Category Archives: Weather related
Snow, snow, snow, and more snow
Posted by doggonedmysteries
It is prettier when you don’t have to shovel it. Snow has been the topic uppermost on people’s minds around here. There’s too much of it. The entire neighborhood has managed to dig out but the city hasn’t plowed the street. Geez, they didn’t even run through with a salt truck yet.
AJ from AJ Wildflower arrived today and cleared off our walk and driveway. She and her helper did a great job, and they even salted everything down when they finished. Good thing too since there was some melting of snow going on and the driveway is now dry and ice free.
They blew all the snow from the driveway into the yard. It’s so deep at that end now, that it makes me wonder if we’ll ever see the grass again. It’s going to take a huge upward jump in temperature to put a dent in it. But noooo, the forecast for here is showing wind chills dropping us down to 5 degrees by the time the sun comes up.
I’m ready to go groundhog hunting. Dang thing just had to see his shadow didn’t he?
Posted in Weather related, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Snow, Writer, Writing
The blizzard of February 2010
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Even though the storm hammered us here, south of us had it worse. I’m so glad I don’t live too near to Philly.
I dug a very short path out into the yard for the pups. I had to clear the snow. they couldn’t get off the back porch. Patty is the more energetic of the two and she went a bit past the end of their path, however, when it came time to squat, she didn’t like the snow hitting her butt. She retreated to the shoveled area.
Some of the neighbors have already dug their cars out but with the street unplowed, they’ve no place to go. Early this afternoon when the storm was at its height my next door neighbor was trying to shovel her car out so they could go to the store.
“Are you nuckin’ futs? You aren’t supposed to be on the roads unless it’s an emergency.” I said.
“I need some groceries.”
“Whatever you need, if I have it it’s yours. Please don’t try to drive in this crap.”
Posted in Weather related
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Snow, Writer, Writing
Yuck, no more white stuff please
Posted by doggonedmysteries
What can I say? When this winter is finally over, I won’t want to see anything white for many months. Maybe I’ll dye Gavin green for March.
Never mind, knowing the people in this area I think I’d get tired of hearing, “Hey lady you’ve got a green dog.”
“Ya think?”
How about neon pink? He has to go for his shots and our vet has a great sense of humor. Can you see me walking a neon pink Gavin into his office?
“Hi A. Do you think that Gavin’s allergies might be getting worse?”
He’d take one look at neon pink Gavin and fall on the floor laughing.
Would Patty get jealous and want her white parts tinted too?
If I had some food coloring in the house, I’d go air brush the darned snow. A yard full of rainbow colors would certainly look more cheerful.
On second thought, knowing my dogs, all that color would track inside the house and what a lovely mess I’d have to clean up. I guess I’ll live with the plain old white snow.
I wrote this in the wee hours of the morning as usual. It’s now late in the afternoon and we are in blizzard conditions. From the looks of things outside, we may be inside for a month!
Go ahead Lee, if you are reading this, LAUGH your A$$ off.
I can’t find my van or DH’s pick up in the driveway, and I’m going to have to dig a path in the yard for the dogs.
Posted in Weather related, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Snow, Writer, Writing
Update on the snow removal and ServiceMagic
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I was quite surprised, since today was Sunday, that we received a call from one of the places that ServiceMagic had given us. The woman even drove past my MIL’s house and gave us an estimate for the work there. Then she came by our house to do an estimate for our sidewalk.
Both estimates were very reasonable. We hired her. Now we don’t have to worry about traveling across town to clear off the mother in law’s walks every time it snows. This company will do it. Our snow angel can take a well deserved rest too. What a load off our minds.
I know I’ll go to ServiceMagic again in the future for other things we might need to have done. They prescreen all the pros they send to you. They list people who do everything from remodeling homes to house cleaning.
I will have to tell my neighbor’s son about ServiceMagic, maybe he can list his business with them.
Posted in Misc, MS related, Weather related, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Healthcare, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Snow, Writer, Writing
The problem with snow is snow removal
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Yes, we did get snow, quite a bit, though not as much as Philly and south. Our snow angel shoveled our walk again color me happy since shoveling the walk completely exhausts me for the rest of the day.
I do wish DH’s mother had a snow angel. DH had his stomach in knots all day thinking about how we can get her walks cleared. He can’t do it and feels guilty that he can’t. She, of course, adds to that guilt on purpose. There’s no way I can get over there to do it either. The snow plow managed to block our driveway and my project for tomorrow is to clear the wall of ice he left for us. That’s going to take all afternoon and it’s going to kill me. Sore muscles here I come.
I got a little creative tonight while doing some research on snow removal in our area. I found ServiceMagic.com. I plugged in my MIL’s address, named my project—residential snow removal, and they matched me with two places that do it in our area. Both of them will give a free estimate too. How cool is that? I’ll let you know it goes.
Posted in MS related, My blog, Weather related, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Snow, Writer, Writing
I really didn’t want to break in my new boots
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Worn out and no longer warm, my old winter boots were ready for the trash. For the life of me, I couldn’t find a decent pair in a style I liked. [Warm, waterproof, and easily slipped on and off.] I’m lazy and when the pups want out they want out NOW. Finally, I found a pair in a catalog and ordered them several weeks ago. They arrived last week.
We had some cold weather the last few weeks but the snow had passed us by. My new boots sat by the back door neglected, unworn, and I prayed they’d stay that way until next year. I hate snow.
No such luck. It is snowing tonight. I had to put them on to take the dogs out for their last piddle break. That was around 1 a.m. and, by then, we already had an inch of that white stuff. It’s after 3 a.m. and it’s still snowing. At least it’s not a blizzard. The snow is falling gently and it is quite fluffy.
I hope when I wake it is sunny and the snow is gone or, at least, mostly gone.
Posted in My blog, Weather related
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Snow, Writer, Writing
Dreaming of spring on a cold night
Posted by doggonedmysteries
We had some sunshine today and the temperature inched above 40 degrees. Gavin and Patty made full use of the yard, dashing about and pretending it was warm.
2 a.m., I took the dogs for their last out of the night. It’s getting danged cold out there. I’m tired of the cold, of being stuck in the house, gray and dreary days. I don’t want to wear a heavy coat, a hat, and gloves. The dogs are tired of it too. Both were quick going about their business.
I want warm nights where I can sit out by the pond listening to the crickets and frogs sing in chorus. I dream of digging in the gardens, the scent of flowers, and the sound of song birds.
I can tell the dogs want spring too. I can see the dreams of dozing in a patch of sun warmed grass in their eyes.
I heard a tiny snatch of a songbird’s song this morning. Tulips and daffodils are pushing through the mulch. Can spring be far behind?
Posted in Dog related, Misc, Weather related, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pond, Ponds, Spring, Writer, Writing
Warm enough today
Posted by doggonedmysteries
The filters thawed at last. (Although, which you will see shortly, not without a minor mishap.) I was able to back wash them and add fresh water to the pond. The Koi are happy and it was warm enough to have three bullfrogs hanging out in the water this evening. I do wish this weather would continue, but it’s January and it’ll never happen.
Early this morning DH managed to catch that I’d left the filter on rinse yesterday instead of remembering to put it back on filter. (Things like this happen when I try to multitask too much.) Yesterday the still frozen filters weren’t even trickling so there was no water loss until today when they began to thaw. Fortunately, DH caught my mistake before the water level went down more than an inch. However, scrambling to correct that and get the hose in the pond to add water exhausted him.
The filters are functioning. The waterfall is falling. The fountains are working…all is right in the garden. We’ll wait for spring to find the leaks in the waterfall. For now all we can do is try to keep everything operating as best as we can.
Posted in My blog, my garden, Weather related
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Fish, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Koi, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pond, Ponds, Writer, Writing
Cold spell damage repairs on the pond
Posted by doggonedmysteries
That long cold spell we had did some damage to the waterfall and froze the filters solid. The weather is supposed to be (hopefully) warm enough to thaw things. It looks as if I have a lot work ahead.
The top of the waterfall is a manufactured piece of fiberglass and cement. I need to locate the leak there and fix it. The two filters are solid icicles so I have to wait for them to thaw. At least the fountains are running and the pond didn’t freeze solid.
I figure, according to the weather reports, that I have three days to get the work done. Once I get the filters and waterfall working properly it can get cold again.
Just in case I can’t get the filters working, if the freezing damaged them, I did look at some new ones online today. There are ton of them out there and most of the new ones have a built in UV light that is great for killing algae and preventing algae blooms. We will go for one of the ones with the UV light if we need a new filter.
Posted in my garden, Weather related
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Fish, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Koi, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pond, Ponds, Writer, Writing
We are gonna get some warmer weather
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Over the next few days, we’re supposed to see a steady rise in the temperature. Need I say yippee? I can’t wait it’s been far too cold for my taste lately. We might even see it hit fifty degrees by Thursday. Wow, that means I can…do…some…yard…work—oh, crap.
The Koi will be happy because it means I’ll be able to add fresh water to the pond and back wash the filters. They should thaw by then. Not only will they be happy but also the wild birds who have been trying to find water at the top of the falls will be too. I’ve seen the poor things leaning way over the edge of the pond to sip. The littlest ones do have trouble reaching it.
The pups will be thrilled. They have not been pleased with the extreme cold we’ve had the last several weeks. I’ve never seen them hurry so much to get back inside as they have during this cold spell. Yes, they are spoiled. They love the comfort of the furniture and the heat. Same as they do the AC in the summer.
Posted in Dog related, Misc, my garden, Weather related, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Fish, Home, Koi, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Cold weather dogs? No sirree.
Posted by doggonedmysteries
How fitting that I have dogs who don’t like the cold. Bull Terriers are not cold weather dogs. Believe me the days are very cold right now, colder than we’ve seen in many years. Neither Gavin nor Patty will tolerate a coat even on the coldest of days. They give that ‘she’s-crazy if she thinks I’m going to wear that’ look.
I’ve never seen either of the pups so quick to go out and come back in. Miss Patty, of the very thin coat, goes a few yards into the yard, does her business, and comes flying in the back door as if shot from cannon. Gavin walks only a few feet from the back steps, squats like a puppy and trots back in. He wants us to think that the cold is no big deal to him.
Miss Patty heads for DH’s lap or the settee, which is warmed by the radiator behind it. (Gavin hasn’t discovered that feature yet.) Gavin wants his chair or my lap, preferably the latter. I’ve resorted to turning the space heater on for a few hours at night in the kitchen since that’s the coldest room and is where Gavin’s crate is. Even though his crate is next to the radiator in there, he is noticeably quieter when the space heater is on. Therefore, I know he’s more comfortable.
Posted in Dog related, Misc, My blog, Weather related
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
What if people hibernated?
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I don’t know about you but it’s during cold weather like this when I often wish that we were creatures who hibernate. No shoveling snow, slip sliding on ice, or braving 40 mph winds to go to the store. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to crawl into a nice warm bed, pull the covers up, and sleep until spring? Then we’d wake up slim and ready for warm weather.
Yes, I think about these things.
I think about this when I’m snuggled deep under my covers. Warm and snug not wanting to get out of bed knowing that the wind I hear outside is as cold and fierce as it sounds. Knowing I have to go and face the cold as soon as one of the pups wants out, I want to pull the covers over my head and doze some more.
Isn’t it spring yet?
Posted in Misc, My blog, Weather related, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Snow, Writer, Writing
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