Melting

Could this be our February thaw? The ice is melting under the tiny shelves that form at the edges of the snowbanks. You can hear dripping all around outside. It’s still not melting fast enough to suit me, and while I was hacking at crunchy, cracking ice, I found out that my scarf is indeed […]

Where the snow isn’t

After another batch of fluffy white, the snow is getting to the point where clearing a path means cutting between ever higher walls and trying to throw the loose snow onto the dreaded six foot berm. Is it any wonder that my eye is drawn to the odd little gaps where the snow didn’t accumulate?

The goldfinch in winter

Well, well, well. There is indeed a goldfinch visiting my hacked feeder. He was a little hard to spot, first because he’s wearing winter clothes, but mostly because he’s only showing up in the morning. Nice to see you, little guy!

So it snowed, blah, blah, blah

Last night’s snow came down wet. So did the sleet, and the slush, and the rain. To be followed by freezing cold over night. I hate when that’s about to happen. The warning sign comes when you look out at the patio and all the fluffy white snow has gone grey and semi-translucent and it’s […]

Cats in snow

It seems to take life-threatening weather to keep the cats inside. After all, there is Important Cat Business that Needs to be Attended to. Therefore, they must go out, barefoot or barepawed, sidle along the house, leap between dry spots, and–if pressed–wade through snow belly deep. And just when I’m getting impressed by how little […]

Today, I like snow

Call me crazy, but I really enjoyed shovelling this afternoon. There was maybe four inches of beautiful white fluffy snow. Even through the shovel, it felt soft and silky. That’s the weird part. How could I feel the snow without touching it?

A Snow Recession

Last week, everything was covered in snow, but it didn’t take long for the snow to recede. The first sign was the tips of leaves poking through.

Go, snow!

The snow gun is blowing out there. We just got our first hit of nearly a foot of fluffy, dry snow. Friday afternoon, overnight, off and on Saturday, Sunday morning, in a steady shift from dry snow to wet snow. During any quiet period, the birds are crowding the feeders looking for a bite. Sparrows, […]

It snew!

Last night, it snew. And then it rained. And then it sleeted. Yick. No one wants to look at slush, so here’s another plant staying green in the snow. It’s Alpine strawberry. They don’t spread like regular strawberries and all summer they produce tiny little sweet berries.