Happy Thanksgiving

Yesterday our hero John came to dig us out from the blizzard. He told us the road was way worse than two years ago. 

Here comes John.  Hi, John!!!!  (waving energetically from the deck)

Almost to our driveway...

Wow!  That's a heap of snow...

 It's 300 feet to our driveway.  John still has another almost 1000 feet of road to plow to get all four houses.  His reward? He gets to do our driveways.  And what does it cost for all this loveliness?  Only $130.00 - the bargain of the century.  I see to it that John always goes home with a big basket of goodies and a very nice tip.

The piles on the side of the road are about 20 feet tall.  It is so much fun to drive through the tunnel to the main road.  I made a quick dash to the grocery store and had a splendid time visiting with all the people (and even splurged on a magazine.)

And guess what's it's doing now???

Snowing!

On the upside, there's no wind so we won't get snowed in.  

On the downside, we won't be going out to eat today.  But - not to worry.  We have some tri-tip steaks, vacuumed sealed and calling out to us from the freezer. 

  Costco started it's sale early and I was able to order my Ultra Snow Joe a few days ago. It's only $189.00 after $30.00 off.  It shipped yesterday so maybe we'll get it by Monday or Tuesday.  At least we won't have shovel the sidewalks and two huge decks.  It will also probably handle in front of the barn and a patch of driveway in front of our entrance.

And why is this so important?  Look at this from the National Weather Service (with a few pithy comments added)

Winter Storm Warning (such fear mongering!)
Hazardous Weather Outlook (only if you don't know how to drive in snow)
Thanksgiving Day: Snow. High near 22. South wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible (we've already had more than that and it's only 1:30)
Tonight: Snow likely. Cloudy, with a temperature rising to around 26 by 4am. Light east wind. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible. Wow!  (26 degrees?  A warming trend.)
Friday: Snow. High near 31. East wind 6 to 9 mph becoming south. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible. (We don't like the word "wind" - not one teeny bit!)
Friday Night: Snow. Low around 29. South wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible. (I keep seeing that word "wind")Saturday: Snow. High near 32. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.  (That's better - "calm wind")
Saturday Night: A 50 percent chance of snow. Cloudy, with a low around 24. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.  (50% chance of snow means they don't have a clue)
Sunday: A 40 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 28. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.  
Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 22.  
Monday: A 20 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 27. (Isn't usually "mostly cloudy"  when it snows?  Duh!)
Monday Night: A 50 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 21.  
Tuesday: Snow likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 31. Chance of precipitation is 70%. ( Hmmmmmmm - at 70% chance snow would be "likely')
Tuesday Night: A 50 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 28.  
Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32. (I'm no math wizard but I'm counting this up to be about 20 inches of snow.  Ugh!)

Thanks for all the lovely comments

and Happy Thanksgiving...