The Blizzard of Nod

The folk who live in Nod are NOT sissies...

...at least not when it comes to winter.

Those of us who grew up here, have seen snow....LOTS of snow and, in more recent years, ice...and, every year, brutal, take-your-breath-away cold.  What is seen as a crippling storm in other parts of the country is, well, just another day in Nod.  Schools and businesses rarely close due to inclement weather, and while winter storm and snow advisories are an every-other-day event, "blizzard" warnings are somewhat rare because, well, we are NOT sissies and it takes something major to be classified as a "blizzard" here (The 18" of snow we got the Tuesday before last, for example, was not considered a blizzard since the wind gusts were only 20 mph and you could technically still see at least 10 feet in front of your nose.)  In fact, the last time a blizzard warning was issued for Nod was 10 years ago.

So, when they issue a blizzard warning, we take it seriously, and we know it's gonna get ugly.  And it DID get ugly this weekend. 

First, of course, we were glazed over with ice....just to make sure neither man, nor beast nor vehicle would be able to maneuver in a straight line.

Then the snow came.... Not like we needed any more considering we had already gotten over 40" this month.

But came it did regardless.

And it continued to come....

A bit of panic actually overtook both me and Snowdog Sunday morning when I could not open either door to let him out to do his "thing."

The snow eased up late yesterday afternoon.  But then the winds came....55-60 mph winds. (By the way, if any of you find my "Happy Holidays" sign that was by my front door, I will pay postage to have it shipped back to me. Given the direction of the winds, I would think it should be somewhere near Pennsylvania.)

The teeny, tiny, house in Nod shook and groaned in protest, and for a while there, I thought we might be air-borne.

  

Then the cold came... This-hurts-to-breathe kind of cold.

This morning  finally came and I was surprised that I was not any where near Oz or the Emerald City. 

I was still here in Nod....and, unfortunately, so was the snow.

(There's a fireplace under there someplace....)

But, we weathered another storm.  Others who were not so fortunate will try to pick up the pieces the best they can.

Little Crow's carport collapsed:

(His truck was trashed....an estimated $12,000+ worth of damage.)

And, despite efforts to keep it clear, the roof on my niece's barn caved in:

(Poor cows....)

Although we are up to our necks in snow... 

(There's another standing deer under there somewhere....makes you feel sorry for the real ones.)

....we will carry on and shovel out, because more snow is coming tomorrow.

And Snowdog's mountain continues to grow.

Monday Mutterings

Some people post about "Motivational Mondays..."

Some have "Monday Musings..."

Nah Uh....

Not here....

Here we have Monday Mutterings..

(They don't call me The Cranky Crow for nothing.)

Anyways....on to the "mutterings."

I have really had the urge to pick up my hook and start hooking again, even at the risk of shocking some people with two unthinkable events (resuming blogging AND hooking) in less than as many months.  So, today I unearthed my hooking frame, complete with the last project I was working on still (somewhat) on the frame.  (Has it actually been YEARS???)

But, I was at a complete loss as to where the wool went that I started with.

Hence, Muttering Number 1.

After wasting several hours to no avail in the rogue wool department, I convinced myself to move on. (That one multiple personality of mine sometimes wins out.)  In the process of organizing my someday-to-be-playroom, I had actually found that I had the floss and linen and other "necessaries" to complete a few stitching projects I had had plans for prior to WWR, and had started on them a week or so ago. (Remember the heart box and the squirrel problem??)

So, in the absence of wool, I decided to finish them up.

Yeah, I kind of goobered the finish by clipping too closely in one spot near the bottom.

Hence, Muttering Number 2.

So, on to Muttering Number 3:

I made this sweet little needle keep to go with the goobered box.

Because I have a kitten who is a floss thief, a ribbon addict, and overall kleptomaniac who steals anything and everything that is not glued down (and sometimes even that which is glued down), I tucked the wee little keep safely in my project box, under some patterns, scissors, and such with the intention of giving it one final pressing in them morning.  Or safely so I thought. 

I woke up to Monday and to Gone Girl...GONE.
(It is still MIA, but at least I took a photo so I KNOW I wasn't imagining that I made it.)

:-( 

  

So, muttering all the while, I made cookies.

(A LOT of cookies...with a LOT of chips...5 different kinds of chips in fact....)

I figured I can't mutter with my mouth full.

(I want to thank everyone who has stopped by to visit after my long, unexcused, absence, and for some of the sweetest comments ever.  Unfortunately, a few of you are "no-reply bloggers" or have blogs I cannot access, and therefore I cannot respond to you personally.  But to Winnie who asked if I really do like crows, yes...I ADORE them.  I have a "pet" crow of sorts.... I feed him when I can manage the snow and he comes to sit on the pine tree by the end of the drive and caws to me. I always know it's him...even when he brings a friend or two.  I have named him Poe LOL.) 

From My Heart to Yours

I hope the day has been good to you and your hearts are full.

Rest in Piece(s)

Between bouts of -50 to -60 degree windchills, and a bit of freezing rain, it has been snowing here in Nod....

  Snowing a LOT. 

 We had 8" this past Tuesday, another 8+" Thursday, 7-10" today, and an even more "major" storm coming our way tomorrow night with significantly "more" accumulations.  (That's all the farther I looked folks....someone told me, though, there is another one coming later in the week as well...)

My social director  Papa Crow has been in Quebec for the better part of a week now, and although I got out for a bit yesterday, I have been mostly left to my own devices here in the Twilight Zone of Never Never Land (I mean really....I am excited if I see a snowplow go past as it is the ONLY traffic here in Nod these days...and that is a big "if" by the way.)

Except Thursday....in the midst of the storm, a UPS truck stopped in the middle (at least I THINK it was the middle...who knows? It wasn't plowed) of the road outside our house...and honked his horn....

...and HONKED his horn.

After realizing there was, in fact, life in Nod, it slowly dawned on me that this UPS driver was attempting to get my attention.  So, while he continues to HONK his horn, I bundle up.... After all, I wasn't going out there in my pajamas.

After donning my 6 layers of outerwear, I stepped out on the front porch...and froze.

(Not literally, mind you....that hadn't gotten to me quite yet....but figuratively....)

Because you see, with Papa Crow gone, no one had shoveled the walk or plowed the driveway.

The driveway that is made of stamped concrete and that gets incredibly slippery even WITHOUT 2" of ice and 8" of snow.

And because,  just over a year ago, I took a tumble down our staircase and broke my tibia and tore my ACL and VMO (another post, another time), leading to a very unstable knee. 

And because,  my back was deciding whether it wanted to be completely "out" or just partially out, yet still painfully bothersome (yet another post,  yet another time).  In any event, both knees began to quiver...and not from the subartic temperature.

But the UPS man continued to honk.

So, out to the road I ventured slipped and slid....

And the UPS man continued to honk.

(You can't see that I am TRYING to get there? You can't, like, maybe pretend to be a gentleman and meet me halfway????)

I did make it there (and back, thankfully) unscathed.  However, I was not of a sunny disposition when I got there....if you get my "drift" (yes, pun intended).

He said they were working under "EC" ("Emergency Conditions") and, therefore, did not want to chance our driveway. 

Really???

And you know what the real kicker is???

The package wasn't even FOR me.

GAH!!!

Like I said, rest in piece(s)......

(Ok...just kidding....this is NOT really the UPS guy's head.... It's a project I have been meaning to do since several Halloweens ago.... Yeah, you could say I'm a bit stir crazy about now.  ;-) )