OK -- today is going to be just about snow! We had a massive snowstorm yesterday and went from Winter watch to Heavy snowfall to Blizzard warnings on the weather app. Oh my -- whatever did we do before we had the weather app? OH -- we looked out the window or went outside to check the conditions!
I was optimistic when I woke up and saw the snow, but after about one hour, I realized that the snow was coming down hard and fast, and there was NO way we were going to hit the roads. Heck -- it took hours and hours to shovel the driveway and unearth the car.
This was the scene out the front window in the morning. We couldn't see the end of the next street, which isn't that far away. After hearing reports of closed highways and cars/trucks/plows stuck in the snow, I wasn't budging from the house.
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| Blizzard conditions |
Instead, we all connected through our weekly Zoom sewing group and had a lot of fun! I went out and shoveled for a bit and then came back to join them, then off to shovel some more. It was too much to shovel at one time.
How much snow did we get? LOTS. This picture is of our driveway looking down from the window over the garage. There was snow on the window, which are the spots you see. That dark line on the left is the bottom of DH's car, and the dark mark that is pretty much in the middle of the picture? That was the mirror of my car. Completely buried!
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| An aerial view of our driveway with two cars in it |
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| The car is buried |
And funny how the snow drifted around the house. This is the snow that accumulated on the roof over the front step.
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| Snowdrift on the roof of the front step |
If I didn't get enough steps clearing the driveway, I went for a walk. Good grief -- that was a challenge, to say the least. I had to trail blaze a path through the forest, and the multi-purpose trail and some sidewalks were plowed, but that had been hours earlier and were a slippery, snow-covered mess. In total, I did 15.3 KM, and only a small part of that was an actual walk.
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| Trailblazing through the forest |
The snow was pretty deep through the forest, but hey -- it's all in the spirit of being a Canadian in winter!!
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| Deep snow through the forest |
Let's just say that there were two delighted girls. Well, they weren't happy because I didn't take them for a walk, but they played outside for hours, so they didn't need a walk.
Lexi had laid out there for a bit and had no issues with the snow covering her!
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| Snow-covered Lexi |
Then after I cleared some snow off the deck, she proceeded to sleep against a snowbank. What a silly girl!!! But her fur coat is so thick, I bet she didn't feel that cold snow at all.
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| Just hanging out in the snow |
And then we have menopausal Murphy. She doesn't have a lot of fur on her tummy, and this is her favorite snow pose.
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| Menopausal Murphy |
And after I shoveled the deck, she managed to find a stick and was happy. I might take them to the end of the street and back this morning. It won't be much, but at least they will get out for a walk. Not that they need it.
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| Murphy with a stick |
I don't even know how many times I went out to shovel - DH did help some. But what a job. It was one of those jobs where you could NOT contemplate the entire task. You just had to start and don't think about the enormity of the job. I had to laugh because, at one point, I shoveled and shoveled and shoveled, and it didn't look like I had removed any snow, and I was still in the same spot!!
And at the end, my driveway looked like this. At least one foot of snow on the street, and I have about a 6-inch clearance on my car - do the math! I wasn't going anywhere until the road was plowed. And if I did make it over this 30 feet of snow to the deep ruts that others had carved in the street, I wasn't going to make it anywhere. I don't know how many people spun out on the street and had to park their cars elsewhere and walk-in. There is a slight incline right at the curve in the street and this kills people every time.
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| The end of the shoveled driveway |
I had to laugh last night before going to bed. The driveways were shoveled to the street and no further - waiting for the plow to pass.
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| Driveways were shoveled, but the street was not cleared |
I'm in bed, and it's about 9:3,0, and I hear the plow pass. Oh my gosh -- what is he going to do with the excess snow? They usually pass around 1 AM, so this was early.
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| The first pass of the plow |
We don't really have a plow on our street; it's heavy equipment.
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| The snow-clearing equipment |
When it was all said and done, he left the five houses on the curve with a HUGE windrow of snow. This is about 10 feet wide, and at the peak, it was four feet high. We watched out the front window, and DH was furious. It was a bit excessive, to say the least. And we watched as he very carefully kept the other side of the street clean, with a minimal windrow. All he needed to do was take one or two more passes and move that excess to the opposite side of the street where there is NO driveway.
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| The windrow at the bottom of the driveway |
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| Hardly any excess snow on the opposite side of the street |
The neighbors started popping out of their houses to deal with the mess, so I decided I should as well, and then I wouldn't have to do it this morning.
OH MY -- that pile was HUGE. A bit daunting, to say the least, but one shovel full at a time. The neighborhood was outraged at what the plow had done. Don't worry -- I sent these pictures to the city!! I hope the others do as well. I get it that there was excessive snow, but to clear the opposite side and leave us with this? That's ridiculous.
I did NOT shovel the entire width of the driveway -- just enough for one vehicle to pass through. The young guy from next door was also out last night, and when he finished, he offered to help me finish. I said, "no, he didn't have to." But he insisted, and the last of the snow was quickly removed. Thanks, neighbor!!!
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| The escape tunnel |
Before going in, I took a picture of the curve. It's hard to tell in those photos, but that ridge of snow is about 4 feet high, and it's about 10 - 12 feet from the ends of the driveway. The three houses in the picture got hit badly, and the snow ridge starts about 12 feet from the end of their drives. The one guy was not happy and didn't even bother to shovel; he complained to the city as well. I know one of those houses may be for sale soon -- perhaps we should show any potential buyers this picture before they buy!
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| These houses got hit bad! |
And then there's the guy across the street from them -- he gets stuck every year in the snow. Why?? Because he's an idiot. Again -- was there a need to go out? Could they not evaluate the depth of the ruts and realize that they weren't going anywhere? Did he not learn from experience in previous years? When I walked past him, he was stuck in the street, and. I noticed later that he had managed to back up into his driveway and didn't go anywhere.
So the plan is to pack the car this morning and head out. There is less snow where we're going, and I can't wait to get on the road. I just have to laugh because usually, I'm not in the car, and the day we have the storm of the century, I need/want to go somewhere!
My wrist and left arm were a "bit" tired last night. No wonder after the snow that I shoveled. How many tons??? But I'm OK this morning! Thankfully, the snow was heavy, but there was water in the bottom layers. So best to get it dealt with yesterday than today.
On that note, I'm out of here!!!
Have a good day, and stay safe if you have to shovel!!
Ciao!!!
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