Everyone Loves Winter (until it goes on to long)

Saturday
The temperature dropped to 22 overnight.  Plus we got about 1/2 inch of snow.  But the big news is the wind.  It sounded like a train overnight.  We are on the downwind side of the hill from the wind so it mostly went above the house and through the trees.  But it roared all night long and this morning too.  Then the snow started, it looks like lake effect off of Lake Ontario this time, about 2 inches so far as I write this.
Bonnie is up and seems to be feeling a little better.  I went up to court for a couple hours, the wind and snow are really bad up there on the top of the hill.  Now an afternoon of helping with the wash and waiting to see how much snow we get.
Just before dark we had a good 4 inches of snow maybe more.  The wind is still blowing but is not roaring as it did overnight, however it had changed directions which should signal the passing of the front.  Not much else happened today.  Tomorrow I will begin the snow clearing routine again, its been nice to have a few days off.  Hopefully we are in the last 4 or 5 weeks of snow weather.

Sunday
Not any new snow over night but a new winter weather advisory has been posted for tonight.  I was able to get out the driveway without clearing it with no problem this morning for church.  When I got home and changed I went down to start the tractor and low and behold the battery would not turn over the engine.

No more juice from this Battery

 Got out the meter and sure enough only a little over 11 volts.  I leave the battery hooked up to a battery maintainer so I knew it was bad.  I had a quick bite to eat and watched the start of the Daytona 500.  Then it was off to Tractor Supply for a new battery.  Almost 100 bucks later I was home with a new battery.  The sun was still shinning so I went ahead and installed the battery and I should be good to go if we get the 7 inches of snow forecast for tonight.  Then I cleaned the snow off the deck and finally around 4pm I sat down to watch the end of the race.  It was an exciting end with a rookie Trevor Bayne in his first Daytona 500 won.  Twenty years old yesterday this win is quite a birthday present.
Hope to relax the rest of the evening.

Monday-Happy Presidents Day
Woke up to about 4 inches of new snow, they say it will stop before noon today.  Temperature is hovering around 15 so it is cold again also.  No real plans for today so will continue to read and catchup on my recorded podcasts.  Once the snow stops I will give the new battery in the tractor a test run also.
The tractor started right up and it was about an hour job to clear the snow.  Then I ran over to a friends to give them a hand in getting a new router running and all their equipment connected to it.
Then it was a relaxing night at home.

Tuesday
Hey no snow overnight but down to 9 degrees.  The sun has been out bright all day so even though it is only 16 out things are melting.  I made the run to the bank for court came home collected the trash and now time for a short nap.  Never did get my nap.  We went off to WW and then over to Elizabeth's for dinner  Looks like another cold night already it is down to 12.  I have plans to spend tomorrow with Alexus as she is on winter break.  Thats about it for tonight.

Wednesday
No snow overnight and nice bright sun this morning.  Cold around 15 but climbing
I picked up my GD Alexus around 9:30 this morning and we headed to the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural site.  It is a National Historic Site.  I wanted to do something fun with her over her school break and also educational.  Plus I was able to buy my National Park Senior Access Pass there.  Ten dollars for lifetime access and you can take 3 others in with you on the pass.  I am already ahead as we saved 7 dollars on admission for Alexus.  I think we both found it interesting and there was a lot of Hands on interactive displays that we enjoyed.

This is close to downtown Buffalo

In the Wilcox house

Alexus with the President

He took the oath of office in front of the bookcase

Drafted his first message to the nation at this desk

Messages were sent by telegaph

We both had our pictures taken at the Presidents desk and were able to email them right from the desk.

After the tour we did a little shopping and then headed home, to find another Winter Storm Watch has been posted for Thursday night, but it could reach 40 during the day Thursday!

Thursday
Up to 30 already when I got up this morning and now at noon its 37, too bad the sun is not out.  It has snowed a little off and on this morning but nothing now and all has melted off the deck.  Now to wait and see if the forecast storm makes it to our area tonight.  I have been tracking Amtrak train #49 this morning as Bonnie's parents are on it and headed to Galesburg, Il. to see my SIL, also my nephew, and their children.  Four generations will be together.  Looks like the train made it just a few minutes late so all is good.
A nice quiet evening, a little TV and still waiting for the storm to hit.  There is a chance it will stay south of us, lets hope so.  Time now for a little reading before bed I am entering the home stretch of "Decision Points"

Friday
Woke up this morning and I can say the storm is here.  I will go ahead and post this and report more on the storm tomorrow.

Thanks for checking in.

Moving a Bookcase

Saturday
Plans for today are to move a bookcase.  Woke up to 4 inches of new snow and since then 2 more have fallen.  I have cleaned out the driveway while another 1/2 inch fell.  Seems to have slacked up now but looks like the Lake is sending us more.  The wheels are in motion so I guess we will carry on.
The sun came out as we left for Warsaw and we had nice weather to bring the bookcase home.  It was a tight fit getting up the stars but we made it.  While in Warsaw we stopped at he nursing home so Bill my nephew could see his grandma and I ran by tractor supply still trying to find a belt for the snow blower.  As soon as we got the bookcase in I changed and headed into Elizabeths to put some more salt and calcium chloride filled bags on the roof to melt ice since she has leaks again.  Bill decided to follow me in since it was on his way home.  He was a big help and we were done in half an hour.
So I headed home finished cleaning the driveway and blowing the snow off the deck.  Now it is time to go racing.  The NASCAR season kicks off with the Bud Shootout tonight.  Thats about it for today.

Sunday
Just 1 inch of new snow overnight (season total equals 130).  But the good news is that the temperature is already 28.  We dressed and headed for church.  By the time we got home we were in the low 30's and things were melting pretty good.  I left the truck outside and pulled out the tractor to melt off.  We watched the Daytona 500 time trials and Bonnie is happy that Jeff Gordon is on the front row.  We reached 40 degrees today and now at 6:30pm and well after dark it is still 40.  There was not much sun today or we would have had a faster melt.  Slow is good as there is a lot of snow, as long as it is melting I am happy.  The forecast is for a warm week with Tuesday being a little cold.  So I am looking forward to a good week.  We talked to Elizabeth today and her leaks have stopped again, lets hope it is done for good.  I finished my Tom Clancy book yesterday so am down to just one book at a time again.

Monday
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!
Well it stayed warm and snowless overnight, it was still 39 when I got up this morning.  Hopefully it will be a good day to catch up on podcasts and some reading.  Around 10:30am little balls of ice are falling from the sky and the temperature dropped to 35.  I believe the forecast is for a cold night and day tomorrow then a warmup again.
This happened on one of the local farms, we know the owner he is a nice guy and runs a good operation.
http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/109358/13/Barn-Collapse-Injures-Five-Cows
I am glad the melting should take a lot of weight off the roofs.

Tuesday
Today was a pretty routine day.  While it was in the teens the sun was out bright all day long.  I made a run to the post office and the bank for court, stopped in and caught up on paperwork.  Yesterday with the sleet we have a lot of ice around that is slow to melt.  With the promise of warmer weather I am letting the sun do the work.
After an afternoon of reading, we headed to Tony Rome's for our Valentines dinner since I had court last night.  We had a good meal and enjoyed the time together.

Wednesday
Not as sunny today but it is above freezing.  I am glad we are getting a thaw and hopefully all the snow will melt off the roofs in the next couple of days.  I had lunch today with a former co-worker and had a great time catching up.  First time I looked at my watch it was 3 hours after we had met and time to go.  Hopefully we can get together again.
It stayed warm all day but not much sun.  The area now has flood warnings posted so it is good that the melting is relatively slow.  I did notice that some of the small creeks are starting to flow including the one that flows under our driveway.  The snow is also starting to slide off our metal roof so I knocked some of that down to take some of the weight off the gutters.

Snow starting to slide off the roof

The creek is starting to flow

The driveway is a sheet of ice today

Thursday
It stayed warm, 40 degrees, all night long, so the melt off continues.  When I got up this morning it was raining, not hard but steady.  That should speed up the melt off, time will tell if the flood prone areas end up in trouble.  I remember when I was young hearing the basement sump pump run almost constantly in the spring time.  Here we do not have a pump as we are on the side of the hill and the water around the foundation drains naturally.
Not too much planned today, catching up on podcasts, and I hope to review my tax return and make sure it is ready to send off to the IRS.  Then this afternoon the Gatoraide Duel races from Daytona are on.
When I went out to get the mail there was a big puddle of water in front of the basement door.

A puddle has never been here before

It should be dry there.  Further investigation found that the drain pipe had broke apart underneath the deck.  I changed and did crawl in under there to see what I could do.  Looks like the pipe joints on the corrigated pipe are not made to be leak proof.  I did get all hooked back together but the joints still leak some, so I will look at replacing the pipe with drain pipe with glued up joints.  It is to be warm tomorrow so I will add that to my list of things to do.

Water is pouring out the joint at the back end of this drain pipe.  These joints do not seal.

Friday
I have some pictures to add today.
I got up this morning and Bonnie is still in bed.  She came home not feeling well yesterday and went right to bed.  This morning she is still not well and called in sick.  That does not happen very often.
I read my email and then got dressed to head out and pick up the pipe, glue, elbows, and straps I need to fix the leaking down spout drain.  I headed over to Attica and picked up what I needed, even had 2 Ace Rewards cards and saved 10 bucks.  Once home I put on my old clothes and climbed into the mud, it was like climbing into a bowl of very cold oatmeal.  Everything went pretty smoothly and about 20 or 30 minutes an I was done for the day.  I have a little more to do to make it the way I want it but the mud needs to dry out first.

The white drain pipe has sealed joints so all the water is now going down the drain like it is supposed to.

I was covered in mud by the time I finished.  I set my coat and pants out in the sun to dry so I could brush off the mud.

Muddy Coat

I took a nice hot shower and headed up to court to catch up on paperwork.  Now I am home trying to wash my dirty, dirty clothes.

The warm weather has the snow melting pretty fast, it is far from gone but a lot is gone.  I think it is still at least a foot thick on the back roof of the house.  The creeks are running much faster that the other day.

This is the same shot I took Wednesday of the creek that goes under the driveway

This is from this morning

This is this afternoon

Is been a busy day here and Bonnie is finally up and watching a little TV so I think she is feeling better.

I efiled my tax returns the other day and got word today that both were accepted.  

The propane truck came today and that is always  welcome site her in the winter time.

Filling the propane tank

Most of the ice is gone

Well thats about it for this week.  It is to cool down a lot tonight so the snow and water thats left will freeze up again.  Hopefully the really cold weather is done for the season but its only the middle of February.

Thanks for checking in and have a good weekend.

More Winter!

Tuesday
Well after a couple mild days and yesterday actually above the freezing mark we are back to winter.  Attica is showing 6 above and here at the house about 12 above.  We picked up about 4 inches of snow since yesterday so will have to fit that in my schedule today.   The roads were slick coming home from court last night but the plow and salt trucks were out trying to keep up.  Now the sun is out.  I am enjoying my Kindle and learning how to find free books on the internet and working on learning how to lend books for 14 days.  I understand that some libraries also have ebooks to lend.
I made the run to the bank then stopped at court to finish up some paper work.  Then home and changed into my carharts to go out and blow snow.  Did not finish that but came in to change so  we could leave for WW as soon as Bonnie got home.  After that we picked up some Chinese food and went over to Elizabeths for supper.  Now home and time for some reading still working on Tom Clancy's Dead or Alive its 1200+ pages on the iPad.  Its down to 9 now but is to go lower over night.

The snow at the edge of the driveway is up as high as the hood of the truck!

Wednesday
Wow what a cold night down to 8 overnight but the sun was out and bright all day and the temperature rose up into the 20s.  Pretty much uneventful other than that.  Lots of reading and just a little snow blowing to finish up from yesterday.  Even got a brief nap in the recliner.  I had a problem with Gmail when I tried to send too large a file yesterday.  I managed to get that repaired to day also.  Now I am looking forward to some more reading this evening.  Snowing as I head off to bed, must be lake effect.

Thursday
Well the quick lake effect event dropped about 3 inches of snow last night, yes enough to have to shovel it again.  My SIL is coming over to work on her taxes so I guess I better get busy and shovel some, at least the sun is out again.
I had the driveway all clean when my SIL got here so we got busy doing her taxes.  We finished up around 3 and then I got a lower back massage as she is a massage therapist.
I have a meeting in Warsaw tonight and I want to pick up a new belt for my small snow blower.  Bonnie made chicken chili for supper so I am set to go.

Spotted a Pileated Woodpecker! 

Caught in flight, quite a ways away.

Friday
Pretty boring day today, lots of reading.  No new snow, guess it was too cold.  I did go up to court and catchup on paperwork.  The deer are now fearless and coming to the feeder all the time.  Tonight the motion detector light is not even scaring them away.  The snow is packed under the feeder when they stand on it their chests are even with the top of the porch railing.
Here are a few shots from the dash-cam on the way to the Town Building today.

End of the "Blizzard" and the Packers Win the SuperBowl

I decided to put some past pictures in the blog of camp fires while we were out camping to add a little color to the blog and some warmth.

Wednesday afternoon
After my post earlier today I went out and cleaned up the snow.  It was pretty decent outside.  There was a little wind but not bad.  I was out a couple hours and came in to eat a late lunch.
Shortly after I came in the snow started.  It snowed hard for about an hour and about an inch of accumulation.  Then the wind really started to blow.  I turned on the scanner and seems cars were having trouble staying on the road.  The snow let up but the wind continued until after Bonnie got home.  Elizabeth is home safely also so all is well for this evening.

Thursday
So after the storm passed we managed to pickup another 4 inches of snow after dark.  Looks like I will be busy again  today cleaning up around here.  On the bright side the sun is out and the sky is bright blue.  The temperature is in the low teens so it is a bit cold but no wind so it will not be bad.  I have not seen the deer in the yard for several days, due to the bad weather I guess.  The birds have been around.  Some of them are pretty smart.  They grab a sunflower seed and fly around the end of the house to the covered deck where they can get out of the wind and weather and eat in luxury.  There are empty seed hulls all over out there now.
It is in the low twenties now, I finished the snow clean up.  Did the driveway then had some lunch and now about an hour later finished the deck.  What a difference the sun makes.  It is cold but no wind so I was nice and toasty as I blew the snow.  Its about an hour since I did the driveway and the sun has the concrete in front of the garage all melted and about half of it are dry.
I made it over to Attica to watch both the JV and the Varsity Game.  JV won pretty easily but the Varsity took it down to the wire but they were victorious.  I know boys on both the Attica teams so it was a good evening.

Friday
Another sunny day, cold but sunny and windy.  I spent a while at court today, caught up on some reading and took it easy.  I did a load of towels also.  Then we met Elizabeth at 6:30pm and headed in to the Buffalo Botanical Gardens for their Night Lights She wanted to take me for my birthday.  It was interesting but it was really hard to see.  I could tell that there are a lot of plants in there, we all want to go back during the day and see what we missed.
Now back home and time to relax a little.

Saturday
Just a typical Saturday.  Bonnie cleaned and I went up to court.  We did have an early visitor, my MIL dropped off a piece of her famous Apple Pie and a card for my birthday.  Then home to catch up on TV and make some plans for this summer and camping.  No snow over night but now that it is almost bedtime I looked out and see that we have about 3 inches of new snow that started late this afternoon.  I am soon off to bed big day tomorrow, its SuperBowl Sunday.  We did get to Skype with my newest grand daughter and family this evening and that was fun.  Hope to do more of that with everyone.

Whats a fire without friends, can't wait for the camping season to start a new.

Sunday
Well we ended up with only 4 inches of snow so I can take care of that after church today.  Today is my 62nd birthday and we have a good day planned.
I did get all the snow cleaned up after church and just as I finished Elizabeth and Alexus pulled in.  We got a chance to check her tires that always look low.  But surprise they are right at 30 pounds where they are supposed to be.  Its hard to look at the radial tires, especially low profile and tell if they are low.  After a good lunch of rabbit food (aka Salad) we watch a movie.  Grownups we all had a lot of good laughs and enjoyed it.  Then I set up the DVR to tape the Superbowl and the WII was activated and we played the game of life.  During the game we got a Skype call from my son and family in Alabama and they sang Happy Birthday to me.  Oh that was after I opened my cards and gifts.  I received all good and practical gifts this year.  A long nose lighter which is handy when we camp, some foot and hand warmer packets which I have written about before.  A nice note pad with magnets on it, and a dust mitt to use in the RV, its always dusty in there.  The BIG surprise was a Kindle.  I have been reading a lot more these days and this will be great especially for reading outdoors.  The screen on the iPad is too reflective when used outdoors.
After I won the game of Life we used the fast forward button on the DVR and watched all the commercials and the halftime show.  Which was your favorite, I liked the Coke commercial with the dragons.  Let me know.  After the half time show the girls headed home, and Bonnie cleaned up the kitchen and headed to bed.  That gave me time to catch up on some reading and write a little in the blog.
I had a great day and will enjoy using my presents.
We all bought our tickets for Creation Fest and I volunteered to work there.
Fire siren just went off for a vehicle fire??
Thats about it for tonight.

Almost February

Saturday Afternoon
It continued to snow all day but not much accumulation.  In at Elizabeths we took the snow rake and dragged the snow off the roof.  She lives in a manufactured home and the snow is slowly melting on the roof and then freezing at the edges, classic situation for ice damming.  So we put rock salt and calcium chloride in bags we made out of nylon stockings.  Then spread some of the mix to get the melting started.  Then we took the bags and laid out 5 of them hoping to make channels through the ice, time will tell.
After a quick Mighty Taco Roastito for lunch I headed home.  Jumped on the John Deere and clean the driveway.  That managed to fire up the pain in my back.  So I headed in for some advil and hot coffee.  Every now and then I move the wrong way and that sets off a week or two of back pain.  Week two starts tomorrow.
Bonnie came home and I helped her pick out and set up 30 some pictures for her report on the mission trip tomorrow.  She sat down at her computer and did most of it herself.  She is just learning how to use the MacBook and she did good.  I can sit at my laptop and screen share with her and watch what she is doing and help when she needs it.  I must say that I learned some things about iPhoto today also and we had a good time setting it all up.
We watched a couple shows that were recorded, Bonnie is off to bed, I am updating the blog, then a little reading before I hit the hay.

Sunday
About 2 new inches of snow overnight, not bad.  We were up on time and on our way to church.  Today the sermon time was all taken up by a report on the Medical Mission trip.  The five did a great job of reporting and commenting on the photos.
Elizabeth called and said the salt filled bags must be working as the leak seems to have stopped and there are channels at the edge of the roof for the snow melt to drain off of.  So that is good news.
Bonnies parents came over to use the computer for a video chat with her sister Bev out in Reno.  She is soon headed to Galesburg, Il. and they are thinking of taking the train out there to meet her and of course visit with the grand children and the great grand children.
I shoveled in front of the garage today but will save the deck for tomorrow.  My back is still a bit out of wack.  Bonnie is still not feeling great and has gone to be early again.  I will wrap this up and read for a while then maybe a little TV.
Wish I had taken some pictures of the roof project and ice damming.

Monday
Big news in town today is the a favorite local restaraunt and watering hole is on fire.  The North Java Inn, its a shame we liked to go over for dinner occasionally.  Looks like it started early this morning and I heard the sirens for more help not long ago.

Just a little snow overnight but the NWS has already posted a watch for up to 16 inches starting tomorrow night.  This is coming from the west so I am sure some of you will experience it today.
My plan for today is to work on the taxes.  Both mine and my SILs.  I have until 3 to do mine then she will be over.  My back is a lot better but guess I will take another dose of Advil since that really seems to help.  The driveway is in good shape just need to clear about 4 inches off the deck and then see how much we get from the storm.
I worked on our taxes from about 9:30 until 2:30pm today.  Then went out and blew the snow off the rear deck, boy it was cold.  The engine on the snow blower was not running properly so I hope it will start next time I have to use it.  It was really cold and I am hoping it was that.  Time will tell.
My SIL then came over and we worked on her business books and prepared to do her taxes.  Worked on those from 3pm until almost 6:00pm.  She is a Massage Therapist and she did offer to work on my back a bit.  She located the trouble spot and I think the quick rub has helped.  Bonnie made a good dinner of potatoes, turkey, peas and a little corn.  Mixed in was a can of chicken soup and it was really good and hit the spot.
Not much to do now, no new shows on TV, so will read a while and wait to see if the big storm hits.

Tuesday
Well the Storm Warning is still on for tonight.  Thats about all that is on the news, calling it the storm of the century.  We only got an inch overnight.  No work at court so I got to stay home and read all day.  I read a lot of other Blogs and all the ones from out West are also talking about the storm.  We have to go into WW in East Aurora tonight but the weather should be fine for that.

No problems getting in and home from East Aurora.  We usually have dinner with our daughter on Tuesday nights but she did not feel good so we came straight home.  Nothing left to do tonight but a little TV, read and track the storm.

Wednesday
Well when I went to bed it still looked like we would get a lot of snow.  We did not even set out the garbage figureing that it would get buried.
Well no snow, maybe a trace when I got up at 7:45 this morning.  Around 10 it started to snow hard but did not last long.  There is still a forecast for several inches.  I think I will go ahead and post this.  I will head out to clean up snow around the house, sweep the water out of the garage and hopefully grab the mail.
Have a great day and
Thanks for checking in.