Snowy Day, part 2

Yesterday morning, the prediction was for "a dusting to a half an inch" of snow. At lunchtime, they had upped the forecast to "1 to 4 inches." By drive-time, the radio was warning of "4 to 8 inches" of accumulation by midnight.

The drifting snow on the country roads made the last two miles the hardest of my 25 mile commute, and a normal 45 minute trip took me an hour longer. Luckily, the snow was light and fluffy, so I was able to negotiate the drifts in my driveway and blocking my garage door.

This morning, I stepped outdoors to check the thermometer:

What is the temp?

Oh. I thought it felt a bit nippy.

And, how deep is the snow this morning?

"THIS deep, Mom!"

Holly inspects the drifting snow. Lab-certified as safe to drive through.


Deli, waiting impatiently for her morning hay.

"Will you stop taking pictures
and feed me?
In case you hadn't noticed,
it's cold out here!"

"Aren't you done feeding horses yet?
It's time to play!"

HOLA

Nope, it's not a Spanish "hello." It's banding code for HOrned LArk. A group of 5 visited me during my second day of confinement due to inclement weather. I was only able to grab this quick snap, through a window at maximum zoom, but I think you can see the Horned Lark behind the cardinal.
This is the second time in 11 years that I have seen Horned Larks in my backyard, and both times it was in the worst weather, with the top layer of snow frozen into a solid sheet of ice. If you want proof, see this photo below.

Snowy Day Update

Well, I survived the first power outage of the day. Only lasted about 30 minutes, from 11 o'clock to 11:30am. This was right after the heavy snowfall that dumped about 2 more inches on top of the ice field that is my yard.



The birds are staying busy. I have broken the ice off most of the feeders, but not all yet. It is hard to keep the snow off the platform and ground feeders.


Not doing too badly so far, but I'll bet there is more to come.

Iced in!

After I pounded on the back door to break free of the ice that encases my house, here is the scene that greeted me this morning:


Six inches of snow yesterday has been covered by freezing rain, leaving an ice layer between 1/2" to 1" thick. Walking on the sidewalk is impossible; walking in the yard requires breaking through the crust to the ground below. It is snowing now, on top of the ice. Whee!!

My bird feeders have turned into cages of icicles.

Look how thick the ice is!

In fact, the snow surface is so glassy that ... well, just watch what happened when I put my Magnum feeder down before filling it with black oil sunflower seeds.



Needless to say, I won't be going to work today. This is only the second time in my career that I have called off work because of weather. I'm pretty proud of that record.

As long as the power holds out, I plan on posting updates throughout the day.

Hope you are safe and warm, wherever you are!