Wordy Wednesday

In lieu of a Saturday post, I'll do a short post today. Tomorrow I'm off on my trip to Bismarck - this time for real!

The snow we were promised came and came and came some more. It snowed for close to 24 hours, and in that time the weather channel suggested we had nearly 30 cms. (12 inches) of snow.  I would say we were closer to 20cm/8 in. We should have gone out and cleared snow Saturday evening, but instead waited until mid-morning on Sunday. It took nearly 2 hours for my daughter and I to clear the sidewalks: back, side and front (including city sidewalk), as well as the area behind the back fence and the garage. There had been a couple of vehicles; trucks, I assume, that had been down the alley. But my vehicle was covered, and the snow around it and behind it was deep.

It continued to snow until mid-afternoon, when I realized there was a bright orb in the sky to the southwest. What could that be? It's been a few days since we've seen the sun. Once we were sure it was sticking around, D and I went out again and cleared the snow that had fallen in the meantime.

The town plows were out sometime overnight to start the street clearing (I heard nothing). It expect it will take a day or two to get to the alleys. Sadly, at least a couple of our neighbours are idiots. One attempted to blow the snow across the alley to the vacant property but, of course, much of the snow ended up in the alley. In the other direction, another neighbour made a mess weaving his way through the snow and apparently spinning his tires. 

I drove Eli to school on Monday morning, as D's car would not have had the height to make it through. We chose to go towards the snow blower mess and I bottomed out in the SUV. That spot is flattened now. We decided to try the other direction on the way back from the school, and it was even a bigger mess. 

Tuesday morning, the alley had yet to be cleared, so I again drove Eli to school, and then D to the bank before heading to the city. The highways were clear, but it was very foggy for about half of the trip. I saw a couple vehicles in the ditch and one fender bender in the city. The city street were definitely not as clear, however sanding trucks had been out so the intersections weren't bad. I think having a heavier vehicle is a benefit too.

I ran a few errands, stopped at the doctor's office to drop off and pick up some paperwork for D, the bank to pick up cash for my trip, and at the mall for a haircut. I use cash because it is the easiest way to stay within my spending budget. The haircut was desperately needed as I hadn't had a cut since September. While there are a couple of salons in our small town, getting an appointment is quite difficult and often requires a wait of several weeks. No thanks!

Back at the house, I discovered C had only got half of the driveway cleared after this latest snowfall. After a bite of lunch, I went out and did the rest. A downfall of the neighbour having install the fence, the snow now blows across the area behind the house and up against the fence. This blocks access to the garage. Not good when the temperatures are forecast to be in the range of -25C to -30C (-13F to -22F) later this week. Thankfully there is no snow in the forecast, so we'll both be parking in the garage. 

Today, I've got some housework to do. No, the vacuum has not moved since I left over a month ago. I'm running a load of laundry, and will pop out to pick up a few groceries. Since I'm in the city, I'll make a run to Value Village as well. In particular, I'm looking for a small ottoman or a stool to put by the door into our porch at D's. We both would like something to sit on as we put on our winter boots. An ottoman would be best, as we'd have storage for the mitts, toques (beanies) and scarves we use most often.

To my readers from the U.S., Happy Thanksgiving! To everyone else, have a great weekend.