Damn That Groundhog!!!

Here we are,in the midst of yet another snowstorm! The snow had started to melt,and the paths made from the snow blower were getting wider and wider,showing grass...dead grass,but still grass. Now we are expected to get 8"-14" of the white stuff.

Damn that groundhog!!!


Some of you may be scratching your heads wondering what in the wide-wide- world of sports I'm talking about. What does a ground hog have to do with a snow storm?

Let me introduce you to Punxsutawney Phil. 

February 2,here in the States ( and Canada!),is known as Groundhog Day. In Punxsutawney PA,there is a big celebration before the dawn hours on this day,with music and food. At sunrise,Phil emerges from his home,which is actually located in Gobblers Knob ( I kid you not) which is just outside of Punxsutawney. If Phil sees his shadow,he goes back into his home,which means another 6 weeks of Winter - like weather . If he doesn't see his shadow,he stays out and it means Spring weather will come early.  If he stays out,they hold him aloft,for all to see,and apparently put a jaunty top hat on his head.

While Phil tends to be pretty much on the ball,the last two years he has slipped. Last year,he saw his shadow,which meant no early Spring. At this time last year,we had almost a whole a week of temps in the 80's. People went to the beach. In March in NH. Again,I kid you not. This year,we are suppose to have an early Spring,yet we have had more snow in the last month and half than we did all winter last year. So much for that.

 Phil has an easy life, however,and lives in the library during the rest of the year. He even has a wife! He also has his own handlers,a couple of gentlemen who plan this event every year.

This has been a tradition for over a 100 years. It originated from Celtic belief that if a hibernating animal comes out and sees it's shadow on Feb 2 (which was a Pagan holiday),it meant six more weeks of Winter;if they didn't see it,it meant an early Spring. German folks who immigrated to PA had their own beliefs.Clear skies on Feb 2 meant cold weather. Eventually this all morphed together,and now we have the present holiday.

Some of you may have seen the movie,"Groundhog Day," with Bill Murray which used Phil as part of it's story line.

Damn that groundhog!

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!!

Well,That Was A Lot Of Snow!

As most of you heard,we had a heck of snowstorm last Friday into Saturday.Most of the heavy snow occurred while we were sleeping. We did have some heavy winds,but we were fortunate,unlike our neighbors to the south. I don't believe that NH had any power outages,and if there were any,there were very few. It was much colder up here than say,down in MA or CT,so our snow was light and fluffy. They had heavier snow which added to their problems.

Zach's school cancelled for the day Friday,which was good. The roads were not good during the morning,and the weather really deteriorated shortly after 2:00 PM. People were advised to stay off the roads.The winds picked up,and the snow started coming in heavier bands. I am sure that we had times where we had 1'-2' of snow an hour. By the time  Saturday morning rolled around,we had close to 30" of snow.

I thought I would share some photos with you:

Here I caught a great moment. Zach had gone out early in the afternoon to try and get a start on the deck cleaning. Rick and I were in the doorway watching him,and Rick said to me,"Watch this...watch what he does." Rick proceeded to lift his shirt and press his chest against the window calling, "Zach...Oh Zach..." The minute Zach turned, I snapped this picture. He said,"What the heck...that is wrong!!!" Rick is always pulling pranks.

This photo was taken a while later,when the heavier bands started going through. You can see the difference between this photo and the photo above:

I liked the way the lights on the deck looked in the storm.It's impossible to see the snow falling,but it was really pretty:

When we woke up,it was still snowing heavily,and we had quite a bit of snow. We had a big old mound on the deck:

A big old snowdrift right outside our bedroom window:

Our neighbors shoveled out a bit before we did...you can see our driveway to the left of the picture is still snow filled:

A nice thing was that neighbors were helping neighbors. Our neighbor (who actually lives on another road) came by and plowed out Avon Lane for us. Our neighbor,Mike,who lives diagonally from us came over and helped Rick attack our driveway:

When Zach tried to shovel the deck off,he slipped and landed on his butt in the snow mound. Again, I was in the right place at the right time for the photo:

He was able to struggle to his feet and finish the job!!

The weather for the rest of the week is going to give us above normal temps,and we are already seeing the snow melt,thankfully.

Didn't the Groundhog say it was suppose to be an early Spring???

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!!

Here Comes Nemo!

We are here in the beginning throes for what could be the biggest snowstorm in years. It started snowing very early this AM,a light flurry.In the just the last couple of hours,it has started snowing heavier and at a more steady pace. You can't really see the snow coming down in the photo,but this is what things look like right now:

Last night we got a call from the Farmington school district saying there would be no school today,much to Zach's delight! It was a smart move. Rick had a physical at the VA Outpatient Center in Somersworth today,but he cancelled it, It wasn't until 2:30,and according to the weatherman,around 3:00 is when things are really going to start going downhill fast. Many businesses are closing early so their workers can get home before the bad stuff hits. No one wants a repeat of the Blizzard of '78-the worst of the storm hit during rush hour,and many motorists were stranded on highways,like in this photo from MA:

Thankfully,the worst is not suppose to hit until nighttime,when we could see as much as 3" of snow an hour,but one never knows in New England. There are blizzard alerts,as the wind may get up to 60 mph +. There could be bad coastal damage because they will get the brunt of the wind,since it's coming off the ocean,and the tide is going to be higher than usual. All told,there are areas that could see 3 ft of snow.

I was 10 when the Blizzard of 78 hit,and I remember missing a few days of school.In my mind,it was a whole week,but maybe not. The snowdrifts were TALL! My friend and I made all kinds of forts and tunnels in the snowdrifts. I told Rick if they were big enough I might have a childhood flash back and make some tunnels and forts just for fun and fresh air! :)

We are all set here,though. We have plenty of wood,food and water. We don't have to go anywhere. The Girls are cozy -Rick made sure they had extra food and water,as well as extra hay and wood shavings on the floor of their coop and in their nesting boxes. The snow blower is filled up and ready to go. If we lose power,we have a propane grill and a two burner to cook,plenty of water to flush the toilet,and the kerosene lamps are filled to the brim. Flashlights have batteries,and candles are on standby.

It's a good day to read "The Long Winter."

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet,where ever you are...and stay warm and safe!!!

Waiting And Wondering

Superstorm/Frankenstorm/Hurricane/Nor'easter/Hybrid Sandy is keeping us waiting and wondering.I have never seen a storm with so many different titles attached to it. No one is 100% sure of where it's going to hit. It could be around Maryland/DE,it could be NJ,it could be further north in NYC. Where she hits landfall all depends on how much rain and wind we get here in NH. She will hit landfall tomorrow around noon,according to our NH forecast,and they are basing our rain and wind on the current track,which is Sandy making landfall around Maryland/DE. Based on that,we are going to get some heavy bands of rain,with wind gusts of up to 60 MPH. They haven't said what the constant wind speed will be. However,the weather here will deteriorate after noon time tomorrow. Our coast,even though it's only 13 miles long,will surely take a beating in some way shape or form. Folks were taking their boats out of the water over the last couple of days.I hope we don't have any branches break and almost hit the house like with Irene last year.At least most of the trees in our yard have lost their leaves,so that helps.

Today I am going to bring in my skeletons,spiders,and my big pumpkin head. We have a few things in the yard that will need to be put in the garage so they don't fly around. Wood for the wood stove is going to be put on the porch. Our light for the chicken coop got put up yesterday,and the main door that we keep open during the nice,warm weather will be closed. We will fill the feed and water dispensers up and they will be all set.

Rick put boards up on our screen windows in the mud room. Partially because of the storm-Irene blow out some of our screens-but also because we want to use the room this winter. We do still need to put some flashing up between the house and the mudroom,because it leaks.

The worst part of it will be,of course,in those areas where it lands and the immediate surrounding areas,and we are keeping the folks in it's direct path in our thoughts. 

We will have to see what happens as the weather forecast is updated during the day.

If you are reading this and are in it's path,please stay safe.

I