Posts from the ‘Montana’ category

From the front snow cave

I know I said I wanted snow…

Above – this morning, laying on my stomach, just inside my front door with the camera pointed down the “walk”

Below – after shovelling the roof and the sidewalk

So…the snowblower…it blew some snow and then it coughed, spit and quit…several times…

Big John’s wanted to come today to get it and try again – at no charge – but my road is not plowed and neither is the highway, according to a neighbor, so I told them to wait until driving was better. Those 2 sweet young men who do the pickup/delivery and played with Karl – no sense risking their lives over a snow blower!

And the mechanic at Big John’s listened to my attempt to mimic the noises the blower made and he never laughed. He listened…and asked questions!! I am still a fan of Big John’s.

Karl…Karl has had to move from the front porch, to the walk, to the driveway, to get a spot where he can keep a proper eye on his yard.

Adam is back.

There is a certain benefit to the snow cave thing…

Snowblowing, shoveling, snowshoeing – it is thirsty work.

From the front snow cave…

Big John’s

Never say never or last or always…

I wrote in the previous post, not that long ago, that it was my “last post for 2008”. But shortly after I hit “publish”, I received a call from Big John’s. Big John’s is the shop that had my snowblower for tuneup/repair. I decided on Sunday that the snowblower needed a tuneup at the very least. Big John’s is closed on Mondays. I phoned on Tuesday, gave all of my info and was told that their pickup/delivery person would call me “sometime” about picking up the snowblower.

That afternoon, when I was in Kalispell on my pre-storm supply run, I received the call. Dave was about 1/2 an hour from my house. I was 2 hours from my house. I gave instructions to get into the garage and when I returned the snowblower was gone. I put a note on my calendar to call Big John’s on Tuesday next week and see if they had any guess as to when I might get the blower back. I calculated that given the extreme cold and heavy snow, there might be a LOT of snow blowers needing service and snow machines and 4 wheelers, etc. – all the purvey of Big John’s.

Dave phoned me early this afternoon and said they would deliver the blower back to me in an hour if that was ok.

Yippy, Skippy and A-OK with me. I was beyond happy.

Dave and his assistant played with Karl whilst I got a check for the whopping sum of …..drum roll please: $61.50 – which included the pickup and delivery. I had expected $150 plus.

Karl was disappointed when they left.

I am now the president of Big John’s fan club.

A fine mess

Saturday, it was cold. The snow came down light and fine. When Karl and I were out about 7 that night there was nearly 5 inches of new, powdery snow on the driveway. I started the snowblower thinking that if it continued to snow overnight as forecast, it would be easier in the morning if I only had the overnight snow to contend with. The snowblower had other thoughts – it has been running rough, quitting…I treated the gas hoping it was just condensation. It started! – but the auger was frozen…I moved it into the house on a tarp to thaw out and resigned myself to working on maybe a foot of snow in the morning.

It didn’t snow overnight. It did warm up. At 5:30 Sunday morning, the temperature was 34 and it was raining. The light, sugary snow had turned into a heavy, wet mess. Snow was still dropping from the trees, but it was dropping in heavy, ugly clumps…not misty avalanches of powder.

The snowblower started but still did not sound good. I had arranged for plowing if needed, but decided to try to at least clear the edges to guide the plow. The snow was so thick and heavy that it was hard going and the blower finally gave in to whatever problem it is having. I called my neighbor who was my backup.

His chained tires had trouble a few times, spinning as he worked on moving the heavy snow that formed giant snowballs which finally rolled off the plow blade.

A mess, but the drive and turnaround are clear. The snowblower is to be picked up by the repair place and neighbor, Adam, will be plowing for awhile.

There was, however, something pretty in the day. A week or so ago, a reader sent me a link to instructions for making ice art out of doilies. I didn’t have any doilies, but I did have some crocheted snowflake ornaments made by my grandmother. I didn’t cut a real tree this year and hadn’t used them in the house, so an easy art or science project depending on your perspective…

As they melted, they melted from the center out.

A bit of beauty amongst a fine mess.

Tree avalanche

The snow we have now has come when the temperature has been very cold so it is dry, light and airy. It clings to everything…

The snow piles up on tree branches…

But…eventually, the amount of snow, or snow and a bit of sun cause gravity to do its thing and a branch sheds its accumulation of snow. If it is a high branch, the avalanche of snow from the high branch brings snow from lower branches in its path. Karl and I have both been “caught” – Karl lays his ears back and runs and then looks at me as if to say “What, I did nothing?”. I hear the sound, feel the first rush of snow and hunker down in my coat with my cowboy hat for protection as the weight of the snow falls around me. This afternoon, as snow has been falling heavily, the trees have been thunderously shedding snow with increasing frequency. It falls all around the sunroom where I’m working and Karl is napping near me – startling us when it falls near or on the house.

Thunder of snow…tree avalanche.