YOU!
On a much, much lighter note, Swamp River Ridge was DUMPED on Sunday night with a late season snow. I got 8" here but there's a different micro-climate just 2 miles down the winter driveway, and there was definitely 10-12" there. I should probably post the pictures I took, first, but here's the video once I was out on the main road . . . which was in no better shape than my road. Our wonderful county plower must be on vacation, and so the road wasn't plowed yet. I finally met the substitute plow guy near the bottom of the gravel, and, while I was glad to see him, let me tell you: he doesn't hold a CANDLE to the usual pro! ;)
Anyway, here ya go. Enjoy!
On a much, much lighter note, Swamp River Ridge was DUMPED on Sunday night with a late season snow. I got 8" here but there's a different micro-climate just 2 miles down the winter driveway, and there was definitely 10-12" there. I should probably post the pictures I took, first, but here's the video once I was out on the main road . . . which was in no better shape than my road. Our wonderful county plower must be on vacation, and so the road wasn't plowed yet. I finally met the substitute plow guy near the bottom of the gravel, and, while I was glad to see him, let me tell you: he doesn't hold a CANDLE to the usual pro! ;)
Anyway, here ya go. Enjoy!
December 1st?! Aaaaghhh!
I will not stress about how close it is to Christmas. I will not stress about how close it is to Christmas. I will not . . . . Oh, who am I kidding?
Looking at yesterday's post title, I realized that me using 'ugh' again made it seem like a complaining / depressing post. Hmmm, must watch that.
So, it wasn't even 9:30 this morning, and I'd learned something new! I stayed at the office until 10:00 last night, determined to get my last order placed in the hopes of having some new canvases at the gallery in time for the sale on Saturday . . . only to become über frustrated due to the fact that the company wouldn't accept my credit card. Declined. I tried 4, 5 times. It isn't the balance. No, for once, I'm fine in that regard. What the HECK, then? After trying to place the order again from home here this morning, I had the same results. Dammit! So, I called the bank. Turns out, there are limits (which can be changed by the account holder) of how much any single debit / credit card (or ATM / cash) withdrawal can be! Did YOU know that? I certainly didn't. Turns out, mine was just set at an automatic amount . . . too low for this big printing company purchase. Hmph! Like I said, learn somethin' new each day! But, yayyyyyy: just got a message from the company reading Print Order Complete!!!
Just got a detailed e-mail off to My Girl. I need a Girl Friday in preparation for Saturday's to-do, and I'm beginning to delegate. She won't be able to attend the event on the weekend, so I'm taking advantage of her now . . . besides, she needs money, and I'm willing to pay for her time! ;)
I was gone for a while there, but you didn't even miss me, did you? I'm multi-tasking this morning while I'm still at home, and I just got four oil filters and four air filters ordered for the generator. Here's why.
Remember last Wednesday's / Thanksgiving Eve's snowstorm when I still didn't get to bed until 3:30 AM even tho I arrived home at 11:00? Well, about a week previous to that, the automatic start on the generator didn't automatically start, and I was given an error message that the oil pressure was low. Knowing I had to change the oil & filter, I topped the reservoir off so I could postpone the job just a couple more days. Fast-forward to the night of the storm, and, once I was home and back outside doing chores, I checked the oil in the generator just to make sure that all was well. (It was.) While there, though, I popped the top off one of the 3 cells in one of the 24 deep-cycle batteries to make sure the water level wasn't low (also a needs-to-get-done job I'd been putting off until "I had time" - HA!). It was low. Hmph. I popped another. Low, too. Damn. If two were low, it meant they were probably ALL low. All 72 cells.
I trooped back into the house and changed into work clothes. Then, still awfully tense from that horrible drive home (remember, I b-a-r-e-l-y made it in with the Yaris), I pocketed the large bottle of pear cider I'd (wisely!) purchased that afternoon and headed back out to the garage. The cider didn't taste as cold as it should have in that snowstorm, so I got a brilliant plan: oooooh, pear cider slushy! I grabbed a flashlight and ran upstairs of the garage to the pub-to-be and started looking through boxes. Soon, I had a gold-rimmed china cup in hand. I stepped out the garage door and scooped it full of fresh snow. Then, I topped it off with cider. Aaaahhhhhhhh, lip-smackin' good!!! Plugging in the portable DVD/CD player I'd also grabbed from the house, I put in my latest audio book and set to work.
It was 2:30 by the time I'd checked each of those 72 reservoirs and topped them off. Mind you, it's a job that requires you to contort your body to reach all the cells . . . while wearing a full face shield to protect from acid splashes (the battery "water" is actually part acid) and the always-feared-but-never-yet-experienced-thank-gawd possibility of exploding batteries. And, you're up and down (leaning in that horribly painful awkward position) a million times to refill the ketchup squeeze bottle (that I use to gently squirt the water into the cells) from the gallons of distilled water. Because the battery room needs to stay warm (77° is ideal, but it's far from that in the winter), you're sweating, and the way the face shield attaches makes your head hurt.
Once I got inside that night, I STILL needed to "decompress", so I popped in a taped TV show . . . hence the didn't-get-into-bed-until-3:30 . . . where I still tossed and turned and couldn't turn my brain off, DESPITE the pear cider and mindless TV. But, such is Life on the Homestead. ;)
Jumping ahead to yesterday morning and me doing chores before I left for the day, I noticed that I was getting the same 'low oil pressure' warning, and the generator had not turned on to charge the batteries. Knowing I didn't have time to tackle the project then, I turned off everything I could in the house (for the least amount of battery draw), and left the system as is (not charging except for what small solar gain would come through the solar panels on a cloudy day), promising myself I would do the oil change when I got home. I peeked up on the shelf, and there were two filters awaiting use, and I had plenty of oil, so I knew I was prepared.
Working late last night trying to get that order placed, I didn't get home until about 11:40 PM. But, I changed clothes like a good girl and headed out to tackle the project. I did all the prep work and then opened the oil valve to allow the reservoir to drain. While the generator was draining, I used the stepladder to get up to the shelf to pull down one of the two oil filters. Problem was . . . they WEREN'T OIL FILTERS!!!! Dammit! Same color BOX, but NOT the same thing!
So, Plan B: now that the old oil was drained, I closed up the valve and refilled it with new oil. Today I would order PLENTY of filters and make my second attempt at the job as soon as they arrived. Meanwhile, although it's still running with the old oil filter, the generator IS running, and the new filters are on their way.
I didn't get any new pictures taken yesterday - probably because every snippet of attention was being given to driving the 4 1/2 mile winter driveway out to the main road. Given the inch-plus of rain that had fallen on the couple of feet of snow overnight, the road was a DISASTER! I'll bet my odometer topped out at 11 mph, and I was still getting sucked, sideways, into the ditches . . . even in the 1-ton. There was NO possibility of plowing that much frozen slush on my way out. I wouldn't have gone ANYWHERE. Fortunately, the forecast was right for a change, and the temperature was down to 20° by the time I headed home last night. Even though there were deep, frozen ruts left by the truck from the morning, I was able to drop the blade and plow some of that frozen gunk off the road on the way in. I'm tempted to try driving the Yaris today, but I'll feel more comfortable if I give the road one more sweep with the plow, first. So, it's another trip to town for ye ol' truck. Fortunately, I LOVE my truck! :)
Okay, on with it . . . although I feel good that I've already accomplished quite a lot today, even if I'm still in my bathrobe!
P.S. I almost forgot: I did the stupidest thing last night. A girlfriend and I who haven't visited in an AGE made a 6:00 date for dinner last night. For once, I was on time. I waited at the bar and ordered a Guinness. But, she wasn't showing up! She's always super pronto, so, at 6:15 I called her and left a voicemail. At 6:30, I decided to order dinner. She called a little before 7:00. The date was for THURSDAY night! Tuesday, Thursday, huh? DOH! I've NEVER done anything like that in my LIFE! Just proves that my brain is filled to capacity! (Which is why I wrote it on my calendar those many days ago so I'd no longer have to "keep it inside" this kettle drum of a head!) Looking back at e-mails discussing the date, though . . . yep, Thursday. Oi vey.
Looking at yesterday's post title, I realized that me using 'ugh' again made it seem like a complaining / depressing post. Hmmm, must watch that.
So, it wasn't even 9:30 this morning, and I'd learned something new! I stayed at the office until 10:00 last night, determined to get my last order placed in the hopes of having some new canvases at the gallery in time for the sale on Saturday . . . only to become über frustrated due to the fact that the company wouldn't accept my credit card. Declined. I tried 4, 5 times. It isn't the balance. No, for once, I'm fine in that regard. What the HECK, then? After trying to place the order again from home here this morning, I had the same results. Dammit! So, I called the bank. Turns out, there are limits (which can be changed by the account holder) of how much any single debit / credit card (or ATM / cash) withdrawal can be! Did YOU know that? I certainly didn't. Turns out, mine was just set at an automatic amount . . . too low for this big printing company purchase. Hmph! Like I said, learn somethin' new each day! But, yayyyyyy: just got a message from the company reading Print Order Complete!!!
Just got a detailed e-mail off to My Girl. I need a Girl Friday in preparation for Saturday's to-do, and I'm beginning to delegate. She won't be able to attend the event on the weekend, so I'm taking advantage of her now . . . besides, she needs money, and I'm willing to pay for her time! ;)
I was gone for a while there, but you didn't even miss me, did you? I'm multi-tasking this morning while I'm still at home, and I just got four oil filters and four air filters ordered for the generator. Here's why.
Remember last Wednesday's / Thanksgiving Eve's snowstorm when I still didn't get to bed until 3:30 AM even tho I arrived home at 11:00? Well, about a week previous to that, the automatic start on the generator didn't automatically start, and I was given an error message that the oil pressure was low. Knowing I had to change the oil & filter, I topped the reservoir off so I could postpone the job just a couple more days. Fast-forward to the night of the storm, and, once I was home and back outside doing chores, I checked the oil in the generator just to make sure that all was well. (It was.) While there, though, I popped the top off one of the 3 cells in one of the 24 deep-cycle batteries to make sure the water level wasn't low (also a needs-to-get-done job I'd been putting off until "I had time" - HA!). It was low. Hmph. I popped another. Low, too. Damn. If two were low, it meant they were probably ALL low. All 72 cells.
I trooped back into the house and changed into work clothes. Then, still awfully tense from that horrible drive home (remember, I b-a-r-e-l-y made it in with the Yaris), I pocketed the large bottle of pear cider I'd (wisely!) purchased that afternoon and headed back out to the garage. The cider didn't taste as cold as it should have in that snowstorm, so I got a brilliant plan: oooooh, pear cider slushy! I grabbed a flashlight and ran upstairs of the garage to the pub-to-be and started looking through boxes. Soon, I had a gold-rimmed china cup in hand. I stepped out the garage door and scooped it full of fresh snow. Then, I topped it off with cider. Aaaahhhhhhhh, lip-smackin' good!!! Plugging in the portable DVD/CD player I'd also grabbed from the house, I put in my latest audio book and set to work.
It was 2:30 by the time I'd checked each of those 72 reservoirs and topped them off. Mind you, it's a job that requires you to contort your body to reach all the cells . . . while wearing a full face shield to protect from acid splashes (the battery "water" is actually part acid) and the always-feared-but-never-yet-experienced-thank-gawd possibility of exploding batteries. And, you're up and down (leaning in that horribly painful awkward position) a million times to refill the ketchup squeeze bottle (that I use to gently squirt the water into the cells) from the gallons of distilled water. Because the battery room needs to stay warm (77° is ideal, but it's far from that in the winter), you're sweating, and the way the face shield attaches makes your head hurt.
Once I got inside that night, I STILL needed to "decompress", so I popped in a taped TV show . . . hence the didn't-get-into-bed-until-3:30 . . . where I still tossed and turned and couldn't turn my brain off, DESPITE the pear cider and mindless TV. But, such is Life on the Homestead. ;)
Jumping ahead to yesterday morning and me doing chores before I left for the day, I noticed that I was getting the same 'low oil pressure' warning, and the generator had not turned on to charge the batteries. Knowing I didn't have time to tackle the project then, I turned off everything I could in the house (for the least amount of battery draw), and left the system as is (not charging except for what small solar gain would come through the solar panels on a cloudy day), promising myself I would do the oil change when I got home. I peeked up on the shelf, and there were two filters awaiting use, and I had plenty of oil, so I knew I was prepared.
Working late last night trying to get that order placed, I didn't get home until about 11:40 PM. But, I changed clothes like a good girl and headed out to tackle the project. I did all the prep work and then opened the oil valve to allow the reservoir to drain. While the generator was draining, I used the stepladder to get up to the shelf to pull down one of the two oil filters. Problem was . . . they WEREN'T OIL FILTERS!!!! Dammit! Same color BOX, but NOT the same thing!
So, Plan B: now that the old oil was drained, I closed up the valve and refilled it with new oil. Today I would order PLENTY of filters and make my second attempt at the job as soon as they arrived. Meanwhile, although it's still running with the old oil filter, the generator IS running, and the new filters are on their way.
I didn't get any new pictures taken yesterday - probably because every snippet of attention was being given to driving the 4 1/2 mile winter driveway out to the main road. Given the inch-plus of rain that had fallen on the couple of feet of snow overnight, the road was a DISASTER! I'll bet my odometer topped out at 11 mph, and I was still getting sucked, sideways, into the ditches . . . even in the 1-ton. There was NO possibility of plowing that much frozen slush on my way out. I wouldn't have gone ANYWHERE. Fortunately, the forecast was right for a change, and the temperature was down to 20° by the time I headed home last night. Even though there were deep, frozen ruts left by the truck from the morning, I was able to drop the blade and plow some of that frozen gunk off the road on the way in. I'm tempted to try driving the Yaris today, but I'll feel more comfortable if I give the road one more sweep with the plow, first. So, it's another trip to town for ye ol' truck. Fortunately, I LOVE my truck! :)
Okay, on with it . . . although I feel good that I've already accomplished quite a lot today, even if I'm still in my bathrobe!
P.S. I almost forgot: I did the stupidest thing last night. A girlfriend and I who haven't visited in an AGE made a 6:00 date for dinner last night. For once, I was on time. I waited at the bar and ordered a Guinness. But, she wasn't showing up! She's always super pronto, so, at 6:15 I called her and left a voicemail. At 6:30, I decided to order dinner. She called a little before 7:00. The date was for THURSDAY night! Tuesday, Thursday, huh? DOH! I've NEVER done anything like that in my LIFE! Just proves that my brain is filled to capacity! (Which is why I wrote it on my calendar those many days ago so I'd no longer have to "keep it inside" this kettle drum of a head!) Looking back at e-mails discussing the date, though . . . yep, Thursday. Oi vey.
Another Day of UGH.
Today, it's the weather. Since last night and with the temperature hovering at 32.5 degrees, Swamp River Ridge has gotten over an INCH of rain. An inch of rain on top of all that snow. Ugh. I'm fairly confident that the road is going to be an absolute slurry of wet, slippery . . . glop. I was hoping to start driving the car again to save on gas*, but there ain't no way I dare in this stuff. Besides, the temperature is supposed to drop, drop, drop today . . . which will, ultimately, be good. But, during that in-between phase, when I might be out driving in it, I'll need the safety of the 1-ton. Even if it means hauling the 9' plow around.
* Plowing, especially when there's tons of snow to move, takes a L-O-T of gas. If you're pushing a big amount up a hill, you might have your foot depressed on the gas pedal nearing all the way to the floor. I filled up on Thanksgiving night and then I filled up again on Saturday night. That's a tank in 48 hours. A 25-gallon tank. Ouch. But, that's one of the prices I pay, quite literally, for living where I do. And, that's okay.
For those of you who read Mama Pea's blog, you know that I inherited 6 of their chickens destined for the butcher block Saturday night. (Here's a link directly to that post.) Two Cuckoo Maran hens and three hens and one GORGEOUS rooster made up of a mix of Red Dorking and Wellsummer. I saw Jane, from Hard Work Homestead, comment on Mom's blog that, given the shift in winter environments - from very little snow to buckets of it - that the rooster, previously unnamed, should be dubbed 'Shackleton'. I love it! Shackleton, he is! :)
Imagine the ride home that night, tho: the day's accumulation of parcels plus two humans, one with an overnight bag, (remember, I was bringing My Girl home with me) plus two large dogs (Tucker's a full-size dog, no matter his 4" legs!) plus a large crate containing six chickens! I had the poultry inside: I didn't want them to freeze their little beaks off in the open back of the pickup. Both of the dogs are so used to having feathered friends around that I wasn't too worried about combining all of them in the crew cab of the truck . . . until I saw just HOW interested Tucker was in the bunch! Fortunately, once I borrowed a second tarp from Papa Pea to cover the dogs' side of the carrying crate and a couple of bungee cords to firm it in place, Tucker was just fine.
I'd hoped to get the chicken house cleaned before the new arrivals set foot in it, but my recent lack of time coupled with Dad's need to cull meant that the new birds were unceremoniously plopped into a disaster of a coop. So, no pictures yet of their digs: it's a disaster! But, they seem to be acclimating well . . . scratching through the fresh shavings that I put down on a clean area of the chicken house to get to the cracked corn I treated them with. No eggs yet, but that's no surprise. Besides the fact that they are fairly OLD by chicken standards, they need time to adapt.
Taking DAYS longer than I'd expected, I finally got the 2011 Chicken Mama Designs calendar finished last night and sent off to the printer. Whew! My hope had been to have it, in hand, for my sale this coming Saturday, but there was just no way. Once I have a moment, though, I am going to post images of it and take pre-orders. It's my first full-size one, and I'm really happy with it! I used only images from this part of the state and then listed all the events that take place throughout the year along the North Shore of Lake Superior. (Well, as many events as I could find and had time for.) I am a bit nervous to see the finished product, tho: during editing, there were entries that kept flip-flopping themselves on the day they were entered. And, for the way I need those events to be read, I NEED it to be printed correctly. But, the printer offers a 100%, no questions asked guarantee, so I took a big breath and ordered the full amount I thought I'd need for this first printing. Cross your fingers for me, 'kay?!
I am still woefully unprepared for Saturday's sale, and, as a result, have not done much local advertising. I should know by the end of tomorrow how it's going to come together, though, and so, if I'm confident enough with things, I'll really work on getting the word out then. And, with that, I need to get runnin'. Must make hay while the sun shines and all that rot. But, before it's gone (okay, okay, no real chance of that!), I'll post pictures from last week's snowstorm.
Okay, I've gotta scoot. I'll take some pics this morning to show you the difference now, after the rain!
* Plowing, especially when there's tons of snow to move, takes a L-O-T of gas. If you're pushing a big amount up a hill, you might have your foot depressed on the gas pedal nearing all the way to the floor. I filled up on Thanksgiving night and then I filled up again on Saturday night. That's a tank in 48 hours. A 25-gallon tank. Ouch. But, that's one of the prices I pay, quite literally, for living where I do. And, that's okay.
For those of you who read Mama Pea's blog, you know that I inherited 6 of their chickens destined for the butcher block Saturday night. (Here's a link directly to that post.) Two Cuckoo Maran hens and three hens and one GORGEOUS rooster made up of a mix of Red Dorking and Wellsummer. I saw Jane, from Hard Work Homestead, comment on Mom's blog that, given the shift in winter environments - from very little snow to buckets of it - that the rooster, previously unnamed, should be dubbed 'Shackleton'. I love it! Shackleton, he is! :)
Imagine the ride home that night, tho: the day's accumulation of parcels plus two humans, one with an overnight bag, (remember, I was bringing My Girl home with me) plus two large dogs (Tucker's a full-size dog, no matter his 4" legs!) plus a large crate containing six chickens! I had the poultry inside: I didn't want them to freeze their little beaks off in the open back of the pickup. Both of the dogs are so used to having feathered friends around that I wasn't too worried about combining all of them in the crew cab of the truck . . . until I saw just HOW interested Tucker was in the bunch! Fortunately, once I borrowed a second tarp from Papa Pea to cover the dogs' side of the carrying crate and a couple of bungee cords to firm it in place, Tucker was just fine.
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| I stole this image from Mom's blog. You can't tell that there are 6 full-size chickens in that crate, but there are! (And, hey, I do a "forced smile" pretty well!) |
Taking DAYS longer than I'd expected, I finally got the 2011 Chicken Mama Designs calendar finished last night and sent off to the printer. Whew! My hope had been to have it, in hand, for my sale this coming Saturday, but there was just no way. Once I have a moment, though, I am going to post images of it and take pre-orders. It's my first full-size one, and I'm really happy with it! I used only images from this part of the state and then listed all the events that take place throughout the year along the North Shore of Lake Superior. (Well, as many events as I could find and had time for.) I am a bit nervous to see the finished product, tho: during editing, there were entries that kept flip-flopping themselves on the day they were entered. And, for the way I need those events to be read, I NEED it to be printed correctly. But, the printer offers a 100%, no questions asked guarantee, so I took a big breath and ordered the full amount I thought I'd need for this first printing. Cross your fingers for me, 'kay?!
I am still woefully unprepared for Saturday's sale, and, as a result, have not done much local advertising. I should know by the end of tomorrow how it's going to come together, though, and so, if I'm confident enough with things, I'll really work on getting the word out then. And, with that, I need to get runnin'. Must make hay while the sun shines and all that rot. But, before it's gone (okay, okay, no real chance of that!), I'll post pictures from last week's snowstorm.
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| Both of these images were taken on the main road (once I turn off the highway). |
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| Here, you can better see the rapidly-filling set of tracks I was able to follow . . . but only until they turned off, halfway up the road. |
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| Thanksgiving Morning: You can't see it very well here, but all four of the tires' rims were PACKED with snow! |
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| Sure is (was!) purdy! |
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| Plowing. This is at the 'Y' in the driveway. Left goes to the house, right goes to the trapper cabin. Like my sign? It reads 'NO Trespassing. Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.' ;) |
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| I had to rake through the snow in the poultry yard to find one of the three outdoor waterers! |
Happy Thanksgiving!!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING, friends! Even if we’ve never met, I do consider YOU, dear reader, a friend. :)
So, Holy Mother of . . . Snowstorms . . . did I get dumped on last night! And how! The prediction was for an inch of snow an hour, and that wasn’t far off the mark. In (usually fairly snowless, at least in years past) November, Swamp River Ridge has already gotten more than it’s gotten some winters, in TOTAL!! (Go figure that it would be my first year on my own – ha!)
Last night was The Peanut’s 3rd birthday party (next year, her birthday will fall ON Thanksgiving, I’ve realized!), and the snow hadn’t started when I arrived to house about 6:30. It was about 60 minutes later when her daddy looked out the window and exclaimed, “Holy Cow! It’s comin’ DOWN!” Most weather forecasts of snowstorms being extremely overrated, I think we all thought he was joking . . . kinda. So, I didn’t go to the window. But, as more and more of the crew did . . . and reiterated what he’d said . . . I looked. Oh . . . my. I went downstairs to look outside and take an evaluation. “Uhhh, I think I’ll give myself half an hour,” I said, returning upstairs. My drive home to the very east end of the county would take an hour and 15 minutes . . . in normal weather.
After just 15 more minutes of keeping one eye out the window, I said, “Ugh. I’m gonna have to get going.” I soooooooo didn’t want to, and I was immediately invited to stay the night (waking up with my most favorite 3-year old in the world snuggling up next to me on Thanksgiving morning would be the whipped cream on the pumpkin pie!). But, I was driving the Yaris, and the plow truck was here at home. So, in order to get back OUT, I had to get home! Amidst “we love you!”s and “call when you get home!”, I bundled up and stepped out into it. In that SHORT period of time (75 minutes?), there was already 3” of snow on the ground, and it was coming down FAST.
When I stopped in town to get gas, I spoke to a father and son who had just come up the shore from the nearest big city: normally a 2-hour drive. It had taken them FIVE. Fortunately, they were trying to get to family up on the Rez for Turkey Day, so they only had 20 more miles to get through. And, having already made it that far from MICHIGAN (!), they were determined. With well wishes and cautions to drive safely, I headed back onto the road, stopping for a quick second at my folks. After a “what time will you call us by and then what time should Dad head out if we don’t hear from you” discussion, I left them, too . . . the car packed with $103 worth of groceries, a bottle of whiskey from the liquor store, four new audio books that had arrived in the mail, a full tank of gas, and two fuzzy dogs. (And my extra winter gear and a shovel.) I was prepared for anything! ;)
Meanwhile, once I’d seen the road conditions, I’d been trying to get ahold of My Girl, my adopted daughter. She was modeling at the art colony for their Life Drawing class, and then a friend was going to drive her 20 miles east to her sister’s for Thanksgiving (her car’s been in the garage). I was really worried about that drive AND her starting it SOONER rather than later. I was a few miles on my way out of town by the time we connected, and I pulled my “this is your mother putting her foot down!” card to say that she needed to cut the art class short (n-o-w!) and there was NO way her friend was going to get to her in order to drive her to her family. After some back and forth on the phone and calls to this person and that person, I was turned around and heading back into town to pick her up . . . her sister’s house being in MY direction.
The drive to her sister’s was not fun. It paralleled the big lake for the majority of the way, and the wind was HOWLING against us from it, throwing lots and lots of snow into my field of vision. I’ll bet my mileage topped out at 30 mph, and, even at that, there were a couple of times when I was slipping . . . heading in a 45 degree angle into the oncoming lane. Fortunately, there was hardly ANY traffic.
From My Girl’s sister’s, I called my folks to report that I was heading out on the 30 minute drive to Swamp River Ridge. In an hour, at 11:00, they would start to worry and Dad would start to suit up.
I thought the main road was bad . . . until I turned onto my 4 ½ mile winter driveway and realized that the snow on the main road (with old tracks to follow only ½ the way) had been PEANUTS. Peanuts, I say! As soon as I was a couple hundred yards into this last section, I knew I was in trouble. As in, don’t stop, or you’re not gonna get started again. And, I knew I couldn’t walk in the remaining 4+ miles to home and the phone before Dad would head out . . . and I certainly didn’t want him to have to do that with me being SO close to Swamp River Ridge! Some people would say that it was the strength of prayer that got me home, but I’m an atheist (actually, probably more an agnostic, as I age, and realized that I DON’T “know”). Anyway, I think it was thanks to sheer will, determination, and grit.
I made it home at 10:57 . . . three minutes to spare. I was plowing – with the low-slung Yaris - the whole way. Three times, I had to stop and make umpteen “runs” at either particularly deep snow or hills. When I called Mama Pea, Mom said, “Oh, good, your father can have a beer and relax now!” :)
Now that I have all of that out of my system (sharing it here with you), I am ready to brush my teeth and HIT IT! I won’t get in to my folks’ to celebrate this special day until much later than hoped, but the snow has stopped while I’ve been writing, and I see BLUE SKY in the southwest: whoo-hoo!
I tried to take some pictures last night, but, since then, my camera has disappeared. It must be in the car somewhere. I’ll send this post to you just as soon as I get in from my “snow evaluation” out there . . . including cleaning off the Internet satellite so I have some reception. Then, maybe later today, I’ll get some pictures up . . . and tell you about the rest of my night and explain why I didn’t get to bed until 3:30 this morning. ;)
I hope you and yours have an absolutely Currier & Ives holiday today!
Wake Up Call
Good morning! I have three unfinished posts sitting in Draft, this being the oldest - written a week ago Monday on January 25th. So, it seemed like a good place to start catching up.
We got another dumping of heavy, wet snow that weekend, and this is what I wrote last Monday morning:
Not meaning to be boastful, but I wanted to share the view out the bedroom window this morning.
I put the camera right ON my pillow. Not a bad wake-up call, is it? So, complete with dead flies on the sill, here is the view to the left (south):
Next, looking straight out (westerly):
And, finally, to the right in a west-northwesterly direction:
See why Swamp River Ridge is such a magical place to be?
Christmas Blizzard 2009
"Remember the Christmas blizzard of '09?"
That's how this Christmas will go down in the history books for MUCH of the United States.
Here, in the northeastern tippy-top of Minnesota, up over the hill & away from the tempering big lake, we got about 24" in about 48 hours. The measuring stick Tom stuck into the snow reads just 21", but so much of the falling snow compacted because the temperatures were so high - hovering right around 30°. Matter of fact, down near Lake Superior, mostly RAIN fell! Yuck! But, here at Swamp River Ridge, we are cocooned in a winter wonderland. Happily, the temperature has dropped (it's 5° as I write), and so the snow had dried out some . . . a HUGE relief compared to the cement-like stuff we were trying to move during the storm.
If we hadn't gotten out to plow our 4-mile long winter driveway during the storm, we would be stuck like we were last April. I plowed on Christmas Eve, and then Tom plowed twice on Christmas Day and then a final time Saturday morning.
I have more storm pictures as well as Christmas pictures to share with you, but some desk work and then more post-Christmas clean-up is going to get my attention right now.
But, until then, take a peek at this pictorial essay of the storm's progression.
(Hint: watch the snow levels on the bushes planted in the front yard.)
The storm began on Thursday morning, Christmas Eve.
This photo (above) was taken out our front door at 11:00 AM that day.
That's how this Christmas will go down in the history books for MUCH of the United States.
Here, in the northeastern tippy-top of Minnesota, up over the hill & away from the tempering big lake, we got about 24" in about 48 hours. The measuring stick Tom stuck into the snow reads just 21", but so much of the falling snow compacted because the temperatures were so high - hovering right around 30°. Matter of fact, down near Lake Superior, mostly RAIN fell! Yuck! But, here at Swamp River Ridge, we are cocooned in a winter wonderland. Happily, the temperature has dropped (it's 5° as I write), and so the snow had dried out some . . . a HUGE relief compared to the cement-like stuff we were trying to move during the storm.
If we hadn't gotten out to plow our 4-mile long winter driveway during the storm, we would be stuck like we were last April. I plowed on Christmas Eve, and then Tom plowed twice on Christmas Day and then a final time Saturday morning.
I have more storm pictures as well as Christmas pictures to share with you, but some desk work and then more post-Christmas clean-up is going to get my attention right now.
But, until then, take a peek at this pictorial essay of the storm's progression.
(Hint: watch the snow levels on the bushes planted in the front yard.)
The storm began on Thursday morning, Christmas Eve.
This photo (above) was taken out our front door at 11:00 AM that day.
3:45 PM that afternoon, Christmas Eve.
9:00 AM Christmas / Friday morning.
8:15 AM Saturday Morning.
11:30 AM Yesterday / Sunday.
Notice how the dark, heavy skies didn't change no matter the time of day?!
I got the following idea from another blogger:
Last year at this time . . . I was summing up Christmas and the lousy weather we were experiencing THEN, too!
Two years ago, we had just returned from Tom's work Christmas party in Canada.
And, wow: three years ago, Tom had just installed the lights in the kitchen! So, even though I don't remember (have I purposefully blocked it out?!), I must have been using just oil lamps in there . . . ?
And then, finally, in the first December of this blog's history, 2005 found us enjoying our final Christmas at Hastings-on-the-Lake and dreaming of giving homemade honey as Christmas gifts the following year. (Ha!)
Attacking the Snow
So, today is Attack The Snow day. We got home from Arizona in the wee hours of Monday morning, and the snowstorm began on Tuesday carrying over into Wednesday. ("Happy April Fool's," Mother Nature said!) If my brain, weary from the 5-day trip home, had been working, I would have headed out with the plow on the 31st. As it was and very unfortunately, the thought didn't even cross my mind! Obviously, I was still on "Arizona time" (and weather!). The result of that is that we are quite completely and in the most old-fashioned sense of the word . . . snowbound.
The kitchen sink window on Tuesday night.
Can you find the car?
Now, for me, myself, and I, I would be perfectly happy leaving the situation as it is until the snow melts. I am nearly giddy with the thought that no one can come driving in our driveway unless they're on snowmachine, dogsled, X-C skis, or snowshoe. No, we don't have any milk (but we drink little of it, anyway), and we're almost out of coffee (but there's always tea!) . . . however, I did pour the last of the whisky into my glass last night. HORRORS!
But, the fact remains that my injured hubby is not too comfortable with the fact that we're snowed in. And, with bones in the mangled state that his are, I get it. If he stumbled outside in the snow and went down on his bad side and re-broke anything . . . well, let's just say that we don't have pain pills stronge enough in the house to combat that ensuing pain.
The only problem with tackling the snow today, though, is that I don't know if I will make much headway. First off, this is the most snow we've gotten (at once) all winter, and it's the heaviest, wettest GREASE that you've ever seen. A spring snow, to be sure. Actually, it's called Heart Attack Snow because too much and too active shoveling (of it) has been known to cause some troubles! But, the point is that when we've had snows this deep in the past and they've been cold, fluffy snows, it's been hard enough to push such quantity around with the plows. But this stuff? Yikes.
I tried plowing on Wednesday afternoon, and I did succeed in moving the plow truck and the snow in front of it . . . about 25' feet . . . and then I got it stuck. And, it took about 5 forward-and-backs to get THAT far. So now I need to try to first get the truck unstuck and/or tromp up to the trapper cabin (a feat in itself in this stuff) to get the old plow truck going. Because it's a 1977 vintage, when vehicles were still made out of metal instead of plastic, it's heavier. Plus, it's loaded with sheetrock, another bonus for getting traction. AND, it's got a smaller blade (plow) on it which, in these conditions, will be a benefit over the larger, newer plow (less heavy snow to push in one swipe). However, the plow truck hasn't been started in many weeks, and it has a tendency to not pop right off on occasion. And, with it being up by the trapper cabin where there's no electricity, we can't exactly hook a battery charger up to it. Nor can we drive another vehicle to it to jump it due to the, yep, you guessed it, snow! So, this endeavor will prove interesting.
The distance I made . . . .
I'll keep you posted!
The kitchen sink window on Tuesday night.
Out the same window Wednesday morning.
Can you find the car?Now, for me, myself, and I, I would be perfectly happy leaving the situation as it is until the snow melts. I am nearly giddy with the thought that no one can come driving in our driveway unless they're on snowmachine, dogsled, X-C skis, or snowshoe. No, we don't have any milk (but we drink little of it, anyway), and we're almost out of coffee (but there's always tea!) . . . however, I did pour the last of the whisky into my glass last night. HORRORS!
But, the fact remains that my injured hubby is not too comfortable with the fact that we're snowed in. And, with bones in the mangled state that his are, I get it. If he stumbled outside in the snow and went down on his bad side and re-broke anything . . . well, let's just say that we don't have pain pills stronge enough in the house to combat that ensuing pain.
The only problem with tackling the snow today, though, is that I don't know if I will make much headway. First off, this is the most snow we've gotten (at once) all winter, and it's the heaviest, wettest GREASE that you've ever seen. A spring snow, to be sure. Actually, it's called Heart Attack Snow because too much and too active shoveling (of it) has been known to cause some troubles! But, the point is that when we've had snows this deep in the past and they've been cold, fluffy snows, it's been hard enough to push such quantity around with the plows. But this stuff? Yikes.
Shoveling just to get to the 1-Ton.
I tried plowing on Wednesday afternoon, and I did succeed in moving the plow truck and the snow in front of it . . . about 25' feet . . . and then I got it stuck. And, it took about 5 forward-and-backs to get THAT far. So now I need to try to first get the truck unstuck and/or tromp up to the trapper cabin (a feat in itself in this stuff) to get the old plow truck going. Because it's a 1977 vintage, when vehicles were still made out of metal instead of plastic, it's heavier. Plus, it's loaded with sheetrock, another bonus for getting traction. AND, it's got a smaller blade (plow) on it which, in these conditions, will be a benefit over the larger, newer plow (less heavy snow to push in one swipe). However, the plow truck hasn't been started in many weeks, and it has a tendency to not pop right off on occasion. And, with it being up by the trapper cabin where there's no electricity, we can't exactly hook a battery charger up to it. Nor can we drive another vehicle to it to jump it due to the, yep, you guessed it, snow! So, this endeavor will prove interesting.
The distance I made . . . .I'll keep you posted!
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