Weekend Reflections - Sunday Lake in Snow

It may look pretty, but enough of the white stuff! This was last week. I am so glad to see it melting away this week.

Sunday Lake in Snow

 

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Dig!

Oh, the lessons keep coming at the Chicken Dance Ranch. This past weekend's lesson was we need tire chains (or a tractor with a snow blower-hehe). We got both trucks stuck trying to get up the driveway Friday night. We got our truck dug out and on Saturday, freed Jim's Ford from the axle deep snow. Then he chained up and was able to make a path up to the house. Good thing, too. We brought over a loveseat and for a while there I thought we'd be taking it back home with us. No way were we going to lift and carry it up there through the snow!

Now we have real seating in the house other than camp-style or folding card table chairs. Comfy. :)

Karen, Karl & Jim "Playing" in the Snow

Dad & The Dogs

 First we play in the snow...

 ...then we get warm.

How You Mooing?

Cattle Near the CDR

The Snow Cornice

It was interesting to see the snow cornice on the roof of the house this past weekend. When we first got there, we had about 10" of snow hanging from the roof.

Upon further inspection, you could see where it curled back towards the house, including the icicles, almost like a wave curling back on itself. It must have been a slow process where the icicles built up as the snow slowly slid down the roof.

Finally, around 1 a.m. Sunday night/Monday morning, the snow and ice made a loud rumbling and scraping sound as it broke free and created a roof avalance. I was amazed by the width of the snow field it created under the eaves. Good thing the dogs were inside when it let go.

Winter at the CDR

Some scenes from around the Chicken Dance Ranch this past weekend. We had lots of snow and fog which didn't make for good vistas. Oh well, we still enjoyed it!

A Quiet Interlude

For a fleeting few seconds he pauses,

Observing his world.

I do, too.
Shouldn't we all once in awhile?

Weekend Reflections - Mirror, Mirror, On the Truck

 Looking In the Mirror, I See Snow

Weekend Reflections is hosted every Friday by James at Newtown Area Photo. Click on the icon to share in the fun.

We are working on the house so I will be late visiting others this weekend.

That's All Folks! - Part 1

Yep, the North Cascades Highway has closed for the season. We were fortunate enough to drive across it on one of the last days in operation. There was a temporary closure on Monday, November 29 that turned into a permanent seasonal closure on Wednesday. Our trip across was last Saturday.

Enjoy some scenes as we drove across.

Heading into the Park

Moon Above the Ridge

Lots of Snow!

On Approach to Washington Pass

Liberty Bell in the Distance

Below Liberty Bell

Just West of Washington Pass

Heading Towards Boulder Creek

Tomorrow I will share photos of ice along the NCH.

Skywatch Friday - Looking Back

Coming west on Highway 20 @ Washington Pass, as you reach the top of the hairpin turn you can look back down into the valley you just traversed. On this day, we drove through rain and then a light snow as we reached the top of the pass. Yet there were patches of blue sky to be seen.

Washington Pass

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Mellow Yellow Monday - A Touch of Yellow

Driving Across the North Cascades Highway - October 31, 2010

Say it Ain't So!

So it started snowing last night, just enough to cover the road surfaces. This morning we had less than an inch on the ground. It has flurried on and off throughout the day, but no additional accumulation. Thank goodness!

Barn in the Stillaguamish Valley

I went picture hunting around lunch time today. I saw several eagles, a beautiful hawk and many bird hunters. My guess is that they were hunting geese so I steered clear of those areas.

Eagle along Pioneer Highway

Hawk near Mark Clark Bridge in Stanwood

It's a quiet Sunday and I'm enjoying it. Hope you are, too.

Power is still intact

Surprisingly, we haven't lost power...yet...knock on wood.

It has snowed off and on all day today, and it is snowing right now. I think we only got a few more inches, but it is hard to tell because of the drifting.

I checked the weather forecast a while ago and every day through Christmas calls for snow showers. We might just have a white Christmas, although I think it is likely we'll have rain before then. I think it will warm up too much for snow.

Still don't have the Christmas tree up. Shame on me. I know I have to do it before Wednesday. Scrooge is alive and well inside me.

Here are some pictures from yesterday as promised. It seemed strange seeing snowmobile tracks around here. I bet those people who own them never thought they'd be able to use them close to home. Usually you have to go up into the mountains to play.

I told you it was cold outside!

Downtown Stanwood

Snowy Farm with Snowmobile Tracks

I took the dogs out in the back yard earlier today and let them play. Our other camera shoots video so here's one of Jelly and Buddy having fun. Honestly!

All this snow has been hard on the trees. When I've been out shoveling, you can hear the tree branches cracking and snapping under the weight of the snow. Even our neighbor's cherry trees have been hard hit. These are thick trunked trees that seemed impervious to the snowfall, until now. It really is a shame. These trees are very pretty, especially when in bloom in the spring. Ahhh, spring...kinda hard to think about spring (or is it) with all of the snow. When the broken branches get removed, it might open up our view to the lake though.

Trees a few days ago

Trees today

Cracked Branch

I also took the dogs for a walk around the neighborhood. As expected, a few vehicles didn't make it up the hill last night. It's hard to tell from this shot, but trust me, the upper part of the hill was nasty.

Looking towards the steep hill - Merry Christmas!

In fact, our good friends' son's car wouldn't be able to make it up the hill today so he was going to park it in front of our house. He was on his way to the airport in Bellingham. Unfortunately, he couldn't even get to our neighborhood in it. We met our friends at the Park-n-Ride to pick them up after dropping off their own vehicle for their son to use to get to the airport.

Karl has enjoyed driving the truck in the snow. We drove up the hill with no problem. Good thing we have the truck. The Toyota is not going anywhere anytime soon.

It's Buried

It promises to be an icy commute tomorrow. I'm working, Karl's on vacation, so he'll be stuck at home unless he digs the car out. :-)

Snow Update

Still snowing...14-1/2 inches and accumulating. I think the weatherman messed up on this one.

Snow at 10 p.m.

Baby Girl went outside when we had the dogs out for a walk earlier today. She's on the front porch for the moment, out of the snow. If she comes in, the pet door is getting closed again. The temps are going to drop again tomorrow back into the teens at night. I want her inside.

Our schools are already closed for tomorrow. No update for work yet.

Do Dogs Have 9 Lives?

Aside from the snow storm which gave us a day off from work, we had 2 VERY scary events with Buddy today.

First, Karl had Buddy & Jelly out playing in the snow in the front yard this morning. Buddy took off out into the road and narrowly missed being hit by a SUV. We are talking inches. He wouldn't come when called. Karl was able to finally get Buddy and brought both dogs inside. You could tell Karl was very shook up by it.

Then later in the afternoon, we took the dogs down to the park, away from the road, so they could run and play in the snow.

Jelly running in the snow

Hey! This is fun!

Maybe my ears will help me fly over the snow

Bridge over the creek in the park

The lake was starting to ice over and we watched as the dogs went out on the dock. In a blink of an eye, Buddy was gone! He went over the edge of the dock and broke through the thin layer of ice. We ran out on the dock and Karl was able to grab him. Luckily Buddy was swimming along the front edge of the dock.

Seconds before Buddy disappeared over the edge of the dock

Buddy shook off the water and started running towards shore with Jelly. It was business as usual for him. Karl and I were both shaken up by it and were anxious to get both dogs away from the water and back inside.

We've been having trouble with Buddy coming when called. He's still young and learning, but this is an important command for him to learn. I think it's time for dog training classes since he does not seem to be catching on. We cannot let this behavior continue.

Twice in one day we almost lost him. If Buddy was a cat, he would have used up a couple of his 9 lives today.

No ill affects from going overboard - Bite Me!

The snow has continued to fall all day. It started overnight and hasn't really stopped. Karl has had to make several treks outside to clean the snow off of the satellite dish. We called the kids and canceled family dinner night. We didn't feel it was safe for them to be out driving in these conditions.

Good news - I finished doing my Christmas cards. Now I just need to get stamps and mail them, hopefully tomorrow.

We started out with about 3" from the last storm. By noon, we were up to 7" and by 6:15 this evening, we had a solid 10" on the back deck. And it's still snowing.

Snowfall at Noon

Snowfall at 6:15 pm

Tomorrow should be an interesting commute if the office reopens. There's ice under the snow on the streets. Funny thing is Seattle didn't get much snow. Most of it fell in our area. Go figure. We have these weird conversion zones because of the Olympic and Cascade Mountains and Puget Sound in between.