How's the weather?

Ooh boy, Roddie! Look out for this "stuff".

It just left us, and it's headed your way.
Bob

Crossed us here in West Virginia. Spitting snow and sleet when I left the house this morning at 5:30 am. Didn't last long.

Late sunday afternoon , absolutly no snow in sight.

getback wrote:Hi 40s day Low 27-35 * Damn it getting cold and i have NO water per bad foot valve , Since sat.

You need to call a Podiatrist and get that foot looked after Eric. Kidding aside, having NO water is no fun. Been there.

12 to 18" of snow predicted for today. Hooray, I get to burn off a couple of overloaded burn piles.

Gray skies and holding steady at 32°F with a 14mph breeze over the hill.

My little weather station says the batteries in the sender (up on a pole) need changing...not gonna happen soon.

Looks like a good day to heat up the shop and "Hermit-Out".

We have 3" of wet snow as of 4 pm expecting 9 more supposedly.

We are in our usual Winter weather pattern and have been for well over a week.

Forty degrees F at night, Fifty degrees F during the day, rain and/or drizzle day and night.

Still Sheltering in my condo and having food and household goods delivered to the door.

Beats the heck out of Ice and Snow!

Bill

Getting hot here.  A couple of days of mid-30s (Celsius) this week.  Cooler for the weekend forecast.  Hope it doesn't rain on Saturday night.  Heading out to "Barfold" to play Christmas carols for the good farming folk of the region, like we did last year.  Standing on the back or an open truck in the middle of a hay field.  Social distancing should be a piece of cake.  

About 10 inches of snow yesterday, not epic but significant when you have to shovel the stuff.

Neighbor last night plowed my driveway, something he has done for the last several years un asked. Tried to pay him but he won't accept money so I mailed him a check which he tore up. Not a short driveway either 300'.








Big black dog had the most fun running up and down the driveway and around the yard this morning. Tracks all over. Burned off two burn piles yesterday, two more to go. Started at 10 am when there was snow on the ground, still burning at 2am. Out this morning. Stayed with the fire until it got dark and 8 inches on the ground. Fire and me burned out, slept 11 hours last night. Haven't done that since my pre-teen years.

Yuck!.....so far we have dodged the bullet snow wise here in the northland. Had some a couple times last month but long ago melted. Gonna be the first brown Christmas I can ever remember! Dosn't break my heart!

Some snow fell in Northeastern Rhode Island today. It started just before midnight last.. and didn't stop until around 3:00 this afternoon.

The birds were scrambling for seed. Roddie's Bird-feed station #1 rev. 1e.. consumes roughly 2-3 lbs. of seed daily. I service it (6' step-ladder required) at least every-other day.



Check out these two..




I've been splurging on wild-bird feeding.. since we lost all 3 of our kitties this past Fall. I've been blending seed like I used to. My "base-seed" is Black-Oil Sunflower mixed with dried meal-worms but lately I've been blending some finch-mix and sunflower kernels into the mix that goes in the Cedar wooden-trough feeder to attract Cardinals. They won't go to a perch-type feeder. Cardinals are also ground-feeders. They've been scarce this Fall..

I have two finch-feeders for perching birds. One is a "tube" and the other a sock. The Goldfinches feed from these primarily.. and are here year-round.

There's room for up to 8 suet cakes! I made a cake-suet feeder (in the center) that will hold 6 cakes.. and there are 2 standard suet-cages up above on each side. If I'm unable to service the feed-station for a few days.. there's generally some suet remaining.

The Chickadee is a native/year-round wild bird.. and has become one of my favorites! When refilling the seed-feeders, it's become commonplace for a chickadee to be curious enough to perch within inches of my work.. and look right at me!   Today; one perched on a feeder that I was in the process of hanging.

On a less whimsical note... my snowblower wanted no part of today's snow-removal chores. The engine cooperated.. but the auger and motive drives wanted to stay in the shed..    I tried making adjustments.. but it just wasn't going to happen. That's when you get that feeling.. like.. oh boy.. what am I going to do? Especially where the town apparently sub-contracted plow-labor this year.. and whomever plowed our cul-de-sac did a terrible job. There were two separate plowings.. and the 2nd was a "joke".  Maybe you can see what I mean in the attached photos..

Roddie and Lynne's house is buried on the right.. I'd been waiting for the storm to recede and the plowing to be done.. before starting my own clean-up.. but the plow didn't return.. leaving us with this..  




My neighbor (God bless his soul..) started-up his Ariens machine.. drove it across the street and cleaned us out. We were never as thankful as we were this afternoon.. having a relatively new neighbor help us out.. the way that he did.

He had a fairly-new Ariens machine that just ate-up the snow without laboring a single hiccup. So.. guess what?

We had migrant siskins galore,goldfinchs,and house finches,and flocks of Collared doves. In Nov.....virtualy nothing much since! Some nuthatchs and various woodpeckers is about it. So far been a mild open winter up here..i only have 7 feeders out!  Had to start feeding the squirrels peanuts for entertainment....and to keep them out of the bird feeders!

Ya...have dealt with those snowplow jerks up here for years. Usually they wait until you spend all day shoveling out.....then they plow you shut with 3-4 ft. of nice hard stuff!

OhBee wrote:Ya...have dealt with those snowplow jerks up here for years. Usually they wait until you spend all day shoveling out.....then they plow you shut with 3-4 ft. of nice hard stuff!

Yes.. I know that feeling.....

OhBee wrote:We had migrant siskins galore,goldfinchs,and house finches,and flocks of Collared doves. In Nov.....virtualy nothing much since! Some nuthatchs and various woodpeckers is about it. So far been a mild open winter up here..i only have 7 feeders out!  Had to start feeding the squirrels peanuts for entertainment....and to keep them out of the bird feeders!

Bee that's a pileated woodpecker, no?
Spotting forever, never seen one.
Bob

Yep...it sure is! Noisy buggers!

dckrsn wrote:

OhBee wrote:We had migrant siskins galore,goldfinchs,and house finches,and flocks of Collared doves. In Nov.....virtualy nothing much since! Some nuthatchs and various woodpeckers is about it. So far been a mild open winter up here..i only have 7 feeders out!  Had to start feeding the squirrels peanuts for entertainment....and to keep them out of the bird feeders!

Bee that's a pileated woodpecker, no?
Spotting forever, never seen one.
Bob

Same here!!! Got Bald Eagles all over, but those crow-sized woodpeckers are something to be seen! Good Deal for you!!!!!!!!!

so..... my beloved 1968 Simplicity Snowbuster 724 bit it today. The 7HP Tecumseh engine started on the 3rd/4th pull of the recoil.. with full-choke and multiple presses on the fuel-line primer-bulb. I was psyched. Temp was mid 20's Fahrenheit.. and there was still a couple hours of daylight left..



I engage the auger.. and the auger doesn't engage.. .. so.. I do the "slap" on/off to see if the bearings were just cold/stiff.. and "yes".. the auger-drive started to run. I let it run for a minute.. hoping to free it up. It choked when only slightly loaded.. leading me to check-adjust the tension on the linkage. Then I realize that the machine is not in 2wl. drive.. so I lock the other hub.. and it didn't like that. The machine probably needs a new belt.. and  its drive-linkages adjusted. It wasn't going to happen today. By this time.. my wife (Lynne) is ready to buy a home in Florida.

Long story short; we bought a new Ariens 24" machine today from Lowes home center.. to be delivered "here" on 12/21.



I love my old 1968 Simplicity machine... and will try to get some proper maintenance done on it. Its Tecumseh engine can accept an electric-start kit. Lynne's Mom's property in Dennis, MA has a riding-mower (out of service) that has an electric starter option that may be compatible.

Roddie...does your old blower have a gearbox for the auger drive?....with perhaps no oil in it?...0r water in it that is now frozen?......been there!. Mine, unbeknownst to me  leaked all the oil out and tore up the bevel gearset....unobtanium (old).....been shoveling ever since!
I was new to this neighborhood this spring and one of the neighbors needed thier snowblower repaired....so I fixed it all up for him with the stipulation I could borrow it if need be. So far we havn"t needed one. But this IS Minnesota!

You guys over there at least still have four seasons with all attributes. I have not seen real snow around here in Hungary for the past 15 or so years..Not that I love shoveling, but winter is supposed to be winter, not just this muddy crap. Way back in time we would go skiing with the kids right here in the country..( the kids have grown up and moved out already and ) the next ski resort now is in neighboring Austria some 400 miles away, over 6000 feet altitude a.s.l.

So I am already longing for next March..