Snow Squalls Day Three

It seems my decision to make the trip to the bank yesterday was fortuitous. I have learned to pay attention to my body, it was the stomach ache yesterday that tipped me off. It may not have been prescient, but if I had ignored the physical cues to get going to bank we would have found ourselves in a pickle!

Today the snow squalls are hitting hard, so hard that I can hear the snow hitting the side of the house, and the chimneys. The wind is roaring out there, and it is loud! The wind seems intense, but by this afternoon the wind speed will be double what it is now. So far the electricity is holding on. Finger’s crossed.

I think of Attila out there, and shudder. He went to bed very early last night, and slept in until 6:00 a.m., which is really sleeping in on a work day. He was exhausted last night, shovelling all day, and coming home to more! And today, more again will be greeting him when he gets home. He has to do his wood chopping and snow shovelling chores at home in the dark, as on these overcast days the light fails early.

I am cozy in here though.

Watching that crazy weather out there today, I figured it would not go amiss to bake up a little something that Attila might like. He is a fan of hot peppers, and cheese, so this recipe looked interesting, Jalepeno Cheddar Bread. I decided to give it a try. Hmmm… I have only 1/4 cup of cheddar here in the refrigerator, Attila ate the rest. I have no jalepeno peppers, they are not something I stock in the kitchen. No fresh green or red peppers either. There is no running out to the store to pick up a few ingredients, one must improvise.

So I made it anyway, without the missing ingredients. Instead of hot peppers I added dried garlic and pepper spice, and lots of extra pepper. I grated the cheese and added what I had. Then I mixed it all up and set it in the oven to bake. After 30 minutes it began to smell rather wonderful. After 35 minutes I was hoping it could come out of the oven soon! Attila would not be getting the first taste of this experiment! After I had my first taste there was real concern that Attila might not get even one taste. This is seriously good quick bread.

Today I begin preparations for my solo visit to the little house in the city. Attila will be driving me down, and leaving me there. Next week I will pick up and pay for the new used vehicle, then stay on for a little while to putter with things, like sewing curtains. Then I will drive myself back to the country house with the new used vehicle. I am really, really, really looking forward to being in a place without snow! Of course, I may have just jinxed myself, I might end up bringing it with me!

The real luxury here is that when we are ready to leave the country house for our drive down, I can adjust the thermostat at the little house in the city from my computer desktop, so that it is warm and welcoming when we get there! Other winter visits have entailed staying in our parkas for a few hours until the place warmed up. No more!

I love thermostats.

Snow squalls are interesting because one moment the world can look like this, brilliant sunshine, and within minutes this world can be swallowed whole by whirling white. I like the sunshiny bits of the day.

Attila just finished shovelling the driveway out again, and now he is working on clearing the deck. The snow from the roof falls onto the deck. It is supposed to get warmer. The snow will fall off the roof and hit the deck. So to prevent the deck from collapsing under the weight all that snow, Attila removes what is there.

Workin’ hard on the farm!
OK, I had to put this up here. The image above this one shows Attila working into the night clearing snow, not as much snow as Buffalo, but still too much snow to leave on the deck. I sent the image down to Terra and Lares.
This is the image that came back. Attila and I laughed out loud! You can see why we think of our little house in the city as tropical, everything is relative. The depth of snow in front of Lares’ shovel is how much snow they got. You can see the grass peeking through the snow in the upper right of the image, it won’t last through a full day of sunshine.

Worldly Distractions

Weather

SNOW SQUALL WARNING IN EFFECT
-5°C
Date: 9:18 AM EST Thursday 20 November 2014
Condition: Light Snow
Pressure: 100.4 kPa
Visibility: 4 km
Temperature: -4.7°C
Dewpoint: -6.4°C
Humidity: 88%
Wind: SW 24 gust 35 km/h
Wind Chill: -12

Quote

“Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple.”
Barry Switzer
1937-

I know far too many people who confuse good luck with personal superiority. All I can do is stare in speechless wonder at their hubris. They don’t know who they are.