Status: Thawing

Hi folks. It has been a deep freeze since the first week of January.
It got so I'd have to thaw Iggy´s water bowl a couple of times a day
and that lives inside the trailer. Water jugs left on the floor have
frozen solid more than once. A 30# LP gas bottle is good for 36 hours
of heat to 60°. So, if pressed for a one word description of our lives
lately, "cold" springs to mind ... -21°F for a low, so far.

One big snowstorm early in the month. A couple of little ones along
with some icing has left our dooryard a rugged skating rink
necessitating the use of "ice creepers" along with consumption of 50#
of magnesium chloride. Tomorrow, according to the weather weenies, we
may get upwards of 1 1/2" of rain along with some icing either side of
the front passage. Oh joy - flooding and glare ice simultaneously,
followed by a return to sub-zero lows.

SWMBO is now going in to work for an 8 AM start. Those of you who know
her predilection for a 3 - 11 lifestyle many get up off the ground and
grandchildren should stop chortling now. (She may be occasionally
forgetful but I've never known her to lose track of her paddle,
kiddies). Actually, the hardship is imposed on Pops, who must get up
at 6AM to heat bath water for Her Nibs. The Queen of the Trailer
needn't appear until 6:30...

My Kindle Fire - First Edition developed a problem at the mini-USB
socket connection on the motherboard... she no charge any more. I
received it for Xmas last year (2011). Fortunately, SWMBO had
registered my advice to always buy the extended warranty for
computers. So, I packed it into the original packaging with the
receipt and drove over to the local Best Buy. They listened to my tale
of woe, plugged the charger in and verified the failure to pass
current. And then, blow me down and shiver me timbers, the young CSR
says, "would you like a replacement Kindle Fire or the new Kindle Fire
HD?" It seems the price is now lower than what was originally paid for
a Fire and the same for the new Fire HD, so you have to know I went
with the upgrade. Heck, I even bought a new extended warranty!

I like the HD screen, but I could do without the advertising that
appears. However, I'm way too parsimonious to pay $15 to rid myself of
the ads ... they aren't THAT annoying. The only downside to the
machine I have found so far is the deleterious effect upon my writing.
I'm spending too much time online.

Any who, that's all the news appropriate to share. Really wish I was
down in Louisiana about now. This shoveling stuff is for the birds. ;/

And so it goes...

Xmas greetings from SWMBO

Blessed be ... It's a bare bones holiday.

Merry Xmas, Y'all!

Here's my hope that you and yours are all hale and hearty and having a wonderful holiday season.

SWMBO and yours truly will be settling in for a chilly day or so as the weekend's rains killed the snow cover and no replenishments appear until Thursday, when a Nor'Easter threatens a foot or more around these parts.

Ignatz McGraw is in Seventh Heaven, sniffing out mice, rabbits and voles' tunnels and holes suddenly exposed by the bare ground while Ms. Jingle Belle is exercising her deadly skills to the max.

If I don't get back to you in time, have a very merry New Year celebration, too.

Snow. Oh no!

A morning mixed snow/freezing rain event left roads treacherous. There's nothing like having a pick-up in your lane spinning out of control due to slush, excess speed and/or inexperience, to get your heart rate into the two hundred BPM range (grin).

Jack Frost Comes Creeping

Judging by the progression of ice in the cove, the forecast for accumulating snow tomorrow and the sudden, rapid depletion of our LP gas cylinders, Winter isn't far away.

Bah Humbug!

---***---

A SAD DAY

"Snow flakes keep fallin' on my head..."

Mother Nature be messing with my head and I don't like it. Can't really see them in this photo but the ugly little white balls are coming down. It really is that gray out there, though.

I hope y'all have a great day. While the available choices are dismal, I know, get out and vote tomorrow.

Autumn Scenes

Too cold to swim anymore...

An Elm and an Oak go into a bar...

An ornamental Choke Cherry ... the berries too hard to eat until multiple freeze/thaws render them juicy.

Hunting Success!

Sent from my Kindle Fire

Another Piece Will Fit...

If we just toss it up there, right?

PHD in Furniture Transport

Early Warming System

It was a world of icy frost out there at six-dark-thirty this morning... Just Mother Nature's way of letting us know Jack Frost is on the way home to the North Woods after vacationing all summer with Saint Nick.

Realization of the day

Time was, a dip in the 68* lake on a warm day in mid-September was a pleasure. This afternoon, it was simply bloody cold. Ten minutes as a Pops-cicle and I had to sit in the sun for an hour!

Sent from my Kindle Fire

Autumnal Lung Festers

SWMBO in her element

Labor Day Weekend @ The Lake

Mid-August, Maine 2012

Post 4th activity

Living la vida de pobrecitas

Have a happy and safe 4th of July, folks.

Not Spring Yet

Regardless of the calendar and the record 83* F temp last week at this time, the earliest ice-out in recorded history and one of the mildest winters in memory, the snow back on the ground and these "ice stacks" say it's not Spring yet here in the frozen North.

Hurricane preparations? No, just another drunken Saturday night. 

Why do you ask?

Photo Credit: Maine Warden Service via Bangordailynews.com