Uncle!

The entry to the garden

Snow. Sigh. Part of me has that crazed maniac thought of bring it on. But most of me is crying uncle at the thought of more snow. Really it can stop now. Typically our winters are snow turning to rain, or rain turning to snow. We get thaws. It melts out. We can get some good blizzards here, but the snow doesn't stick for a long time. This time we are locked in a freeze that is keeping the snow with us. The next week doesn't see temperatures above freezing until maybe - just maybe - Sunday.

The funny thing is that my husband and I went to a lecture by Tom Wysmuller in the middle of January. He was telling us how his prediction for the northeastern weather this winter turned out wrong. He predicted heavy snow and colder than normal temperatures. Up to that point all we had had was dry and warmer air. Well all he had to do was wait a week or two for his predictions to come true. Now we are setting snow records. We haven't quite reached an all time winter record, but we far surpassed the 30 days records. By a long shot. And it has been cold over the last month. I only have weather station data since 2011, but so this stretch has been the coldest by 3.2F compared to last year (the previous record in this stretch). This week is supposed to be bitter cold and I'm sure that difference will widen.

Kale

You can see my supports for the kale. The fence behind them is 4' tall. Though that is a little deceptive as we have had very strong winds and the snow drifts. The stakes are in a depression in the snow. The snow will help the kale survive the winter, but the problem is the snow crusts on the top then melts from the bottom and pulls off the leaves and crushes the plants. That is why they have supports. It is for the snow. Hopefully not too many leaves will get stripped off as it all melts this spring. Spring will come. Right?

I still haven't shoveled out the path to the compost pile. Until I know that the snow is gone from the roof it is too dangerous. We have solar panels up there. When the snow comes off, it comes off as an avalanche, all at once. With a lot of force. The first year we had the panels we had our tempered glass table in the back like normal. It shattered the table. We now tip the table on its side for the winter so it will survive. I'm pretty sure if it hit me when I was out there it could do a lot of damage, so I won't go there until I'm sure the snow is off. When it gets warm enough I'll walk over to the next street and look at the roof to find out.

If you look to the right of the photo you will see some indentations in the snow. Those are my footprints. Or leg prints as I sunk down deep. I was more crawling on the snow than walking. Over a railing and a fence that I couldn't tell was there. We had to dig out our furnace and water heater vents yesterday. The furnace one didn't really need it badly. It is hot enough that it mostly melts the snow, but the water heater one doesn't go on all the time. It was buried. The intense winds blocked it again later, so I was out again making sure we don't die of carbon monoxide poisoning.

At least today the sun is shining. I'm always happier with the sun. Now if it would just warm up enough for me to go out for a walk I could see what the rest of the neighborhood looks like. And see if my solar panels are clear.