Brrr!

We had a bit of snow overnight and very cold temperatures.  The snow started as light, fluffy flakes.

We seem to be in a snow belt.  Bands of snow blow down from Lake Ontario.  We're not near the lake, but our town will get many inches of snow, but we can drive 5 miles south and it will be dry!

We awoke to a few inches.  Nothing too serious.  The snow was pretty.  It can get in the way and be a nuisance, but I always like watching it come down.

We had enough to plow (I actually like to mow my grass and plow my snow...).  We were going to visit my sister, so I had to clean up the driveway and walks.  It is easy work with the plow.

We drove an hour to my sister's place.  Not much snow, but the cold weather was really starting to ice-up the waterfalls in the area.  Nice!

Enjoy!

The Coming Spring

Astronomical Spring is still a few weeks away.  The weather has been unsettled.  The deep cold weather appears to have passed.  Now we regularly climb above freezing, but we still get an inch or two of snow each week.

Two things occurred this week to let me know Spring is near - I saw my first groundhog out and about, and I smelled my first skunk.  The critters are stirring.  Spring will soon be here...

Life Goes On

The storms, snow, and winds of the past few days have disappeared.  Today broke sunny and calm.  I had a cup of coffee, and went cross country skiing.  The conditions were perfect.

It seems nature has shrugged of the snowstorm and continued about with its business.  The sun was out, and the sky is clear.

The snow has covered everything, but it is starting to melt in the bright sunlight.

The creek babbles along.  It will slowly rise as the sun melts the snow.

I noticed tracks all about the yard.  There is a cat that roams about.  They always sneak close to the barn and other outbuildings.

There must have been a regular deer 'party' last night.  I followed tracks coming from the north, they went around the barn, and over to the bird feeders.  The deer population must have really increased the last year.  I have never seen so many tracks as we have now.  We have stopped putting food in the feeders as the deer just empty them out.

The deer split into two groups.  One went to the east into the neighbor's property, . . .

. . . while the other group went up Spook Hill.

Things are back to normal around here.

Snow Fall

The recent winter storm has left a snowy blanket all around.  It was still and peaceful this night.  Enjoy!

Ice and Rain

What a change in the weather.  Last weekend all was cold and icy.

The creek was frozen nearly solid.  It was iced up right to the creek bed,

Four days (and 40 degF later), the creek has water flowing in it.

Actually, it is a bit of a lie - water is flowing over the ice!

I went to the creek tonight to see what was happening.  All looked fine.  We expect steady rain overnight.  Hope we don't have any flooding...

UPDATE - No flooding this morning, but the creek was running high!  I awoke to sleet and freezing rain.  We descend back into the cold of winter.

January Thaw

It seems to me we usually get a significant winter thaw in mid-January in these parts.  Yesterday we were well over 40 degF, and today we may get well over 50 degF.  The big factor will be the fog.

The warmer-then-normal weather has everything melting.

All the recent rain and melting has the relative humidity very high.  We have had dense fog for two days now.  Even the roads were foggy and misty well into the afternoon.

The warm weather has the creek up a little, but no major flooding is expected.

We are down to a few slushy inches of snow - we had 18 inches last weekend!  One of the things that amazes me are the 'varmint' trails which can now be seen that were under the snow.  The snow cover doesn't stop the mice and voles - they leave tunnels under the snow you can now see.

Most of the snow is off the roof.  A little patch still exists where the snow-guards limit it from sliding off.  They have done their job well this year.

A little snow is left on the shed roof over the barn entrance.  I expect it will slide off in the next day or so . . .

The fog continued into the night.  All was very dark.  A little light from a house up the hill behind the creek  through the trees was all you could see.  The river babbled on through the night.

We awoke to more fog and mist.  All was very dark - we had lost power.  We surmise someone hit a utility pole in the early morning.  I fired up the generator and got the pellet stove and fridge plugged powered up.  The power came back a few hours later just as the sun was rising.

Time to stack more pellets in the back room.  The fog makes me feel lazy . . .

A Visit to Lake Alexander

The day was crisp and clear.  It was a fine day to get outside and get some snowshoeing in!

I decided to hike up to Lake Alexander.  In the summer it is quiet and green...

Now it is cold and white.

I headed up the trail, climbing for a while.  The snow was powdery - perfect for snowshoes!

Enjoy the scenery!

Snowfall

Another  6 inches of snow.  It has been falling all day.  Magic . . .

Enjoy . . .