A Snow Day To Remember!

I thought it would be nice to look back on this storm and remember how it really was.  I'll start with the view I enjoyed yesterday with my morning coffee.  Don't bother cleaning your glasses, it won't help!  Wind driven snow stuck to the window and melted some.  Then the dribbles froze.

Snow had been pasted against all of the windows overnight.  Some of Ed's wire cages looked like they were full of snow, but the snow just stuck to the wires and filled up the holes.

Mid morning, this was the view out the basement door before Ed ventured out to clear some of the sticky, heavy snow.  It was still snowing enough to obliterate the ridge in the distance. 

The kitchen door opens out and the snow was piling up.  Once Ed got out of the basement this was the next job to be done.  The pictures that I took of Ed shoveling snow off the ramp reminded me of one of those flip books we used to love as a kid. 

The snow was so sticky it left his scoop in one big piece. 

That was a lot bigger than a snowball. It must have landed with a thud.  Ed repeated this process many times, coming inside often to warm up, rest or have something to eat.  I spent a little time using these three pictures to move the snow forward and then backwards with my mouse when I was writing this.  It was fun!  My Dad always used to say "It is a pleasure to watch Ed work."  It has always made him happy to be outside working primarily with hand tools!

Finally he had moved the snow necessary to free his snowblower from the shed.  It was clear that this snow was not going to blow away easily.  We gave up on the idea of getting down to the road.  There was no mail, no garbage pickup and no place to go anyway.

Usually Ed plows during the storm since his machines cannot handle deep snow.  This storm had begun with rain then changed over to snow.  That made the bottom layer both wet and heavy.  His blower would have pushed up on top of the wet layer packing it firmly.  The inevitable wheel spin on that thick layer would have resulted in a stuck tractor.  He displayed uncharacteristic wisdom and only worked near the house where the ground is nearly level.  A short pass into the snow was followed by backing up and moving over for another short run.  That way the drive wheels were always next to an open area.  There was a great deal of back and forth but the tractor never became stuck.

By evening the ridge was back in sight.  Last night the lights only blinked a couple of times and we were warm and cozy snowed in here together!  Today the man with the  big plow answered our call.  Despite the quality machine and his skill in operating it, a great deal of soft gravel was removed from the surface of the lane.   Ed's little plow would have made an even bigger mess.  But now the driveway is open, the cars are uncovered  and we are back to normal for March 3 in Upstate New York! 

A Bad Case Of Spring Fever

It seems with each passing year Ed and I have become more susceptible to a horrible case of Spring Fever.  The words, Hot to Trot, come to mind.  For example Ed has been out there weeding one of his garden beds.  He would have finished the entire bed, but the soil two inches down was still frozen solid as concrete and his hands got extremely cold and stiff.  The bed  looks great though!

I myself wander the garden with the camera looking for something good to photograph.  Just hearing a few birds sing makes me giddy.  When I heard and then saw a flock of Canada geese way up high flying North it made my heart soar.  It's not the geese.  They are here all winter.  We see them nearly every day, but they were flying North!  I found poufs of rabbit fur underneath Ed's Carolina rose.  The rest of the rabbit was gone.  I left it where it was. The fur that kept that rabbit warm will thrill nesting birds when they show up here in the garden!

I love rose campion and this plant is looking spectacular.  I did notice a few bunny berries in the picture and a few of the leaves have been nibbled, but this plant is poised for springs arrival.  This is its year to bloom.  I can close my eyes and see the lovely magenta flowers on fuzzy gray green stems.

 My dwarf Dutch iris frequently bloom in the snow.  Last year they did not bloom at all.  The leaves  that usually come after the flowers grew big and tall and fed the bulbs.  I expected to see buds this year and when I checked the bed I was so thrilled to see them I felt warm all over.  We are not too concerned about our overblown case of spring fever.  Unless the weather forecasters are completely wrong, Mother Nature is going to cool our jets with a healthy layer of  heavy snow.  For gardeners Spring Fever has no cure,  but I think  the snow will make us chill out at least until it starts to melt!