Last night we had our first big snowstorm of the
winter blow in, and I do mean ‘blow’. There was snow pasted to all of the
screens on both sides of the open porch, and the whole porch floor was covered,
except for about three square feet right at the door. I did a lot of brushing
and sweeping, but meanwhile JG actually got to play with his new toy. This toy
is a dedicated four wheeler with a heated cab (Note: heated) and the cab has
windscreen wipers front and back. This allows JG to blow the snow away while
driving forward, instead of backing up as was required by the big tractor
rear-mounted auger, and he can let it rip without getting his face full of
snow. This is very good, for obvious reasons.
And here he comes!
When he went out to start clearing, the snow turned out to be wet and pretty heavy, and the temperature actually went above freezing for a bit in the afternoon. Then, in late afternoon, the sky cleared almost at once, the temperature dropped and we ended up with stiff snow. This, of course, is when the Township plough decided to finally come and do our road. We are the last house on a dead-end branch of a very rural part of the Ottawa Valley. I guess we should count ourselves lucky to be plowed out at all. If it were not for the school bus needing to run up part way on this road, we might be an even later afterthought. But, hey, we now are reconnected to the world.
It took most of the day for JG to get us tidied up. Meanwhile I was ducking out in my slippers and trying to get some photos with my new and superior Christmas iPad. With very mixed results. I need to figure out how not to take 'Live' shots, for one thing. And look where I am aiming. I took a photo of the cleared porch and area, with a shovel (see above right) sitting in the middle of the shot. Annoying. And so I edited it out, sort of. A sloppy job, but, hey, it improved the photo. I think. Sigh. Must read the book. Must think before shooting. And, also very important, must put on boots and coat before venturing out into snow world.
Cool machine, (I guess literally, except for that heated cab. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteYou bet. JG is still learning all its little idiosyncrasies, but he is not nearly as tired as when he was using the John Deere and backing up.
DeleteAll the local driveway contractors do it backwards. It's a job for young necks.
ReplyDeleteYou did think to move the shovel, so good for you. 😊 And snow blowers always make for interesting pics.
I could have saved myself an hour by moving the dratted shovel before I shot. Yah. there is a saying about a woman telling her husband she can do everything he can do, only backwards in a skirt. Not me. I am not allowed to do anything but photograph his new baby.
DeleteI bet he has fun with that machine. Please do keep all of that snow up there with you. We've already got the high winds and devastating cold you so generously sent us.
ReplyDeleteHave fun with your techy Christmas present! Lucky you.
My house is situated in the same setting further up the Valley. Our plow schedule has improved somewhat.
ReplyDeletethe Township is doing better this year here, too. So Far. Early days.
DeleteThat is a nice toy! I could use it. It was cold putting garbage out this morning.
ReplyDeleteGee, I never thought about running the rubbish out in it. Hmm.
DeleteCoat and boots are a good idea. lol. Leave it to photographers!
ReplyDeleteGot it. Yes. The slippers spent the day being dried out.
DeleteI suspect your husband was hoping for a large enough snowfall so he could get outdoors with his new machine. I know my husband would feel the same as he did with his John Deere tractor.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, the year he gets this fine machine we have a green, almost, Christmas and the laneways don't freeze, so he is pulling up gravel if he does try. He was, I confess, a bit overcome at the depth of the fall we got. he said that if it had been any deeper, little red machine might not have got it. But we did get a dump. Mostly, if we get that much snow, it is dry and powdery. This was wet. Fine snowman snow.
ReplyDeleteOh wow! My son-in-law 'would go to town' with that one. He'd love it, especially now in Chicago. However, they wouldn't have a place to store it.
ReplyDelete