Hey... it's Snowing

Another foot of snow last night. Power comes and goes, but at least hasn't stayed out for any real length of time.
I really don't have anything really exciting to blog about. Just trying to keep the house warm and walkways shoveled and snow off the hot tub.
I'm thinking of having the boys back to just do the whole deck. At least maybe after that I can keep up better.
I'm hearing this might be record snow for here, and there's at least 6 feet on the ground in some places. If I lose power again, I might pop on the cross-country ski's and at least go enjoy it some :)

Pfffftttt

Marble and I agree. Pfftttt.
As expected I lost power all night and part of this morning. It's gracing me with it's presence this morning thankfully. I'm guessing 7 inches of snow hit last night, but from what I hear we're getting a lot more tonight.
I did find some kids to shovel the deck for me, they'll be here this afternoon. It will cost $15 an hour (ouch), but better than me doing it.
Some big equipment was brought in last night and this morning to widen my driveway, so hopefully I can get out to a store today.

Everyone cross your fingers I keep power. This is the QUIETEST, DARKEST place to be without power.

Just a-Shakin'

It's NEVER going to stop snowing.

I live in a snowglobe and someone just keeps on shakin'.















**7-15 inches of snow expected tonight**

What Marble Thinks....

5 Foot Fence

I Needs Me Spinach

Five more inches last night and still snowing. I was going to pass on shoveling today, still sore, but I don't have the option. I worry about how much snow the hot tub deck can handle. So back out I go.
Once again we have to have special equipment out here to widen our driveway. As I drove down it yesterday, I couldn't open my doors to step out of the car.

Lost power most of the night. Of course I stay awake because you hear EVERY noise. The creaks, the cracks, the cats playing with toys... you name it.
Thankfully I do have power so far today.

Ok.. out to shovel. I better at least lose weight.

You've GOT to be Kidding Me

HEAVY SNOW WARNING IN EFFECT:

ANOTHER IMPRESSIVE PACIFIC WEATHER SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE
INTERMOUNTAIN WEST EARLY TUESDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. NORTH
CENTRAL IDAHO AND NORTHWEST MONTANA ARE EXPECTED TO BE THE MAIN
AREAS IMPACTED BY THIS SYSTEM. STRONG WEST WINDS OVER THE
MOUNTAINS WILL RESULT IN LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS ON WEST FACING
SLOPES. 6-10 INCHES OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED.

A Small Break

I get a small break. The sun is shining today and no more snow. But, it's not for long. I just heard we have even more significant snow coming. Good grief. I love snow, but come on.

Morning After

So it finally stopped snowing. I brushed off my car last night but it's gotten a few more inches on it overnight. I still need to shovel to get to the drivers side door and hopefully back it out to move it. My body is still so sore from shoveling yesterday, I'm not sure how much I can do today. The snow is heavier this morning too, I guess from sitting all night.













The snow falling off the roof has totally taken away the front of the house. I can't get to the birdfeeders anymore. I did try this morning, but I'm afraid I'll sink and get stuck. So.. I've just been throwing the seed on top the pile. They don't seem to mind :)













This pile here is where you'd usually see my driveway, the car, the barn, the horses.. but not today. All snow.













The temps are at least back up to the 20's, so I'm happy with that. Deb can keep her wind chills up there with her.
Hubs called me this morning to let me know it snowed about an inch and a half in Redmond and that people were sliding everywhere and calling in to work. Geesh.

Ok.. Back to trying to get my car out.

Sigh . . . .

Well, it's official, we've had at least 2 feet of snow so far and it's still snowing pretty heavy.
I worked all morning on the hot tub deck, but I'm starting to get blisters so no more. I had to shovel a path to the driveway for poor Taylor so she can get out. I can barely see the car. I'm not sure I can keep up.

In other news, it appears we have a coyote den on the property. If you remember the huge brush pile we have for burning, seems it's their home now. My neighbors walked out their yesterday and took a look and sure enough there's all the signs and tracks of coyotes. Great. Time to do a cat count.

I can't do anymore. I think I'll crawl into bed with some hot chocolate.

Trapped

Little Dog, Big Snow

Last Night

She Wanted To See The Stockyards

Cute story of a traveling kitty.

It's Friday...

You know, if it weren't for Friday Feet, I'm not sure I'd ever know what day it was.

I'm under another storm warning, 6-12 inches snow expected over next couple of days. Yay!

Still Snowy, Still Cold

Not much to talk about. We're still below zero at nights and single digits during the day. Actually I think we've made it up to 14 today. The winds started this morning too and it's just miserable. Beautiful, blue skies and all, but miserable.
Hauling in wood is OH SO FUN.

I was thinking last night that I'm kind of living the life in Groundhog Day. Each day (well, in winter at least) is the same. I do the same.thing.every.day. I know we all have our routines, but this is kinda sad to me.
I've meant to get out a few times the last week or so, but the temps just make it no fun. And, with the temps and all the snow the roads aren't the greatest. I did add in the treadmill, but that's about an hour if that.

Oh and tragic news :
See the icicles above? Yeah, I had to stand on something, I'm not saying what, to get a similar shot and I slipped. My camera was in one hand, my remote in the other. Luckily, if you can call it that, I landed on the hand with the remote and broke it :(. I loved that remote.
But, I guess I'm thankful it wasn't the hand with my camera.
That's my excitement for the week.

Look Up

And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand
They danced by the light of the moon.
- Edward Lear

Bored

Fidgeting

I've been wanting to learn HDR for awhile now, but since I can't really get out now and take multiple exposure shots, I've been playing with tonemapping instead. Pretty close to HDR but only one photo used and not as dramatic.

10 Below

Ten.Degrees.Below.Zero.

That's all I have to say. Move on.

Too Cold

It's cold today.
Yeah, I know, It's always cold. But, this is different cold. It's windy. It sends that chill right through your body.
I was supposed to get out today, but I've found every reason not to. I think I'll stay on the couch with the fireplace, the heated blanket, and a big bowl of chili.

Oh and watch football, of course.

Dancing Horse

Amazing..watch it :)

It's Friday....

Finally...

I finally got back on the treadmill today. Thanks to Stacie's motivation. We've been talking about it for awhile, but I was seriously lagging on my end.
But.. I started today. I did my 2 miles although it was 1/2 walk and 1/2 run. Believe it or not I used to be able to run the whole thing but it's been sooo long.

One unfortunate part though is my treadmill is on the bottom level right next to the woodstove. Very hot exercise. I'll have to try to move it on my own. I even had windows open and it's 22 degrees outside :)

I won't say this is a New Years resolution, because I've never kept up with those, but this is a daily goal again in my life. Whew.. glad I started again:)

Have any of you started your New Years goals?

Calm

Not much exciting to report from here. Which sometimes is a good thing :)
We did get that storm but it was mostly wind. You could hear the house crack it was so strong, but not much more snow. We did have some single digit temps last two days, but it seems we're back to the teens this morning.
Hmm..I do see snow in the forecast for the next couple of days though.

I've decided to convert one of our rooms into a photography room. It's a third floor room that's really only used for storage. I definitely plan on painting one wall red and buying some photo lights. Oh and I will rip up the carpet and hopefully put pergo down.
It will be something to occupy my time and hopefully give me a cool area to take some photos :)

That's about it around here. For now.

Oh Boy

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A WINTER
STORM WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 11 PM MST /10 PM PST/
THIS EVENING TO 5 PM MST /4 PM PST/ TUESDAY.

TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 12 INCHES...WITH LOCAL
AMOUNTS UP TO 16 INCHES ARE EXPECTED BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON. IN
ADDITION...WESTERLY WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH
WILL CAUSE SIGNIFICANT BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW WITH LOCALIZED
BLIZZARD CONDITIONS.

What Happens....

...at 36 degrees.

Seven Nothings

Steve must love me, because he tagged me with this. I feel like in the last 2 years I've done this a dozen times..but hey.. why not again? Maybe there's one new weird thing you don't know about me and are just dying to know:)


1. I can't stand the smell of old sponges. Ugh, I swear I can smell it from across the house. Instant trash.

2. And, while we're talking smells, I can't stand the smell of apple juice. Definite hurl reaction. As you know from previous lists, I don't like any juices.. never have. But it's been awhile since I've actually had any around me until my nephew was here. He had apple juice. I accidently picked up his glass once and smelled it, thinking it was something else, and BLEH. That reminds me.. it's still in the fridge. Trash it goes.

3. I leave my TV on a lot for background noise.. most of the time I don't even pay attention to it. BUT... it has to be something interesting on TV. I can't just leave something stupid playing. Even though.. I'm not watching it. Yeah..weird.

4. I use to LOVE horror movies until I moved out here in the middle of the woods. Weird, because I'm not scared living here. I never worry about the boogie man or anything like that, but I still can't watch scary movies. I do love to watch Halloween and Scream though. I guess because I find those almost comedy.

5. I don't really get too involved in any sports, especially emotionally, except for The Cowboys. I just can't even sit still during their games, especially close games. They're driving me crazy during the playoffs this season. Today they play the NY Giants and I know I'm going to be pacing.

6. I can't stand alarms of any kind. Alarms that wake you up, car alarms, oven alarms and ESPECIALLY the dryer alarm. Weird thing though, I can't stand wrinkled clothes, so I use the alarm so I can get them out in time. But, everytime it goes off it irritates the hell out of me.

7. And on that note.. can't stand the phone ringing either. I mostly ignore it, even though I'm getting better at answering for my friends and my sister I'll pick up for. With the DISH network I hooked it up so that my caller ID shows up on my TV. So, I can turn off the ringer and if I happen to be looking at my TV I can see who's calling and choose to pick up or not :) Of course if I'm not watching TV, I miss a few phone calls.

Well, there ya go. Will you be back to my blog after reading that list?

Love ya, Steve :)


Oh and just for kicks, I tag Amy, and Stacie, and Ellen.. Why should I enjoy all the fun?
Oh and how about Mike :)

My Limit

I may have reached my limit on how much snow I can handle on my own. We had a backhoe come out yesterday to give us our driveways back. I finally got to my mail after three days. From what I hear it snowed a foot the night before last, and at least 3-4 inches during the day yesterday.

In the 4th pic down ( click em' to big em') you can see the small opening I have to feed the horses in. The snow keeps sliding off the roof and burying the area. The pic below that one is where the snow has fallen off the roof in front of the house. If you remember from spring/fall photos, that birdfeeder at the end is usually way over my head, I need a stool to fill it. Now I tower over it. The deer can eat out of it now, and the cats can just walk right in. Not good for birds.

I can't even get to the horses fence feeders (they get grain for lunch) unless I put on waders or something. I've lost a few boots trying to walk through that snow. Needless to say, they're eating hay for now.
The hottub deck has at least two feet of snow on it. I tried to shovel off some of that yesterday, but could only handle a corner. The snow was so deep and heavy, there was just no way. Sigh.. I hurt.

I have had continuous phone/internet issues plus the occasional power outtages. The satellite reception comes and goes. And, my laptop is having issues :(

It's been a very frustrating few days. I usually pride myself on being able to handle most anything, and yes I'll even get through this, but, I've had my moments.
It's not snowing today, amazingly. I have my driveway back. I will attempt more of the deck today and I think I'll make stew.

And, I think I shall eat chocolate :)

Work, Work, Work

Ok..so I think I lost a couple of pounds.

I had to brush off the car just now. Ouch.
And yes, I have a normal brush, but with the snow so deep the broom helped me push some off.
A backhoe is required now to come clear out our driveways, so I will have to move my car at some point. I can't even imagine right how I'm going to move it. But..it's ready :)

Did I Mention We Had Snow?

A Goodbye

I found This over at Osbasso's place. I'm going to just copy what he wrote (he won't mind :)) and I think you should check it out.

"This is the goodbye of Maj. Andrew Olmsted who was sent to Iraq, and had a friend post it in the event of his death. Which has apparently happened. In doing some quick searching, he was fairly well-known among many bloggers. The outpouring of hundreds upon hundreds of comments on another site that reported it is a testament to the number of readers that knew him.

It's a good read. And bone-chilling. It's not a rant, or political. Just a man's thoughts about his final thoughts. He reflects on his choices, and talks about his strengths and weaknesses. He sort of predicts how he would die. And he talks about his wife. And blogging. And other things."

Answers

I had a few questions in my last few posts comments.. so instead of going back there, just thought I'd post them :

I would say the snow depth varies in certain places, but It's up to 4feet in different parts of the yard. I'd say it's at least three out where the horses are. They don't move around as much in the winter as normal, I guess they don't like the snow :).
They can get into the barn, but they really prefer hanging outside, even when it's blizzard like conditions. I've seen icicles on their manes before. The snow on the back deck is taller than me ( yeah yeah, insert jokes here).

I have plenty of beer, even though I've found I don't drink as much of it in the winter. I keep it in the snow though, so it's perfect :) It is kind of sad though that when everyone thinks of me stranded, the first thought is , "Does she have enough beer?"

That is not the walkway that Amy shoveled, the one she shoveled has about 6 inches on it now. And Ellen, the hot tub is doing fine, it's not buried yet :)

The roof is metal and sloped, so it all falls off eventually. Actually, all roofs around this area are sloped. If you recall, I've posted photos of the snow falling off, it's quite the scene. Shakes the house and scares the poor cats.

Oh and Laura, I know I'm kind of nuts, but NO horses in the house :P

I think that's it!! Did I miss anything?

Oh and the pic is a perfect example of how high the snow is. That's a very tall birdfeeder. The deer can now stand on the snow and eat out of it.

Winter Colors

“Keep your love of nature, for that is the true way to understand art more and more.”
~Vincent van Gogh

Yeah, We Got Snow

This is the back walkway of the deck. Way back there on the left is one of our grills.

Will It End?

We got 5 inches of snow last night. We're expecting two more winter storms to come through the next few days. It's just wild.
I'm not complaining, I don't have to go anywhere, I'm all stocked up. But, I just think it's amazing how much snow we've had and how it keeps snowing. The snowplow guy even called and asked if I planned on going anywhere because his plow has run out of places to push the snow. I'm officially Snowed In.

Everything Amy shoveled is filled back up again. I've had to brush off the satellite dish twice today. I asked Amy to come do it, but she wouldn't.
You can't even see the grill on the back deck anymore. Pics to come.

That's really all I've got. The house is back to it's quiet state. The cats are insane, I think it's cabin fever. Or is it Cat fever?

My Fun Day

Well, the nap didn't work out so well. I don't know what it is, but I can't nap. I might doze for a few minutes here and there, but not a full nap. That's so wrong since I really don't have any distractions. I have found out anytime I do try to do a nap, my phone will ring, someone will stop by, OR..a cat will break something. Yeah.
So I went for option B... happy hour :)

So where do I start with my drive? First, if some of you remember, the airport is 2.5 hours away. If you add on bad weather, which I did, you're looking at about a 3.5-4 hour drive, one way. So, the plan was to get up around 5ish. I don't usually fall to sleep until about 2ish. Great plan.
Another problem for me is that I don't keep any clocks in my bedroom, so when I know I HAVE to get up early for something important, my body doesn't sleep well. It keeps waking up 'just in case'. So needless to say, I barely slept.

Our driveway was an ice skating rink as we left, and it started snowing. There's one main road out of our town and you have to cross railroad tracks to get out. So at 6am, there was a train sitting on the tracks. Not MOVING, sitting. Hrmph.
We waited for about 10 minutes and then decided we had to think of something else. We do have a back road into another small town, but the key words are 'back road'.. which in another language means, 'not plowed'. We opted to go that way.

It wasn't horrible but just slow. When you're trying to make a flight, slow is not the first choice. We do make it back to the main highway and begin our journey. Just as we are about into Idaho, the weather really starts. Very heavy snow, white-out conditions, darkness, you name it. I couldn't see the road or tell what lane I was actually in. It wasn't very fun. The only thing that kept me at least ON the road was the rumble strip every time I hit it. Ugh.. bad news.

So.. as I'm going along at about 30mph on a 70mph highway, out of the corner of my eye I see a Moose on the side of the road. Moose was contemplating whether to cross or not. There was NO way I could have hit my breaks. I just prayed that Moose would decide to turn around. He did. Sigh. Can you imagine me hitting a moose? eeks.

It didn't start getting light until I was already almost into Washington, so it was just a long, nerve-wracking, slow drive. I was really worried whether I'd even get them to the airport on time. Luckily, I did. Come to find out, because of the weather, she was delayed an hour so for both her flights.

I turned around to come home, just to basically hit the same weather home, but as I got back into Idaho I wound up behind the snowplow. Pretty cool to follow him in, and we did pass several cars on the side of the road spun out. We saw the same thing on the way in. Just a mess.
As you saw in the previous post, the snowplow pulled over for two cars that had spun off the road. The car on the left had two elderly people stuck in their car sideways. Guess all went well, except I lost my plow leader. Again, the roads were very messy and slow and I just glided home at about 30 mph. Yeah, I took photos, but it's not like I was moving very fast.

Oh and I have to say I'm extremely impressed with my car. I only mildly skidded a few times. The car did great.
Oh and I don't usually vent too often on here.. but here's one.

People who feel they grew up in snow, or THINK they can drive in it, and plow behind people who are careful, or new to it, at 70mph and ride their ass, that's just crap. And I'm using nice words. Three different episodes I had someone, usually in some big truck with a snowplow on it, ride up behind me so fast and just sit there.
Now, I'm no ninny, I was staying with most of the traffic. For someone to do that, to me is so reckless and rude.
Worse is when this idiot decides to pass you, gliding on slush by your side throwing snow up on your car and windshield when you already couldn't see. Ugh.

Yes, butthead was the nicest term I could come up with :)

So, that was my day. I came home. I didn't leave again. I tried to sleep, couldn't, and now I have beer in hand.