Dan Antion

Expect the Unexpected – #1LinerWeds

The end of autumn.
The Trex has to be shoveled. It’s not too bad – small bites.

Let me give you a brief update on Monday’s rant. Black Friday deals are still arriving in my inbox and Cyber Monday has morphed into Cyber Week. The only change worth noting was the arrival of a slew of emails urging me to participate in “Giving Tuesday” – I guess this is sort of the twelve days of Thanksgiving. The unexpected event, hinted at in the title, has to do with the weather. On Sunday, as I was writing Monday’s post, our forecast was for 4″ and 11″ of snow (10 – 25.4cm) with an undetermined amount to fall in a second storm on Monday night into Tuesday.

When we woke up on Monday, there was about 6” of snow on the ground. I spent a couple hours shoveling the new steps/decks and running the snow blower over the driveway, sidewalk, our neighbor’s driveway and around the back yard making paths for Maddie. Nice, relatively easy job, a good workout for the machine, I thought.

It started snowing again Monday evening. That was expected. The forecast was equally vague as the original, but it was in the 3” to 6” range. We woke up on Tuesday to find that over a foot of snow had fallen. The weatherman on one of the local stations said:

“One foot – or more – of snow might not have been in the forecast, but it sure was in our driveways.”

He was right for once.

This post is part of Linda G. Hill’s fun weekly series One-Liner Wednesday. If you have a one-liner, I’d encourage you to join in on the fun. You can follow this link to participate and to see the one-liners from the other participants.

The end of autumn.
Monday was a series of fast, easy passes.
We do need these steps to be functional for Maddie.
The steps are all clear. One last bit of business with Maddie and then we start the snow blower.
The squirrels aren’t sure where to go.
The little tree on the right is supposed to have white lights in it for Christmas – maybe next week.
Tuesday was a different story.
The Trex has to be shoveled. It’s not too bad – small bites.
Don’t tell Maddie.
Since the sidewalk gets snow plus the stuff the plows puch off the road, this was slow-going.
I think we’re done here.
The Forsythia are not happy.
“Nice job clearing the driveway. Do you have any peanuts?”
Sunset after the storm
I like the intricate pattern.
Maddie approves of my shovel work.
We had a fire in the wood stove, so MiMi didn’t see any reason to move.

89 comments

  1. Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday….. I’m ready for Enough Already Wednesday.
    And yeah…the 3-6 inches they predicted for us turned into 10.
    Hello winter.

    Liked by 3 people

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  2. Are you starting to wonder how you had time to go to work? :-) That second snow drop was different than the first not only in size but in texture. It was much harder to move and we had similar issues like your sidewalks. Where the blower blew snow, when we went back it was almost solid, and I chipped at it to get it into smaller chunks. It was a mess, plus our blower belt came off so we had to add in repair time. :-) Glad there is no snow in the forecast for a day or so.

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    • I remember starting at 5:00am, but that wouldn’t have been early enough for this mess. I broke two shear pins, so I also had repair time to deal with. This was quite a way to start the season. I hope you enjoy a few sunny days.

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  3. That picture titled ‘The end of autumn’ is perfect, a frozen leaf!
    I have one to add to your rant today – wanting money is now in the form of Christmas cards. I received one, lovely picture Christmas card from Pres. & Mrs. Carter. They want our money to help Nigeria!! And here I thought that elusive Nigerian Prince that once haunted our emails had enough of our money to buy that country outright!!

    Liked by 3 people

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  4. What a great line! Luckily, the snow missed us and we just got a bunch of rain. When we were in Scottsdale, though, we had a tornado warning at 4:00 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving! I couldn’t get back to sleep after that.

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  5. Oh my goodness, I don’t know how you folks up there manage in those kinds of conditions! The first time I had to shovel snow or fight with a snowblower, I’d throw in the towel…besides, I HATE COLD!! That is why God saw fit to have me end up in Texas I imagine. ;)
    I agree with your rant, I also receive an inordinate amount of emails for sales, and I got one of those Christmas cards wanting money as well. UGH!

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    • Thanks. I am sorry to hear about the Christmas cards asking for money. Florida, Texas, I hope that means the trend is moving west and not north. I do enjoy winter, but this was a tough way to get back into shape.

      Liked by 1 person

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  6. Your yard looks like our yard in Wisconsin! And you’ve got the same reliable weather forecasters too! On the upside, at least you didn’t have to rush to clear the snow so you could get to work on time. ;-)

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    • Ha! Thanks Maggie. At least this guy owned up to his error. The others were trying to explain the situation in scientific jargon, to make it look like they weren’t really wrong.

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  9. That’s the reason I like living in the South. Those nine months we lived in Peoria, Ill. were more than enough for me. I love the leaf in the snow and the ice sculpture which looks like a leaf to me. You are one hard working, retired man!

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  10. Snow is magical until it is not. After 11 years in Alaska and 8 years in Maine, I welcome a more moderate climate. Glad you have machinery to make your life a little easier.

    I don’t do a lot of the big sales. None of the things I want are ever on sale anyway. Ha!

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    • I think that’s the point, Maggie, to get you to buy something you don’t want, just because it’s on sale. Almost 20 years in the higher latitudes certainly qualifies you for lifetime “I did winter” status,

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  11. Knock on wood that while we did have a nasty ice storm, we haven’t yet had enough snow to use our new snowblower. I hope it stays that way. I’m ok with leaving a brand-new snowblower unused in the garage until next year. Having written that, I’m sure a huge storm will hit us and make me eat those words.

    Black Friday and Cyber Monday certainly ran together. I don’t normally shop those deals, but I needed a few items of winter clothing from my favorite on-line retailer, and I was very pleased to receive a 70% off Cyber Monday deal on Sunday. Thus, I was not one of those people sneaking on-line at work on Monday to check out potential deals.

    I find the Giving Tuesday emails every bit as annoying as the mailed solicitations that come in at this time every year. If I want to give to a particular charity, I do it on my own during the year, and if I don’t want to give, being inundated with “ads” isn’t going to tempt me.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • When we bought this house, with a detached garage in the back, I knew I couldn’t shovel the driveway. We bought a snowblower and I told my wife “I hope we get enough snow to justify this purchase.” We broke the record that year with 87″ – We’ve broken that record since a couple of times, but that still makes me laugh.

      I;m glad you found a good deal. My wife checked a few places that she was going to buy something from and found them on-sale – that works!

      Giving Tuesday brings me to my new rule – if you ask me for money, the answer is no.

      Good luck keeping the machine in the garage.

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  12. Soooooo…I commented on this about 6:00 am. Not sure where it went. Maybe buried underneath all that snow.

    Happy unexpected fall winter snow! I bet you’ve been busy clearing paths and driveways and making a start on Mount Maddie. This may be a very long winter, once it becomes official.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • The jury might still be out on the new steps. So far, we like that they are big enough to stand on while clearing them of snow – that was a problem with the old ones. The snow does move off them easily, and I like that the corner where the snow used to pile up is gone – it is easier to get the blower around. The snow melt does seem to form pockets/puddles which we are concerned might freeze overnight. I’ve been pushing that off with a squeegee, just in case.

      This certainly was a big test.

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  16. I’m immune to all the come-ons, but unfortunately they keep coming anyway. We don’t buy Christmas gifts. Period. It makes the whole season so much more enjoyable and peaceful. I wish there was some checkbox somewhere that we could mark to opt out of the advertising.

    Beautiful pictures of the snow… glad I don’t have to actually experience it.

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  19. Love the frozen leaf and the one you describe as an “intricate pattern”. It looks like hand-blown glass!

    MiMi has her eyes open, but she looks likes she’s still asleep!

    Maddie’s decks look like they’re passing the snow/ice test with flying colors! Good thing, or the redhead would’ve been impossible to live with this winter! Lol. I bet she sees Mt. Maddie in her dreams already!

    We were gifted with one foot of heavy, wet snow on Monday. That was after we had icy rain all day Sunday. To say it was death-defying slippery would be a classic understatement!!

    I hope this storm isn’t an omen of storms to come. Too much, too soon.

    At least your weather forecaster was honest enough to admit he got it wrong. However, that adds up to being too little, too late!! ❄️❄️❄️
    🐾Ginger 🐾

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    • Thanks Ginger. I’m glad you like the artsy pictures. I’ve been trying to share more of those.

      Maddie doesn’t seem to be as interested in Mt Maddie these days. Last year, she didn’t play on it much. Right now, it’s more of a Maddie mound. Our snow was also heavy and wet, so I had to settle for putting it wherever it was easier.

      Fortunately, we didn’t get any freezing rain or even enough rain to freeze. Ice at the end of the leash is never fun. We’re a little worried about the dreaded thaw/freeze cycle which leaves us bouncing between mud and ice as this stuff disappears

      Stay safe !

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  20. haha, just posted a post about the same subject, and almost with the same title, although your snow was much more of a dramatic change! Mine was more, about the in California no one expects snow, or much later. I looked up my photos, we had snow in Feb.! Hubs explained what that red thing in your post is. Nice, to be prepared:) Always learning more, being in blog land!

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  21. Oh wow, Dan! You’ve got more snow then us! How did THAT happen? When I see that red snow blower of yours out, I know it’s nasty business! Good thing Maddie is keeping you in line making sure you are shoveling up to her standards. LOL

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  25. I just keep deleting all those emails, Dan. We give to church and many other groups, so I don’t feel compelled to to do more. As for Black Friday, we didn’t buy anything. We have more than we need already and are just doing a few Christmas gifts this year. Don’t want to have more stuff to move besides. :-) Snow? We don’t have any yet, but I would love to have some (but not necessarily a foot) for Christmas…just so everyone’s flights can get here. I don’t want much, do it?

    janet

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    • Sounds like you have it all worked out, Janet. I hope your family travel plans are all successful. A little snow in your area shouldn’t throw anything into a spin. We’re not moving, but we’re taking the same approach to gifts this year.

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  26. Yikes. I guess waiting for it to melt is not an option. Even with a snowblower that is a huge amount of snow to move. Our weather forecasters have the same poor “batting average” in their forecasts, but at least we have not yet had any snow.

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    • This was a tough first workout with the snow blower, Mike. By February, I’d be ready for this. Straight out of the gate, I could have been done after Sunday’s portion. I didn’t need another foot.

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  28. Oh dear. I find it so hard to complain about the snow when you’ve been whacked that much harder. But I’m ok with this arrangement. If the snow stays on the south side of the Great Lakes this winter, I’ll be a happy one! :)

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  29. WOW! And you live in New England because…. Getting an early start on Mt. Maddie, anyway. That ice/fence shot is stellar! Congratulations, anyway, on not having to worry about getting in to work. Just stay home, snuggle the dog, brush MuMu, and feed MiMi’s fire.

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  32. Okay / catching up on posts and glad I came here today – because this is a bit out of hand – the twelve days of thanksgiving sums it up – and with Black Friday deals started a week early ???
    Anyhow – nice snow photos –

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