Dry And Hot

 It is dry and hot here.  And according to a map I saw today, it will get worse in July.  I mentioned previously that Maryland has pretty decent weather.  The Appalachian Mountains protect us from some of the worst heat surges of the midwest.  Our slight inward costal curvature and the Chesapeake Bay generally protects us from hurricanes.  Tornadoes were unheard of a decade ago, but my get smaller ones now (better small than large).

Locally, we get enough warmth from the South to escape heavy snowfall.  And we get enough ocean airflow to keep temperatures below 100F for more than a few days each Summer.

But there have been exceptions and sometimes they are serious.  And they come and go in a few years.  So I've experienced some of what many people are experiencing previously and now.  

My family moved to Maryland in 1963 and it was routinely snowy for about 5 years.  In Jan 1966 we had a real blizzard.  Snowed for 3 days, while drifts covering the back doors.  2' of snow actually (rare for here), but it "collected".  It was sort of scary to see snow up the the top of some doors.

Wouldn't you know, but that was the day Mom decided she had to give birth to her 4th child!  The neighborhood roads were impassible.  But a major road behind our yard was plowed.  It is slightly a curse being "the elder son".  I was expected (at 16) to keep up with Dad frantically shoveling a path from the garage to the plowed street behind us.  150'!  

But between he and I (I managed about 1/2 what he did) we cleared a path for him to drive Mom to a hospital.  And he basically told me "stay here and take care of the other kids".  Two days later, we had a new sister and Dad came home briefly to make sure we were OK.

We were.  There was food in the fridge, and I was a good Boy Scout, so I knew what to do to keep things going a few days.

And there was a hurricane that moved up the Chesapeake Bay in 1968 (1969?). It sank our 20' boat and Dad didn't have the desire to buy another 3rd hand boat and renovate it.  I didn't object.  Spending part of my Summer scraping off barnacles, siding, and repainting was not exactly how I wanted to spend my Summer vacation.  But we did have that hurricane and it wasn't a minor one.

When I moved here in 1986, the lawn had terrible soil.  The Summers were very hot for several years.  It was so bad, the soil just cracked apart into pieces the size of saucers.  It was brutal with weeks of no rain and many days in a row at or near 100F.  

I took advantage of the cracks to rake 50/50 topsoil/compost into the cracks those several years.  You have the opportunities you get to help things.  My lawn is healthier than my neighbors' these days.

And we are having a dry spell here.  One half an inch this month.  I know some people are getting less, but that doesn't help my lawn any.  But I see my neighbor's watering their lawns.  Grass in my area (fescue) naturally goes dormant in Summer.  And they don't water deeply enough.

So they encourage the grass roots to grow up to where the surface water is and then it needs more watering...  The way to help their grass survive is just to let it be and/or water it deeply once a month.

That's about it on the weather.  Some things you just wait out, somethings you let the grass go brown for a couple months, and some things you do have to deal with.  Like 2' of snow...

Good Things

Well, I was sitting at the computer and thinking about good things.

Like Motorcycle Man had disappeared for several months like an itch you only realized was gone well after the fact.  And who should appear as I was typing this?  Yeah, Motorcycle Man is back...

The computer stopped randomly restarting and I thought I had fixed something.  Guess what happened after I typed about Motorcycle Man?  

Well, at least I got Lori a spay appointment with the regular Vet.  Let's hope THAT works...

And, not to be indelicate (You get older and stop worrying about mentioning "problems", LOL), but I suddenly realized the 2 lumps on my head (impacted sebaceous glands) were gone!  Maybe not wearing a baseball hat all the time made a difference.  Whatever, I sure don't miss them.

You know how you see a flaotrer in an eye sometimes.  I had a bad one for a couple months.  It vanished last week.  Took days before I realized it was gone.

Now, I want some good luck on the computer.  Usually, half my comments to cat-blogs don't go through.  Lately, more do.  I want all, but I'll take what I can get.  To those of you I know (and who comment if I don't know you well), I keep trying...  At least I can read the blogs and enjoy the posts all the time.

Lori went out of heat Thursday and the initial call to the Vet said it would be Mid-March before they could do it.  I called again yesterday and got a Feb 21st appointment!

I'll take that vs Motorcycle Man anytime...  I'm on a roll!

Speaking of "on a roll", here are some snow pictures to use up...

The temp reached 64F today, LOL!

 

That Surprising Snow

The snowfall we had here the 1st full day of Spring was surprisingly fluffy and sticky.  In fact it never occurred to me that snow wouldn't just fall right down through 1" chicken wire.  But it did.

It collected on the top of my garden enclosure, and snow can be rather heavy.  It bent some of the top frame!

Yes, it is PVC tubing...

But I set metal electrical conduit pipe inside them for strength!

And they bent anyway!   Some people told me I was over-building again, using the metal pipe inside the PVC.  Maybe I should just leave it like that as an "object lesson". 

I tried to straighten one today and the PVC broke out of the attachment.

I'm going to have to think about what to to to fix it.  I really can't just leave it like that.  It looks like a built it shoddily...

Just what I needed; unnecessary work!  Like I don't have enough to do.

Bad Snow-Plowing

We usually see a snow plow come down our dead-end street 2 days after the snow ends.  The County admits (reasonably) that Cul De Sacs and Dead-End streets don't have the same traffic demands that more travelled streets do.  I accept that.

So I was surprised to see someone plowing my street Sunday morning right after the snow stopped falling.  But it wasn't a real snowplow.  It was a guy in a front-end loader.

Not the most efficient way to remove snow from streets, but anything was welcome.

He was working well, and even tried to dump the piles of snow in between yards at the property lines.  I was watching out the computer room window.  Unprepared to go rushing outside in the snow...

It suddenly struck me that his "in-between properties" pattern was going to cover the storm drains at the corners of my property!  Ack, it would create an ice dam under the pressure of the snowpile.  I yelled at him out of the window and pointed the both storm drains, but he couldn't hear what I was yelling over the noise of the diesel engine.   But he could tell I was yelling at him.  It went downhill from there...

So I slammed on a pair of shoes and went running outside to explain.  I guess he gets complaints from residents who say not to pile the snow on THEIR yards.  Because the first thing he screamed at me (yes "screamed") was that 6' off the road was really County property.  (well, yes, but only if they do a legal "taking" of it for sidewalks and such). 

But I pointed at the 2 storm drains and demanded he NOT pile snow THERE!  It happened once 20 years ago and the street in front of me was a ice rink for a week! 

I saw him talking to my neighbors shortly after I went back inside.  He probably told them I was a crazy person. 

Fortunately, he didn't pile snow on one storm drain because I had a trailer parked right next to it.  He came close to covering the storm drain that would have caused real problems, but didn't.   But he was about to when I ran out...

As annoyed as he was, and least he didn't cover the storm drain!

So he piled it up on my front lawn instead. 

Well, the snow had to go SOMEWHERE and at least snow does melt eventually... 

Post-Snow Post

Well, I sure am glad I have my snowblower!  After the 2010 storms, I finally bought one.  Buying one in the Spring, though, I had time to do some research and get a good price.  Granted, they were "last year's models".  But they don't change much.  Really, what can they do other than make the blades that throw the snow heated so snow doesn't stick?  And I expect that will be a while.

I read in an article that one can expect any future event to be 25% "more" than what one has experienced before.  So when it came to the abilty to handle deep snow, I took my deepest snow and added 25% to that depth.

Good thing I did, because this Toro 24' wide and 20" tall input was barely enough!!!  And in a couple of drifts in the driveway, I had to tilt it up slightly and make 2 passes.  And THAT was while the snow was still falling Saturday after lunch!

But it worked perfectly.  The snow was dry and powdery and went "up, up, up, and away"!  The swirling wind made me keep rotating the output chute right and left (and I DID get snow back at me a few times).  Five passes up and down the driveway had it nearly cleared.  

Sunday morning, I went out and blew off the 9" of snow that had fallen overnight (6") and the 3" that drifted in with the wind.  Each time took only 20 minutes!

And removing the snow before it started to freeze on the bottom really helped.  The snowblower gets down to about 1/4".  The sunlight gets through that little snow and hits the black asphalt which warms enough to melt the remaining snow above it.  The next day, it was all clear, like this...

If I had to shovel the snow by hand, it would have been 2 three hour efforts; maybe 3 efforts.

Aside from that, we are all doing fine here.  The cats have a small area to step outside on the deck.  It took a while to shovel 4' though the 3' snowdrift (and throwing the shoveled snow 4' over the side of the deck was some work.  But I know to pace myself and take rest breaks.  I extended the path out toward the end of the deck a few feet every few hours on Monday, and completed it Tuesday.

You may have noticed a box from Chewy in the top picture.  Naturally, we were running out of canned cat food just as the storm hit.  But a Saturday online order arrived here this afternoon while there were still 2 cans left.  Good timing. 

Well, I WOULD have just driven to the local PetSmart for some if needed.  The roads are clear "enough".  But it was nice to have 5 cases of food delivered to the garage door!

Sunday Snow Aftermath

I have lived in various parts of Maryland since 1963.  In the NE part til 1968, at Univ of MD  til 1973, and around Washington DC since then.

The worst single snowstorm I experienced in Maryland was in 1966 where is snowed for 4 days.  The accumulation was only 20", but the winds whipped up snowdrifts covering the ground floor windows.  And Mom was about to have a baby!  The neighborhood roads were not plowed.  Dad and I shoveled 20" of snow a car width wide for 150' to the main road behind the house.

And off Dad and Mom went by car seeking the local hospital (which had a maternity wing of course).  At 15 (I keep thinking 16 because it was 1966, but I wasn't really 16 until May), I was left behind to take care of my 2 younger siblings.  For 2 days.  It was quite an adventure...  It's a good thing I could cook.  And apparently, I would have made a good parent (if I do say so myself); peace and calm abounded!

7 Mothers delivered babies in Harford County that day.  The other 6 Mothers were brought to the county hospital by helicoptor.  Dad drove...  Determination and self-reliance (to a point) is a family habit.  And school was closed for a WEEK!

So that was a really serious snowstorm.  And there have been some bad storms since then, but mostly several close-together storms with recovery time between.

But this one was BAD.  I think it is now considered 2nd or 3rd worst in the Washington DC area (that 1966 one mentioned above slid north of DC so they don't count it here).

So here are some more pictures of THIS one...

The wind collected a lot of snow near the house on the deck.  It was 3' deep in the drift Saturday afternoon.

 And it got worse as the day went along.

The sunflower seed birdfeeder was standing tall.  I had cardinals, sparrows, juncos, titmice,  nuthatches, chicadees, purple finches, and goldfinches there at various times.  I could have done without the sparrows (they get i seeds and kick backwards, shoveling seeds out of the tray.  It is their successful "scratching the ground" habit, so I can't exactly blame them.  But they sure are unwelcome at a seed tray.

But then the outside unit of the heat pump failed overnight.  Probably because the sides got covered by snow preventing air from getting in.  I assume it shut itself down because of the lack of air flow.  I'm on "Heat2" right now.   That's less efficient than the usual heat pump process, but I don't know exactly what it is doing.  All I can tell (from the manual) is that it is not "emergency" heating (which would be like turning on an electric oven with the door open).  It will probably be more expensive, but not like I have much choice.  The repair company is busy with true failures and at least mine is keeping the house at normal temperatures (operating constantly).  There ARE priorities of repairs.

So the first thing I did Saturday morning was to dress up warm* and shovel the snow from around the sides of the heat pump.  That didn't get it started again.  When I looked inside, it was all full of snow.  I know it is SUPPOSED to "de-ice" itself when that happens.  So I tried some simple repairs.  I loosened the grid on the top to scoop out the accumulated snow inside.  NO GO!   I couldn't remove the grid because there is a heavy duty electrical cable stuck to it.

But I WAS able to lift up the opposite side and scoop most of the inside snow out.  That didn't get it going either.  So I poured bucket after bucket of VERY HOT water into it to melt the remaining snow. and ice around the working parts.  Well, those parts are exposed to rain all the time (water drains out the bottom), what harm can water do?  But that didn't get it started either.   I removed and replaced the outside unit circuit breaker.  No success there either.  I suppose some part has failed at the worst possible time (like there is ever a BEST possible time?) and I will have to call for service.

But I am still getting heat from the inside part of the equipment, so it is not an emergency.  I keep hoping to hear the outside unit suddenly come on though...

The snowdrift on the deck is probably about its highest. 

And the snow on the roof is slowly sliding off.  It should start to fall on the deck soon.  I have a specialty tool for pulling snow off the roof, but I have to get out on the deck to use it and that snow drift is too deep for me to even push through wearing my trout-fishing hip-high waders.

So I am just going to wait things out.  Which could get awkward.  The Weather Channel says it will get down to 8F tonight!  There isn't going to be any melting for a few days at least...

Did get to use the snowblower though.  More on that next post!

* Warm meant thermal underwear under heavy jeans, extra thick socks in the 16" rubber boots, thick flannel shirt, ski mask, insulated rubber gloves, AND a hat with ear flaps!  And of course a long insulated jacket you could explore the Arctic in...  I don't play around with cold windy weather.

Record Snowfall For Washington DC

Well, in SOME areas around here.  We came close in my town but DIDN'T break the record.  By only 2 inches.  I think (since the record was almost a century ago, that counts as SERIOUS SNOWFALL).

It started here at precisely 1 pm Friday (I was looking at the window, and one minute there were no snowflakes and then there were).  Sort of like looking at a digital clock as it changes minutes...

So it started.  At the time, I doubted it would be all the snow predicted.  Forecasters prefer to suggest the top range.  That way, people aren't so annoyed when it is less.  But if it is MORE snow, they get upset.  A forecaster explained that in a moment of honesty...

But the forecast nailed it to the inch in most places around here.  The Friday morning snowfall maps had a dividing line right through my town.  18" - 24" NW of me and 12-18" SE, so that put me on the 18" line.  We got 18"!

OK, before I forget, here are the starting pictures...

A pre-flurry not connected with the real storm left a trace of snow.   But since it remained, it meant that everything was cold enough for any new snow to stick. 

The yardstick in place so I could measure the snowfall...

 The accumulation by dark Friday...

It was serious by morning Saturday...

About 12" deep, but drifting from high winds (up to 45 MPH in my area, higher in others).

The snow that accumulated nearly a foot softly on the deck rails during Friday were whipped clean by the winds in the night.

I had temporarily installed an old sunflower seed birdfeeder Friday morning.  I forgot that the lower 3' of the pole were previously in the ground, so it was a bit higher than I expected.  And note that the open tray of the feeder is set opposite from the general wind direction.  Well, first, I didn't want the seeds to be blown out and second, I thought it would give the birds some protection from the forecast high winds.

I even kept the 8' stepladder on the deck so I could use it to refill the feeder.  It was barely high enough to reach the top of the feeder, but "barely high enough" is sufficient. 

I was still thinking it was going to be a lot of snow, but in a normal way.  Level and even after the wind spread it around after it stopped.

OOPS!!!  More tomorrow about how bad things got (and could have been worse).

Snowblowwer Snow That Wouldn't Melt

Well, I intend to write mostly about something else tonight, but I just stumbled across something on the Public Broadcasting System at dinner I really liked.  A show called "Classic Rewind" plays famous classical music set to film (like Disney's Fantasia" was classical music set to animation).  And apparently, it is a regular show but also available as an 8 DVD set of 135 pieces of music.  I plan to get it.  So I just wanted to mention that first.

OK, onward...  Before it gets too late, I wanted to mention a seeming violation of the laws of physics.  Seriously, ice melts in your drink too fast, right?  Well, I had the opposite problem.  I couldn't get snow to melt!

I happened after I FINALLY got to use my 3 year old snowblower for the first time March 5th (See?  This is already 10 days old).  But the point is that I used it, it worked pretty well, and I was done clearing the driveway and sidewalk.  But there was a slight problem.  Toward the end as the snowblower warmed up I suppose) the input area got packed with snow (so it was heavier than the snow on the ground) and the output chute got clogged with slush.  I had cleared it once, but when I was done, I didn't think about it much except to recognize that the snow in the snowblower would melt in the garage, so I placed an old towel under it to wick away the melting packed snow and let it evaporate.  Good plan.

Except the snow packed in the snowblower refused to melt!  The garage was at 40F degrees, so it should have melted.  Three days later, no apparent melt!  It was FIVE DAYS above freezing in the garage before the snow finally started to melt.  It was only 2 days ago that it finally all melted.

I wish I had taken pictures, but I had no reason to think it would be interesting at first, and after a few days I was just fixated on my annoyance that the snow in the blower wouldn't melt!

You can imagine it though.  Sort of like the "snowman who wouyldn't die"!

More Snow

I was caught off-guard Sunday to hear we were getting more snow the next day.  I really thought we were done with that here, and I hadn't paid attention to the forecast.  Then Sunday night, I saw that we were dead center in the storm-track and could expect to get 6-10"!

And sure enough, Monday morning it was snowing.  Not hard but steadily.  Worse, it had started as freezing rain, so we had a nice later of ice down first.  YUCK!

Well, at least it meant I would get a chance to use the snowblower.  You may recall that after the previous 8" snowstorm (which ended in the morning) I awoke to find that someone had snow-blowed my driveway for me.  I thought I knew who had.  I sure appreciated the neighborly gesture, but I was disappointed to not get to use mine for the first time after having it sit around for 3 years.  At least I did start it up and widen the driveway clearing by one pass on each side (and mostly hoping that the helpful neighbor would notice that I had a snowblower).

But while it was still snowing in the early afternoon Monday, I heard the likely good neighbor snowblowing his driveway, then a neighbor's, then another neighbor's, so I watched carefully.  Seriously, I wanted to use mine, but I was going to wait at least until it stopped snowing!

As soon as he came to the foot of my driveway, I ran down to the garage, pulled my snowblower to the garage door and opened it.  When he looked up, I smiled broadly and pointed to MY machine with a big "Ta-Da" gesture.  He laughed and came up to the garage and we talked for a while.  He admired my snowblower (and it is a good one - I did some careful research before choosing it). 

I thanked him very much for doing my driveway previously, of course.  He completely understood I was anxious to use my own for the first time.  We talked for a while.  Which was good, because I don't talk to my neighbors all that often.  It's not that I'm unfriendly, its more that I spend most of my time outside in the fenced backyard.  And I'm not good at standing around out by the street just "hanging out".  I'm more the "you need help, just knock on the door" kind of neighbor. 

It turns out he does things like snowblow neighbors' driveways because he's bored all the time.  As he said "I watch TV, fall asleep, wake up, watch TV, fall asleep".  Which may explain why he has so many "toys".  He has 2 cars, a boat, an ATV, a jet-ski, and probably other mechanical stuff I haven't seen.  In the Winter, he's trapped inside! 

While we were talking, another helpful neighbor came by (with a snow plow blade on an ATV) and decided I needed the snow at the end of the driveway shoved to the sides before I could say anything.  What had been light powdery snow became a 2' high block of ice...  We both waved at him so he came up and we all talked more for a while.

Well, they were both wearing heavy Winter coats and I was out there in my shirtsleeves, so eventually I had to admit I was freezing AND needed to get back to my lunch (if the cats hadn't already eaten it).  They both laughed and went along their helpful way.  It was nice to talk to them both though.

Later, just before dark, the snow stopped so I went out and used my snowblower for the first real time.  Wow, those things are great!  I have to admit that it was actually fun.  It really threw the snow well off onto the lawn, and with powered wheels, going back up the sloped driveway was a breeze.  6 passes and I was done.  But it is SO COLD that even in my garage, the snow packed around the augers in the front hasn't melted yet.

But funny story:  The snow surface all around my driveway is now MUDDY!  You see, my asphalt driveway is 27 years old and I've never been one to re-coat the driveway every few years (if things are functional, I don't bother with them much).  So grass as grown up through it in places.  I didn't realize that the growing grass was creating humps of soil on the top.  Things that happen very gradually escape notice.  So when I went along the driveway with the snowblower, it cheerfully scraped the humps of grassy soil right along with the snow.

For right now, I would be glad not to have enough more snow to need the snowblower again this season!

Snow Removal

A neighbor removed the snow from my driveway while I was still in bed Thursday, and I'm annoyed!  I think I know who did it, and he did my next-door neighbor's too.  He is across the street and he's the only person nearby I've seen using a snowblower (and this obviously wasn't shoveled).

Why am I annoyed?  Well, I don't mind a kind neighborly deed.  I wasn't feeling my property rights were violated.  It was even nice to have a nice clean driveway even though I wasn't planning to drive anywhere.  I didn't even hear him doing it.  Well, I might have heard and ignored the snowblower noise, assuming it was his own driveway.  I tend to ignore extraneous neighbor noises.

But I have my own snowblower.  I bought it in Spring 2011 after the three 12"+ storms of the previous Winter.  And I hadn't gotten a chance to use it yet.  We just didn't get any snow until Thursday worth using it.  It sat clutterring up my garage for 2 years until I finally moved it to the toolshed last Spring.

Wednesday, the forecast was for 4-8" of snow, so I wrestled the snowblower around to the garage, gassed it up, made sure it started, and waited with some anticipation of finally using it.  I watched the snow fall and accumulate Wednesday night.  So when I got up the next day and saw the cleared driveway, I was a bit taken aback!  We had gotten about 6" of snow.

Then it snowed more after lunch, then rained most of the midafternoon before changing to freezing rain.  Then, in early evening, it changed back to snow.  By the time I went to bed Thursday night, we had another 4" of snow.  Hurray!  Enough to snowblow!!!

I got up early today to make sure my neighbor hadn't cleared my driveway again.  I got dressed quickly and went out to use my own snowblower.  It started right up, and I had a blast using it.  It worked pretty well.  With all the rain and freezing rain that had fallen on the lunchtime snow and more snow in the evening hours, it was heavy wet snow!  Nearly slush!

Toward the end, the slushy snow froze in the discharge chute a couple of times and I had to clear the chute with a plastic plunger that came with the snowblower.  And at the street where a plow had pushed up a wall of slush 2' tall, the wheels slipped a bit.

When I later shoveled a path clear on the deck (for both myself and the cats), I found it nearly impossible to lift a whole shovelful of the stuff up and over the deck rails.  I think this was about the heaviest snow (by weight) I have ever encountered!  No wonder the snowblower struggled a bit on the driveway.

But it did handle the heavy snow well enough to assure me that regular snow will never be a problem for it.

Next time I talk to my neighbor, I'll ask if he cleared the driveway the first time.  If so, I will thank him very much for the kind act.  But I'll also tell him the story of waiting 3 years to use my own and we'll have a good laugh.  He's a genial person.

My snowblower is a good one.  I did a lot of research before I bought it.  It's a Troy-Bilt Storm 2620.  The number seems to mean 26" width and 20" high intake.  It it gas-powered (there are electrics), has powered wheels (because my driveway slopes up toward the house and there's no way I'm going to push a heavy non-powered piece of equipment up a slippery slope), separate controls for the blades and the wheels.  It even has a headlight.  But best of all, it has electric starting!  Not a battery, you plug a cord into an outlet, press a button, and then disconnect it.  I'm not 25 anymore; I appreciate all the powered help I can get, LOL!

I admire well-designed and user-friendly equipment...

So while I don't exactly hope for more snowstorms, it is sure nice to have something that will clear my 60' driveway in just 20 minutes.  If I had had to shovel that heavy snow manually, it would have taken a couple hours and I would have had to stop for a few minutes many many times and been utterly exhausted by the end.

Snow

Well, we are getting our 1st meaningful snowfall in the Washington DC area since 2011 (or maybe 2010 - winters get confusing because they cross over the New Year).  Anyway, after that seriously bad winter a few years ago when we had several snow storms over a foot deep, I bought a snowblower.  I haven't had an excuse to use it since, so last Spring I moved it into the storage shed in the back yard. 

I was caught by surprise by this snow.  I had stayed up all night Sunday so I only got up after dark Monday evening.  I live alone, I'm retired, and I've never done well with a 24 hour day.  So eventually it shifts around the dial so much that every couple of weeks I just stay up all night and all day to get back on schedule.

So I only found out about the snow forecast at 9 pm yesterday.  I sure didn't feel like going out to the storage shed in the cold and dark and getting the snowblower running to bring it to the garage.  And snow forecasts are often wildly wrong around here.  We are in a transition zone between Caribbean Highs and Canadian Lows.  A 6" snow forecast is just as likely to be 1" or 12" but seldom what is forecast.  Washington DC and all the local schools were shut down in December for what resulted in 2" of snow and then a 1/4" of freezing rain (but the roads stayed clear).  I saw a Weather Channel report once that said Washington DC was one of the trickiest places to forecast snowfall.  Its a combination of Jet Stream variability, the Appalachian Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay.  Baltimore to the north is snow country, Richmond to the south is rain country, and we are right in the middle!

I decided to wait til this afternoon to see how much snow we were really getting.  If I needed the snowblower, at least it would be daylight!  By 3 pm, we had about 3" of snow, and (unusual for this area) it was dry and powdery.  If it gets worse (not likely as it is supposed to stop about now), I can still drag out the snowblower.  But for 4" of dry powdery snow (we DO usually get heavy wet snow), I'm not going to bother.  Two neighbors who I know keep their snowblowers in their garages simply shoveled their driveways just before dark.

I think I will just use a shovel tomorrow.  But I also think that as soon as the weather improves a bit over the weekend, I will make sure the snowblower is working and move it into the garage for the rest of the winter...

Snow Memories

I was posting about the Mews reacting to a 4" snowfal, and it brought back memories of snows of year past.  Maryland had unusually cold and snowy weather in the late 60s. 

I was a Boy Scout in the 60's.  And every winter there was a camping expedition of multiple Boy Scout Troops, called "Operation Icicle" because it was held on the last weekend on January each year.  In 1965, it was the hardest ever.  There was 2 feet of snow on the ground and the actual temperature (F degree) got into negative territory.  Looking back, I can see it was a struggle for the Dads to make sure none of us froze to death.  At the time, it was the hardest few days of my young life.  But we sure learned a LOT about the importance of keeping dry. 

It wasn't like you could get your boots filled with snow, run into the house and Mom would take them off and give you hot cocoa...  You got cold THERE and you had to work through it.  Get into the tent and get into dry clothes.  Take the cold clothes to the fire that you had to attend constantly (at least we didn't have to chop down trees to do it (though we DID have to cut the trees into fire-sized logs). 

And we had to cook all our meals outside; on fires hot enough to keep a dozen people warm.  That's no way to cook.  But it was almost all seared meat.  I bet we kids were burning up 4,000 calories a day.  It was amazing.

We also had a horrible snowstorm in late January 1966.  Mom was pregnant and ready to give birth.  The snowstorm last 5 days!  The snow was 2 feet deep, but the winds had whipped banks of snow covering the first floor windows.  You couldn't see out.  But the baby decided it was time to see the outside world.  There was no way out through the street in front, but the "main road" behind us was plowed slightly.  200' away from the garage.  Dad tossed me the warmest coat and handed me one of the 2 snow shovels.  "We're digging to the main road: he said, "and we aren't stopping until we're there".

I understood why.  It took 3 hours of rather desperate digging, but we had enough of a path for Dad to drive Mom off to the nearest hospital.  I collapsed inside; Dad was still working on adrenalin.  I took care of the younger kids.  There were 7 babies born in Harford county that day.  The other 6 mothers were flown to hospitals by helicopter.

And then, in March 1966, we got another major snowstorm of near 2'.  This one was loose wind-driven snow and it filled in every spot as levelly as could be.  Dad and I shoveled our driveway.  I was exhausted.  Then he handed back a snowshovel and said "the Johnstons (elderly couple 3 houses away) needed their driveway cleared and don't ask to be paid, it's a Boy Scout Good Deed thing".

So I went and looked.  They had a sunken driveway with cinder block walls from the street to the garage.  5 feet deep at the street, 2 feet deep at the top.   It took all day.  And I could barely move near the top end.  Throwing the snow to the top of the driveway wall wasn't enough, because it simply got too high to toss the driveway snow on.  I had to shovel it off the top of the wall too just to make room for more driveway snow.

I think I came close to a heart attack at 16 .  My heart was pounding like I couldn't believe.  But I couldn't go home and say "I gave up".  So I finished it.  Mrs. Johnston gave me a cup of cocoa.  I wish it had been something stronger, but I was only 16 AND a Boy Scout. 

But their driveway was clear of snow.  And I gad done my Good Deed for the day.  I slept deeply that night.  And hoping no more Good Deeds came my way for several days.

I survived all those snowy events (obviously)...  But I don't mind saying that, to this day, I cringe when there is a lot of snow in the forecast.  I learned to hate the stuff.  But old habits die hard.  When I moved to my house 27 years ago, and elderly lady moved next door.  The first heavy snowfall, I shoveled my driveway and then I looked at hers and I just had to go shovel hers too.  Once a Boy Scout, always a Boy Scout;  I got a quart of homemade chicken soup in return.  It was the worst chicken soup I ever ate in my life.

But I sure thanked her for it...

Getting Stuff Done

I try to do something useful around the house or yard every day.  I don't mean routine house duties like daily/weekly cooking, cleaning, laundry.  More like some specific project, and it doesn't have to be major; like cleaning out a whole closet, washing all the windows, organizing the basement workbench, inventorying my garden seeds to order replacements, weeding a section of the flowerbeds, etc.

Being retired tempts one into an "I'll do it tomorrow" attitude, and I found myself slipping into that 2 years ago.  And I will admit then when I get a really major thing done, I may take the rest of the week off (like when I had a new roof put on one week and new siding the next week).

A good example is when I collected stem cuttings of my butterfly bush, my Catnip plant, and a Wave Petunia last month.  Most of them are growing and I will have some great replacement plants this Spring.

So I was pleased to get projects done yesterday and today.

Yesterday, I managed my new seed order.  I have a system for storing seeds.  Years ago, I obtained plastic vials to store seeds in.  I drilled holes in a piece of plywood to hold them, and wrote numbers on the vials with a marker.  A sheet of paper identifies all the vials by number, seed, and year.  I keep the tray of vials in a basement refrigerator (along with bulk foods and beer).  So, yesterday, I took out the tray, added the new seeds to empty vials, and updated my list.  I nearly lost my list one year, so now I print three copies.  One goes in the seed tray, one in a looseleaf garden journal, and one in the index card box that has my planting/transplanting schedule by weeks from last frost date.

Today, I heard a weather report that suggested we would be getting 3-6" of snow tomorrow.  Three Winters ago, we had 3 major snowstorms adding up to almost 4'.  That Spring, I bought a good snowblower (on sale cheaper then).  I assembled it, added gas/oil and tested it.  It ran well.  Then it sat.  Never got any snow worth even removing since.  But I left the little bit of gas in there...

So I was doubtful it would run today.  I had to re-read the manual, added new gas, checked the oil, etc.  It took a few tries, but it started.  I ran it 5 minutes to make sure it was working well, turned it off, let it cool down, and set it in the garage ready for use.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...  I'm ready (so I bet it doesn't snow, LOL!).  But it was a good satisfying project for the day.

Tomorrow, the project is all errands.  New fish for the aquarium, a few hardware supplies, pick up shortened pants from a tailor, bring unliked catfood to a donation center, etc.  Friday will be a recycling day.  I have 300 pounds of used kitty litter, boxes and newspapers, uncompostable trash, and bags of plastic.

I figure that getting one useful thing done each day adds up, and I intend to make this a productive year!

Snowblower

My purchase of a fancy snowblower in October has been paying off well!  Here around Washington DC, we have had three 1" snowfalls so far.  We barely missing some serious snowfalls!  I take all the credit for that.

The snow demons KNOW I now have a serious snowblower and they avoid the area just to spite my desire to try it out...

It's like when I watch a local sports team.  If I watch, they lose.  If I don't watch, they win.  If they are winning and I turn on the game in the middle, they immediately fall apart and lose.

So my ownership of the snowblower should provide assurance to the rest of the DC area.

Cash donations from grateful local residents are encouraged...

UPDATE:  I just heard that 71% of the US is covered with snow.  Consider THAT you people who deny climate change...  The only State free of it is Florida and their usual crops are dying.

Snowblower

I have a fully working snow blower!  Hurray!  Of course, it wasn't just THAT easy...  I couldn't just order it, pick it up, bring it home and start it up.  It should have been, but NO...

I had ordered a Troy-Bilt Storm 2620.  That basically means it clears a 26" path and has a 20" intake scoop.  It has a 208 cc gas engine.  It's a 2 stage model, which means it is also self-propelled (single stage means you have to push it yourself) because with a sloped driveway, pushing uphill on a snowy surface didn't seem like a safe idea.

I was originally going to order it direct from the factory (Troy-Bilt) because it was $100 cheaper and free shipping.  But then I noticed in the fine print that the item would be shipped freight and I would be responsible for unloading it (or arranging and paying for secondary local delivery). And that the box was a dead weight 200+ pounds, I wasn't thrilled with the idea.  200+ pounds, 5' height off the back of the truck...  No.

The local retailer is Lowe's, so I went to visit.  First, I wanted to examine the dispersal chute that some reviewers had complained about.  Second, their website offered free in-store pickup (it was a special order, not regular stock).

When I got there, the only Troy-Bilt displayed was a different series entirely, was 15' up in the air, and I couldn't check out the chute.  But the desk clerk said that if I ordered it through the store and not the website, it was the same price, plus they would fully assemble the machine.  So I ordered it at the store (prepaid of course - which did not turn out to be a problem of any sort).

They would call me when it was ready for pickup.

So they called a week later.  Well, they called but it was their computer message machine trying to talk to my answering machine and the results were garbled.  2 days later, I got a call from a real person, saying the assembled snow blower was ready for pickup.  I visited the next day.  It took the service desk 10 minutes to get a clerk up front.  Off he went to retrieve my assembled snow blower...

20 full minutes later, he wheeled a cart out.  With a sealed box on it...  That box was fastened so solidly that it looked like tornado testing equipment!  I pointed out that it was supposed to be assembled.  The clerk said there were just 2 braces to attach.  I looked at the picture on the box and saw cables, adjustment braces, a chute control rod, etc. 

I looked at it for a moment and decided it was going to take 30 minutes just to take the box apart, so even if "assembly" was only screwing one knob onto a control lever, it wasn't worth it.  Besides, if I assembled any meaningful part (and it appeared I would), I would be blamed if it didn't operate properly.

I told them to take it back and assemble it fully.

2 days later, they called again and said it was fully assembled and ready to go.  I got there and it was!  I checked for any unconnected cables or loose bolts.  They loaded it onto my trailer and I got it home safely.  No problem getting it off the trailer either.  I have ramp boards.  So the snow blower was sitting there in my garage.

Naturally, I wanted to make sure it was operating.  So I opened the owner's manual package and there was an assembly instruction guide.  I checked every step of it to see if they had done it properly.

They hadn't...  I was not terribly surprised!  The first thing I found wrong was the dispersal chute control.  The chute is supposed to swing from full left to full right via a joystick on the handle bars.  I went left just fine.  But it only returned as far as straight forward.  I fussed with it to see if it was just sticky.  Nope, it stopped solid at straight forward.

So I looked at the control to see how it worked.  The handlebar joystick turns a rod that goes to the chute and a gear changes that to rotary motion.  There is a cotter pin connection, and the rod can be "pinned" in half turn rotations.  Don't worry about that, it just means that the rod can be "pinned" in the wrong position.  The assembly guide did not specify exactly how to do it correctly, but it was strictly mechanical, so I figured it out easily enough.

After unpinning it, I moved the chute straight forward manually and repinned the control rod.  It worked perfectly!  Full left to full right.  Yay!

I couldn't find anything else in the basic instruction guide that seemed wrong, but I did look the machine all over for loose bolts and such.  When I looked at the skid plates, something looked odd.  The skid plates are metal bars that keep the bottom of the snowblower scoop just above the driveway surface so that the scoop doesn't catch every driveway crack or get worn off (as the blade of a snow shovel has a reinforcement bar along the front edge).

The skid plate is at the bottom...

So the skid plates were above the surface!  They can't "skid" if they aren't touching the driveway.  I went searching through the actual user's manual to find out about that.  The manual said that the skid plates are factory adjusted upward for shipping and they should be adjusted to the desired height before us.  Well Lowe's hadn't done THAT either.  Surprise surprise...

Loosening the bolts holding the skid plates was a real chore.  They must have been put on with an air compressor wrench.  Like the way that car tire lug nuts are put on so tightly it take Goliath to loosen them if you have a flat.  (BTW, I make the car shop put on my lug nuts with hand tools, not the air wrench)

I tried a regular crescent wrench and could not loosen them.  I resorted to pounding the wrench with a deadblow hammer.  I succeeded only in slightly rounding the nut.  I pulled out my socket set (and recalled one reviewer mentioning he had broken a 3/8 inch socket drive doing just that).  My 1/2 inch drive doesn't have a socket small enough, so I had to use my own 3/8 inch drive.  It took a lot of effort, but the bolts finally came loose.

I figured the scoop didn't need very MUCH clearance, so I placed a 1/4 inch board under the scoop and lowered the skid plates down to the garage floor.  When I tightened them back up, all looked good.

Then it was time to start the machine for a test.  Well, I sure didn't want to be snowed in and discover it didn't work!  I was a bit nervous about doing it correctly.  There's a key, there's a choke, there's a throttle, there's a primer, there is an electric cord to connect to the starter (it has both electric and pull-cord start), and a starter button.  Then, when it starts, you have to adjust the choke, turn down the throttle, and disconnect the electrical starter cord.
OK, other than the electric starting cord, that's the same process as starting my riding lawn mower.  But I've been doing that for years and know where everything is.  Well, without the priming and without turning the key. Anyway, I steeled myself to begin the process.

I plugged in the snow blower.  Moved the throttle to start.  Opened the choke fully.  Pushed the primer 3X ("there's no place like home, there's no place like home" - LOL!) and pressed the starter button.  It felt like a NASA countdown!

No where in the instructions do they tell you to RELEASE the starter button immediately...  So while I was listening for the sound of the engine, I missed hearing a grinding sound of the starter still be forced to turn over.  Maybe 5 seconds of that before I released it.  No damage I hope...

The engine was running, I turned off the choke dial, I adjusted the throttle lower, and disconnected the electrical cord.  It runs smoothly and purrs like a kitten.  I let it run a full minute while I tried out the augers ("the spinny things that throw the snow"), the forward gears, and the reverse gears.

Now all I need is some snow...

A Snow Blower!

I finally bought one after 3 12+ snowfalls last Winter, I gave up shoveling and paid teenagers to do it at high cost.  I can't do it anymore.  I'm 60...

I researched all the various brands and sizes carefully.   There was a Consumer Reports article last year, and reviews from many owners at various sites.

I was between Troy-Bilt and Craftsman (Sears).  But a lot of people recently complained that the Craftsman  changed from being built by Troy-Bilt, and the new ones had crappy motors from China that the Sears repair people called "junk' .  So I went direct for Troy-Bilt.

I have never had a Troy-Bilt machine that wasn't perfect.  And for the money, their machines are great.  So I have a Troy-Bilt Storm 2620 snow blower on order.  It should arrive in a week fully assembled from the local Lowe's store...

I can't wait for snow this Winter!  Pictures when it arrives...  More when I get to use it...

Feeding the Birds

Well, I sure didn't want to go outside and drag a stepladdder and a bucket of sunflower seeds to the birdfeeder today.  I had filled it before the last snowstorm, but I noticed that the birds seemed to be pushing into the feeder hard to get any seeds.

So out I went yesterday.  The snow is still 2' deep, and dragging a stepladder (and setting it up in the snow) is a pain.  Think about it.  Just to spread the ladder legs means holding it above the snow while you do that.  Even fiberglass ladders are heavy when you have to hold them up with one hand and open them with the other!

I have a routine for this.  I use a cleaned kitty-litter bucket to carry the seeds (it's plastic, has a handle, and fits inside the trash barrel I use to store the seeds).  The stepladder hangs on a rack on the side of the deck.  I fill the bucket to a premarked depth, bring it outside, set it down, lift the stepladder from the hanger, and carry both to the feeder. 

Once there, I climb the stepladder, unlatch the top of the feeder, set the top on the top od the ladder, climb down, pick up the seed bucket, pour the seeds into the top of the feeder, drop the bucket, put the top of the feeder back on, latch it, and carry the ladder and bucket back to the basement.

I sure wish I had a bird-feeder pole that I could just lower, fill, and raise!  I love having 10 pairs of cardinals and many finches, other birds, etc, but it gets hardest when they need the seeds the most.  And I ain't getting any younger!

I considered putting on my chest-waders, but that is really quite an effort.  I think I'll buy some hip-waders.  Those are easier to get into and they would be good for work in the ponds.

Sorry not to have taken any pictures.  I had feeding the birds on my mind, not camera work... 

But it sure was nice seeing the birds mobbing the birdfeeder.  Feeding them now in the hardest time means seeing more of them the rest of the year!

But here are previous pictures to show the activity...

MORE SNOW!

I'm getting pretty tired of the snow.  Hard to find complete data by storm (which seems odd) but we had about 18" here Dec 20th, 20" Feb 6th, 10" Feb 10th, and a total of about 55" total (some minor snowfalls along the way)...

55" of snow in Southern Maryland?  That just bizarre.  And there is more forecast for Mon 15th.  That's only the middle of Feb!  We have had bad snowstorms in March on occasion...

After the December snowstorm, I finally decided to buy a snow blower.  Right, all the local stores were sold out for the year and had no plans to restock.  I looked online, but the manufacturers wanted another $350 just to ship one!  I'll have to wait for next November, and believe me, I'll be there the day they arrive.

I've been lucky this year in that a neighbor teen is looking for money and willing to shovel my 65' driveway for about $10 per 6".  He is neither fast nor skilled (I could shovel it in half the time without over-exerting myself), but that is up to him.  I offered suggestions the first time, but he just wanted to do it his way.  He is willing to do the work, so I am grateful...

The official snowfall isn't the same as the amount to be shoveled from the driveway.  Especially this last snowfall.  We got an official 10", but the accumulated snow is 30" deep and my nice cleaned driveway was just a tub waiting to be filled by the blowing snow.  The new driveway depth was 18"!

I decided I had to shovel my own driveway at least once this year, so I got at it just as the snow was tapering off.  The neighbor has to do his own first, and the last time, it took him 2 days to finish mine.  I'm not ungrateful, but I needed to do some shopping (food, beer, printer ink, cat food, etc).  I had done about 1/4 on the driveway when my adult neighbor with his snowblower came up and started work.  YAY!  I had been SO jealous watching him do his driveway in 15 minutes in each of the snowstorms.  He just started right up the driveway.  I've only talked to him a couple times casually, so I didn't think I could ask to borrow it.

So he did the main part and I kept busy cleaning up the edges and leftovers.  He stopped and said he was sorry he hadn't offered to help before.  Sorry?  I was thrilled he was willing to help even once.  He didn't have to at all.  Most of this neighborhood is renters, so it isn't "close-knit and cooperative".  I've been here 26 years, and everybody just goes away after a couple years.  He moved here 2 years ago, and he says he plans to stick around for a decade.  That could work out well.  We both like to fish, I noticed he tried to grow a tomato last Summer, and he has mentioned that he hunts deer. He likes cats too (has 2 and mourned the loss of one the same week I lost Skeeter).

Anyway, more snow pictures:





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SNOW!!

Yikes!  I knew they were forecasting "substantial snow, but I didn't realize HOW much we were going to get until it started yesterday morning.  Fortunately, I was able to rush out and pick up some staples (beer, wine, fruit, veggies).  And I tried to find anyplace selling a snowblower.  HA-HA-HA!  They sold out in December and won't being restocking this season.

When the forecasters started to talk about "record snowfall" (I'm near Washington, DC) of possibly 30", I cringed!  The last thing I want to do is shovel over 2' of snow.  I injured my right hand a few days ago, and the idea of pushing a shovel and lifting heavy snow with it is daunting.  And my driveway is 65' long.  Plus the 4' high wall of frozen slush down at the end where the plows have pushed it...

I haven't gone out with a yardstick, but out in the level backyard, the 2'high flower cages are covered.  The driveway appears to have a 3' high mound covering 1/3 of it.  The deck is about the same.  Both are due to peculiar anomalies of wind patterns around the house and snow blowing off the roof.  

I may be in the house for the better part of a week.  Fortunately, I don't suffer from "cabin fever", and I have lots of cooked meals stored in the freezer.

And it is STILL snowing very hard!

The birds are doing OK.  I filled my 2 feeders as the snow started.  They are flocking around...

 

And the cats are sure loving watching them all!  Alya jumps up to the high bathroom windowsill where she has a great view (and through which I took most of these pictures).  Iza is not so lucky because she can't jump that high.

I have a bunch of cardinals.  I counted 10 males at one time, and there are many various female cardinals, juncos, nuthatches, sparrows, doves, titmouses, etc.  Black oil sunflower seed is very popular with many birds.

 

I also have a thistle feeder for the finches and some other smaller birds.  It's hard to get a picture of that today because the snow piled up against the deck door would fall inside.  But here are three little birds waiting their turn to perch and feed...

This snow is very wet, sticky, and heavy.  Various evergreen shrubs are crushed right to the ground!

 

That 2nd one was above the fence 2 days ago!  I had to cut away some broken branches after the December storm.  I expect to have to do more pruning after this one.  That's a shame; I had them well-shaped.

And you notice the 3 cages at the bottom of that 2nd pic?  Those are 2' tall.  They are covered now.

I like this pic of my compost tumbler.  It sits about 30" above ground and there appears to be 2' of snow sticking on top of it.  If the snow won't fall off a curved plastic top, it's STICKY!

 

Here are some more pics of the birds...  I think the middle 2 pics are good candidates for Holiday Cards next December!  But there might be better ones tomorrow when the sun is out and the birds are still collecting around the feeder.

 

I think I will mention something that I am very grateful for, that I did not really appreciate when I first moved here 24 years ago.  We have underground electrical lines!  Somewhere around 300-400 hundred thousand homes in the Washington DC region are with electrical power.  I almost never lose power (only when a switching station is struck by lightning) and it almost all comes back on within minutes.

And, being retired, I don't have to go anywhere for days.  From the sound of things, even by Monday, it is going to be very difficult to get around here.  Lots of people are going to have to get to work Monday.  I'm glad I'm not among them.

Oh, before I post this, I wanted to mention why this was such an evil snowstorm.  It started coming at us from the Northeast.  Then, as it passed over us, it looped around and hit us again from the southeast.  Finally, as the storm tracked east again, we got hit a 3rd time!  It did 3 loops with Maryland in the center each time!

Oh, BTW, do you know what happens the moment the camera "Card Full" message shows?   8 Male cardinals all sit close together in the same shrub!    LOL!