Dec 22 Snow

We got our second snowfall of the season yesterday. It started out light and fluffy. Around 8:30 PM it got wet and heavy. I went to bed and there was 6 inches on the ground. The wet heavy snow and some freezing rain squashed it down to 5 inches of crusty snow.

I was out by 6 AM to plow. Fighting a viral infection so no snowblowing for me. I stayed inside the tractor.
These two are from the cab. The second one shows the crusty snow that breaks into shards.



The snow stuck to the trees making it beautiful


This is the back yard


I did have to exit the cab to do some shovelling. And to use the snow raketo clear this shed roof. We store firewood in here.I call it my plastic wood shed. It was rated for New England winters but we keep it clear as we have seen the sides bulge under a snow load.


This Japanese maple is indicative of the odd autumn we had. This tree is a showpiece in the fall with brilliant red leaves. This year they turned brown and never fell off. Even after this heavy sticky snowstorm. Very odd.


The dogs love the snow.


It took me 2 hours to clear the drive and our neighbors. When that was done a hearty breakfast was enjoyed. French toast and a side of Scrapple. Yumm.

Nice Phil! We've already had about a foot of snow here, but a couple of days in the 40s had most if it melted away. Woke up this morning to a fresh dusting so it looks like we might have at least a semi-white Christmas after all.

You take care of yourself.

We got 3" out of the same storm and now we're in the freezing rain portion of it. The forecast is for up to .5" of ice. That could mean power outages so I'm charging cells to make sure we're ready. Plenty of wood is in the rack; we filled that yesterday just as the snow was starting. I haven't plowed yet since if I do the rain will be on the driveway and not on top of the snow where I can get rid of it. Too, I would need to clean off the truck and that would mean the ice forming directly on the glass needing to be scraped off. So the snow will stay right where it is.

(Phil, I know you know that, but lots of folks from other states wouldn't know that "trick". )

We're not going out so we do as we normally do, stay home and wait it out.

If the weather forecast for Christmas is correct we'll stay home then also. Another, larger storm is forecast for the 25th. Normally we go to a community get together and dinner, but it doesn't look like we'll do that this year. I trust my driving in the crud, it's the other person whose driving I don't trust. The upside to going is a dinner we didn't need to cook, the potential downside of an accident far outweighs the upside however.

Merry Christmas everyone!

As always, beautiful photos, Phil.  I’ll be in Buffalo for the holidays, as I was last year.  Last year, it was quite comfortable with highs in the mid 30s to low 40s, a very very light dusting of snow (not even an inch) and plenty of sunny days.  This year, based on the extended forecast, doesn’t look nearly as promising.  The high for the warmest day will be only 26 and that’s Christmas Day, the day I arrive.  It’s downhill from there with highs in the teens with the possibility of more snow than last year.  Oh well, a good book, Pinky the cat demanding attention, and my friend’s cooking (he’s better than I in the kitchen) and I really don’t have to go anywhere.

love me some scrapple! we had some family up from Texas last year and they tried some scrapple...they thought it was...weird!

Thanks all for the well wishes. Though it just got worse for us.

They predicted rain starting this afternoon.Even though the temp was 24F. The trees are covered with last nights snow. Acting as sponge for the rain to stick to. Trees and branches are coming down
We just lost power an hour ago.
Have the two wood stoves going and the oil lanterns lit.

ML made French Oinion Soup. Her speciality and it is excellent.
The soup is done but to serve it you top with toast and cheese and broil.
Once the woodcookstove is hot enough I will make toast on the stove surface and then bake in the oven to melt the cheese.
Toasty warm and an excellent dinner. I can't complain too much.
How are you faring ShadowsDad ?

No problems here as of now Phil. According to the weather forecasters it's done here but I haven't checked outside. Last I heard, Mainewide there might be 7k folks w/o utility supplied power and we aren't among them. I think most of those were in southern Maine, closest to NH/you.

The temp' is rising and since I don't like to burn wood above 20°F (too much output from the wood stove for best control) we have been using the oil burner since this morning. But I did expect the temp' to rise faster than it has. I'll do snow and ice removal tomorrow. I have the driveway packed down as I wanted for best use on a gravel driveway, but have a few storms to clear off the other areas. I still haven't put my chains on so I'll need to be careful to not get into areas where I can't back out of. I still need to use the truck to get fuel cans filled for potential winter use (hence the lack of chains). I want a few cans for the genny' and one fill for the truck. I got #2 fuel oil for the shop the other day, but at this rate of cold (Yay global warming with it's increased cold! Does that even make sense to anyone?) I'll need to put the truck back on the road next month for more #2 FO and my chains are probably too aggressive on pavement. Maybe I'll go during a storm and chance the drive and the PD. I'm rural so I doubt that I'll get caught especially if there is snow accumulation on the pavement.

Stay safe and warm.

We never did lose power with that storm.

But today we are getting hammered. Potential blizzard warning so our plans were cancelled; too much potential downside and little upside. So it'll be quiet day at home.

We never did lose power with that storm.

But today we are getting hammered. Potential blizzard warning so our plans were cancelled; too much potential downside and little upside. So it'll be quiet day at home.

Brian,
We were only without power for a few hours Saturday the 23rd.
We received 8 inches of snow on Christmas Day. So after the festivities and feasting I had to go out and do snow removal.

It has been bitter cold since the 23rd. This picture was taken today December 27, 2017. The trees are still encased in ice. We have single digit daytime highs predicted so it will be cold for a few days.

The same here.