I'm not sure when it finally stopped snowing today, but we went out around 2:00 pm to start shoveling the driveway. In the flattest parts of the yard, the snow measured about 8 inches, so that's what we're calling it.
Took a break to notice a flock of sandhill cranes:
It seems early for them to be migrating this far north already, but their call is unmistakable. Unfortunately, the wind is blocking out their calls, so you'll just have to trust me about what we're looking at here.
Then, we were back at it...
Drifts at the front door got above 19 inches. I couldn't reach the spots taller than that without walking into snow above my boots, and I wasn't about to shovel more snow just to get close enough to measure those tallest drifts.
Two hours later...
A tired Greg makes the final push of snow off the driveway:
And before I came in, I cleared a path to the front door:
It's probably too optimistic to hope it's the last.
I hope you're staying warm and dry wherever you are!
Looks like a wet and heavy snow. I just read one of my blog buddies used a leaf blower to blow the snow off her porch steps.
ReplyDeleteIt was a mixture of powdery and wet and heavy (and down by the street where a plow had piled it higher at the end of the driveway, it was the heaviest - and up by the front door). I bet when hub went out yesterday to get a headstart on clearing a couple of inches of snow, a leafblower would have managed it. I'll have to suggest it to him the next time he does that. Thanks, Marsha!
DeleteWow what a lot of snow Becki, I suppose all that snow shovelling is great exercise, I bet you were both glad to get back inside and have a nice hot drink afterwards. x
ReplyDeleteIt WAS good exercise, Linda. It was a good tired that we felt when that job was done.
DeleteI have actually never laid eyes on that much snow personally. That is crazy. The most I have actually seen in person is on a quick vacation or in central Alabama at Auburn. It snowed there once while I was in college pretty good. The snow shovel was a new thing to me as well. One of the men who lives in my circle is originally from New Hampshire and pulled that out after a hurricane one year. We were all out in the circle picking up leaves and Jeff and I were asking where he got it. He explained it was a snow shovel. The things you learn about other places:) Time to go in and warm up and have some soup.
ReplyDeleteSandy, I imagine to a southerner that this looks like a lot of snow, but this wasn't even close to what was predicted. But it is pretty. We've had such (overall) mild and short winters the last few years, a snow accumulation with this much drifting felt kind of exciting - especially, since we didn't have to get on the roads. That said, the county had our neighborhood streets cleared off before we even started shoveling. :)
DeleteBTW, I did love seeing the pictures from your snow shoveling.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sandy. ;^)
DeleteThat is a fair amount at one time, enough to crank up the two-stage snowthrower for my neck of the woods. Yah, wet and heavy means let horsepower, not human power handle that chore....... :)
ReplyDeleteNylon12, I agree. Hearing we were going to get a heavy snow, I brought up the topic of a snowblower again. Hub just doesn't think we get enough snow often enough to warrant the cost, and being retired, we can opt to just do nothing about it if we want to - though he always feels compelled to get out and clean off the driveway. This time, while it was doable for us, we wore ourselves out, and we decided we should find out the number of whoever it was that was driving through the neighborhood plowing out some of the driveways late the evening before. If we get another snow like this, we agreed it would be nice to just pay someone with a plow to deal with it. On the other hand, we were kind of impressed with ourselves that we could do still do it. lol
DeleteI think we have a couple inches more than you do at this point and it's quite enough for me. I think maybe we've already received as much snow in the past week as we got pretty much all last winter. Luckily we only have to shovel around our car but must admit we truly do miss having a garage.
ReplyDeleteMary Anne, our last house (that we lived in for 20+ years) had an attached garage, but it had no entrance into the house. So we always had to deal with the weather when coming and going, though it was nice to not have to clean snow and ice off the car in the winter. Getting use to that, since moving here, I never fail to feel thankful when driving home in a storm of any kind, or in the bitter cold, that I can drive into the garage, close the door behind me, and walk into my house without getting wet or braving the frigid cold. It's been about 4 decades since we've lived in a house without a garage, but we have and I feel for you.
DeleteWe got a comparable amount of snow yesterday in Maryland. It is beautiful, but I am hunkered down inside! Ron is going to clear my Mom's deck this afternoon and pick up a few groceries for her, enabling me to be in a couple more days (a real gift to this homebody).
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed the snow from inside today, Cheryl. :) Even though the roads are clear, and I need a haircut, I decided I'm staying inside and warm all day today.
DeleteOur high here in central Florida today (Tuesday) has been somewhere in the 50s (cold for us!) with a strong wind. It was not good for bike riding, so I walked (all bundled up). Your pictures of shoveling the driveway bring back many memories of my years in Colorado.
ReplyDeleteBarbara, I can only imagine how much snow you dealt with in Colorado. I have family near Denver and Hub has cousins further west, and I'm always impressed with the snow falls they deal with - and so early and late in the season. "In the 50's" is my perfect temperature, though strong wind can make that chilly even for me. I'm glad we can acclimate to different conditions. Imagine how crowded it would be if we all had to live in the same clime. :D
Delete