23.2 Inches

That's how much snow we'd gotten up to 5:00 PM today.  It started snowing about 9:00 on Friday night and I think it quit snowing around 7:30-ish this evening.  Of course the wind blew up a gale the whole time so I had to knock down the snow cornice across the front of the house and be out running the snowblower a couple times a day.  Good thing I had a full can of gas for the thing, eh?  It's really hard to see but the drift born of windblown snow and snowblower blown snow in front of the porch and walk is a good 4 feet deep.  I can't shift it any farther because it's two and a half times taller than the snowblower and it's so compressed by its own weight it's like a baby glacier.  The good news is that it's supposed to be nearly 50 degrees by next weekend.





It's a good thing I surfed FB before starting to write this because I read a comment from someone about making sure the furnace pipes were uncovered.  I hadn't thought of that so I bundled up one more time and tromped out through the drifts on the patio to find that the intake pipe was indeed blocked.  I'm so glad I discovered that at 9:30 instead of in the middle of the night when the furnace quit because it was suffocated.  There's so much to think about when there's a blizzard for two days.

I made some WW Lentil Soup in the slow cooker today and mixed up some Semolina Bread dough too.  DS and his family made pizza dough this morning, I saw the post on FB, and thought, I could make bread too, or at least dough.  So I did, but my baking stone broke so I need to go buy one before I can bake the bread.  I only have a bowl or two of Chicken Zoodle Soup left for lunches so I needed to make soup anyway and I had most of the ingredients I needed.  Actually I added things, like part of a half-head of cabbage that wasn't doing anything in the crisper drawer and frozen onion and bell pepper blend because we're low on raw onions and I tossed in a can of mushrooms toward the end just because.  Oh, I forgot to finish it with a tablespoon of lemon juice to bring out the flavor but I can do that tomorrow, at least in the half of the batch that isn't in the freezer downstairs.  I suppose I could measure out some juice and walk it down there.  I'm sure it isn't frozen solid yet... nah, I'm rather exhausted from all the snow business this weekend.  I knew I'd forget so I just lemon juiced both containers of soup.  Now I don't have to think tomorrow.



I cut out two more Tunic No.1s this afternoon--a cow print one and the other reclaimed from an island-bought dress I never wore.  I meant to cut out a couple more simple shirts but I ran out of steam.





In the midst of the storm all weekend there have been birds--sparrows, house finches, chickadees, goldfinches--at the feeders but the cardinal waited until just before sundown and for the snow and wind to abate before coming for his evening visit.

April 15--Lora, Yellow-shouldered Parrot.  

Leaf-green feathers blend
flower fruits are eye-ring pink
Bird perfectly matched
to its habitat
rends the tropical dawn
with its raucous cry
~~~~~

Dagnabbit, look at the time.  I was determined to get to bed long before 11 o'clock tonight but supper was late because of snowblowing and I keep thinking of things I need to do, things I've forgotten.  I swear (cross my heart) that as soon as I post this I'm turning out the light and I'd better not wake up tomorrow morning before 7 o'clock.
--Barbara