Still snowing. The 18 inch total was from Friday at 10 a.m. Nearly 24 hours later, we've had 5 or 6 more inches. I have not shoveled since yesterday morning, and it has piled up a lot on the driveway. In addition, it has turned much colder. It's 14 F now and we are headed into several days of not even approaching freezing for our high temperatures. In an hour the snow will or will not let up, as they've predicted. Either way, I'll go out and shovel because if I let it pile up too much, it becomes too hard for me to remove. I feel somewhat depressed, admittedly. Since Christmas Eve, we haven't had one good weather day: we've had storms, sub-freezing temps, and smog/inversion. My photos today are all from my perspective, looking out the windows and thinking about yet another round of shoveling -- which will not be the last, as lake effect continues to hit the communities along the lakeshore, and then a new wave of storms is expected tomorrow.
I am glad I purchased flowers the one day I went out this week. I went a little overboard, spending $30 when I might normally spend $5-6 for a small bouquet. As it turns out, these beautiful flowers are providing much needed cheer in this dismal weather.
I just couldn't resist this amazing orchid. I will do my best to care for it better than I have previous orchids, and hopefully keep it alive longer.
Almost two feet has piled up in untouched areas. The storm blew the covers off my patio furniture and they are covered in snow.
I have bird feeders under the covered patio as well as a bird bath with heated rock. I'm not even attempting to reach the other feeders for now.
Icicles are forming along the eaves.
Under the heavy snow, some things are no longer recognizable--like these Pfitzer bushes.
The street is clear. The city does a good job with our street.
From every window, I see how much snow has piled up
Worst of all, the driveway looks like it hasn't been touched. I'll go out in an hour. I'll feel better once it's done.
From yesterday, the little birds at the feeders under the patio: juncos, house finches, goldfinches, scrub jays, quail. Today I've had just a few juncos. I think the rest are waiting, like me, for the snow to stop falling.
I have put a "heated rock" in the bird bath which keeps the water temperature a little above freezing. The birds seem to appreciate the fresh water with their food.
UPDATE: 11:30 a.m. Well I got the driveway shoveled again. Neighbor Nels shoveled out the driveway entrance again (the hardest part). Neighbor behind did all the walks with the snowblower. So in all, it only took me about half an hour. The snow is getting so deep on the sides of the driveway, I almost can't toss the new snow on top. An ice dam has formed in my ice gutters and it worries me that water will seep under the shingles. I guess I may not know about damage until all of this melts.
UPDATE 2: 1 p.m. The sun came out. And despite all the work and worry, the world looks beautiful from here. Sunshine has such a way of cheering us up.
3 comments:
Oh my. Are you sure you didn't move to Minnesota??? In any case, hunker down, keep warm and read a good book. :)
Haha! Really, it would probably be an improvement this year. We have another storm predicted today, and then we settle into a deep freeze for a week or so with inversion expected again. Man, I hate to say it, but I could just completely ditch January.
Snow is pretty to look at when it falls gently during the night, and seeing it outside my window lulls me to sleep. But I curse waking up in the morning to find out that a blizzard came after I fell asleep and left a lot of cleanup work for me to do. All kidding aside, I hope that with winter gone, your furniture and patio didn’t suffer much damage from all that snowfall and subsequent melting.
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