Up On The Roof

As I mentioned in the last post, we've received about five feet of snow in the last thirty days.  We have also had record breaking cold temperatures.  As a result, the snow pack simply is not melting and there is more snow than we know what to do with.  This morning, the governor took the extraordinary step of urging state residents to remove snow from their roofs, prior to the arrival of the next big storm, expected mid-week (during my runs yesterday and today, I saw people doing roof snow removal on every third house, at least).  We have more than enough snow on our roofs, as the result of some excellent insulation work that Lee did about six years ago; because our attic is so well insulated, not enough heat escapes to melt the snow.  We were able to borrow a roof rake (because you can't actually buy one in Connecticut right now) for a few hours this afternoon and clear off some spots on our roof.  The snow was more than three feet deep in some spots and we hope that the snow we were able to remove is enough.  Although (knock on wood) we have not had any leaking, our second floor ceilings are beginning to crack from the weight and there are new cracks on many of the wall on the second floor as well.

View of the sunroom porch from inside the house. 

The roof rake in action. 

Falling snow. 

FYI - Lee is petrified of heights.  He was not thrilled to be out there and Elizabeth was very worried that he was going to fall off of the roof.

The garage roof - we only got so much off of it before working on the house again.

Fifty-Three Days

Until spring.  And the flooding.  Because there is just no way that we can have this much snow in January and not watch the banks of the Connecticut River spill over in April.  Given the snowfall thus far, it should be something to see.
During the day yesterday, we got about 3-4 inches of snow; then, sometime between midnight and 5 am, we got another foot.  By the time we got the measuring tape out this morning, there was another 16+ inches of snow on the ground.  With a few more days to go in January, it's already the snowiest month on record (59.8 inches) in Connecticut and we are inching ever closer to the snowiest winter on record - and there is a 70% chance of snow predicted for four of the next seven days....
It took Lee and I four hours (eight man hours) to shovel the driveway and front walk - very hard labor that resulted from a combination of heavy snow and already high snow backs.  The walls of our driveway are now about six feet high.  And if our neighbors hadn't snow blowed the last couple of feet of our driveway, we'd probably still be out there!  The girls had yet another snow day (their fifth this month) and I had to take an unexpected vacation day (by the time we finished shoveling, it was noon and not worth it for me to drive in).  We can't really complain because, truth be told, Lee and I love winter far more than summer.

The view from inside (above) and outside (below) the same window. 

 

The large planters in our backyard are covered (in snow and with snow). 

Measuring the snow - unfortunately, I didn't use the flash, so you can't see the numbers well, but here in the garage, it was between 16-17 inches. 

Out in the snow by 8:30 am!

View from the street. 

Elizabeth practically disappears in the snow once she gets off a path and into the yard. 

There's Emily (and she's on a path), trying to see over the snow. 

In the snow. 

 

Rohan to the rescue!  Thank goodness for neighbors! 

Queen of the Mountain

Bounce Bonanza

Yesterday afternoon, I took the girls to the Bounce Bonanza at the YMCA.  On a day in which the temperatures were not expected to reach even the mid-teens, it was exactly what they needed - them, and every other kid in the area, or at least it seemed that way!  The placed was packed with stir-crazy kids (most of whom only had school 2 days this week) and frazzled parents (most of whom had kids home for 5 out of 7 days this week).  It was great to see Y friends and school friends, to burn off some energy and just have a good time!

Emily and Julie, her good friend from the Y and the daughter of our friend Sarah

Emily could have bounced by herself in this toddler bounce house all afternoon.

Elizabeth and her friend Alana bounce with the big kids.

Ice, Ice Baby

This is the winter that just won't quit.  In the last 30 days, we have had a blizzard, a record-breaking nor'easter, an ice storm, a storm that just dropped (only) 6 inches of snow, and brutally cold temperatures.  And there's still a week to go in January and two more months of winter!  Of all the weather we have had lately, the ice storm on Tuesday was the toughest.  Because of where we live, we rarely see the worst part of storms - almost every weather map draws a dividing line right through our town, with the bad weather happening above or below us.  This time, the tables really turned and we seemed to be at the epi-center.  We lost power several times throughout the afternoon, as power lines came down and transformers caught on fire all over town.  Our trees were dripping with ice and bent to the ground.  We were lucky - the house never got too cold and we didn't lose power through the night like so many houses around us.  Now that we made it through this storm, we are bracing for the cold this weekend (over the next few days, temperatures are not expected to get much above zero, which is as cold as it's been around here since before we moved to Connecticut) and the next round of storms - two more are expected this week.  It's a good thing we love winter so much!

Just some of the icicles around the house. 

The layer of ice starts to cover the two feet of snow in the backyard. 

   Not only is there ice covering the branches, but you can see the ice (not rain) falling in the background.

You don't need to be the child of a power company guy (Lee) or a telephone company guy (me) to realize that a power outage is in your future. 

Today, the icicles are pretty and delicate, but razor sharp. 

  

Igloo

A few days after the storm, our neighbor Peter made a huge igloo for the girls.  Even using his snowblower, it took a good four hours!  It is huge - big enough for an adult to stand in once they've crawled inside.  The girls love it, especially Elizabeth, and want to play in it every day!

Peter even made a path from our yard to theirs with his snowblower - you can see the beginnings of the igloo in the background. 

I love this picture because if you look carefully, you will notice the differences in our girls.  In the background, Elizabeth is sprinting to the igloo, while Emily takes her time, stopping to touch the snow and make handprints. 

Emily loved looking and touching the igloo more than she liked getting inside. 

  

Lee tries to get Elliot to crawl in with him, but Elliot's not having any part of an igloo! 

She loves it!

Poor Elliot, he can barely maneuver in the snow! 

Now THIS is Snow!

On January 12th, we had a huge Nor'easter that resulted in record snowfall in Connecticut.  Although I can certainly remember larger storms growing up in New Hampshire, this is the most snow we can remember as adults.  Although it didn't start snowing until after midnight, by the time we awoke on Wednesday morning, a foot of snow had already accumulated and it was several hours before the snow let up at all.  It took Lee and I more than three hours to shovel our driveway, even with our neighbors' snowblower handling the heavy snow the plow left at the end.  Thankfully, it was a genuine snowday for all of us, as the schools were closed, as well as the Y and my office.

When we woke up on Wednesday morning, the snow was already piled high.  I honestly can't remember ever having this much of the windows blocked by snow.

The view out our front door - relatively early on Wednesday morning, and it is still coming down. 

When we opened the sliders, it was well over a foot deep. 

Lee - getting ready to shovel. 

Elizabeth loved played in the snow, even though she could barely move in it.

Where's my car? 

Oh...there it is.  Notice how the snow is thigh deep on Lee. 

Measuring the snow. 

23 inches and still falling!! 

When Elizabeth decided to go inside, we discovered that her pockets were filled with snow! 

When we finished shoveling, Lee decided to clear off the porch roof, as there is a wintry mix in the long range forecast.

Notice how narrow the streets are - usually, that stop sign is about 4 inches from the road but now, it is several feet from the road.  There is simply no place to put the snow!

Groton Alumni Games

On Sunday, we traveled to Massachusetts and Lee's high school alma mater for its annual Alumni Games.   We usually get back to the Groton School at least once a year, but we didn't make it last year, so Emily had no memory of the school at all.  Both girls enjoyed watching Lee play hockey and meeting some of his old friends after the game.  Until next year....

Lee's biggest fans! 

Lee in action. 

  

Chasing down the puck. 

She has no interest in playing hockey, but she thought that wearing Lee's helmet was funny (unlike Emily, who thought that it was gross!). 

Lee and the girls.