Feels Like a Weekend, Misjudged Snow Day? Happy News!

Paisley, On

On Tuesday, Feb. 16^th Bill missed hearing the alarm at 5:45 but woke at 6. When he looked out, it was quite nasty outside but he prepared for work until he heard differently. As he was getting ready, Billy texted that there was ‘no work, due to weather’. Okay, made sense so he crawled back in bed. We got up around 7 and went down for our morning drinks and a bite to eat. All day, it felt like part of the weekend.

One minute we looked out and it was a blizzard
Next minute, it would clear

The wind was coming from the west
Ptooties doesn't look too badly covered but the
garage door sure does!

Upstairs, after my tea, I had my shower. Wes and Bill decided to wait until after lunch when the snow stops to shovel enough to get the vehicles out on the road. Eddie had done the walkways early so there was no rush. We had toasted bacon, cheese and tomato sandwiches for lunch and then after dishes Bill went out to help Eddie. That was when I bundled up and went for my walk. It wasn’t as long as usual; the wind was bitter cold on my face. I managed 1.5 miles and picked up the mail on my return.

Looking out the kitchen window towards Water Street

Seems that February is the snowy month

There really wasn’t much to do since Eddie had cleaned the snow off their van, his car, Ptooties and Black Beauty. It wasn’t long after he came in and he sat with me at the puzzle, that we heard Jim come in to plow the lane. Bill doesn’t like puzzles, says he doesn’t have the patience, but he did find 5 or 6 pieces for me. 😉 The one I started is of old train cars so he was interested.

The sidewalk plow was late this morning

but there was a lot of snow to remove

After he moved our vehicles back in the lane, he went upstairs for a snooze. He’d been downstairs for a while before lunch working on his plane and wasn’t keen on going back down. I puzzled until 3:15 and although the wood stove was going, I just got colder. I have a birthmark below my right thumb and when I’m warm, it is reddish pink. When I’m cold, it is purple. Yup, she was purple when I made a tea for each of us and came upstairs.

It gets piled off to the roadside

For this dynamic duo to clean up

Outside, since noon, the weather has been clear. The roads have been plowed multiple times and even though it is windy, maybe they could have gone to work after all. It was an early morning decision and in that blizzard, it was the right one. Sometimes you just never know. Bill is the type of guy that can’t sit around which is one main reason right now that I’m grateful for the work he has.

I went out for my walk 
You can see that they need the plow guy to come

A walk along Mill Drive

I started my post and then crawled up onto the bed and read a bit. The sun was shining in the window periodically making for a bright day. Before we get too excited that the winter storm has come and gone, we are expecting another one on Thursday. I can talk about this in pleasant terms simply because we’ve heard that after this week, warmer temperatures are headed our way and on into March! 0c/32F will be marvellous! 😊

That wind was cold so I didn't head towards the bridge
today

I don't know if you can see the deep snow here
but I didn't climb over it to walk the trail today

We went downstairs before 6 and I fried 2 medium thickness pork chops. I’m done with those 1” thick ones, especially when they aren’t my favourite meat. Bill agrees. While they were frying on the stove, I mixed up some StoveTop Dressing rather than cooking a potato. With some spaghetti squash for me and mixed veggies for Bill, supper was soon on the table. It was very good, I actually enjoyed the pork.

Heading back home, Black Beauty sits on the street
waiting for the plow

Bill is shovelling by the fence, where the plow can't get to easily

We watched bits of the news but mainly watched the mid-western Ontario weather for our area. It looks like a full week of snow, dumping after dumping, but hopefully it looks worse than it will be. This evening will be quiet, NCIS is a rerun so after Jeopardy, some more reading is what I’ll be doing. This was a good day. I could have finished the puzzle I started, but I’m glad I left some for another day.

So, I started this puzzle this morning

Again, the box does not show the full picture 
but this one is better

The good news of the day is that our surrounding area, Grey-Bruce for us, has moved out of the emergency lockdown. Yay! We are in the Yellow zone which is quite extensive. Of course, face coverings and the 2m distancing is still in effect but we can eat in restaurants, dance, sing, karaoke, 10 people indoors, 25 outdoors for personal gatherings etc. etc. It is all wonderful news to us and we fervently things move forward rather than backward in the future.

Delicious!

With that said, this was a great day. I hope yours was too. “Go away snow!”

This is a picture Donna sent us of the Ridge
Feb. 16, 2019
Maybe I should take a drive out tomorrow and compare

For now, Good night!

Thank you for stopping by.

A Snow Day for One of Us, Puzzling in a Bit of a Haze 😉

Paisley, On

On Friday, Jan. 22^nd, I didn’t hear Bill’s alarm but I did hear the ‘pop’ of his text around 6:15. Billy was driving from Listowel (coming from the southwest) and had asked Bill to let him know what the day looked like here for travel. They went back and forth a bit and Mike, their boss, suggested that they wait until closer to 8:30 to see if roads improved and what the weather turned into. No point in driving in the dark, although Bill admitted to liking that scenario better because of headlights in your face.

Caught Ptooties and Bill leaving the driveway
at 8:30

Here I go again. I checked the radar on my phone and saw that between 7 and 9:30 we weren’t looking to get much snow, if any, so thought it might be best if I could get out on the road by 7:30 and be back around 10:30. That was the plan. Bill said he’d go with me IF their day got cancelled. Then, we decided to both leave at the same time as far as Hanover, I could follow him and he could carry on to work if he got the word to head to Neustadt. We went downstairs all prepared and he cleaned the vehicles off while I made my thermos of coffee.

I was happy he'd be safe driving on this wintry day

With the wind howling in between the buildings in town, we knew the highway 'could' have poor visibility in spots across Bruce County Rd 3 especially. Hmmm. After Ptooties was cleaned off, I thought there was no point in taking the risk and Bill agreed that I should stay put today. He finished outside by cleaning Black Beauty off and came inside to wait for Mike’s decision. He could have done some one-man stuff at the house on his own but why go if he doesn't have to?

Next door, they were getting their driveway blown out again

Billy texted at 8:30 and they all headed out. Bill took Ptooties, with her 4 snow tires. It was snowing here, just light near-invisible flakes and the road and sidewalk plows had been through many times since 6:30. I felt relief from the decision but then self-doubt when the snow didn’t come at 9:30, nor 10:30. I wasn’t feeling bad about not going, I’d texted Jamie to let him know, but I probably would've been fine. He understood perfectly about my plan to stay home.

This is what I saw when I texted Bill

I read for awhile upstairs and then around 10 went downstairs to work on the puzzle. Wes and Susan were in the garage making wax logs for the fireplace. Same idea as my little fire starters just on a larger scale. I have nice memories of making mine with Pat, Rose and Suzie on a hot summer afternoon at the Ridge. They watched and kept me company. 😀 After a bit, the garage became quite hazy with smoke but Susan kept it at bay by opening the door periodically. I made progress and at 11:45 went into the kitchen to make lunch. Today, noodle soup and a clementine.

The snow had almost stopped by 2 pm when I walked to the post office

But I wasn't encouraged to walk too far
It was a cold -8C feeling like -13C/8F

By that time, the snow was coming down in droves. We were in the middle of the snowsquall and I started to worry about Bill. Of course I'm going to worry! It was noon hour so I texted him with my concerns, sending him pictures of how bad it was here. They'd decided to stay working for another couple of hours and then call it a day. That is probably a better decision anyway, than driving in this. He had a reliable vehicle at least.

Looking out our window over the roof of the motor home
it wasn't looking too great out there

By then, according to the radar, the snow should have dissipated. Famous last words, ‘should’. He says he will be fine and I will be ‘finer’ when he is back at home. 😊 I went back and did some more puzzling, managing to get Betty Boops eyes, then face finished. I know once I get the easy things done, it will be the hard background that is left. Working myself up for the challenge! Unfortunately, I have discovered that one piece is missing but will do a thorough check around the table when I finish. Because Susan wants this in a frame, I hope I can find it.

Looking out the front window downstairs
waiting for Bill
I'd shoveled the walk way by then
and the goose is knee deep in snow

I walked to the post office to get the mail and when I returned, rather than going for a walk, I shoveled their walkway from the garage door around to the front sidewalk. It is light snow but I sure worked up a good heart rate and a sweat! I haven’t shoveled in a while and I don’t miss it one iota! I didn’t mind helping out and since the snow had stopped, thought it a good time to do it. Then from inside, I watched for Bill who was on his way from Neustadt.

From the dining room window I just caught Bill backing in

It was around 2:30 when he backed Ptooties in. Good thing he didn’t have the truck with all the snow in the lane. She barreled through it like nothing. 😉 We each had a snooze upstairs; I managed to drop off this time for 30 minutes. When I got up, it was 4 and Marty had his sign lit up across the street. Yay! I was prepared to walk over with my order, getting through on the phone has been frustrating, but I took a chance and called. First time and she answered. Bonus! I placed our pick up order for 6.

This was what it was like at 6, outside Marty's

Inside Marty's

That's a wintry view, right there
Brrr

At 5 minutes before the hour I walked over to get our supper. Quesadilla w/chicken for me and 1 pc. fish and chips for Bill. Susan informed me that the new owners are keeping the menu the same and opening from Wed. to Sun. when they take over Feb. 4^th. I chatted with Marty for the first time tonight, he's usually busy cooking. Seems happy to be retiring after 17 years. That’s great, we’ll give the new owners a try after one more meal next Friday from Marty. 

Literally a hop, skip and a jump to his front door

When I stepped outside, I was in the middle of a blizzard and was grateful for the short walk across the street. I thought they would have a slow night because of the weather but he told me they had 25 pick up orders being prepped in the kitchen. Wow! 

Yummy!

Supper was great and I saved some quesadilla for tomorrow. It will be a leftover meal along with other things in the fridge. We’re in for the weekend, no need now to worry about how much snow falls between now and Monday. A winter weekend by the sound of it. This was a nice quiet day here in the neighbourhood.

Two special memories
Jan. 22, 2019
Ken and Nancy Adamski
near Quartzsite, AZ

Same day, with a tall saguaro in Quartzsite

Good night!

Thank you for your visit!