Jan.10th, 2011 - SNOW!!!

The first sight that greeted me when I opened the door this morning...

The snow arrived late last night, at about 2:00 AM and it snowed nonstop for about 12 hours! That is unheard of here in our area of the south, and we got 7 inches by the middle of the afternoon, when the snow finally slowed and stopped. I know that doesn't sound like anything to someone up north in the snow belt, but remember, because we rarely get snow at all, we don't have the equipment for clearing it. And what happens usually in conjunction with the snow is ice. Which it is doing right now - we now have sleet falling and there is about a quarter of an inch of ice forming so far, as we speak. The main roads that may have gotten reasonably clear are right now sheets of black ice...and it's not going to go above freezing tomorrow. Its dangerous out there. We live on what could be termed "tertiary" roads, which no plow ever gets to at all. So our roads in this neighborhood are basically all but impassable.

So...lessee...cord of wood *check* fire logs and firestarter *check* plenty of food including homemade soup *check* generator, gas, extension cord, camp stove, candles *check* hot chocolate and butterschnaps *check* shoveled out and salted down the back deck and steps *check* cleared off cars and tarped the windshields *check* shoveled off driveway *check* nice homey roaring fire in fire place *check*! I think we're in good shape. School is closed, and where Wordweaving works is also closed. So we have a nice couple of days to be together and snug and warm. It's all good!

So...here are some pictures Wordweaving and I took this morning, before I started shoveling and clearing and working on stuff, while the snow was all pristine and still coming down. It has been truly beautiful. We don't get this very often, so we treasure it when we do!

There is a car under there....

Across the way from our front yard...

Our maple tree...

Ibn is a cat with a problem...a civilized cat goes outside to potty...but how to get off the porch...

...um...no.

Dang it! How do I get off of here!?

Oh, this sucks!

When ya gotta go...ya gotta go...

MacDubh and I, out for his morning walk...

He really isn't totally sure about this.

I have always love the snow!

...and it's still coming down.

The lake in the snow.

Holly berries in the snow.

Our magnificent tree...

Celtic cross in the snow....

Rascal the orange cat curled up in front of the fire..which is where we also have spent today...
Happy snow, everybody! .

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Christmas Day - SNOW!!! December 25th, 2010

And its still coming down and may reach 4 inches by tomorrow morning! This is special for us...we don't get a White Christmas hardly ever here - we're too far South. So Happy White Christmas to everyone..

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Hail storm and rain....

We had an enormous storm roll in over us today - lightening, thunder, hail, 60 mph winds - shook the trailer! We did not lose power, but the ground was literally covered in hail!















This is what we could see from our back door, as it came down - the water and hail is actually level with the little back porch, which is actually about 5" off the ground!












Here on our stove top, are two pieces of hail, with a quarter and a penny for comparison to show the size! It was all quite impressive, and while things are quiet and I think it has mostly moved on, we are still under a tornado watch for the next hour.

So it was all rather awesome, and amazing - one of those scenarios where you realize just how big the universe really can be.