Snowmagedon

It was not a good night -- Oh, I went to sleep early enough, fell asleep, and then BEEP BEEP BEEP woke me up. The lights are flashing outside, which means only one thing - the PLOW is passing. 

Actually, the plow had passed earlier and did a great job. They gave all the drives in the corner a huge berth, and that made me happy as I'm sure my low-clearance car could pass in the existing ruts. 

After the plow has passed the first time

So the beeping was the crews returning to deal with the corner mess. When I got to the window, they had already passed and left practically NOTHING at the end of my driveway. It was a TRUCK this time, not a big backhoe. It has a totally different style of clearing the snow, and for once, they passed in the opposite direction that they usually do, so NOTHING was deposited in my drive. Nothing in my neighbor's drive either. He was the one who called to complain about the mess in the street. 

Actually, the next-door neighbor nor the one beside them put much snow in the street. Were they told when the city came to clear up their mess? Not sure, but it was nice to see. 

However, I noticed THREE neighbors down the road (on the straight part) of the street were shoveling the windrow. I did not feel guilty - I've shoveled my share of windrows! 

Removing snow from the curve

I am NOT going to complain about that little bit at all. I wanted to get out and hug the driver! I think the backhoe could do the same job, but they are contracted and well --- time is money, so they clear the majority, make a mess for some, and leave! 

I was totally surprised when I woke up this morning. That snow was a foot deep in our driveway and on the sideways. It was NOT light and fluffy, nor was it heavy yet, but it required a shovel to shovel the entire thing and not a scoop or a snow shovel/pusher (the wider blade). As I walked around yesterday afternoon, I think there needs to be a class on shoveling snow. The number of people using the wrong tools just boggles my mind. 

For yesterday's snow, you needed a shovel, yet I saw several people (thankfully, not my neighbors) with those GIANT push scoops. By the time they maneuvered it through the snow and emptied it, I could have had half my drive shoveled. Well, you get the point. 

And as for those small electric snow blowers or snow shovels? Ditch them - or don't buy them. They are totally useless even on a good day. Again, I could shovel faster than using one of those. 

OK - so why am I surprised this morning? Despite shoveling for almost two hours (I took a break halfway through), I'm not the least bit stiff or sore this morning. How did that happen I can't imagine how much weight I lifted, and I don't shovel slowly! DH did help at one point. Even Miss Murphy was outside enjoying the snow. I brought her out, and she literally HOPPED like a rabbit to get around, but when she started wandering too far, she had to go in the house. She was in her glory!

I swear we have some good neighbors, and we have some, well, I won't go there. So one of our neighbors about 4 houses down is away. The neighbor on one side of him is an able-bodied person, and the person on the other side has a snowblower. Did anyone bother to clear a walkway on the sidewalk as a courtesy? Nope, so I took my shovel in the afternoon and shoveled a narrow width. It's not much, but better than trudging through the deep snow. 

A narrow path is better than deep snow

When I took the girls out later, most sidewalks and streets were clear and almost DRY. The sun came out, and it was a glorious day! But I'm sure glad we shoveled in the morning before the sun hit. When I went to shovel that narrow path, the snow was incredibly sticky and heavy! 

Now, this part of the sidewalk system is a disaster - ALWAYS. The plow had been by, but you could barely tell. It's terrible because this sidewalk is used by many kids going to and from school!

What a mess to walk on

And lots of trees got damaged by the heavy snow. I wonder if all of these will recover - a couple were hanging over the fence. 

The trees overhung the fence

So with all the wet snow, Miss Murphy slept in her bed, and the bed got wet. DH went out, and when I came upstairs, who was sleeping where she shouldn't be? She has zero qualms about jumping in that chair but has ZERO interest in the sofa. No idea why! I put a different blanket in her bed while the other dried in the sun, and she had to get out of the chair! All our chairs in the living room have strategically placed cushions to prevent this from happening. DH left the cushions off when he left. 

Ah, Murphy?????

It was a good day in Studio B. Was I as productive as possible? Well, I got a lot done, but nowhere near what I would like to have accomplished. Things take longer than planned, some stuff was brand new to me, and I have to say I did pretty well. There are big learning curves ahead, but also big learning curves behind! 

I was testing the setting to sew a knit t-shirt on the serger. OK -- this doesn't look right. 

This test does NOT look right

What made me happy was knowing right up front that this was not right, and I knew immediately how to fix it! That means I'm becoming way more comfortable with my serger. Well, I have three at the moment and used two of them yesterday. You have to love air-threading sergers! What was the issue with that seam? The stitch finger was in the R position, not N! 

Stitch finger in the wrong position

This is how a three-thread overlock should look on a knit! 

Now this is MUCH better

And look how high-tech I am. I'm serging the T-shirt and following the instructions on my iPad. I'm not a big instruction person, but you have to learn the basics to break them, and since this digital pattern format is new to me, I wanted to check out the details as I went along.  

High tech serging

Then I got to use the cover stitch hemmer as well. I still need more practice but was happy with the cover stitch hem.  

The cover stitch hemmer

So why does Murphy insist on sitting right against the fireplace? I don't think she stayed for long since it can get hot, but it's hilarious that the only living thing in this house that needs to go and lay in the snow has parked her butt against the fireplace when it's on. Oh, Murphy! And where's Lexi? On the sofa with Dad! Where else would she be? 

MOM -- it's hot in here

I had more hand stuff to do, so I was back to watching the Best In Miniature show. Oh my --- I can see myself getting into this hobby -- I will NOT, as I don't have time for what I'm doing now. But one of the mini-challenges was to bake a REAL cake. Everything was small -- the bowls, the eggs (quail), and the ovens. It's hilarious!!!

Baking a REAL mini cake

We had a great first session for the Barn Star Sampler and are well on our way! I'm excited about starting a new project. I love the monthly breakdown, so I only feel obligated to do a little at a time. OK -- so I don't have a lot of time anyway! 

And there are two more presentations this morning, and everything is prepped. I'm excited about both, as we have a great show and tell and some great tips for learning! I can't wait! 

Well, that's it for me. It's time to get the girls out for their walk. They were not happy waiting until the afternoon and then sharing it with each other! 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!