The Promised Storm

The big storm finally arrived in the early hours of Friday morning, as promised.  At our house we got about 3 feet of snow, though some drifts are 4 feet or deeper.

Dylan had a big job clearing the snow from the gate so we could go in and out of the yard.

Just the day before, he and his friend Robert were clearing a space to build an igloo. 

Apparently Jacob and his friend Kyle were doing the same thing over at Kyle's house and the younger boys thought it was a brilliant idea.

They found a broken-down old bucket to make snow-bricks and got a pretty good start on a wall. 

That's as far as they got, though, before it started getting dark.

We were quite blessed during this series of storms.  We only lost power twice, for 2 hours one day and for just 5 minutes early yesterday.

Quite a number of our friends were without power for most of the week.

Dylan's gate-clearing duties paled next to our neighbor removing the snow around her much wider gate so they could get their ATVs out of the backyard.

The Neals have been great.  They have a snow plow shovel that attaches to the front of an ATV, and after each morning of snow they've come by to plow our driveway for us.  Wonderful people!

While I chatted with the neighbor, Sarah cared for Cocoa Puff and Likki Nikki.  At left, Cocoa sips her water.

Sarah puts a tarp on the hutch to keep our bunnies dry.  With their winter coats, they are unfazed by the cold.

She brings in the water bottles at night or they'll freeze.  Sarah returns them to the thirsty bunnies in the morning.

Speaking of pets, our roof-cat Tabitha decided it was cold enough now that she would deign to join us lesser mortals indoors.

She's a ratty old thing now.  She'll be 16 years old in May, but she's a tough old biddy.  She quickly convinced Diego to keep his distance from her and has taken up residence in the boys' bedroom.  (Here she is sleeping next to Jacob.)

Eventually I had to hike around the house to the shed where we keep our tall freezer so I could get steaks out to grill for last night's dinner.  (Even if the electricity goes out, one can always grill!)

The snow was above my knees the whole way, which makes for quite a hike.  Keep in mind that my feet still weren't on the ground; I was standing on several inches of packed snow beneath the powder.

If you're wondering, on my left is Jacob's hammock, slung between the trunk of an oak tree and the skeleton (on my right) of an old camper shell that my ex-husband scavenged long ago.  He sold the aluminum for "party money."

Obviously, our car wasn't going anywhere for awhile. 

Today, though, Jacob dug it out and at this very moment he, Sarah, Dylan, Diego, and a whole slew of their friends are back at that big hill in the country club, sledding and celebrating.

I'm home alone, praying for no broken bones or concussions.

The snow continued throughout the day, but it only added a few more inches by nightfall.

This is how our yard looked today, just a few minutes ago.  Originally the forecasters said the storm would end by noon, but it's still snowing lightly. 

They say maybe 4 more inches by tonight.  But then it will be clear skies for a few days before the next storm system moves in.

And we'll be ready!