Between Me And The Byway

I have more snow now, thirteen inches, than degrees. Only got ten of them. The snow however likes to accumulate on the driveway with a roaring wind assist and the drifts, at about three feet plus, are so big they are beginning to crest like waves ready to break.

The next wave arrives tomorrow night. Another eight inches, another foot perhaps. The snow has slowed for now, but it has not stopped.

The diagnosis is grim. It seems a little pointless to start shoveling now.

The Fine Print

The diagnosis said two to four inches. When I woke up there may have been a half inch of new snow and not much really going on. It changed quickly. All of a sudden it was pouring snow.

It now seemed like a good day to tidy a bit around the house. Books got boxed up for moving. Papers were sorted and tossed. Seeds were organized for sowing.

And it was still pouring snow.

There was tidying I could do in the cabin, so I wandered down there through the pouring snow. Boxes of books already there could be placed in the mini loft library. All the other construction items up there could be moved out. Dishes, pots and pans, silverware and storage containers can actually go in the kitchen cabinets to make more space. Stuff is accumulating quickly.

Snow doesn't fall so much as it floats. Even with a covered porch, the amount of snow that finds its way there was going to prevent any work on the beams for the peak of the ceiling. I tidied and made a plan for what will be needed to cover the plumbing vent pipe that is fastened to a beam in the bathroom as it makes it way across the room and up through the roof. It will be easier than I thought once I can get to some lumber currently buried in snow.

The diagnosis said two to four inches of snow for Clyde proper. For today. That should mean about twice that amount for me. It was still pouring snow and the six inch mark looked to have been reached by mid afternoon.

The diagnosis said two to four inches for today. I always get more than the diagnosis. I live in the snow belt in the high elevations along the Tennessee border. The diagnosis also shows snow as far out as the diagnosis extends. There's no sun and warm in there at all. I see double shoveling in my future if some kitchen appliances are to be delivered to the cozy cabin.

When the scenic byway starts to disappear I know things must be bad out there. That means the plow is busy elsewhere. If it's just snowing up top the plow will come by a lot more often.

So exactly how much snow will I have to shovel to get appliances? Let's see, Winter Storm Warning. I'll click on that and read the fine print.

" UP TO A FOOT IS EXPECTED IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS ALONG THE TENNESSEE BORDER."

That means I can expect more if it's not going to stop snowing until, let's see, next Wednesday!!

The resident gardeners house could get scary tidy. I wonder if you can get baked goods and sugary treats delivered?

Peaking

I woke to a winter wonderland.

The diagnosis and radar say I will wake tomorrow to a refreshed winter wonderland.

This was a good snow. Pretty and shallow. Perhaps an inch.

So I trudged through the snow down to the cozy cabin to continue on with the trim. There are now just three trim boards left to cut, sand and stain. But each needs something else in place first. The two wall trim pieces in the mini loft require the installation of the beam in the peak of the ceiling.

That beam is going to take some very careful, methodical and multi-process procedures to get it securely fastened to the peak of the ceiling. It must bear the weight of a ceiling fan, so it will be screwed in. It will have electric wiring run through it and needs holes drilled through for the wires. It must span the 15 foot eleven inch space and fit precisely. It will have beveled edges where the two pieces meet like the rest of the tongue and groove wood ceiling. It must also be stained before hand. Lots of procedures just to get to the point where I can screw it into the ceiling. And I need to go get 20, 4 and 1/2 to 5 inch wood screws or lag bolts or some such screwing type fastener down in town.

So far I have cut the 45 degree edges of the two pieces so they will fit into the peak of the ceiling.

Working in a winter wonderland.

Fresh Snow By Porch Light

Some photos may have been slightly edited and that's all I'm gonna say.

Goodbye Snowdrops Hello Snowflakes

You can't fool me with a short string of melting weathers. It was bound to snow again, sooner rather than later. And here it comes.

Goodbye snowdrops. Until you emerge again.

There was a little project I needed to attend to before the edges of the scenic byway were buried in snow plow piles again. Every time I pull in and out of the driveway the accumulating trash on the side of the road annoys me to no end.

This one full bag of Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, Bud light, bottled water, beer bottles, Big Gulps, a dash of Remington bullet boxes and asundry snack bags was acquired in just the short section between the driveway entry and the old chimney. There was still too much left over snow further down the road in the rest of my adopted section of the scenic byway. It will have to wait.

It is still on my list of things to do to create some kind of trash installation/art piece to place near or hang on the scenic byway sign. Perhaps some subtle shaming will make all those rude litterbugs think twice before hurling their beverage containers out the window. Long enough at least to keep my section of scenic byway a little less abused.

The weather diagnosis is calling for snow as far as the diagnosis goes with a possible day off on Saturday. I of course went to town to stocked up on baked goods and a little real food.

I even ordered all the major appliances for the cozy cabin. Delivery was tentatively scheduled for the 15th of this month. I told them to call first to be sure a truck would be able to get down my driveway. I just might have to shovel that one this winter too if the weathers don't cooperate.

Driving home before it really started to snow thank you, I remembered the garbage disposal. I didn't order one. Oh well. I can't put in a garbage disposal until I have the sink in. I can't put in the sink until I have the counter top. I don't want to measure for and order the counter top until all the appliances are exactly in place and I know precisely what its dimensions and sink location will be. I have some fudge factor with the appliances and base cabinets to work with.

Hello snowflakes.They are already piling up.

I See Snowdrops

The birdbath wasn't cleaned after fall was finished and before winter set in. Gardy don't rake leaves here in the forest. Besides what's a bird going to do with a solid block of ice? The melt nearly complete came to a sudden halt. The world turned back to a solid.

Winter is just beginning. I must keep that in mind. But there is hope. I see snowdrops.

And lonely leftover piles of snow.

Waiting for some company.

When The Fog Parted

An immense crystal chandelier with thousands and thousands of unusually large droplets lit up with a brief appearance of the sun.

This glistening phenomena lasted but a short while. The fog turned to clouds. That just means they were over my head. The sun disappeared. The droplets fell and evaporated.

And the temperature steadily dropped. By the time my trim boards were cut and sanded it was too cold to stain.

New York Paris Tokyo Paia

I have decided the mini loft is going to be the library. That should be a good way to limit the stuff that lives up there to books. The tailgate of my first truck in the landscaping business also found a nice home. Datsun blue is eerily close to the blue of the main loft. It was a great way to create flow and pull that color out of the loft into the rest of the space.

I'm not going to win any awards for fine carpentry, but all the windows are now trimmed and the ugly drywall seams are hidden. The baseboards and little bit of wall trim in the lofts is all that is left of that process.

We are having a heatwave. It has been close to fifty degrees and raining all day. The snow is nearly no more. This is what a southern winter is supposed to be like. Pretty snow followed by a rapid melt.

It is time to chose some appliances. Maybe I can get them down the driveway before it gets buried in snow again.