Officially (though I’m not sure who is in charge of officially measuring) we got 15 inches of snow, topped with another 1–2 inches of ice. Clearing all of that, on top of what was still hanging around from two weekends ago, was not exactly fun, but we managed to get it done.
John handled the snowblower, and I shoveled places where the snowblower couldn't be used. It was 12 degrees when we started and eventually warmed up to 18. I don’t mean to just complain about the weather, especially since we were incredibly lucky and never lost power.
Ryan spent around seven hours clearing his sidewalk and driveway, but Justin wins the prize. He worked 16 hours of overtime on Sunday plowing and shoveling, then another eight hours of overtime on Monday cleaning up more snow, shoveling, and salting. Hopefully, those 24 hours of overtime will help cover his slightly exorbitant gas and electric bill.
I didn't take any photos because I was shoveling, so I’m including a couple that friends sent me. It all looks very picturesque and peaceful, but no more snow, please!
I still need to get my yardstick out to measure how much snow we got; if one of the local news stations is to be believed, we got almost 14 inches. It'll be a while before it's all cleaned up, too, because we were down snowplows and salt trucks to begin with and more broke down during the response, so now we're under an emergency declaration so the city can bring in outside contractors. My husband did most of the shoveling on Sunday, but yesterday morning I spent about an hour and a half cleaning up what had fallen overnight and then trying to clear our portion of the street -- I don't expect the city will ever come to plow our dead end, so if we're going to get out at some point, we've got to clear the snow ourselves. Please thank Justin for all that hard work. I know people really appreciated it!
ReplyDeleteI'm thankful we did not get the amount that had been forecast! I think we received maybe 10", though with the wind blowing it's difficult to say. And all the different weather apps say differing amounts. One app showed us getting 23" - I do not think so! But this bitter cold is only going to get worse. I'm glad you and John are safe...also the boys. Stay warm and have some wool in your lap!!
ReplyDeleteOh Bonny! I am so sorry for you, John, and your boys! Yikes! I am thankful that an enterprising young neighbor came and asked if he could shovel... his bit of work made it much easier to clear... until we had a water main break on Sunday night. When water has no place to go... it finds a place. Oy. No water in our basement but our neighbors were not so lucky. However, the street is ice, everyone's driveway is all ice... and it is not melting anytime soon. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's so much snow all at once -- and so much work, Bonny. I hope you get some respite from weather-related activity. XO
ReplyDeleteI love snow but the ice thing has made it no fun at all. I'm feeling a little claustrophobic this morning looking out at all the white. They say we are in for more snow this weekend. With these temperatures what we have is going nowhere so it's going to be a mess if it happens.
ReplyDeleteThe ice is awful. I'm enjoying sitting inside in the warmth with knitting in my lap and watching the birds. Soon I'll have to go fill up the feeders. I'm ignoring the weather for now because there only seems to be bad news!
DeleteThe photo by the river is beautiful. The snow burying my car? Not so much.
ReplyDeleteYou all have so much snow, ice and wind. It looks so cold and so beautiful, but when it lasts so long and takes so much more work that you can handle, it is hard to find the beauty. If we could we would take ALL of it from you. We are desperate.
ReplyDeleteI can appreciate the beauty more when I'm inside in the warmth looking out. If I could send it to you, I would gladly do it!
DeleteOh, Bonny, as with so many things, the pictures are lovely, but the experience is not! I am so sorry you are dealing with all this, and your family is obviously full of descendants of the pioneer stock that settled this country. Tough, the lot of you! I have not been able to clear anything since it is all ice at this point with single digit temps every night. I tried, but the ice is like concrete. I am not complaining since I am safe and warm and have all essentials. I am a bit disgusted with the forecast that we have another arctic push coming the end of this week with freezing rain predicted for next week. I am sending good juju for sunshine, higher temps, and a lack of precipitation for you and yours.
ReplyDeleteI'm told we got about 18" of snow and I'm thankful there's no ice on top of it, it's very light and fluffy. Dale does all of the snow removal and I do things like bake cookies and make food to fortify him. I had yesterday and today off from work because of the snow and I'm not sad about that.
ReplyDeleteThat is a lot of snow and what a pain to have ice on top of it. The photos are lovely but I'm sure enough is enough. And snow removal is such hard work. I hope you had some carrot cake or some other treat to help along the way. I think the National Weather Service used to be in charge of measuring snowfall, among other things but who knows what goes on with the current leader in charge.
ReplyDeleteWe have over 14 inches of snow and my husband does the snowblowing. He can use it for the driveway and walkway. I shovel a path to the deck and on the deck to the bird feeders. We now have extreme cold temps. What a snowstorm!!
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