Well, we didn’t get storm conditions, but we did get plenty of snow overnight!

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The cats were very hungry, so I made sure they got their food and warm water, first. I actually had to knock snow out of the kibble bowls, first! Somehow, at least some snow always manages to get in, but when the wind comes whipping around the West side of the house, it really gets into that kibble house.

I messaged my daughters for a refill of the water jug while I started shoveling. I wasn’t sure if I’d need one, but I set the kettle going after I filled the first jug (half cold water from the sink, half water heated in the kettle), just in case! The cats really, really appreciated that warm water!

I didn’t want to scare away the cats with shoveling, so I cleared the stairs in front of the main entry, then the sidewalk to the chain link fence, before digging my way back to the sun room. From there, I cleared in between and around the shelters, then a path to the shrine. I actually had to take the ice scraper to the concrete in front of the sun room. I even cleared the snow on the hand rail. From the last photo in the series above, you can see that even the birds appreciated that!

After that, I continued my morning rounds, including switching out the trail cam memory cards. The snow is really light and fluffy, bit it’s also quite warm – we’re already above freezing as I write this, and warmer than the expected high still listed. Which meant that, at first, the snow was very easy to push down the path, but when I paused to shovel it to the side, the bottom was heavy with wet snow. The ground is not frozen yet, and even the grass is green, so the snow as basically being melted from below.

When I was done and starting to head inside, I realized that there was no kibble left in the sun room at all. Not a crumb! Nor was there anything left in the two levels of the shelf shelter I drop handfuls into. There was still a bit left in the kibble house, at least, but before I headed inside, I topped up their food a bit. They need those extra calories, this time of year!

I’ve asked my daughters to clear other needed paths to the garage, the compost pile and the area we dump the litter sawdust as its own compost pile. Burning it would be preferable, but in the summer we rarely had days with low enough winds – we only did one burn all summer! Other paths I would normally shovel can wait. With how much snow there is on the ground now, and the long range forecast changing downward, I no longer expect all the snow to melt away next week. The next couple of days are supposed to be a bit warmer, and the main paths we shovel today will clear faster, which is what we need.

I’m hoping that, this winter, we’ll be able to keep enough of the south yard clear that we can drive right up to the house to load and unload the truck. We’ve only got the little electric snow blower, but it can do that job. The snow we have right now, though, is too wet and would clog up even the gas powered snow blower, if that thing still worked.

In the near future, we need to invest in a variety of straps. With the truck, we can now take the snow blower in to be checked out and, hopefully, repaired, but right now we don’t have what’s needed to secure anything back there, properly.

I’m keeping tabs on the local highway information group, and a lot of people were saying, stay home if you can! Even the local school division closed the schools in our region, because road conditions were too dangerous. The plows and sanding trucks are out, though, and I’m already hearing about some of the highways being clear.

Yesterday, my phone gave me a notification for an appointment I had today. !! I completely forgot about it. It was for a 6 month follow up, with a field of vision test and dilation, so I’d have to make sure my daughter came along to drive me home.

I’m glad I always set my phone to remind me of appointments 1 day ahead! I called and rescheduled to next month. When I told the receptionist I had an appointment for today, which she confirmed, then asked to reschedule, she just laughed! She was not at all surprised, that’s for sure. I wouldn’t be surprised if quite a few out of towners were rescheduling their appointments!

Unfortunately, as I write this, I’m realizing I think my neck and one shoulder is having rather painful issues. Not from the shoveling, though. I think I slept in a bad position or something, because it was already a problem when I woke up. It’s just worse now, after the shoveling.

So… I injured myself by sleeping.

*sigh*

I was hoping to avoid taking pain killers for at least one day!

The Re-Farmer