Snow My Gosh

It began Friday, the 5th. Nobody could really imagine how it would end.


It was predicted to be a "ten-loafer". In this area, where an inch of snow can send the cities into paroxysms of panic, people's anxiety can be measured by how many loaves of bread they will stock up on. (Packages of toilet paper can be substituted.) Three loaves means school will be closed for a day. At five-loaves,a foot of snow and so on. People in the Mid-Atlantic must eat a lot of french toast before shoveling.
This storm prediction emptied shelves. Bread, toilet paper, coffee, booze, you name it. Whatever your priority.
At our house, I had placed a sizable order from Peapod home delivery. My DH had stocked wood in the garage and filled the snowblower's gas tank. We were ready for it. And it came. And we saw. And it conquered. Twenty-two inches piled up in our yard.

The birds went through five pounds of seed in 24 hours. The dog couldn't see over the swath cut by the snowblower. The cat was thrown outside in the morning by well-meaning MeiWei and crept under the deck where he remained throughout the storm. We worried he would be buried alive. (He surfaced at dusk.)

Tai escorted MeiWei to her friend's house to sleepover. The snow was knee deep and took them twenty minutes to walk to the next house a couple acres away.
While playing there, Mei got her boot stuck in a snowbank, pulled out her foot and ran inside in her sock. Upon returning, no one could find the boot. The plow had been through since, completing the burial. We were some of the two dozen exhausted customers at Wally World the next day--one of the few places even open--where we searched frantically for replacements.

Then we began hearing rumors of another storm coming.

This Week's Menu (2/8-2/14)

Monday
Leftover BBQ from Super Bowl, baked beans, corn

Tuesday Soup Night(Pioneer Girls, Bill late)
Kansas City Steak Soup

Wednesday Crock-Pot Night
Vietnamese Roasted Chicken supposed to taste like Pho, which Tai has been raving about to us. Rice or buckwheat noodles, steamed broccoli

Going to the Lake for President's Weekend!!
Thursday (Late arrival)
Spaghetti and Meatballs (pre-made frozen), crusty bread, salad.

Friday (Cook it Slow and Play All Day)
Crockpot Ham 'n' Cola , sweet potatoes also in crock, sugar snap peas (frozen)

Saturday
Bill's Choice or eat at club

Sunday
Ham and Asparagus Fettucine , glazed carrots (frozen), salad

Our Little Snowstorm So Far

Yes, I'm up at this hour ( 4 am). I was shocked awake at how much had fallen since 10 pm. At bedtime I had recorded about 6 inches. Not considered much anymore as our area has received so many snowstorms of late.


The literal wakeup call is easily 2 feet. (I can tell by the almost covered birdbath) Confirmed by http://www.noaa.gov/:

>>....SELECTED STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL IN INCHES FROM 700 AM EST THU FEB

04 THROUGH 400 AM EST SAT FEB 06...:

..MARYLAND...

ELLICOTT CITY 22.5 << (We dubiously are honored with the highest amounts by far for the BAlt/ Wash area---though maybe the other reporters simply don't want to get out of bed.)



And then I went to http://www.noaa.gov/ and found this: Scroll to bottom.

>>THE SURFACE LOW ALONG THE MID ATLANTIC COAST IS FORECAST TO

CONTINUE TO DEEPEN THIS MORNING WHILE ITS FORWARD SPEED SLOWS.

THIS LOW IS FORECAST TO MOVE ONLY SLOWLY EAST NORTHEASTWARD

SATURDAY OFF THE MID ATLANTIC COAST AND THEN BEGIN TO ACCELERATE

EASTWARD SATURDAY EVENING INTO THE WESTERN ATLANTIC. HEAVY SNOWS

WILL CONTINUE THIS MORNING OVER LARGE PORTIONS OF THE MID

ATLANTIC...WITH BLIZZARD CONDITIONS OVER PORTIONS OF CENTRAL TO

NORTHERN MARYLAND...EASTWARD ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE DELMARVA

PENINSULA AND INTO COASTAL SOUTHEASTERN NEW JERSEY. ADDITIONAL


SNOW TOTALS OF A FOOT ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE MID


ATLANTIC...BRINGING STORM TOTALS TO 18-36 INCHES. SNOW ACROSS THE

OHIO VALLEY REGION WILL BEGIN TO DIMINISH THIS MORNING WITH ONLY A

FEW ADDITIONAL INCHES EXPECTED.<<

Well, well.

Keeping the Feathered Friends Happy

   I've been diligently feeding the birds this winter what with all the snow that makes their foraging so difficult. Even if that means braving snow and ice and temps in the teens to fill the feeders. I love to sit in my sunroom and watch their happy antics as they vie for their spaces at the feeders. It cheers up an otherwise drab day.
   I keep several feeders going at the same time: a tube feeder for sunflower, two tubes for thistle, and two larger vertical mesh-sided feeders that hold five and ten pounds respectively. Plus some suet feeders. The only seed I use is black oil sunflower. Anything else is a waste of money IMHO.

    Disgusted with the amount of mess that blackoil in the hull makes by the spring (shovel fulls under the feeders), I switched some feeders to hulless. It's amazing the increased velocity that the birds will down that seed! And how they will show preference to it! But it makes sense. Eating hullesss saves them vital calories that are burned pecking the meat out of seeds in the shell.

    But the voracious avians are costing me over $25 a week in hulless, so I'm afraid they are going to have to put up with more shelling just to slow things down.  All things in moderation, guys.

   I also learned from my friendly neighborhood bird store that I shouldn't be complacent about providing water when there is snow all around. Naturally I figured the little guys were consuming plenty of fluids with all that precip attached to their feed. But the shopkeeper explained that it took additional calories to warm up that sunflower slushee, which would have been better spent on building up fat. So last year I added a high-quality bird bath heater. It cost more but the cheap ones usually die after one season.

    Another food source that I am giving up on is Niger thistle which is purported to attract finches. It does, true. But upon observation, the gold

and housefinches I have seek out the sunflower first. Even when the feeders are hung side-by-side. Couple that with the nightmare that sprouting thistle produces in my garden come summer---spine-encrusted plants that will put holes in your gloves---there seems no reason to purchase that costly stuff.

   So here comes another storm of, once again, blizzard proportions, and I have looked well to the ways of my (bird) household: everthing well-stocked outside and plenty more in the pantry. Bring on the storm. I'll be in the sunroom watching the show.

  

"One Inch" of Snow

This is what "one inch" of snow looks like.
Boy, I wish I could get a job as a weatherman.
You're only right 50% of the time, and you still get paid

The view

How "cotton" is grown around here.

  When all else fails, take a bath.