Snow

As I was downloading and assembling the pictures for this post, I was struck by the number of days we got enough snow to merit a picture!  Admittedly, when we just get a dusting on top of existing snow, I've not been taking pictures, because there have been so many days this winter with substantial snow!

19 January:

21 January:

23 January:

It was so cold that the window frosted over, and this was the view.

I had to get super close to the window to ge a picture of the truck.

25 January:

26 January:

28 January:

2 February:

6 February:

Since early February, we haven't really gotten much in the way of snow, which is fine by me, but it has still been miserably cold.  We'll get into the 60s for a single day, then it will plummet 40 degrees again!

Here are a few mixed pictures from the previous period.

The bridge between the school (where I had worked that morning) and home had very low visibility!  It was coming down so hard, and blowing around everywhere!

But, 15 minutes later*, it looked like this!  It was crazy.  This isn't even half a mile away from the first picture.

Animal, most likely, deer tracks!

Grace playing in the snow after shovelling.  

It's how all of us felt about the snow by the end.

later days

 *not because it was a fifteen minute drive, it was only about a 2-minute drive, but I sat in my warm car listening to the radio, because I had to psych myself up to get out of the car into the 'blizzard.'

Snow

It has been snowy since November!  We'll get snow, it will stick around, melt, then we'll get some more.  Last winter spoiled me, because we must be way up on our snowfall!

Started the new year with two rounds of snow.

1-1-26:

1-2-26:

The next round of snow was deep enough to see all of the animal tracks: squirrel, deer, bird, and maybe even the neighborhood cat!

I've skipped over a few dustings, but today it was bitterly cold, so we were fortunate that it was a small amount, because even 10 minutes outside was quite uncomfortable!

 If the snow wants to taper off and give us an early spring, you'd hear no complaints from me!

later days

Snow, Seriously

I'm annoyed to have to include another snow post, but looking back at my FB memories, apparently this isn't abnormal, and I just get to be annoyed yearly!

4-10-25:

One of the videos that Erin Elise sent my way had a sparkling trash can, with the Twilight "Hoa, Hoa, Hoa" music playing, and so now I can't unsee it.  So, even though you can't tell from this still shot, the frost was sparkling!

We aren't dipping below freezing at night any longer, so certainly this will be the final snow post until October, or if we're lucky, November!

later days

Snow in the New Year

It's been a snowy, wintery, winter this year!

Emily and William attend a more rural school than Alice, Grace, and Juliet, so they've had a few extra snow days (hence the dinner making), but on days we get snow that needs to be moved, we all go out and take care of it!

1st January:

15 January:

21st January: 

Snow day for all 5! (so was 22nd of January!)  These days were dangerously cold too, hovering around 0F as a high.

Willam's boots were not going on over all of his bundling, so he borrowed Billy's boots.  Their comically large size brought me back to the days of William wearing oversized shoes that would fit over his leg braces!

23rd January: 

1st February:

2nd February:

We have been getting some dustings, but nothing substantial enough to register on my snow gauge, with all of the unmeted snow still piled up on the deck. 

The forecast is calling for more gross weather starting tomorrow, which I do love a good snow day, but Thursday day would go much faster for me, while impatiently waiting for Billy to get home so that we can watch Strike, if everyone goes to school and I do some chores and shopping!

Either way, winter is still in full swing, so you can expect at least one more of these snowy posts.

later days

Snow!

The end of November started the snow, and Thursdays have been particularly snowy this year!

11-21 The first sticking snow was actually not much, and the snow gauge (truck) was not in place for a picture, so I snapped a picture of the snow dusted plants instead.

12-1 The first "proper" snow.  It was a Sunday, so no school to know how bad the roads were. lol.

12-5 No School for anyone!!!

William got up around his normal time, and worked on his math until Alice's band concert, but he finished!  Better than giving up his weekend, which is what the plan was before the snow day?

Post-concert snow art:

12-12  Snow Day for Emily and William, who had a field trip planned and really wanted to go.  No snow day for Alice, Grace, and Juliet who were hoping for a snow day.  So, I got whined at by everybody.

12-20 no one got a snow day, the snow was really thick, and I found the sidewalks and driveway quite slippery as I was shovelling! = (

One day, my car blower fan was not working in the front vents, which is a poor time of year for it to not work.  So, we took my car in, and I was just going to use Alice's future car, the van, to run my errands.  However, when I hopped in that afternoon to drive it to collect the twins, it wouldn't start! = ( We had just driven it a few days prior, but apparently that was the battery's final hoorah.  Luckily, I can walk to collect the twins, and didn't have plans to collect Emily that day, but I was late, and it was a cold walk!  I was able to call AAA the next day to get it started and get a new battery put in, but that is a whole other story.*

Not all was bad though, I saw a sight I'd never seen! I thought I saw a beaver, well, at first I thought it was a duck with its head underwater, but then upon closer inspection thought it was a beaver.  While there are beavers in Michigan, I've not seen any personally.  I have seen woodchucks though, and it turns out they can swim too!  So, probably a woodchuck swimming the river.

Alice and Grace went out to build a dragon sculpture in the snow.  The lines are hard to see, so this is just the head, but it looked pretty good with wide wings and a long tail!

One more interesting sight was this cool icicle outside of the bakery at MSU where my mom treated me to a bagel & cream cheese!  I thought it was a very cool shape & design, for an icicle.

My weather watching is temporarily on hold, since the kids aren't in school for the next two weeks, but I'm sure there will be more snow to add in the new year!

later days

*Which I will include right here, because I have no plans to put it anywhere else, as I took no pictures documenting the morning.

I was able to use Billy's car to drive Alice, Emily, and William in the morning, but he's gone by the time the twins go to school.  So, we bundled up and walked to school that day.  I called AAA as I was leaving their school, to get on the list.  I could have called much earlier, but I really don't have time to deal with someone else's schedule while I'm trying to get children out the door.

He came, but his battery jumper was dead, after helping people all morning.  Thankfully, we were able to use the Kia, which is 'in storage,' but kept in operating order, to juice it up.  Once he got it running, I took it to Walmart, where we always get our batteries, but they had no openings that day!!!! = 0

I tried to call Billy, but he was working and was unable to answer, so I called my mom to help me figure out a next step.  She recommended O'Riley's because they will help you put it in, if it's not too busy or too difficult.  Of course it was difficult, why wouldn't my car be difficult!!!!!  Luckily, they knew a guy, a local mechanic, in Grand Ledge (where I was) who was able to put in the battery that I bought, right then and there!  So, if you are in Grand Ledge, I totally recommend Scrib's Auto!!!

Snow!

Today is the final day of February, and we have not received much in the way of snow this winter!  I don't know if March is going to come in and make up for it, or if we are really and truly through winter.  The forecast is promising the latter with a 70F degree day in the forecast!

1-13-24 

This was the absolute worst shoveling that I have ever done!  The underlayer was solid ice.  It came off easily in some places, but under the trees (where water had melted down) we had to use copious amounts of salt to melt it and scrape it off!  It was a team effort for sure, and I would have been out there hours and hours had I been working alone!

1-14-24

This Sunday snow was a breeze to move after the ice the previous day.  

Squirrel tracks!

1-16-24 & 1-17-24

AEW had school cancelled, not because of snow but because of the cold.  The heaters in the school couldn't keep up with the constant low temperatures, so they were home.

1-20-24

The snow actually came on 1-19-24, but I was so busy shovelling twice (! once before school and once in the afternoon) because we had so much snow come down between 7&12! 

2-15-24

Not a huge amount of snow, but just enough to need shovelling. = /

I will not complain if this is my final snow post of the year!  We have already enjoyed our first 70F day of the year, and it was glorious!  I'm really pulling for spring*.

later days

*and probably tempted fate by putting two tomato seeds in my indoor planter, hoping for an early spring. = 0