First anniversary

With the exception of two long stays in to BR, we have been in our house here a year this week.

So like the little golden book "A Year on the Farm"   I have blogged through all the seasons and what they offered in terms of challenges, chores, entertainmen; in other words, a description of living in Vermont.

Having completed the four seasons, I think it also is time to complete this blog experience.  This will be the last entry.   I hope readers have enjoyed reading these random thoughts as much as I have writing them.

Garden Progress

The weekend rain was perfect to get the soil ready to plant. The first of the new garden is planted.  for quick start I now have cucumbers, squash, and lettuce bedding plants.  Also have onions onions and parsley.  Next comes seed for carrots, more lettuce, and  what else???

 I also redid the fence to give me more room to work around the box without actually getting into it.  In the end it made 6 close-together rows and 2 wider rows for spreading plants.  The tomotoes on the deck havent grown because it is too cool, but then they haven't died either.  That is success in my culture.

Garden is prepared and ready for planting.  The deer fence is up, composted manure is stirred in and the rain this weekend is a perfect soaker.  I'll be ready to plant by the middle of this coming week.  All the deck furniture is back on the deck, and most of the flower boxes on the deck rails are planted. Today was the first mowing of the season, so spring is officially here to stay.  I think I have successfully rigged a bearproof bird feeder.  I'll load it with seeds soon and we will see if the bear comes over the mountain.

In other home front news, I had to buy a new dishwasher this week.  The old one,(3 years is apparently the new old), a top of the line Kenmore, had stopped draining.  I was not sorry to see it go.   Everything else on it had half stopped at one time or another over the past year.  The new one, a Bosch, does everything automatically except load and unload.  Hope it outlives the service contract!  May have to make one more home repair purchase soon, the water pressure is getting low and erratic.   Probably a new pressure tank will be needed.  I hope to get a personal call from Ben Bernanke or Obama thanking me for my personal contribution to the economic stimulus program.

Where is spring

We have been back in Vermont for two weeks tomorrow.  When we got here, about 1/3 of our yard was still snow covered. It melted off last week when the temps went into the 70's.   The storms that crossed the south and midwest last week have been here this week, and with the rain and northerly fronts, it is back down into the low 40s during the day.  Below freezing is expected tonight, although only for a couple of hours.  Snow is also a possiblity but won't stick.  We gave the dogs their summer cut before leaving BR, and now they are so cold they don't want to stay outside at all.

So where is spring, anyway?   Well, there are a few signs, some natural and some man-made.   The duck pond down the hill from our house has had a small contingent of Canada geese for the past several days, and others can be seen flying over.  Grass is greening up quickly now that the snow is gone, and the neighbor's crocuses are in full bloom. Man-made signs include changing the implements on the tractor from snow throwing to grass cutting, the grill  and the hoses are out of storage. 

Weather permitting, this weekend I'll finish the box garden I started before the rain came earlier this week.  It is a 9' x 14' box, and it will be the largest garden I've ever had- approximately twice the size of the one I had in Baton Rouge.  I am anxious to get it completed, even though it is risky to plant seed crops before Memorial Day.  That gives me about three weeks to decide what to plant and how much of each.   We also will have several new window boxes this year for flowers, leaving the larger deck planters for tomatoes of some sort.

The spring floods here are significant, although they have not made the national news like those in the South and Midwest (or those coming to Louisiana).  We are on a hill several hundred feet above the nearest rivers, so are not in danger.  The melt off is still racing down the ditches and little brooks, into the many low areas in the valley, but we are actually pretty dry here on the hill top.

Back in Vermont. 4 days on the road... 40 degrees cooler, $0.40 more for gasoline, and still snow patches on the ground.  Still it is good to be back. 

Southward bound

Phui on the groundhog.  After three months of winter, pat and I are ready for our trip to BR, so winter will be over in a week or so.  We also are ready to see Kathryn Adelle and other folks there.  So once again, the Vermont blog will be suspended for a few weeks.  When we return, it will be the middle of mud season, the Vermont version of spring everywhere else.

Scenes from last weeks snow storm

On a cloudy day, only three colors are visible to the camera... white, grey and black.  The barn in the last picture is really a pretty bright red.  And the evergreen trees are just as green as a christmas tree, though it doesn't show up here.  These were made on a road trip to Littleton NH, 12 miles away.  The road is maintained by the town ow Waterford.  It is much like a parish road in LA or a county road in Arkansas). Despite appearances, this is an easy to travel roadway.  snow is graded down to hard base and it is sanded at least twice daily.  The snow berms are about 3 feet high

Is cold relative.

It has been interesting to read about BR folks reactions to the cold weather they are having.  Especially so, since I used to react just like that when we lived there.  

The high temps for the last five days or so has been below 20 but it has been pretty sunny most days. Today I've been out shoveling snow that is 20 inch high from our back deck.  I try to do it between 9 and 11 when the sun is directly on the deck, even though the early morning chill is still present.  Today when I started it was about 12 degrees.  I started out in a sweater and a hoodie, and mittens. Shoveling snow may not make you buff, but it is vigorous exercise. I shed the mittens quickly and the hoodie about 15 minutes later.  Then the wind came up and the sun was behind a cloud, so back into the mittens and hoodie, which soon made me get hot again, so out of the hoodie and mittens until the next cloud..  Could it be that BR cold is colder than Vermont cold, just like the heat there is hotter than in Arizona?

The snow was firm enough that I was tempted to try building an igloo.  I learned about this in grade school but could not remember if Nanook stomped the snow to compress it, or just used it like it was.  Still have 1/3 of deck to do... perhaps I'll attempt it when I clear the rest of it.  This is the third time I've cleared the deck this season, and the snow piled around the deck is nearly as high as the rail of the deck itself.  It is going to be terribly wet when it all starts to thaw in a couple of months. The snow now is just right for building things.  I was going to build a snowman sitting on the bench in front of the house, except now I cannot find the bench. 

I also saw what may be the first sign of spring today, small as it was.  Two crows flew by, one chasing and diving at the other and making chirps rather than caws.  I think they were mating.  Probably a better indicator than the groundhog's shadow that spring is coming.

Its now 3 pm and the temperature has still only 15 degrees.  I spent much of the morning clearing snow from the deck, which had accumulated to about 20 inches.    The wind has been blowing, alternating bright sun with grey skies.  In the sun, I quickly got heated up and shed the jackets; in the clouds had to stop and get it back on.  Did about half of deck before wearing out.  Hope I will get it finished before this weekend.  Snow is not heavy, but it has to be thrown over the 3 ft high rail and as far from the deck as possible.  This is the third clearing and the pile of snow from the deck clearing is now over 4 feet high. 

Yesterday, was house repairs day.   Fixed the supports around a leaky shower drain, replaced sheer pin in the snow blower, got the mailbox repaired and reinstalled after someone knocked it down on Tuesday, and a did few other odds and ends. It was warmer yesterday, most of the day was in the mid 20s.  Still have to get the hole in the ceiling (from the leak) repaired, but that will be a professional job. 

Accumulated snowfall has finally caught up with "normal" for this time of year.  Just under 50 inches.  Last night, the weatherman said that Burlington has over 5 feet of snow so far this year.What is not typical is the extended sub-freezing temps. The snow is staying on the ground or piling up where it is cleared from the roads and in town the sidewalks.  Towns are beginning to haul it away in dumptrucks, but that hasn't been  necessary here where we are. 

A walk in the woods

Just before the most recent storm dumped another 8 inches of heavy wet snow on us, I spent much of Saturday walking the snowmobile trails that comb our area.  The dogs and I have been walking the roads all winter, so I am accustomed to hills and cold, but walking the trails is a new experience.  Snowmobile clubs groom the trails to keep them free of fallen limbs and pack the snow somewhat, so it is a fairly clear trail to follow.  Packing is a relative term, however.  True you don't sink 2 feet or so like you do if you get off the trail.  But it is common to hit sections where you boots dig down by six inches without snow shoes ( which I don't have.).  Trails not only go up and down, but some places have significant slope from side to side.  More than once I sliding down and across at the same time.  I eventually got the hang of it.  Much like marching in a high stepping band, only not quite so exaggerated.   

The total walk was about 4 miles.  Downhill through the woods, then up the road to return home. For this trip, the dogs stayed home.  Four miles is too much for 15 year old Shadow.  The  snow could easily swallow Lucy if she were to get off the trail.  Also I left the dogs because I hoped to see some deer or other animals.  Sadly, I did not.  I've seen deer and rabbits crossing the roads near where we live, but none on this walk. 

deep freeze

My neighbor informed me yesterday morning that I had survived my first true Vermont winter blast. Temps here were almost -20F, but lower by as much as 12 degrees in some of the surrounding areas.  Something I didn't remember, when a true arctic blast comes, it is actually colder in lower elevations (what Arkansas people would call hollows) than up in the hills.  Guess that is why we were warmer than surrounding areas, if you can tell a difference in -20 and -30. 

Despite the cold, the two sub zero days were brilliantly sunny and calm,  so the few times I got out with the dogs, get the mail, etc., didn't seem too bad. Even so, moisture froze in my mustache just going out for the mail.  

We are returning to seasonal normals or even warmer.  Tomorrow is supposed to get above 30. 

Winter Fun

Some views of our big snowfall yesterday. Overall, we got about 6 inches, but in some places, it is over a foot deep.  Spent an hour on the tractor this morning clearing the driveway and the dog run.

 The flag is blowing to the Southwest - proof of the Nor-Easter.

 Best part of the whole day!

Let it Snow Round 2

Woke up to hard snow fall  and howling north wind this morning and it has snowed/howled all day, at times enough to bring visibility down to about 100 yards.  At 4 p, it lightened up. but it is supposed to continue into the night.  At 4, accumulations ranged from 4 to 10 inches.  As with the last storm, we are at the edge of the big Northeaster that is hitting Boston and Southern New England so hard.

Watching the dogs react to this weather has been entertaining.  Lucy is ready to go in snow up to about 4 inches, but she has to leap if it is 6 inches deep.  Her little corgi legs just don't work well in more than 6 inches.  One day I watched her sink up to her tail.  With a surprised look of "what the hell" on her face, she literally jumped backwards out of the deep snow and took an alternative route.  Today, though, her main interest was getting back into the house. She doesn't think about exploring the woods these days.  I am sure the porcupine would be relieved, if he knew.