Winter Solstice 2024

The winter solstice arrived early this morning, hours before I got up.  For several years now I've been having a fire on this day, in cold temperatures and in a bit of snow, but we have both this year.

So, no winter solstice fire pit this year but at least the days will start getting longer.  Very soon here I will be making the drive to Mom's and will be spending the night.  My wife will be staying back and taking care of her dad, as usual.  This week will be especially hard for her with the holidays, as well.  My sister and her family were supposed to arrive there yesterday but they came down sick, and it sounds like my brother and his family will be there for a few hours this evening.   This is our Christmas gathering this year.  Happy solstice, everyone.

Cold Repair Work

It was -2ºF (-19ºC) when I got up this morning, and I believe we only got up to around 10ºF (-12ºC) this afternoon.  It was damn cold, the coldest of the season so far.  Still, this is Wisconsin; life went on as normal with no shutdowns or anything.  Just a lot of tongue-in-cheek complaining about the cold, but that's a winter past-time around here.  Thankfully we don't have any significant snow on the ground yet to go with it.  And we will get warmer again as there is a chance of rain on Saturday and Monday.

With snow being inevitable we had my wife's wheelchair van in the shop this week.  Her driver side back door would not open, so she always had to use the passenger side to load and unload, which would be an issue when that curb side has 2 feet of snow piled up.  It was an expensive fix at over $1700, the part alone was a grand of that, but it had to be done no matter the price.  Next up for her car is brakes and tires, so we'll have another hefty bill soon after the new year.

I've not talked about my new job here much at all.  It's been over a year now, and I still feel a bit unsure about it.  I'm not sure why, but I've always kind of fallen into my next job and wound up being really good at it.  This is so different than anything I've done I think I still just don't have a ton of confidence yet, though certainly more than when I started.  Back then my head was still spinning from the last job and I knew someone who worked here and I needed insurance as soon as possible, so I took it.  I could look at the negatives about the pay, hours and insurance (and maybe I do which is why I still feel unsure), but overall I am much happier than I was before.

I spend about half my time in-house and the other half out job-coaching various clients one-on-one.  When I'm in-house it's usually just playing and entertaining clients with varying degrees of personal cares to do throughout the day, depending what classes I'm scheduled in.  And job coaching varies depending on the client, but normally isn't very difficult.  I've been getting one of our most difficult clients to job coach often, but he usually listens to me well and I know how to guide him so by now I'd actually prefer to be with him.

But, before I'm tempted to type specifics I should move on.  Thank you for the recent question, BW.

Meanwhile, frozen or not, these pumpkins are getting eaten.  I think they will slowly disappear into the belly of the beasts out back well before spring.

Street Reconstruction Part 17 & More

Yesterday they installed two No Parking signs near the top of our street and the next one over.  Today they installed more down both streets, but spaced further apart.  There is a sign two houses up and two houses down from us, which makes me happy we don't have one on our terrace to mow around.  So rather than take a picture of one of the signs in front of a neighbor's house, here is a stock photo of what they look like.

I'm thinking all that is left is for the extra poles to be removed and trees planted in spring, but they may surprise me with something I didn't think of again.  Happily, it appears people are heeding the signs and only parking on the other side since I'm not sure how many neighbors looked into the work to be done as I did and knew about this change.  And while I'm happy parking is on the other side, that means I'll have to back out a bit more carefully on this narrower street since we're pretty much guaranteed to have a car across the street now, and it may be my wife's at times.

When I got home from my Mom's on Thanksgiving Day I caught this fat squirrel eating from the frozen pumpkins on the stoop, picture taken from the car.  Well, they lasted out front for about a month and a half, through Halloween and Thanksgiving, so it was time to put them in back and let them decompose or be eaten.  

I've had trouble with my display driver on this computer so haven't used the trail cams lately as reviewing all that video does bad things, but you can still see the squirrels eat up our pumpkin from a couple years ago here.  Question:  Does anyone know if you can download a new display driver?  I haven't found anything when I looked, so I fear I may need to get a new computer to fix the issue.  And yes, the driver is fully updated.

I placed the pumpkins on the rotting stump in back, near the frozen bird bath.  (We've been below the freezing point for several days now, though we might manage to get just above tomorrow so we can get some rain that can then freeze for us.  Wonderful.)  Whatever the squirrels leave of the pumpkins can help nourish the wildflower seeds we plan to spread on the stump again next year.

After the break is just some recent baking, if interested.

First Snow & Street Reconstruction Part 15

Our autumn has been mild, overall, and I think I heard the mildest on record.  We started yesterday with a wintry mix (slush) that turned to light, wet snow, then more overnight to officially get our first snowfall of the season.  Below is what we had before I left for work this morning.

It continued with sideways, wet snow all morning with temperatures just above freezing and sustained winds 20 or more miles per hour, but by this afternoon it warmed up a few degrees and turned to a light rain.  Temperatures are expected to remain several degrees above freezing while the wind dies down overnight, so I don't expect to see much snow, if any, left tomorrow.  The foreseeable forecast has temperatures just above and below freezing, day and night, but I do see one day where we are not expected to get above freezing all day.

I'm not ready for this, but I never am.

I believe the same day of my last Street Reconstruction post we received a letter from the city that the contractor had completed their work.  Yesterday morning as I left, though, there were two of them out front; they had come back to try and connect my cable back to the top of the pole so they could get their pole holding the wire over the street, back.  From what I saw this afternoon, the newly-kinked coaxial cable is now pretty useless and would need to be replaced anyway, if we have a need for that again.  I should have just cut it off the house when they knocked it loose.

We got another letter today with a bit of information on caring for the grass or native plants, depending what the homeowner chose, and saying any trees would not be planted until spring.  Still no word on the unnecessary footbridge over the creek yet.  A waste of money, and this last election day a city referendum to raise our property taxes over state limits passed, inexplicably (who are these people voting for this crap?!).  We'll now have to pay a few hundred dollars more per year - with no end date - to see our money wasted on projects like that.  Ugh.

Moving on, there's now a new sign at the top of the street showing a 20 mph speed limit, but not any no parking signs on our side of the street yet, so everyone is parking as they had before but now on a narrower street.  I'd think with winter coming the signs would be a priority, and I expect to see them soon.

I'll continue with updates as they happen, but surely fewer and farther between now.  All in all, this went smoother than expected and we're glad the worst is over.

Happy Halloween 2024

The windows mummy is no more this year, but I did get a neat black skeleton with lit eyes to hang on the front door tonight.  I also got a cheap purple spider web that I was hoping to cover from awning to bottom rail but it was way too windy to try and set that up, so it'll be put away for next year.  A flickering flame porch light and a couple squat pumpkins would round out our Halloween look this year.

I had a good day with some Halloween celebrations at work, then getting ready for trick-or-treaters at home.  We'd had great weather the last few days.  I was even able to wear shorts and sandals out and about the last couple days, but today was to be different.

It had been windy recently with a couple nice warm days, but today was more windy, sustained winds 15-20 mph with gusts that can stop you in your tracks.  Thankfully that's easing off a bit tonight, but we've also gotten so much colder with this front coming in.  By morning we'll be near freezing with barely a breeze.  

Despite the weather, we had a few more trick-or-treaters than last year, but still only 14 by my count.  We shut it down before 8 tonight, more than a half hour since the last ones.  Gave out less than half of the candy we had, so now we have that problem, too.  Happy Halloween, everyone.

Street Reconstruction Part 3 And More

Work has begun on the next street over while our street has become the storage for that work, with piles of dirt, sand and gravel with storage trailers and equipment along the whole block.  Not a whole lot to report yet, but for the sound of machines every day and one rough lane to get in and out of the neighborhood.  And it's a long time until November.

Meanwhile in the gardens, the garlic was ready so was pulled a few days ago and my wife is cleaning them up now.  The two jalapeno plants have more peppers than we know what to do with.  The raspberry bushes are done and we got about a pint again this year.  Next spring we will try removing the fence to let them spill out.  The basil and sage in with the mostly gone strawberry plants are doing better now that they're not drowning with all the rain we had.  And the sunflowers are still growing, looking like wet dishrags per usual due to our very high heat and humidity currently.

And the wildflowers growing out of the old stump are coming into their own quite well, well enough we discussed doing it again next year.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend.  We'll be hiding mostly indoors in the air conditioning.

Flowers, Fasting and Floods

The second half of the last post left a bad taste in my mouth.  This blog is not about politics, though I've made it pretty clear where I stand, and I really don't want to discuss much further.  So, to push last post down the page a bit here's the stump area flowerbed this morning.

I'm off work today and tomorrow, good to have but I will need more very soon.  When I woke up at my Mom's on Sunday morning I knew immediately I was having another diverticulitis flare-up, too.  A mild one, but I still have to (mostly) stop eating until it passes.  Also not a good way to spend time off work, but this too shall pass.

I mentioned our rain when replying to delcatto's comment a few posts back.  Sounds like a very wet year across the pond, as well, though cooler temperatures than the heat we've gotten on and off.  Our waterways are high and the ground is saturated.  We get as many flood watches in the region as we do thunderstorm watches, anymore.  The rugs have been up in the basement and the dehumidifier running for several weeks now, by far more water down there this year than any other I can recall.  Might be time to buy a life raft.

Yesterday's storm created a lake in the fire pit area and to the left of the stump area, out of picture.

Then I noticed the neighbor's back yard almost completely flooded.  They removed the old shed recently and installed this new one earlier yesterday.  Yes, it is elevated a bit.

Mysteries of Mud and Thunder

Been a pretty lazy Sunday around here.  We got a few things done this morning, but I spent way too much time playing games on my phone.  My wife and I went out to lunch at a Venezuelan restaurant we've not been to before (more Americanized than authentic, surely), then a few drinks at the local bar we frequent.  I got on the $5 add-up pool for the Brewer game the day before and won, so was handed 50 bucks when I sat down.  I hadn't known my number so glad we stopped in!  Now back home we baked a loaf of bread for my lunch sandwiches this week and are just relaxing now, me watching the Brewer game and typing this.

There is one picture I forgot to post yesterday, but I took better pics today.  It appears that some animal left their muddy imprint on the window of our back door recently.  Had to be a larger animal, probably attracted by seeing the cats on the porch, and our recent weather would explain its muddiness.  Realistic possibilities when considering the height of it could be another cat, a rare loose dog, raccoon, opossum, or possibly a fox.   But what animal and/or behavior would leave this kind of mark?  Wide view to the right for context, and close up below.

The symmetry and splatter marks are curious, so now I'm thinking maybe a muddy bird hit the window?  I'd like to hear all theories!

And we had an interesting phenomenon later last night, we heard a constant thunder for at least 15-20 minutes, maybe even longer, from the storms passing just north of us.  

There was a tornado watch at the time, but none reported.  Have you ever heard or heard of this kind of continuous thunder?

Yard Updates

Happy belated summer solstice, everyone.  Hard to believe the days start getting shorter already.  I took some pictures out in the yard last night and everything looks exactly the same today, the weather as well.  We've been stuck under a stationary front for days now that's been giving us sporadic rains every day, sometimes very heavy.  Last spring was super dry and it's certainly opposite this year, but good for fungus and toads (and mosquitoes) as we've seen both in the yard.  The toads are harder to get a picture of as I'm busy doing the strimming before mowing when I see them.  Oh well, on with the updates.

I finally got the back steps sealed last weekend, before this front came over us.  The "transparent" sealer does look good when freshly done.  I hope the color sticks better the more I reseal every year.  Tiger lilies are blooming and the alium are going to seed.

The two sunflowers are still doing well.  They've almost outgrown the cage but I'm not going to remove it until I have to or they get much bigger.  I also added a stake in the ground to the left, in case support is needed later this summer.

And all sorts of things are growing in the tree stump area, some unknown wildflowers seem to be doing well but no blooms yet.  I moved the solar lights to this area from the back, but not sure it will make a difference.  I'm noticing these six turn on much earlier than sunset, so don't have much battery left after dark.  I believe they are on in this picture.  I don't think I can do anything to fix that.

It's a good time of year, just too wet recently for firepits.  Otherwise, life goes on as usual, so no news is good news, I guess.  Work is good, and there is so much less stress in this job.  I baked more baguette this morning and prepared two rolls of cheese pennies this afternoon, so I'm still baking but just the same things over and over for now.  And less than a month until street reconstruction starts.  Yay.

I do have to call and cancel cable internet sometime this week.  Wish me luck.

Peonies And Rain

Peonies are a beautiful spring flower, yet, inevitably, it seems to rain hard every year right after they start blooming - or at least when ours at the corner of the house blooms.  And if you've had peonies, you know how discouraging this can be.  The flower heads collect the water and droop, never to fully rise again.  Hopefully it's early enough to not matter so much as there are many yet to open.  My bigger concern was seeing that my gutter was partially blocked.  Also areas of overflowing on the porch gutters, but less of a concern.  The helicopters from the maple trees have been flying, I hadn't thought so much this year but something is clogging the gutters.

It's a holiday weekend and I have a ladder.  This will be fixed.

New Bushes

We planted some new bushes today along the new fence in the tree stump area.  I had to remove several plants when we regraded the lot line to get the yards on the same level for the new fence, so we have a strip of dirt that we want occupied by plants of our choosing and not weeds.  We transplanted some vinca back there, but it needed much more.  We considered other perennials that would take up that space, but we did want something that grew a bit taller so started looking at different kinds of bushes.

Enlarge, if curious.

We went to a local nursery today and chose (the last) two of this spirea, which are to grow to 2-3 feet tall and as wide, and one tuxedo weigela, which will grow 4-5 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide.  We planted them five feet apart on center, and with a foot of dirt between the hole and the fence.  This seemed reasonable and we hope they fill the space well in a few years.  I had the trail cam out there keeping an eye on the tree stump and I happened to notice it, so I set it to make a short time lapse video of us planting the bushes, just for the hell of it.  I added these before and after pictures to the video and it turned out okay, so you can see that short video below.  No background music and nothing fancy, it just is what it is.

I'm reminded of when the workers next door were working on the roof.  One called out to us one day to point out how they could see many of the back yards in the area and ours was the nicest.  That was a very nice thing to say, and maybe justifies my pride in our back yard.  We inherited a good yard 15 years ago and have made great improvements ever since, in my opinion.  All contributing to my pleasure in spending evenings back there by the fire, which I was able to do again on Friday evening.

Friday, Saturday and today are the third, fourth, and fifth days we've been able to have windows open this year, though they almost got shut yesterday for the air conditioner with temperatures approaching 90ºF.  And I mowed for the second time on Friday as the grass was almost as long as when I first mowed it exactly a week before.  We still have a full month until summer officially begins, but I feel confident that the cloud of winter and threat of snow are finally behind us for a few months and I'm feeling so much more comfortable in bare feet and shorts.  (Plus a shirt - no one wants to see me go topless!)  Cheers, everyone.

Springing

Yesterday was a beautiful day; sunny, breezy, warm and the second day of the year with windows wide open.  Clouds started moving in about the time I took these pictures, and it's overcast and rainy today.  The grass is now green almost everywhere, but while I've used the strimmer around the edges I have yet to mow.  Many trees have leaves opening, others still just buds.  Flower beds are filling in nicely but, as usual, the tree stump area needs some work - especially since the new fence.

The stairs look pretty bad due to the "transparent" stain (as opposed to "clear," which is very different) coming off.  Hopefully a good power wash and another coat will penetrate the wood more and stay better.

In the gardens we have garlic coming up in one and raspberries in another.  There's still some strawberry plants in one but like growing tomatoes we've given up due to the critters.  And there is one empty that we'll just have to see what happens when we get plants and seeds.

I'm still waiting to have the first real fire pit of the year.  Rain, wind and cold have kept me inside so far.

And the cats liked the warmth and open windows of the porch, as Basil demonstrates here.

Things are looking up, I think.  At least weather-wise.

Final Fence Prep

The last thing to do before having the fence installed was to move the firewood, and we dumped it to the ground this afternoon.

We put down a tarp with cardboard on top of it to try and prevent any of it tearing up the soft sod, and we just pushed it over.  It fell neater than I expected, so it was just a matter of moving the rack and bringing up the ends of the tarp where we could and covering the whole thing with other tarps, using some logs to hold it all in place.  Then just a quick rake of the lot line and we appear to be ready for the fence installation (tomorrow, as noted in the comments of the last post).  The rain should be mostly over for today, but we may get a little more overnight then a better day tomorrow for the installation, though I expect it to still be pretty muddy.

Now, my back has been an issue for the last few weeks, and this prep for the new fence hasn't helped any.  I don't have much time off at my new job but I'd like to be here when the fence is installed, so I think I will call in tomorrow for my back so I can be here to oversee and answer any questions they may have - and I do remember they had several questions when they did the back fence a few years ago.  It may be stretching the truth just a little bit to call in, but it's not a complete lie and I will feel much better being here to supervise everything.

Google calendar just now reminded me that tomorrow is my 15th blogday, too.  I'm hoping for a smooth fence installation and a better back for my blogday, please!

Fence Delay

It started snowing by 2:00 this afternoon, a heavy, wet, accumulating snow.  It's due to snow through tomorrow and into Thursday morning, per the forecast.

I called the fence place this afternoon to see if they still planned on putting in the fence tomorrow.  I told them I wanted to be there for it and didn't want to take a day off work unnecessarily, so I wanted to know today.  My ultimate response was that they normally look at the weather in the morning before making that decision, but understanding that I wanted to be there and the probability that it would be put off anyway, they rescheduled the installation for Thursday.  Temperatures will hover around or just above freezing so I don't expect too much snow on the ground, but it will certainly be muddy.  And might make the firewood dump more difficult, now tomorrow or maybe early on Thursday.

The drive home from work this afternoon was a bit tricky and slow as the roads were covered and slippery while traffic was ramping up to rush hour.  But work has been going well and I'm becoming more comfortable with my role and responsibilities.  Not unpleasant at all, but still feels just very different for me.

Yesterday And Today

Yesterday I completed getting the bulk of the plant matter out of the strip of the stump area by the fence, 4 five-gallon buckets full.  My back is definitely tight and sore, but I've had it lots worse.  I asked the new neighbors if they needed any free dirt, and they said yes so hopefully they can take most if not all of it for us.  Below is what it looked like when I got done yesterday.

And here it is this afternoon, after several inches of wet snow from about midnight until noon today.

Tomorrow should melt most of the snow that is left, but our weather looks to be pretty wet until the middle of next week.  While this does hamper the preparation for the fence installation, besides agreeing to take away at least some of the dirt the new neighbor also let me know of plans to remove their fence soon, as well.  Hopefully things fall into place in the next week or two, but again, I won't let the fence be installed until we're ready.  I do look forward to that first fire after having the new fence installed and everything else - mostly the firewood - back in order.

But, March will be March, after all.  I forgot to say it last post, but Happy Spring Equinox, everyone.

February T-A-T Follow-Ups

It appears our new neighbors moved in late last week, ready or not.  There's still workers over there every day and as I write now, but not yesterday so I'm thinking they just wanted one quiet day to settle in a bit - but who knows?  I reckon that's about 6 grand off their total bill for the renovation, but I won't ask them details (though I'm curious!).

My wife fell ill on Sunday and still doesn't feel good today.  I hope she feels better a lot quicker than it took for me.  And even my two weeks followed by lingering sniffles seems to pale to what they have across the pond - Get well soon BW, Delcatto and Sue!

Weather has been colder, at and below freezing, but we saw the forecast and now it will become warmer again, and very much like spring again.  But there's still time for winter to return.

I made crostini last night from one of the baguettes I made two weeks ago, pictured in the last post.  Those were made from bread flour, and I finally saw the bigger bubbles in the crumb that I've been lacking with this recipe.  I might try an all-purpose/bread flour 50/50 split next time and see if I get close to this.  Baking baguette has become an ever-evolving experiment for me by now, and very enjoyable.  

I baked both the new and old baguette recipes again on Friday night and Saturday morning, respectively.  I forgot the diastatic malt powder when I made the new recipe and while still good bread you do notice what that DMP does for the taste and crustiness.  No issues with major splitting this time, though a little deflation in the transfer process.  I'm warming to the couche but ordered a new one as the light cloth towel I'm using now still sticks a bit after proofing no matter how much I've tried to embed the flour.  Also a transfer peel since I don't have a good equivalent, so that's two more new baking related gadgets for me coming soon.

And I won absolutely nothing on the Super Bowl this year.  Easy come, easy go.

Above is last week's baguette, and I'll put the new and old after the break in that order.

February This-And-Thats

I've been feeling much better this week but for continuing sniffles, since being sick the prior two weeks.  It's just been going around as I've heard of several others being sick.  It's no fun, especially since I was barely sick for several years due to changes that came with the pandemic, like masks and working from home.  I'm around so much more people now than I have been in a long time.

New neighbors, late neighbor Dave's daughter and son-in-law, are still not moved in.  The house was supposed to be done December 15, they told me, and they had to be out of where they lived January 31, so not sure where they're living now.  At least they are getting $100 off the bill for every day past December 15, but I'm sure they'd rather it just get finished.  In the early days late in summer and fall there was work being done maybe one day a week. Now, for the last several weeks there's work being done weekdays, weekends, holidays, and sometimes late into the night.  Further exterior work will have to wait, they said, whether for weather or financial reasons I'm not sure.  We've been thinking of putting a fence on that side like our back fence, and they may want to remove theirs before then if they want the metal posts covered with wood on their side of it, like the fence in the back.  We'll talk to them again sometime after they finally move in, I'm sure.

The weather has been mild, kind of like March at the end of January/beginning of February and continuing.  Early last week we again had morning fog on several days, including freezing fog in areas.  Was like nothing I'd ever seen.  Driving through one of the little squalls is a almost a whiteout of tiny snowflakes, with everything getting frosted in white with them.  Otherwise, the snow has been melting so just a small mound here and there where it was deepest.  And we had thunderstorms the other night, including a few tornadoes just south of here - the first February tornadoes in Wisconsin in recorded history.  It feels like spring though the calendar says otherwise.  I guess we'll find out if February will start acting like winter again or not.  And anything could always happen in March.

I came across a website that provides (for free) background noises, and you can customize and combine to make one to your liking.  Noises Online is under those blue words, if interested.

The last time I made baguette I used bread flour instead of AP and proofed them in the couche.  I seemed to get bigger bubbles in the crumb but proofing them in a floured cloth makes the skin less flexible to expand when baking, thus they tend to split on me, so far.  But I like mixing it up and trying new techniques.  In fact, I'm even starting to reconsider getting a sourdough culture that I'll have to feed and keep alive in the fridge.  Ugh!  Anyway, they always are good bread no matter and I look forward to my next stab at it, probably next weekend.

Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday.  I do plan on watching the game, but only to try and catch a glimpse of Taylor Swift!  Just kidding.  I don't really care who wins, but I do like to see Patrick Mahomes whine so I may root for the 49ers.  Mostly, I just hope it's a good game - and that my number$ hit!

Weather, Sickness and Livestreams

Since the foot of snow we had earlier this month we spent the following week in a deep freeze.  Temperatures at and below 0ºF after all that snow and with little or no sun contributed to snow-packed to ice roadways and dangerous conditions all-around.  That was followed by significantly warmer temperatures that hovered at or above the freezing mark, day and night, for another week, which has allowed salt to work and aid in making the roadways better, finally.  Last Tuesday we had all 4 types of precipitation in one day; rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow.  Along with those temperatures we had many days of dense fog and rain on a few days which has helped melt a lot of snow, yet there is still plenty of it everywhere you look.  This next week looks to be more familiar with daytime highs above freezing and the lows below, and no real chance of snow.

That's enough of a weather report, I think.  Wisconsin can have more extremes in weather than many other areas, many times seemingly without rhyme or reason, so can be interesting to note.

Also, last Sunday I started to feel like I was fighting a cold so I stayed in, started taking my supplements and just relaxed.  Didn't matter one bit.  Monday and Tuesday I felt like I was hit by a truck with head and body aches and lethargy, staying home from work and sleeping a whole lot.  (I tested for Covid and it was negative.)  While I got a little more energy back on Tuesday it was only temporary as the virus had settled deeply into my sinuses where it still resides now.  And no matter what cold medicine I've tried it barely helps, but that always seems to be the case for me.  I want to say I feel slightly better today, but really this whole week has been just absolutely miserable for me.  Today will be more of the same - rest and relaxation and hoping this virus clears soon.

At least today I will have some entertainment.  At the end of November I signed up for a yearly pass on Veeps, a popular livestreaming site.  I paid $60 (a half-price Black Friday deal), which is about what I spent on livestreams on that site last year but now I'll have access to all of their shows so will be more likely to watch shows that I was hesitant to spend money on before.  

At almost 2 this afternoon on Veeps is Bad Omens with opening act Poppy, airing live from Germany (7 hours ahead of us) on their current European tour.  I'm a big Poppy fan and while I don't know much about Bad Omens I do like the song they did together, V.A.N., released just a couple days ago.  Interestingly, it was written entirely by the singer of Bad Omens but it is not a duet with Poppy handling all of the vocals.  A good song and fits right in with Poppy's catalog, though.  I'm sure they'll share the stage at some point to perform the song together.

Bad Omens & Poppy - V.A.N.

Later today there is still playoff football on TV so that will be the rest of my day, then back to work tomorrow - hopefully feeling much better.

WFW Part 4 - Final

I woke up at 3 a.m. this morning so looked out and saw it snowing, though less accumulation than before.  The snow petered out by 9 this morning, so about 9:30 we went out to clean it up again.  This time was 2-3 inches, depending where you looked, so I'm going to say we got a generous 12 inches from this storm.  I'll have to try and catch the news to hear the official amount since I still haven't found a good source on the internet.  Our official amount is taken at the airport, about a mile north of here, but we had high winds also so there was some blowing and drifting, so results may vary.

It cleaned up well enough again, I'll put more pics after the break.  The solar lights are still poking up but there is the gnome on the stump, now just a slight bulge in the snow.

WFW Part 3

I went out again about 7:00 and cleared around another 4 inches, making my guesstimate be 9 inches so far.  Keep in mind we had some inches on the ground before this started.  The tracks you see here are from taking compost to the bin, which was frozen shut so it got dumped behind it along the fence.  It has fallen slower than it did this morning, but we still have a ways to go.  I'm going to put it out of my head for the rest of the night and we'll see what we have when I get up in the morning.

I'll put some pics for more context after the break.