This morning, 18 degrees, was 7 below yesterday
Boise Declared State of Emergency/Gratitude-
In the last week Boise's mayor declared a "State of Emergency" due to unusually high snowfall and accumulation for this area. Boise is considered "high desert" with a typical precipitation of 10"-13". This is the 2nd worst snowstorm in the area, only surpassed by one 40 years ago. We also had record cold last week. We received almost 2 FEET of snow in the last 3 weeks. 4" yesterday, another 2" today. Since it never warmed up after the initial snowfall, none of it ever melted. The side streets became almost impassable and many started complaining VERY loudly that the County need to do something fast. They just never ave to deal with this kind of snowfall. They has already used thru their yearly budget, so the Mayor was able to get more state funding. Many local contractors donated time and equipment to start doing the side streets. Bless them! Last Thursday evening after Dave re-shoveled the driveway one of these graders came thru-
Google photo
They did a GREAT job clearing the street, but pushed a bunch of snow back up in the driveway. Dave re-shoveled! Lucky for me my hubby is a workhorse!
Edge of our driveway
Too much snow
My daughter with her new baby was pretty snowbound, so Dave and I went over Sat. and he shoveled while I babysat so she could clean the house. Luckily today a back how with a front loader came thru her cul de sac and got the street. The county won't do those as their trucks can't turn around. We got another 4" yesterday when that storm hit. I felt so S-T-U-P-I-D going grocery shopping in almost blizzard conditions at 1:30 in the afternoon. Parking lot FULL, wait for shopping carts, duh. I should have gone early in the morning. Lesson learned. While I always have food/water/fuel on hand I just needed the normal fruits, veggies, stuff. There has been a major shortage of ice melt and snow shovels in town. There was a run on bottled water, batteries, propane in case people lost power. The FTE, french toast emergency :) Dave scored yesterday by finding some at a Mom and Pop gas station. Crazy what a city can run out of! As soon a stores get it in it'd gone. I spotted snow shovel in a store window out running an errand today. My daughter went in an bought it, the last one. They'd been shoveling with a regular shovel. They had people lined up at their store door when they opened when word went out they had ice melt coming in!!! We don't usually use it much but it was a matter of our being able to get out of our home. Our Subaru Outback did great, but our little Mazda M3 came thru pretty well too! Everyone on the news kept saying "you need 4 wheel drive " for this! NO, YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW TO DRIVE. Slow down, take your time, give your self room.
Pretty
More pretty
The coop and hens came thru really well with the heat lamp and heat disc, lots of treats and frequent checks on them. Warm and protected, but they had good ventilation. It started rain this afternoon and was up to almost 40! There's a LOT of concern over flooding, but it's supposed cool down tomorrow. School's have been closed and 2 the large ones will probably re-open tomorrow. We had 2 gorgeous sunny days last week (with bitter cold) so I am tired of the gray.
Gratitude- I am so grateful we had a pretty easy go of it all in all. All of our home improvements we made since we bought the house paid off. Our newer, excellent furnace kept our house toasty in the bitter cold. Good windows, insulation and doors, ditto. A well built coop, and healthy chickens. Empress Anya our cat slept thru all of it. We had plenty of food, fuel. We had plenty of snow gear- boots, coats, gloves, hats. I didn't have to miss any work, as some did. I was able to drive the Outback to work, I swapped cars with Dave. I have a longer drive with hills. While I had some close calls with idiot drivers, luckily zero accidents on very slippery roads. Our roof came thru fine with no "ice dams", as the news was warning everyone about. Dave. He's such a trouper with shoveling, thankfully. Kids are all safe and sound. We never lost power, TV or computer! All in all, we did have to spend some $$$ on ice melt, but at least we found some! I made a big pot of spicy black bean soup and watched the snow fall last night. Now it's freezing rain and our driveway is a skating rink. We will survive though, life goes on!
From Instagram.com
What is Hygge???-
I've had a real fondness for Scandinavian culture for a while. I love the mentality, ingenuity and hardiness of a people that can live in such a harsh area. It's also gorgeous! I also love the Swedish country look and ran across the concept/tradition of Hygge recently. It's now on the official OxfordDictionaryWord of the year 2016-shortlist I found this definition somewhere-
Hygge (pronounced hue-gah) is a Danish word that is a feeling or mood that comes taking genuine pleasure in making ordinary, every day moments more meaningful, beautiful or special.
I think it really speaks to appreciating life, unplugging, slowing down and staying in touch with family, friends and nature. I was doing a lot of this already! Here's a few links and there's more out on Google. I REALLY loved this one- How Living Danishly Made Me Happier- It can for you too and this has lots of good info as well- VisitDenmark.com
From How to Hygge
Love it<3 Glad you were prepared and all is well. I always feel amazed at how people forget how to drive in snow. Really? Common sense prevails. Well perhaps not.
ReplyDeleteYes no common sense...
DeleteThat's a great way to live, isn't it? You really have been hit by winter there! I am with you and Goatldi - as soon as there are five snowflakes on the road, people lose their minds and common sense.
ReplyDeleteAmen sista!
DeleteWe were visiting our daughter and her family in Boise from the 30th thru the 6th. We were able to get back to Oregon on the one clear day between the weather. It was -14 degrees goin over the Blues but clear roads. We spent our time babysitting their 20 month old while his parents were at work. We shoveled their driveway and deck multiple times as the snow just kept coming down. We were thankful it was light and fluffy. Helped two stuck neighbors with their cars. One was a Subaru. The snow was soft and deep in the culdesac so it got high centered and had to be dug out. Their street was plowed Friday after we left so they were happy. We were happy to get back to our home on the Oregon coast were it was a balmy 36 degrees. Sure miss that grand baby though!!
ReplyDeleteYes you're lucky you got through as well as you did with the highways closed as much as I have benn. Cul de sacs are tough with no snow removal.
DeleteWelcome to Minnesota winter weather! I know it's very different for you, though, because it's so unusual and you don't have the where-with-all to cope efficiently with it (snow removal equipment, etc.), but I'm not surprised you did just fine. A little bit of being prepared for "whatever" is what we all should do. In this day and age of craziness and unusual weather all over the country, we're only being silly if we are prepared as much as we can be for come-what-may.
ReplyDeleteYes Mama, my freezer was full, kero lamps, etc. A lof of the now melted today, with icy roads with water on top, but just wet coming home, relief!
ReplyDeleteI've been reading the word hygge in a lot of places recently. Maybe it's my Scandinavian heritage, or it's just the way of living in a float cabin off-the-grid and away from town. In winter especially we hunker down in our warm sweats and socks in front of the fire in the woodstove and read or do other quiet activities. When the sun comes out, we head outdoors to enjoy nature all around us. Oh, and we have strings of solar lights everywhere to light up the nights. - Margy
ReplyDeleteYes, I think a lot of it is winter nesting, etc. Good to get out to!
ReplyDelete