New York Renovator

The kids reported to me this afternoon that it’s snowing outside. I checked the weather forecast, and they say we *may* even get some accumulation, although it will mainly affect grassy areas.

STILL.

IT’S SNOW!

:-p

Here I was, thinking I’d be able to shut off the heaters by now. Eek, we’re cranking ‘em up again. And here I was dreaming that I could finally ditch the mudroom clutter of boots and coats and break out the slick brands. No go.

Haha! Oh well, at least it gives me another opportunity to make roast chicken. Mmmm nothing beats that on a cold, damp day.

P.S. Is it just me, or does the LOLCat site now add two billion links to the photo you link to? I had to remove some lest my post be filled with links. Sheesh!

What the heck is this?!??!

Sheesh! And I saw robins today, for the first time this season!!! Man!

Come on, winter, end already! Nobody wants you around!

The temperature rebounded into the teens over the weekend, so the kids and I enjoyed a brisk walk in the neighborhood. This is what Upstate New York looks like in February: gray and overcast, snowy, brown. We almost look forward to more snow because it whitens everything again and we don’t have to look at dingy snowbanks.

Here’s a big snowbank in a parking lot.

You know what’s really weird? There were NO children outside. Not a one. When I was younger, we were outside in the snow all the time, especially when the snowbanks were this huge.

We took a jaunt through the town. Some folks don’t shovel their walks, but some do. I am so very thankful for the people who do. We don’t have to walk in the road. Thank you, neighbors!!

Gives you an idea of how high the snow is here.

A woodpecker is digging for gold in this old tree, huh? Well, sure looks like it, anyway.

Doesn’t it look like this car is smiling?

We came back into our driveway and I saw this. It’s transmission fluid. Our van is bleeding it, terribly. I hope we get a new vehicle soon. I’m too nervous to drive the van anywhere.

About an hour after we got home, the snow started falling very heavily. The flakes were fluffy, but huge- some the size of half dollars. It was so pretty. And it covered all that brown for a day!

Thanks for reading. How are things where you are?

I’ll always remember Christmas Day 2002 and February 2, 2011. Both were weather freaks.

On December 25, 2002, local weather forecasters thought they saw a monster storm coming, but for some odd reason, predicted only a few inches. Well, maybe he should have said a few inches per hour, because when the snow started, it wasn’t going to stop. When all was said and done, we had 28 inches of new snow that day. For most people, it was not a great inconvenience, since most businesses and schools were closed for the holiday. My husband, however, had to work that day (restaurant), and it took him forever to get home. (The weather wise guys later said they “knew about the massive storm all along” but hesitated for this or that reason.)

Then there’s the February 2, 2011 “storm.” It clobbered the midwest/western side of the Rust Belt pretty well (have you guys finally dug out yet, huh?), and our weathermen here in Upstate New York were quaking in anticipation about this one. They originally predicted 8″ then 12″ and then 18″! Since we already have a good snow mass packed around us, 12″ is a pretty good amount. Some businesses and nearly all the schools in a 250-mile radius issued closings and cancellations. Folks raced to the store to get bread and milk, prompted by excited news outlets.

But the whole thing fizzled out somewhere along the Pennsylvania border, no? We got a whopping THREE inches. It ended almost as quickly as it came. By 10am, the snow had dissipated. I saw glimpses of sun peeking through the clouds later that morning.

Oh well.

Later that evening, we got about 2 inches more– lake effect stuff from good old reliable snow donor, Lake Ontario. It’s fluffy and light, not at all like the slushy stuff that crawled through the Ohio Valley.

So anyway, here we are. The skies are bright blue and I decided to take camera in hand and venture out into the deep for a photo shoot. It’s cold out today, temps in the mid-teens.

Perhaps the first thing you notice are the enormous icicles looming atop the eaves. Grrr, these nasty things are responsible for some of the ice dams.

Snowbank in the driveway is about 18″ high.

The grill is buried. I’m not feeling like having a barbecue yet, anyway.

The sky is blue, like a sparkly sapphire.

Snow-covered bunny tracks. Since my good old feral cat died a few weeks ago the rabbits have been bolder. Their tracks are everywhere. Maybe it’s all this bunny traffic causing the dogs to bark their heads off all night long.

The mailbox with monster snowbank.

Blue shade from the trees. Pretty.

So thus ends *another* storm of the season. And gee, just think– we only have two more months of winter yet!

We got more snow. Surprise!

My daughter looked out our kitchen window one morning, and said, “We have fairy chimneys.” I peeked out the window and this is what I saw.

The snowscape is so lovely and serene, isn’t it?

The “fairy chimneys” of which my daughter referred are the Cappadocia Fairy Chimneys of Turkey. We saw them featured on one of Drive Thru History episodes (OMG we love that show!). The show is done by Dave Stotts, who educates history while entertaining your socks off. He is SO hilarious! He is also a little accident prone, too. .

I found this terrific 5 minute video showing how Dave Stotts does it. This is so cool!

Well, this post wasn’t intended to be a promo for Drive Thru History, lol. But I am bonkers about the series. He’s SO COOL. I highly recommend the series. My kids love them all.

So we have snow. Man, after watching that video, my fascinating snow fairy chimneys seem pretty lame. Oh well. LOL

*grooooooaaaaan*

It’s snowing. It’s snowing hard. Big, sticky, wet flakes that drench everything. *sigh* Oh well, better than ice, I guess.

Yesterday my garden looked like this…

Today it looks like this!

That’s Upstate New York for you. But darn it, I already packed the shovels and snow tires away, in preparation for the renovation. *chuckle* Gotta laugh!

It won’t be here for long, so say the weathermen. But then again, the weathermen said that it would snow in the “higher” elevations. I’m about as low as you can get! LOL

Well, anyway, it’ll probably be gone in no time. I’m reminded of this verse– it seems perfect for Mother’s Day today:

“Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her, so he will have no lack of gain… She considers a field and buys it; from her profits she plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength, and strengthens her arms… She is not afraid is snow for her household, for all her household is clothed with scarlet…

Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many daughters have done well, but you have excelled them all. Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.”

Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.

Proverbs 31: 1-31

Happy Mother’s Day!

Almost all of it.

If the photo above looks horribly gray and gloomy… that’s because Upstate New York has been horribly gray and gloomy! We were blessed with sunshine about a week ago, but I wasn’t able to enjoy it (was sick). But spring IS on the way, I know it is. Carole blogged about her irises peeping up… I don’t have any iris coming up, but look! Snowdrops!

My gardens all bloom a good two to three weeks after everyone else’s, even my own neighbors’. I cannot figure out why. When all the neighborhood day lilies are ablaze, mine are still just buds. It’s WEIRD. I must be in the middle of some watery micro-climate here.

Here’s my forlorn-looking flower bed.

Oh it looks really bad right now, but in a few months it will look like this:

And then this:

*ssssssighhhhh****

We haven’t had hardly ANY snow this year, but the snowplows have gone wild! There are three road signs along the front of my property, and two of them are fallen on the curb, the victims of the maniac snowplow driver. One of them (a “No Parking” sign) is horribly mangled, as if the snowplow dude ran over it back and forth with sadistic glee. I hope the town gets the sign repaired before spring, or we’ll be inundated with parked cars all summer. Then again, we usually ARE, because the drivers practically ignore the sign, anyway.

My husband is a mailman, and he’s had his share of reaching for mangled mailboxes. People seem to like those new-fangled Rubbermaid plastic mailboxes, but I think they look like those Little Tykes toys… and I doubt they’d survive the Sadistic Snowplow Driver!

How about this sweet baby? CAST ALUMINUM! Now that’s what I’m talking ’bout! He hits that, and he’ll hear a “DING” all right! It’s a pretty penny– over $100 at Buy.com. May want to wait for it to go on sale, though. Knowing Buy.com, it wouldn’t take long… they are such a cool store! I always check them first before any other retailer now. Their deals are so sweet!

So what do you think? Do you think it would stand up to The Snowplow? Or at least make him think twice before slamming into it?

Well, the temperatures have warmed up to a balmy 32 degrees today! Practically myrtle beach weather here in Upstate NY! The icicles are melting, the ice dams are shortening, and The Little Princess is whining. She wants to go outside in te WORST way. Three weeks ago, I did a boo-boo and carried her outside to experience snow falling. She loved it. Now, she won’t stop sniveling. She wants to go OUTSIDE. She will park herself of my computer and stare at me, whimpering.

But LIVVY!!! I have a ton of work to do– clients are waiting for their articles and she is in the way!

Well, as the saying goes: There’s more than one way to skin a cat (my apologies to you cat bloggers). I figured I’d take her outside and use this excursion as a photo opp for the blogs. She didn’t seem to mind being used as a photo prop, not one bit. Without further ado, here she is, The Snow Queen, HRH Olivia the Sniveler.

Doesn’t she look like a Siberian tiger? I love her blue eyes. [...]

We finally got some snow in Upstate New York! The Mohawk Valley got about 4 inches over the weekend (just a spit o’ snow– I grew up in the Snow Belt between Lake Ontario and Lake Oneida; four inches is like a dusting there). The snow was wet and heavy, though, and still needed to be moved. Here’s a little tip for any of you novice snow shovelers out there.

Spray your shovel with non-stick cooking spray before you begin shoveling. This will make the snow glide off the shovel. It works for spring digging, too! WD-40 is not a good idea to use outdoors, as it will get into the ground and contaminate the snow and soil below. Non-stick cooking spray is great because it’s a food product (veggie oils). Plus, you’ll be ravenous for popcorn when you’re done shoveling.

Non-stick cooking spray has other uses, too:

• After applying nail polish to your nails, spray a very light coat of non-stick cooking spray onto them. The polish will dry much, much quicker!
• Spray the cooking spray on the underside of your snow sleds. Wheeeeeeeeeeee! Hang on tight, boys and girls!
• Instead of melted butter on your popcorn, lightly spray your cooked popcorn with the butter-flavored spray.
• Spray plastic containers before you store your food leftovers in them. It will make the containers easier to clean later.

Have fun shoveling!