As all good things must do, our time here at The Fahm as full time residents is slowly drawing to a close. I am fresh off a month-long employment and housing exploration in my favorite hometown ever, Santa Cruz, CA, where we will be relocating - at least part-time - sooner rather than later.
Long-time urbanites relocate to a 270 year old farm in rural New England. Domestic chaos ensues, resulting in "...a year's worth of hilarious observations and amusing anecdotes." - Kirkus Review
Showing posts with label Snow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Snow. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Friday, February 21, 2014
The Berkshires and Burning Spear
Last weekend Raj and I took a little road trip to the Berkshires and beyond to hear some music, see some friends, and make a short literary excursion to North Bennington. We left the Fahm during a snowstorm which is something we rarely do. For one thing, driving during a snowstorm is no picnic, and for another, well, we just don't. Real snowstorms inspire my coziest fantasies of being near a roaring fire with a book or a game of Scrabble. Driving away from the Fahm in the snow seemed rather strange.
Monday, January 27, 2014
There Have Been Some Shortages - Reprise
Last week, hardware stores began running low on snow removal supplies and by the time the last storm was over, they were pretty much out. There wasn't a roof rake, snow shovel, or box of hockey puck salt tabs to be found anywhere, not to mention snow blowers. When Home Depot is sold out of a big ticket seasonal staple like a snow blower, you know you're having a serious winter.
The good news is, I have found a way to reuse our sock singles! In a fit of DIY, I asked Raj to rummage through his sock drawer for singles and worn out socks while I bustled off to the hardware store for a bag of calcium chloride. Raj managed to produce 19 socks and I filled them each with a fist-sized portion of the stuff. We raked the roofs and flung the sock bombs strategically which means aiming for just behind the bigger icicles. The sock bombs are so much better than the hockey pucks in terms of placement; the downside is, in the spring we will have 19 filthy socks sitting on our roofs like dead things the cats might drag in to our bedroom.
Everyone, at this point, except those who have the great good fortune to live in a perfectly insulated home David & Monique has ice dams, ice cycles, and way too much snow on their roof. Roofs are collapsing all over New England, while I know of at least one poor man in Worcester who had a heart attack and died while clearing snow from his roof. Even stoic New Englanders are shaking their heads over this hard Wintah - though I still note latent pride beneath their complaints. This Wintah will go down in the record books in terms of snow fall if nothing else, and a legendary winter spawns legendary ...well... legends.
The good news is, I have found a way to reuse our sock singles! In a fit of DIY, I asked Raj to rummage through his sock drawer for singles and worn out socks while I bustled off to the hardware store for a bag of calcium chloride. Raj managed to produce 19 socks and I filled them each with a fist-sized portion of the stuff. We raked the roofs and flung the sock bombs strategically which means aiming for just behind the bigger icicles. The sock bombs are so much better than the hockey pucks in terms of placement; the downside is, in the spring we will have 19 filthy socks sitting on our roofs like dead things the cats might drag in to our bedroom.
Everyone, at this point, except those who have the great good fortune to live in a perfectly insulated home David & Monique has ice dams, ice cycles, and way too much snow on their roof. Roofs are collapsing all over New England, while I know of at least one poor man in Worcester who had a heart attack and died while clearing snow from his roof. Even stoic New Englanders are shaking their heads over this hard Wintah - though I still note latent pride beneath their complaints. This Wintah will go down in the record books in terms of snow fall if nothing else, and a legendary winter spawns legendary ...well... legends.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Refugees from The Island of Misfit Glass Bricks - Reprise
What is This, Boot Camp? Hell Week? It's easy to get confused, what with the twice a day workouts and all, getting snow and ice off the roof(s) before the next cold snap and/or snow surge. We've had a couple of days 'warm' enough for the ice icicles to start some serious melting, although we still ended up on a ladder just outside the kitchen window armed with a mini sledge hammer and protective eye-ware, literally beating back the ice.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Winter Storm Falco
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| 8 Degrees F, many inches of snow |
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Monday, November 11, 2013
Here We Go...FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS, IT COULD BE A BUMPY RIDE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA424 PM EST MON NOV 11 2013
...SNOW SHOWERS WILL IMPACT THE TUESDAY MORNING COMMUTE... A STRONG ARCTIC FRONT WILL QUICKLY MOVE ACROSS SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. BEHIND THIS FRONT EXPECT RAIN SHOWERS TO QUICKLY TRANSITION TO SNOW SHOWERS DUE TO FALLING TEMPERATURES. THIS TRANSITION WILL OCCUR DURING THE MORNING COMMUTE...BETWEEN 5AM TO 9AM. THE DEVELOPMENT OF SNOW SQUALLS IS ALSO A POSSIBILITY WHICH MAY RESULT AN INCH OF SNOW IN A SHORT TIME. THIS MAY CREATE SOME SLIPPERY TRAVEL ALONG WITH POOR VISIBILITY DURING THE TUESDAY MORNING COMMUTE.
- From The National Weather Service
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Spring in New England, 2013
The City of Worcester, MA is currently ranked snowiest city in U.S. The Fahm is located approximately 10 miles NW of Worcester and here it typically runs a few degrees colder than in Worcester, and we also typically record a few more inches of snow. We've still got nearly 2' of snow on the ground; Worcester reports a season total in the neighborhood of 9' of snow. That is more than Rochester. More than Syracuse. More than Anchorage. More than Anchorage.
Monday, March 18, 2013
It Sure Is a Good Thing We Enjoy X-country Skiing So Much...
...because otherwise this protracted Winter might start to feel like a pain in the ass: Winter storm may dump another foot of snow on the area
Friday, March 8, 2013
Still Snowing 36 Hours Later
Yes indeed, the ski resort just up the road is reporting 17+ inches of fresh powder as of noon today; Raj is outside doing a little roof raking, scraping some of that fresh powder off our poor buried and icicled NEW WORD roof. It is blowing snow, 30 degrees F, winds gusting up to 25 MPH, and a "feels like" reading of 20 degrees F. Snow, even powdery snow is heavy. Very, very heavy...
Our nearest neighbor just called and asked Raj to knock the snow off some low-hanging, now snow-laden, so even lower-hanging evergreen branches in the driveway so he can plow us out. Our Dear Neighbor is also performing a mercy mission in the shape of a dairy delivery. Horror of horrors, this morning we finished the last of the half & half that we customarily have in our morning beverage, and tomorrow morning was shaping up as rather bleak until now.
Speaking of bleak, I sure do hate those dumb-asses in Washington, DC spending even more millions of our tax dollars to hold hearings about why the Sequester is so bad and awful. Because we didn't already MEDIA HYSTERIA know that. But as so often happens in these trying times, I digress.
Speaking of bleak, I sure do hate those dumb-asses in Washington, DC spending even more millions of our tax dollars to hold hearings about why the Sequester is so bad and awful. Because we didn't already MEDIA HYSTERIA know that. But as so often happens in these trying times, I digress.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
The Curve in the Road in Winter
As I think I've mentioned before, The Fahm sits on a curve in the road that folks underestimate and subsequently crash on, during the winter. Here is a note we received recently, after the latest incident which took place in late December 2012. As you can see, we do our best here at The Fahm to be hospitable.
It Has Been Snowing All Day
...And here I was, all naive and whathaveyou, thinking we had already started Mud Season! The sap buckets are on the sugar maples but now they are buried under 6" of brand new snow. Far be it for me to complain though; this much more snow means we can cross country ski for just a little bit later in the season, and that's not a bad thing.
But! All this godforsaken snow means more godforsaken roof raking which is very, very hard. If you listen carefully, you might even be able to hear me grunting and swearing or my triceps screaming, as I flail about with the floppy and recalcitrant roof rake.
But! All this godforsaken snow means more godforsaken roof raking which is very, very hard. If you listen carefully, you might even be able to hear me grunting and swearing or my triceps screaming, as I flail about with the floppy and recalcitrant roof rake.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Let the Shoveling and Raking Continue!
Just as we learned from Laura Ingalls Wilder, chores must be done before playing can begin. In other words, until we rake the back roof again, scrape snow off cars, and dig out driveways, we will not allow ourselves to SKI. And since we're dying to ski, my morning procrastinations today will be much shorter than usual.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Live-blogging Blizzard 2013
2:30 PM: It behooves us all to be reminded that I was raised in sunny southern California and this whole "blizzard" thing typically only ever occurred on set, or during the Universal Studios Tour and is complete bullshit.
2:16 PM: Light snow showers at 18 degrees F, feels like reading is 3 degrees F, in NNW 16 MPH winds gusting to 33 MPH.
2:12: Governor Deval Patrick just had a news conference and offered some post-blizzard advice for citizens.
12:55 PM: 15 degrees F, feels like reading is -2 degrees F, in NNW 19 MPH winds gusting to 38 MPH.
12:53 PM: A light snow has started falling again and the sun is still trying without success to emerge. It is therefore time to do that which any sane person knows to do during a blizzard: play Scrabble huddled next to a hot wood stove in the kitchen, while having hot cocoa and grilled cheese sandwich triangles.
12:13 PM: 14 degrees F, feels like reading is -3 degrees F, in NNW 21 MPH winds gusting to 42 MPH. The snow has finally stopped. Our power has been solid as a rock; Verizon's high-speed Intertubes via land line connection, not so much. Mobile hotspots are the new black.
12:07: The sun is trying hard.
12:04 PM: Our Front door.
Noon: Roof scrapery over the kitchen is complete. Snowshoes were required although not much use in 30" of fresh powder. I wasn't in over my head (that would've been during our first winter here at The Fahm) but I was in over my knees!
10:17 AM: Still procrastinating. Briefly contemplated the wisdom of having a medicinal bloody Mary stirrup cup as encouragement to get outside and rake snow off the roof. In 3' of fresh powder. During a blizzard. But noooo, we hearty pioneers do this shit SOBER.
10:09 AM: WBUR's Bob Oakes just asked for an update on the situation in Scituate. Hell was described as breaking loose there. Which is a helluva Scituation.
10:03 AM: I'm almost done with my morning procrastination which means it is time to put on the 39 layers necessary to sustain life outdoors in a blizzard, pick up my damn snow rake (with extensible handle), and go rake the damn snow off the damn roof so The Fahm doesn't end up encrusted with malevolent ice beasties.
9:43 AM: We have the great good fortune of our closest neighbor being kind enough to plow our driveway during the winter. That neighbor has arrived! He's plowing us out for the second time in less than 24 hours. We like our neighbor very much. :)
9:37 AM: Travel ban is still in place. 13 degrees F, feels like reading is -5 degrees F, still snowing in NNW 25 MPH winds gusting to 40 MPH. Wachusett Mountain ski area, 5 miles up the road, is open for business and reporting 28" of fresh powder on the ground.
8:40 AM: 14 degrees F, feels like reading is -3 degrees F, still snowing in NNW 16 MPH winds gusting to 33 MPH. Looks like 2 - 3' on the ground; I have the dreadful feeling that we'll be outside raking snow off roofs before this is over.
8:32 AM: Princeton Municipal Light Department once again saves the day! We never lost power. Verizon's high-speed Intertubes via land line connection was up and down (mostly down) all night.
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8:43 PM: Verizon's high-speed Intertubes via land line connection goes down AGAIN; switching to service via mobile hotspot.
8:38 PM: 16 degrees F, feels like reading is 1 degree F, snow blowing every ding dang way in N 25 MPH winds. Very blizzardy.
7:55 PM: 16 degrees F, feels like reading is 1 degree. We are going to eat potatoes and play Scrabble now.
7:28 PM: 17 degrees F, feels like reading is 1 degree F, light snow blowing every damn way in NNE 17 MPH winds.
7:20 PM: We're out in the country and without streetlights it is now too goddamn dark outside to see WTF is happening.
7:00 PM: The wind is picking up and The Fahm (aka Brimstone Manor) is starting to creak and groan in protest.
6:59 PM: Potatoes are done and ready for supper.
6:28 PM: Verizon's high-speed Intertubes via land line connection is back UP. Yee haw! Turning mobile hotspot off.
6:15 PM: Verizon's high-speed Intertubes via land line connection goes down; switching to service via mobile hotspot.
6:05 PM: I put two russet potatoes in the coals of the wood stove in the kitchen, for our supper.
5:24 PM: 18 degrees F, feels like reading is 3 degrees F, light snow blowing every damn way in NE 16 MPH winds.
5:19 PM: Out my window.
4:00 PM: Raj made popcorn.
3:45 PM: 18 degrees F, feels like reading is 5 degrees F, light snow blowing sideways in NE 13 MPH winds.
3:07: Out my window.
2:16 PM: Light snow showers at 18 degrees F, feels like reading is 3 degrees F, in NNW 16 MPH winds gusting to 33 MPH.
2:12: Governor Deval Patrick just had a news conference and offered some post-blizzard advice for citizens.
12:55 PM: 15 degrees F, feels like reading is -2 degrees F, in NNW 19 MPH winds gusting to 38 MPH.
12:53 PM: A light snow has started falling again and the sun is still trying without success to emerge. It is therefore time to do that which any sane person knows to do during a blizzard: play Scrabble huddled next to a hot wood stove in the kitchen, while having hot cocoa and grilled cheese sandwich triangles.
12:13 PM: 14 degrees F, feels like reading is -3 degrees F, in NNW 21 MPH winds gusting to 42 MPH. The snow has finally stopped. Our power has been solid as a rock; Verizon's high-speed Intertubes via land line connection, not so much. Mobile hotspots are the new black.
12:07: The sun is trying hard.
Noon: Roof scrapery over the kitchen is complete. Snowshoes were required although not much use in 30" of fresh powder. I wasn't in over my head (that would've been during our first winter here at The Fahm) but I was in over my knees!
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| Before |
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| After. What isn't documented are my screaming triceps. |
10:09 AM: WBUR's Bob Oakes just asked for an update on the situation in Scituate. Hell was described as breaking loose there. Which is a helluva Scituation.
10:03 AM: I'm almost done with my morning procrastination which means it is time to put on the 39 layers necessary to sustain life outdoors in a blizzard, pick up my damn snow rake (with extensible handle), and go rake the damn snow off the damn roof so The Fahm doesn't end up encrusted with malevolent ice beasties.
9:43 AM: We have the great good fortune of our closest neighbor being kind enough to plow our driveway during the winter. That neighbor has arrived! He's plowing us out for the second time in less than 24 hours. We like our neighbor very much. :)
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| The Plowful Neighbor |
8:40 AM: 14 degrees F, feels like reading is -3 degrees F, still snowing in NNW 16 MPH winds gusting to 33 MPH. Looks like 2 - 3' on the ground; I have the dreadful feeling that we'll be outside raking snow off roofs before this is over.
8:32 AM: Princeton Municipal Light Department once again saves the day! We never lost power. Verizon's high-speed Intertubes via land line connection was up and down (mostly down) all night.
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8:43 PM: Verizon's high-speed Intertubes via land line connection goes down AGAIN; switching to service via mobile hotspot.
8:38 PM: 16 degrees F, feels like reading is 1 degree F, snow blowing every ding dang way in N 25 MPH winds. Very blizzardy.
7:55 PM: 16 degrees F, feels like reading is 1 degree. We are going to eat potatoes and play Scrabble now.
7:28 PM: 17 degrees F, feels like reading is 1 degree F, light snow blowing every damn way in NNE 17 MPH winds.
7:20 PM: We're out in the country and without streetlights it is now too goddamn dark outside to see WTF is happening.
7:00 PM: The wind is picking up and The Fahm (aka Brimstone Manor) is starting to creak and groan in protest.
6:59 PM: Potatoes are done and ready for supper.
6:28 PM: Verizon's high-speed Intertubes via land line connection is back UP. Yee haw! Turning mobile hotspot off.
6:15 PM: Verizon's high-speed Intertubes via land line connection goes down; switching to service via mobile hotspot.
6:05 PM: I put two russet potatoes in the coals of the wood stove in the kitchen, for our supper.
5:24 PM: 18 degrees F, feels like reading is 3 degrees F, light snow blowing every damn way in NE 16 MPH winds.
5:19 PM: Out my window.
4:00 PM: Raj made popcorn.
3:45 PM: 18 degrees F, feels like reading is 5 degrees F, light snow blowing sideways in NE 13 MPH winds.
3:07: Out my window.
2:07 PM: Currently 20 degrees F, light snow.
2:00 PM: Listening to more breathless news and disaster predictions on WBUR radio!
1:45 PM: Travel Ban Throughout MA just announced, all traffic and all roads except first responders in effect from 4:00 PM "until the travel ban is lifted". The wording of the announcement is ominous, don't you think? The ban is in effect "until the travel ban is lifted".
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
The Spirit of Winter
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| Cold |
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