Posts Tagged ‘images’
Snow Scene
The April-like snow storm we enjoyed over the past weekend has left things an icy mess around here. Yesterday, the temperature climbed up around the freezing mark, and there was enough sunshine to do some melting on the south-facing side of the house, but to the north, not so much. The driveway is a bit of a skating rink, with some spots of drifted snow mixed in. The snowman we made has already fallen over, pushed down by gale-force winds that followed the storm. I don’t think we’ll get Cyndie’s scarf back until spring.
When I got home yesterday afternoon, I could hear water running from the roof-melt, but I couldn’t see where it was going. There is so much ice built up around the place, that I don’t know how the runoff is draining. Then I noticed the concrete block wall at the bottom of the stairs to the basement, in the garage, is showing signs of being saturated with water. There is a little puddle at the bottom. My fears are realized: the water can’t go anywhere with all the ice buildup, so it is soaking into the foundation. Nice.
I am choosing to dwell on a beautiful moment that I captured at a time when the rain had turned to snow for a bit, and was coming down thick. A couple of cardinals perched to give the scene a little accent. Enjoy.
Well Done
We had a good day yesterday, on the ranch. Cyndie and I were lounging in the recliners in the sunroom, contemplating a plan for our day, weighing many optional tasks we have in mind. We’ve been meaning to finish cutting a trail in the southwest corner of our woods, but leaning back in our chairs, it was almost too easy to save that work for another time. We set that one aside and put thought toward other errands.
Luckily, we are flexible in our planning, and the activity in the woods came up for second review and won our favor. It gave me my first opportunity to try out the chainsaw that Mary and Tim loaned me to allow me to have some experience from which to make a more informed purchasing decision. Mary, tell Tim it worked great for me! I think it is just the right size for our needs.
It was warm enough that we worked without jackets which helped to allow us to get a trail cleared just as the predicted afternoon winds started to pick up. The arctic blast was on its way. That allowed us to snug in and build a fire in the fireplace. I got creative and found a way to listen to the broadcast of the Gopher hockey game against North Dakota. This morning, the temperature is -2°F. We will probably work on indoor projects today.
I didn’t get any pictures of our work on the trail, but on the way up the hill to the house, I turned around and captured Cyndie walking up behind me. She got me back by pulling the camera out when I was celebrating a goal by the Minnesota hockey team.
Progress Continues
When I got home yesterday, the heavy equipment crew was just preparing to pull away from our driveway. I had a chance to introduce myself and deduce how satisfied they were with their day’s work. They mentioned, several times, being frustrated with part of it, because some of the ground was too frozen, and they ended up leaving some bigger chunks of soil than they wanted.
I was prepared to find the area looking “chunky,” but it wasn’t bad at all. It showed me they are pretty fastidious about doing the best possible job. That’s a trait I am happy to see in my service providers!
However, while they were pulling away in their trucks, I reached to open our mailbox at the end of the driveway, only to find the handle was missing! There was no way to open it. I had to go back to my car and get something to wedge in the side of the door. Upon closer inspection, there is evidence that something made contact with the mailbox, and that must have popped the plastic rivets that held the handle. I searched far and wide, but found no evidence of the missing handle. Tracks in the snow reveal their equipment was the likely cause. 
My evening project was then to fabricate a way for the mail deliverer to pull the door open. The quick fix was a piece of plastic line looped through the holes in the door and knotted. Problem solved. A small price to pay.
After that, I wandered over to the burning brush pile to enjoy the glow. The project is progressing nicely.
Relative Something 
