What I've Been Up To When I Haven't Been Shovelling

I seem to have an unhealthy obsession with this driveway and all this damn snow and ice. I have been hauling groceries, luggage and pottery up the hill and forcing the kids to walk down the hill to ride to school (on those few days that they have actually gone to school). I'm not allowed to use the pickaxe, so Jay suggested the sledge hammer. It does and adequate job, but is not quite as satisfying to swing. Hopefully, the warmer temps later this week will assist me in my endeavors. Then I will gripe no more.

I wanted to post a couple of pictures from our holiday vacation. My father-in-law occasionally sings with some folks at a place called Sarge's Shack. They convinced Allison to get up in front and sing a few songs with them. She did a fine job and made her Grandpa very proud.

He's practicing on some new songs so they can sing some together the next time we visit.

Knoxville Arts and Culture Alliance Exhibit

The reception for the Exhibit is Friday January 8 from 5-8 pm. The weather forecast is calling for more frigid weather and snow, so chances are that I cannot make it. I'm bummed out since this is the first juried show I've entered in a very long time, and I'm pretty excited about my work these days.

If you're in Knoxville, check out the show!

The Snowy View from Our Place

This first day of Winter finds us still snowed in at the house. The sun is out, but I expect the piles of snow will take a while to melt away. Once it warms up a bit, we are headed to the bottom of the driveway to see if we can shovel a path for the truck to get out. The picture below shows the gravel part down to Highway 80 which has been clear since Saturday afternoon. We'll have to clear away the ice and snow that the snow plows left at the edge of the road.

Turn around and starting at the bottom of the driveway, we're going to have to clear much of the area in the foreground down to the gravel section. Unfortunately, this is where the wind whips through, and the drifts tend to deepen. The snow is nearly covering my "Parking Up Hill At Gallery" sign. There is no parking up the hill today.

Around the bend the truck awaits rescue from its snowy hell.

It's a long, moderately steep driveway covered by trees. It's way too much to shovel, and we're not sure how long it will take to melt enough for me to get the car out. Jay has to work, so I might be stuck at home until later in the week.

This little magnolia in the side yard seems to be the only casualty. It just couldn't bear the weight of the snow. I love magnolias, but this one was scrawny and had only a couple of blossoms each year. Perhaps this is not the climate for them. We found a bunny hole with some tracks, the only tracks we found besides Tinkerbell's. She hasn't found the bunnies yet, although she did catch a cardinal yesterday.

"I'm gonna put a bell around that cats neck. So when you hear him comin' you can grab all of your loved ones and get your lil' bunny asses runnin." from "Warning" by Keller Williams

Who Needs Chains or Snow Tires?

I know our friends in Northern Virginia are not impressed with the foot of snow we got here in the mountains of Western North Carolina, but this has been our first big snow since moving here last year. I got my holiday packages mailed off and the fridge stocked Thursday afternoon before the storm hit. I was prepared at the house, but Jay's project in Marshall necessitated him getting to work Friday and Sunday. Not to worry, snow travel is not my area of expertise.

Friday travel was impossible, but we got our 4WD truck down the hill Saturday, only to have Jay bring it nearly back to the top that afternoon. He was concerned that the snow would drift over it overnight. It was backing up nicely, and then he hit a slick, pitched part of the driveway and slid the passenger wheels right off and into a brick lightpost, which thankfully kept the sucker from rolling down the mountain. Jay is unimpressed with the 4WD capabilities of this truck and is dearly missing his Trooper.
After a fair amount of shovelling over the past 2 days and a great tug from the van (she still has a little life left in her), we unstuck the truck. The truck has a dent in the side and is completely blocking the driveway, but it's not like we're going to take the Prius of the motorcycle anywhere. Job well done, now where is my Advil and beer?

The learning curve has been pretty steep this weekend, but we're stocked with food, propane and beer. We're only missing some good friends and a good round of Hand and Foot.

Snow ripples

This is snow melting and sliding down the side windows of my van. It reminds me of the texture on some of Joy Tanner's pots. You can check out her blog http://joytannerpottery.blogspot.com/

Other than that, the snow storm has been a bit of a bust. It's SO windy and cold that the kids haven't lasted more than 30-40 minutes outside. And we didn't get the 3"-6" predicted. It's really beautiful outside so I'm not complaining.