February 11, 2019 Three Feet of New Snow & Counting

3' of new snow!

Cleaning off the solar panels.

Looking up to the wood &
battery sheds.

Friday 2/8. Shortly after 8:00 am we can see tiny snowflakes drifting down.  Ten minutes later they stopped and we could see blue sky.  Just a teaser, I guess.

In these frigid temperatures, the snow gets very crunchy and often squeaky, like fingernails down a chalkboard.  Especially my walking stick when I use it, which is why I'd rather not. . .

Just before 11:30 am, we began to see tiny snowflakes again and there was no blue sky anywhere.  Within 1/2 hour, the flakes were larger although it was very bright out and the sun was peeking through the cloud cover.  However, the snow continued and when I measured at 3:40 pm, when we came back from our afternoon walk, we had received 1-3/4".  Our high for the day was 16/20.

Saturday 2/9. It is 10 degrees this morning and still snowing.  We have 19-1/4" more snow (21" total)!  Wow!  This is amazing!  Certainly the deepest snow we have had Up Here and the deepest I have ever experienced.  Our previous record was 18" in 24 hours and then we had no more than 6" on the ground.

Fortunately it is powder and we simply wade through the pathways to clear them.  Something I have never done before - wading through snow up to my waist.  Just one more adventure in our living Up Here. 

JB did shovel down to the hen house/outhouse.  It seems deeper wading up to the wood shed.  And pulling a sled full of wood is almost impossible as it is wider than the path and digs into the sides.  When I get it down to the porch, it is covered in snow, so I make a few more trips bringing in armloads.  Will have to figure out some way to cover the bag of wood.

JB took the dogs on a short morning walk just to the north ridge.  After that, he measured the snowfall again at 11:00 am and we had received another 7"!  So that makes 28" in 24 hours.

The snow has built up on the house's side berms and seems to be halfway up the windows on the south side.  I look out the loft door to the deck and the snow is halfway up its window also.  So that is my next project, while JB is shoveling off the porch, steps and in front.  Since it is powder, it is almost like shoveling heavy air.  I think I could clear everything off much faster if we just had a leaf blower!

After a late lunch, I shoveled out the generator that we use to pump water up from the well and into the cistern.  Probably won't have to use it til Monday, but more snow is due in, so I want it as clear as possible.

By 1:30 pm, we had received another 3" and by 4:00 pm, we had two more inches.  It was still snowing lightly when we checked at 9:00 pm.  Both Larry and Elsie and the Gridders received more than two feet.  Larry plans on getting the SnowCat going tomorrow afternoon so he can push the snow off the side of the road when he plows.  Something he cannot do with the pickup's plow and he is running out of room to put the snow.  At this point there is just no way to get up past their house except in a snowmobile, and even that might be questionable in all this powder.

Sunday 2/10. It is 6 and clear this morning, with another 3" of snow.  That is a total of 36" for this storm, and another one is due in on Valentine's day.  By now, I must admit that I am bordering on being a little overwhelmed, but it really is beautiful, especially this morning with the blue sky and sunshine.

Right after the girls and dogs have their breakfast, we are on our way to trudge/wade up to the solar panels to clean them off.  Dinga was thrilled, but Jesse only made it about thirty feet before he decided that was enough.  So I took him back to the house and let him in.  He couldn't see anything but the walls of the path anyway.  

We discovered that two deer had come up behind the house and up to and over the south ridge.  So right behind the wood shed we were able to start using their path to the panels.  As JB was cleaning them off, I trudged back down to shovel out the riser on the cistern and check the water level.

Then we ate breakfast and rested a bit.  Afterwards, I started my next project of raking the snow off the chicken run.  Using the metal rake, it is fairly easy but I did need a rest about halfway through.

A very slight breeze is knocking a little of the snow off the trees.  It looks as though someone is sprinkling glitter all over.

I finished clearing most of the new snow off the chicken run and in front of the door to the garbage/recycle shed.  I also cleared off the top of Miss Kitty and part of my Jeep.  Also discovered that those two deer had dug out the corn and eaten it.

The sky was overcast by 2:00 pm, and by 2:30 we were seeing a few lazy snowflakes drifting down.  Definitely not glitter.  An hour later it was really snowing.  Our high for the day was 18/16.

Monday 2/11. It is 6 and overcast this morning.  Looks like we got another 2" or so, with more in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow.

Thought for the day: I tried a morning without coffee.  My court date is pending.