Tag Archives: snow

Steamed

Vine Pair

As much as I love my husband, from time to time I have to threaten him with calling our tractor guy on speed dial to ask him to dig a huge hole I can throw my husband in.

Today is a prime example. I’ve told you that we are snowed in. The schools are open, though there is limited bus service. Our long steep driveway on the north side of our property still looks like a ski slope.

All of a sudden this morning my husband put on his jacket and announced he was taking a walk. He refused to wear a hat, though it was on the shelf right above his jacket. He had on tennis shoes and we still have about 8 inches of snow on the ground. Out he went.

I went to check on him 5 minutes later and the truck was gone out of the garage! He had driven down to get the cable that was delivered to the bottom of the driveway yesterday.

I was gathering trash, telling him that we should leave it in the garage to put down for pickup next week. He refused that, too, saying we should go ahead and drive it down. He wouldn’t wait for me to get boots and a hat. I had regular shoes on, too. He was out in the garage.

We made it almost down to the road. He stopped for me to get out and drag the trash can down to the road. I inched my way down, the snow falling into my shoes immediately. I almost went down a couple of times, but finally turned the can on its side so I could inch it down using my grip on the can for balance. I made it to the road, we filled it up, got our mail and drove carefully down the street to turn around. We made it back up the driveway, but it was really scary a couple of times.

When we had both calmed down a bit, he admitted that he shouldn’t have driven down the driveway today. Once a hard-headed Marine, always one, no matter what the cost… GRRRRR!

I’m seriously considering having the hole in the back dug…

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Friday 1-10-2025

Charles Schultz-Peanuts-Lara R-Pinterest

Writing to you on my blog is one of my greatest joys. If I’m not writing a post to you, much of the day I’m trying to find wonderful things to share. I love the communication, the feedback, and the friends I make through doing this. Thank you very much for reading my posts, telling me you like things (or wish I would stop doing others) and staying with me. You are truly one of my blessings.

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We are well and truly snowed in now. It started around 11a.m. yesterday and is still snowing. This picture is of our deck, which is covered with a roof. We have about 6 inches on the ground now with more due before it stops. Adding insult to injury, the temps aren’t going to help much, merely making some liquid on top that will melt a bit, then refreeze over the coming days.

YouTube

Of COURSE my husband got an email yesterday, just after the snow started, saying part of the computer equipment he had ordered had been ‘delivered,’ (meaning left at the bottom of the driveway) and he INSISTED we go down and get it. We managed to get one large heavy box and two smaller ones into the back of the truck and were able to get back up the driveway to our house, but it was a close thing. I think if we had tried it a half hour later, we wouldn’t have been able to get back up. We agreed (I THINK) that we won’t go down the driveway for anything else until things are much safer. (I didn’t have to remind him that his insistence last year before it was ‘safe’ resulted in his broken collarbone and 10 weeks of recovery.)

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Southern Living-Getty Images

I did a first session of cleaning out my closet yesterday. I lasted a reasonable amount of time – for me, with my lack of patience for trying on clothes – and made some progress, bringing down a pretty large stack of things to be included in our next donation to the Veterans Thrift Store in Fort Smith. I’ll do another session today.

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WikiHow

In my work in my closet, I found another tee that had a stain that didn’t come out in the laundry, so I’m painting it. I’ll share the results when it’s finished. It’s funny how my sad behavior of spilling food on plain tees results in fun painting sessions. :0)

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I hope that you’re well this morning and that your day is filled with light and laughter.

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Home Again

Tenor

I had my husband get the mail while I fought with the trash can as we left this morning. It was raining, but my new ‘zig-zag’ pattern on rolling the trash can to the bottom of the driveway is working. I only felt I was skidding once.

It started to snow as we started to town. NOOOOOO! The forecast said light rain this morning, more this evening possibly changing to a dusting of snow overnight, mostly in NW Arkansas. Not NOW! Not HERE! It snowed on us almost all the way to Walmart, then let up. It rained on us again as we came out, almost as if a faucet had been turned on.

We stopped at the local grocery for the ‘bowls’ we love so much from the deli there. We’ll have them for lunch soon.

Now we’re home, snug as a bug in a rug. Of COURSE the rain has stopped.

BUT – the trash has been handled, the mail collected, and we have supplies for whatever does – or does not – fall from the sky overnight.

Ahhhhh!

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February Thoughts

Freepik.com

I have very mixed thoughts about the month of February.

As you may know, I tried to get a petition going last month to do away with the month entirely. I got a few signatures and high-fives, but didn’t have enough to push the measure through.

February is an awful month for weather in Arkansas. Arkansas doesn’t ‘do’ winter gracefully. It would be wonderful if we could get snow – fluffy, pretty snow – or even a wet snow great for snow people creation, and then move on to Spring. But NOOOOO! Arkansas has an ice storm BEFORE the snow, causing havoc and danger. Since we live on top of a ridge line, and our driveway is steep and on the north side of our property, our place is the last to thaw and clear any time the ice and snow come. My husband paid an awful price for this on the 21st, slipping and falling on the ice at the bottom of our driveway, breaking his collarbone.

Besides the weather, February is a bad month for me personally. A lot of the people who have meant the world to me have died this month, so as I’ve aged, more and more sad memories land here. I’m lucky that GOOD memories exist, too, and that I have had the privilege to share part of the lives of some truly wonderful people.

I do enjoy Valentine’s Day, though I feel guilty that so many men feel OBLIGATED to do something for the day. I much prefer

  • that people just show their love for each other EVERY day; or
  • they get their love something small and sweet, maybe give a special hug and good wishes

The best thing I can say about February is that USUALLY there are only 28 days. (Except this year)

Freepik.com

Groundhog Day doesn’t mean anything – we ALWAYS have 6 more weeks of awful stuff before we can think of spring. It has snowed on my birthday in March here, so I don’t feel we’re clear until the middle of March.

So – my idea for the petition to do away with February remains available, if you’re interested….

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Reprieve

Whew! It’s supposed to get above freezing this afternoon, so we’ll hopefully be able to get down our driveway to pick up two days worth of mail and scoot to the local grocery store for goodies before we get snowed in again.

The forecast is for snow starting tomorrow about noon and continuing through Tuesday morning accompanied by bitter cold temperatures for Arkansas throughout the week. The weather people sound really sure this time. With our driveway, we may be snowed in throughout all of next week. We’ll see.

I don’t mind being ‘snowed in’ so much as no one being able to get up here if we need help. The UPS and Fedex people leave our packages at the bottom of our driveway when it’s CLEAR. Emergency vehicles of any kind wouldn’t have a chance.

I have two people who have kindly offered to sign the petition I started to do away with the rest of this winter and move straight into spring. The petition is here, waiting for more signatures. I don’t know how many we would need in order for something to HAPPEN, but I’m ready. :0)

In the meantime, stay safe, dry, and warm.

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Whine and Cheese

Our snow this morning turned out to be no big deal. Even with the temperature at 26, the breezy winds are causing the snow to break up.

The thing is, the streets are getting colder each day and it’s more likely that the NEXT snow WILL be a problem. Our steep driveway is a problem no matter what. We’ll watch and see how things go this weekend. We may be able to get out tomorrow and get some last-minute goodies that will make our enforced ‘housedom’ more bearable.

We don’t have any appointments until Tuesday, but that’s AFTER we’re supposed to get more snow Sunday and Monday, in particular.

I’m serving ‘whine’ with cheese in case anyone is having a pity party… :0)

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Fleezing Dizzle

Giphy

It’s not this bad yet, but we have teeny, tiny sleet pellets falling now. The temperature is 22 degrees F., and the “feels like” temperature is 12. Mostly, it LOOKS like just a really cold rain right now, but the pest control guy just called me to ask how it was here. I suggested he go home and be safe, rather than try to come to us until all this is past and we thaw out again.

We still have public power, but looking at the weather website, we really won’t get above freezing until Wednesday afternoon, and the STUFF doesn’t quit coming, really until Thursday morning. Should be interesting.

The “fleezing dizzle” title comes from a party my parents were having a hundred years or so ago. My dad had his own one-man advertising agency, and a lot of the people at the party were in the media. A topic of conversation came up where someone started to laugh helplessly as he tried to talk about a weatherman who got his tongue tied, saying “Fleezing Dizzle,” rather than freezing drizzle. Everyone started to laugh, with the exception of one man, who said, “Oh, God. That was ME!”

Meanwhile, we’re warm and cozy inside. I’m making spaghetti for dinner, and my husband wanted some hot chocolate earlier. Full comfort mode.

I’m enjoy book #30 of 55 of the In Death series by J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts, fully into her world of amazing characters in a future world. I love being rich in paperback books – able to snuggle down under my throw, coffee cup beside me on the warmer, escaping to another world, engaged in other concerns. A nice relief.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. On the way back up the driveway this morning, we stopped and I hoisted our ‘flying pig’ into the back of the truck. One of the huge limbs that came down with the last snow storm was the limb from which the sweet pig was flying and he had crashed head first into the driveway. I had forgotten how heavy he is. We took him out to the shop. I plan to refurbish him, since he’s been flying for several years now, and then I’m HOPING to convince my husband that securing him to a boulder at the top of the driveway, wings flying, would look just as good as him flying from a line in a tree….

I hope you are enjoying your day.

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Done

Yahoo Movies UK

We are done, in more ways than one. I’m doing puns and poems this morning because I don’t have any energy to do much else after our work yesterday.

We spent an hour in the driveway, chainsawing and hauling, before lunch, rested a bit, and then did another three hours after lunch before finally clearing enough that we could drive up and down the driveway again. It looks a bit like a war zone, but it’s workable. We’ll try to neaten things up some other time, but today we’re resting. We left one larger branch simply moving the end of it to the side of the driveway. The break is up too high for us to get to it, and the blade in the chainsaw desperately needs replacing now.

We’ll do that, buy more night lights, and replenish groceries later today.

The ‘Determined-Man/Energizer-Bunny’ syndrome enveloped my husband yesterday afternoon, and he was determined to finish. We did, but he was almost unable to get into the truck to ride back up. I went up and down the driveway four times yesterday afternoon (650+ feet up the STEEP driveway) until I had to sit on a boulder beside the driveway and gasp for breath awhile before continuing. The power cords wouldn’t reach, so I had to make the last trip up and down again. Even with FOUR 100-foot cords strung together, it was barely enough. (We used an outdoor plug at the top to do all we could from the top down, then switched to an outdoor plug at the bottom to work our way up.)

We did a quick and dirty job of it, since the chainsaw blade was trying to give up, but we did it. I talked to my husband again about the fact that we are getting older and need to modify our activities more to deal with that. He agreed, but I don’t trust the agreement to last the next time…

He is taking a much-needed nap now, and we are determinedly putting nothing on the agenda today.

The really encouraging news is that we’re due for possible ice storms next week….

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Covered

mocha.org

I wish our place looked as pretty as this, but we ARE as snow-covered.

We will be this way until further notice, although the melting has started just a bit. There is a good 8 inches on the deck cover, for example.

The public power was restored overnight. We were on the generator all of yesterday, with only a couple of short periods of public power before it would go off again. The poor power guys have been at work steadily now for three days trying to get power back to everyone. We went to bed around 1:30 this morning and still had no power. It was really nice to see we have some this morning.

Our generator has done a fantastic job during the past three days, but it deserves a good long rest now. It is propane powered and it’s really a luxury not to have to worry that we’ll run out of fuel for it right in the middle of a rough patch of weather. We’ve gone through a LOT of firewood, our only source of heat the past three days. When we built the house about 36 years ago, we insisted that we get a real wood-burning fireplace that was efficient, with doors on the front and a blower built in, so that we could use it as a source of heat when needed. It’s gotten a workout, too. It’s really nice to be able to start the day without having to build a fire, though.

Soon my husband will decide to walk around outside, and then he’ll see that we’ll have to chain-saw our way to the bottom of the driveway and the street before we can go anywhere, even after all the snow is gone. We are both to the point where we’re a bit long in the tooth for heavy work, particularly when the weather is really cold or hot. My husband uses the chain saw and I’m the ‘tugger/hauler’ of the stuff he cuts, moving the pieces off to the side of the driveway. A little bit of work like this goes a LONG way.

The problem is that no one can get UP the driveway, either, so we can’t really hire anyone to come help us. I’m hoping that we can do it a little at a time. We have supplies enough to last quite awhile and that if it takes us a week to get it done, it won’t make a bit of difference. My husband is like the Energizer Bunny, though, not wanting to stop until he almost collapses. We may have to have a ‘discussion’ about how much we do at each session….

It would be nice if the power stays on today, and we can simply enjoy it for awhile.

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Patience

thedodo.com

I’m grinding my teeth and trying NOT to punch my husband. You would think that I could HANDLE him by now, wouldn’t you. But I’ll tell you, 52 years is not enough…

We made a POINT of getting what we needed to handle being stuck on the top of our ridge line until further notice when we knew a winter storm was forecast. We have food, water, power, pets, and love to weather it.

We got the storm last Wednesday. We are doing fine.

So what’s the problem and why do I want to punch my husband?

He wants to go OUT in it to buy ice cream and cookies.

He HAS some oatmeal cookies – a whole package of them – on the counter in the kitchen. But those aren’t his FAVORITE brand of oatmeal cookies. He tried one and doesn’t want the rest. Okay, but we DON’T need to go out and buy more. He points out that I finished my container of no-sugar-added vanilla ice cream last night. I told him there is also orange sherbet in the freezer and that’s fine…

He said, “the ice is gone on the driveway. ” I begged to disagree. We went out to LOOK. The driveway looks like a ski slope.

If we could get down in one piece, it doesn’t look like we could get back UP. We don’t NEED cookies and ice cream.

The actual point is that he wants to prove that he can drive whether it’s dangerous or not. He loves to go out and PLAY on the slippery streets. He isn’t worried about falling on his head, as “I” am. In his head and heart, he’s still 20. Sometimes that is a very endearing trait, but NOT when there is ice and snow on the driveway.

He said we can go tomorrow. I said we will LOOK again tomorrow.

The discussion continues as my patience is wearing thin…

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Filed under Family, love, marriage

New Week

quora.com

We had an almost perfect snow Saturday. It didn’t mess up our sidewalks, garage pad, or the streets. It’s pretty in our yard and when my husband went to get our mail yesterday, he said it wasn’t hard to get down our steep driveway, or – more important – get back up again. Since the sun is shining and it’s supposed to get to 50 today, I declare it an almost perfect snow. I’m just hopeful we won’t get more with the forecast cold front this coming Wednesday. I’m really looking forward to my massage scheduled for Thursday…

We enjoyed the beef stew I made last night, along with some garlic bread. We have enough left for three more meals for us when we want it. Our dog, Amber, declared it delicious when she licked the crock pot bowl before it went into the dishwasher. We’ll probably get out later today and replenish supplies, just in case we’re snowed in Wednesday.

The sloth bug took over yesterday, so I thoroughly enjoyed listening to music, reading, and napping yesterday, instead of doing the productive things on my list. They are still there looking at me today, so when we finish shopping and get things put away, so maybe I’ll do better today. :0)

It’s Martin Luther King Day today. I’m hopeful people will think today – and every day – about the good things he said.

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World of White

Giphy

Isn’t this an amazing .gif? I don’t know how these are created, but I’m in awe of the talent and creativity of these smart people.

Our snow has stopped now. We only got about 3 inches, but when you have a 650+ foot STEEP driveway, it’s enough to keep us inside. (At least I HOPE. My husband sometimes considers the snow and danger for us a challenge to prove we CAN get down and up our driveway again.) I don’t know yet if the evergreens along the driveway are drooping down into it, cutting off passage. It’s 24 degrees F., but is supposed to get above freezing this afternoon. Maybe the driveway will start melting. Our driveway pad is clear, and the streets may be clear, but the world is white and pristine as far as we can see right now.

I was a good girl yesterday, balancing checkbooks, paying bills, finishing the bookkeeping for December, filing, and getting the makings of beef stew ready to go into the crock pot for today. I’m PLANNING to clean off my desk and then clean up the kitchen, unless I’m overtaken by the great sloth that flourishes inside me. :0)

I hope you are having a safe and happy Sunday.

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Snowing

A. A. Milne – Winnie the Pooh

We’re sharing this lovely weather with a lot of good folks in the United States today. We are at a balmy 6 degrees right now with the forecast snow falling. Thankfully, we were able to get out yesterday – after a week on top of our ridge line – empty our mailbox and replenish supplies.

My favorite kind of snow is huge, fat flakes that make you feel as if you’re inside your own personal snow globe. It covers everything prettily, making you smile. The sun comes out, warms everything up, the snow melts.

Sadly, most of the time in Arkansas we get an ice storm first and THEN snow on top of it. The combination causes the evergreen trees that line much of our driveway to bend down into the driveway, weighing a TON (more or less) and many time either breaking off into the driveway or just making it so we have to chainsaw our way down the driveway at some point – assuming we ever want to get out again…

About 20 years ago we had a really bad ice storm. We stood on our front porch and listened as the ice broke tree limbs. It sounded like gun shots. Thank goodness we had a generator, even though it took all our efforts to keep the one we had running. It cracked the head and so was trying its best to overheat. We rigged a water source to keep cooling it off. We also have a well as backup. We were without public power and public water for 14 days.

We saw that most of the ice was gone yesterday. Most of the remaining was on our deck. Poor Amber, our 95 pound yellow lab, rediscovered how slippery ice is. She landed in a heap while attempting to do her usual rush to get inside the house. She looked a bit disconcerted, then leaped up again and made it onto the back porch.

The forecast this time is for snow all day today, tonight, and tomorrow, and then again on Sunday. It’s cold outside, but not nearly as bad as the poor people in the north are experiencing. I hope that they have stocked up and have good generators to make it through.

I just got the makings of beef stew in our crock pot, so we’ll enjoy a nice comfort food dinner tonight.

Stay safe, warm, and dry!

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Filed under Favorite Quotes, Mother Nature, Poohisms

I Love the LOOK of Winter

Aurelia Pinzari

I love the look of winter. The cold, the snow, the gorgeous scenery covered in white. The reality of it, trying to get down my 650+ foot driveway and NOT end up in the field across the road from the bottom of the driveway, and making my way in hilly, curvy roads into town and back again, forces me to enjoy winter vicariously.

 

“First Snow” – Nino Chakvetadze via Penny Yaffe Krakow

I haved loved Nino Chakvetadze’s paintings for years. She puts so much heart into her work.

 

Javad Soleimanpour via Ferit Temur via Penny Yaffe Krakow

simply stunning.

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