Maybe We’re Finally Thawing Out

Like most of you, we’ve had a lot of snow and ice lately.  I know “a lot” is relative when it comes to snow and ice.  But for here, where most of us panic at the mention of snow, and almost none of us can drive in it, what we’ve had is definitely a lot. 

From the first round.  It's mostly ice.  There are icicles on the bird feeders.

Last weekend (January 24^th -25^th), we had some snow, a lot of ice, and freezing rain.  There were widespread power outages.  We were some of the fortunate ones who didn’t lose power.  It flickered so much that we fully expected to lose it, but never did.  Nick’s office was closed for two days, and mine switched us all to telework.

Everything was coated in ice.

We had some warming and melting, but still had ice in several places by Friday.

This past weekend (January 31^st – February 1^st), we had snow and extreme cold.  I think we ended up with around six inches of snow in total.  It’s a little hard to tell because of the way the wind blew it around. 

From this past weekend.  We had more after I took this.  And there's ice from the week before underneath it in some places.

Again, we were fortunate and didn’t lose power.  It did get so cold, though, that the heater wasn’t able to keep up and was running around seven degrees colder than what it was set for. 

We did everything we could to keep the house warmer.  We hung blankets over the blinds in the windows to help insulate the house a little more.  I did some baking and made soups and chili.  We had neighbors over for soup and chili both weekends. 

My job has switched us all to telework again for at least the next day or two, which I’m happy about since I absolutely don’t drive in this kind of weather.   

Things are beginning to thaw out.  

There's still ice under some of this, so I don't trust it.

We are supposed to have highs ranging from 47 to 51 this weekend.  I’m so glad!  I haven’t left the house since January 23^rd, and I’m starting to go a little stir crazy.  I’m looking forward to getting out. 

I hate winter.  I really, really hate winter.  I started off in January trying to have a positive attitude about winter and trying to make the best of the cold, but at this point, I’m just over it.  I’m ready for spring! 

I would much rather be taking pictures of flowers than snow!

So, what about you?  Are you thawing out?  Ready for spring? 

A Cold Hour in the Yard

Once Christmas is over, I am ready for winter to be over.  After the Christmas lights and decorations are (mostly) put away, it’s just cold and gray.  The winter blues really set in.

I know spending time outside in the sunlight, even when it’s cold, really helps, but I struggle to make myself spend time outside this time of year.

I really hate to be cold.

This year, though, to make spending time outside in the cold weather a little more pleasant, I’ve decided to focus on yard/garden chores I can do in the cold weather.  It makes it seem like spring isn’t quite so far away.

It seems like there are always things to do in the yard/garden, and I want to make it as beautiful as possible.  So, getting started on things now makes sense in addition to getting me outside in the sunshine (even when it’s cold).

Last week, Nick and I did a lot of pruning/trimming and general yard pick-up.  I forgot to take any progress pictures.

This week, I decided to prune the hydrangea that had grown out of control.  This is the ideal time of year to prune hydrangeas, anyway, so it was the perfect cold-weather yard task to tackle after work today.

Here’s the before.

I told you it had grown out of control.

I also trimmed the holly bush next to the hydrangea.  It was out of control, too, and I needed space to get behind the hydrangea to get the back of it.  I’m not sure if this is the right time of year to trim the holly bush, but I don’t especially like it, so I’m not really concerned.  I eventually want to get rid of it and replace it with a camellia.

This was my first pile of branches to haul away.  I ended up hauling away six wheelbarrows of branches. 

Here’s the after.

I still need to do some more trimming, but it was getting dark, so I called it a day. 

One day closer to spring!  

Do you have any cold-weather projects you're working on? 

Five Good Things About the Cold Weather

I really don’t like the cold weather. I can’t stand to be cold, and the cold, gray days seem to suck the life right out of me. Winter is hard for me. It has been for as long as I can remember, and it just seems to get worse as I get older. If I’m not really, really careful I can totally get sucked into a bad case of the winter blues.

We had a little bit of snow and a fair amount of ice last week. There was a brief warm up yesterday, but the temperatures have plummeted again, and we’re looking at a pretty likely chance of more snow and/or ice this week. Not the weather forecast I was hoping for.

I seem to be teetering on the edge of getting sucked into a bad case of the winter blues, so I decided to try really hard to come up with something (anything really) that can be good about the cold.

I came up with five:

1. The cats are really cuddly during the cold weather. They’re indoor cats, but they spend a lot more time sleeping, and they’re much more likely to cuddle up with each other and with us. A cuddly cat (or four) is wonderful.





2. I get to dress the dogs up in their coats, sweaters, and pajamas. I love dressing up the dogs, and the cold weather gives me a good reason to. Emma loves to be dressed up. I think she feels pretty when she wears her pink. Duke associates dressing up with food, which is his favorite thing ever, so he loves getting dressed.

3. Winter weather can provide something to blog about. Sometimes it’s a struggle to come up with something to write a blog post about. Winter weather presents some fairly obvious things.

4. Cold weather is soup weather. Cold weather is a good reason to make soup, whether it’s an old favorite, a new recipe, or a brand new experiment. Hot soup is delicious and comforting on a cold night.

5. It makes us appreciate the warm weather. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and the absence of warm weather definitely makes my heart incredibly fond of it. I cannot wait to feel the hot sun on my skin, to plant the first flowers and vegetable of the season, and for daylight to last well into the evening.

So what about you? Do you enjoy the cold weather? If not, can you come up with at least one good thing about it?