Thursday, October 31, 2019

Second Snow... and Meat!

Two days after the first snow we get the second - and this was a pretty big one.  Traffic was terrible all day until this afternoon when it stopped and cleared up a bit.  Here's a view of the freshly covered back yard from the warmth of inside.

Also this afternoon, thankfully after it was more clear, I went and picked up our fourth quarter cow.  It was a bigger cow than last year, we got about 132 pounds of meat at less than 5 bucks a pound, and that's for everything - steaks, roasts, ground and more.  Not too bad, and the meat is so much better than the local grocery store.  This will probably set us until early 2021!

That's all I can write for now, it's Halloween and the trick-or-treaters are starting to come around.  Boo!

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

First Snow of the Season, 2019

First snows according to this blog - October 10, 2009; December 4, 2010, November 9, 2011; December 9, 2012; October 23, 2013; 2014 not noted; November 20, 2015; December 4, 2016; November 18, 2017; October 20, 2018; and today, October 29, 2019.

The unmelted lumps of snow in the driveway are on leaves.


The first snow of the season is something I've noted here before, usually, see above, so I shouldn't have been surprised as it's not too early for it.  I did see on the news last night that they were expecting 1-2 inches, but they also said it would melt during the day.  Oh, it's melted some, but there's still more than I'd like to see out there this afternoon, and it's been sunny all day.

The picture above is from before 5:00 this morning as I headed out to work.  At the time it was 30ºF and there was least two inches and likely more of the wet, heavy stuff - and still snowing.  Here, right, is the same view as I got home early this afternoon.  Roads, driveways and walks were mostly melted even this morning as the ground is warmer, but snow still lingers on the grassy areas.

Yes, the back yard is still mostly covered in snow still as it has only risen to 36ºF this afternoon, but the front yard is a more dramatic picture with the snow, leaves and drooping arborvitae.  Not surprising since this is the north side of the house.  Every winter I try to knock the snow off the bushes as soon as possible, which I did right after this picture, or it really takes a toll and they have a hard time straightening up again in the spring.  I did remember this year to give them a good, long drink of water before putting the hose away a couple days ago.  I forgot last year and the two taller ones are still a bit ragged in their bottom halves from whatever happened to them over last winter.


At least we finished winterizing the yard and gardens on Sunday.  Still left to do is leaves and gutters, but there are still leaves to fall yet.  The back yard gets mostly the black walnut leaves from next door, which are done now, so I mow to mulch back there.  The leaves in front will eventually get raked into piles and vacuumed up and mulched for the flowerbeds.  I see many people here have already raked several times, and they always put them out for the city to pick up.  While I have mowed to mulch in back, I refuse to rake the front until the leaves are done falling.  And I'm not putting them out for the city - ever.  I never really saw the sense in that when they make good mulch, if not for flowerbeds then just mow them into the lawn.  Putting them out for the city to pick up seems wasteful and inefficient, to me anyway.

It seems like I've said much of this before, so sorry if I'm being repetitive.  What do you do outside to get ready for winter?

Sunday, October 20, 2019

October This-And-Thats

With no real subject to write about and knowing I've not posted much of anything aside from the creek in some time, it's time again to sit down and start writing about whatever comes to mind.  You know the drill, now here I go!
  • I got sick for the first time this season, starting over two weeks ago.  I was so miserable, and for so long.  I think it was just a real nasty cold virus, but it may have been a bit of the flu - even though I got my flu shot less than a month before.  (Some say that's what got me sick, but I think they use a dead virus for the vaccine.  What do you think?)  I was off work for a whole week and it's been lingering in the week since.  At least my boss felt sorry enough for me that I wasn't required to do the mandatory overtime this past week.  Yay.
  • I was poking my nose around in blogger and I just happened to notice that Delcatto's comment on my last post was my 1,000th comment!  Doesn't mean much unless you're a numbers geek, and I'm sure about half the comments were me.  That's my random fact for today, I guess.
  • The trees are turning colors and some leaves are falling already.  It seems odd in places because some trees are almost bare while others are still green.  Some trees just drop their leaves earlier than others.  Also, it's time to clean up the yard and gardens, which I have a small start on but hopefully will have more done by the time this weekend is over.  This is not my favorite time of year, it is the time of impending winter to me.  I much prefer spring and the time of impending summer!
  • We just put in the order for our next quarter cow.  This will be the fourth time we've done this, and the meat seems to last us a little over a year.  It's nice to have all that meat in the freezer, and it's cheaper in the long run.  Plus, we enjoy it more than the meat from the grocery store.  Lots more, it's just a higher quality meat.
  • Without much else going on, I did enjoy my last 3 posts.  I enjoyed the walks and getting outside, and trying to get good pictures.  I'm sorry to have stretched it out a bit, but I was busy/had nothing else to really write about anyway/was in no particular hurry - take your pick.  I actually feel a little guilty if I don't post anything for too long, but it can be hard when not much is happening.  Even this post was pretty much put together over several days of wondering what I would write.
I can't think of anything else to say right now.  I guess that's why I've not posted anything recently.  Oh well, no news is good news, I guess.