Not at all like April in Paris, I'm guessing.
If I take the April and "it should be spring- what is going on here?" out of the equation- it is beautiful. Like an late autumn first blast of winter. I wish we had more names for snow, for we've had all kinds today- from the big Charlie Brown flaky ones, to little snow pellets that look like polyethylene pellets, to snow that looks like dust in a sunny window. It's come down straight, sideways and backwards, as best I can tell. Right now it's falling heavily, quite intent on covering everything. Across the road looks a little fogged out.
It's bitter and cold and damp and dreary. I've put a big blue tarp over the daffodils that are almost on the edge of blooming. Temp's supposed to drop to -5. We still have the corn stove on for heat and I've had to give up the barefeet for now.
It will be short lived. At this time of year, it may snow but it doesn't stick around for long. The cats check it out before heading out the door in the mornings and a couple have spent the better part of two days inside, sleeping.
Tonight is a Chamber Meeting where we're looking at the New Community Improvement Plan and seeing the current state of a project I'm involved with- mapping West Elgin's cultural assets. Now, there... bet you didn't think life on the gravel road could possibly include cultural assets!
The country- where life is simpler? I moved from a downtown 1000 sq ft apartment to a 1000 acre working farm. I went from being a single, employed, car-free, one-cat woman, with 10 balcony planters, to being a self-employed, car dependent, one cat short of 'crazy cat woman' farmer's wife with 10 patio planters, a lawn tractor and a dozen varieties of tomatoes. This is my life on a gravel road.
Showing posts with label snow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label snow. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
So, How is the House Coming Along?
The tar paper looked much better than the bricks- in September. On a sunny springish day in March, it's looking like worn out tar paper. There has been wind. There has been rain. There has been sun. Tar paper does not like any of these. The house is looking worse for the wear. Sheets of tar paper have been torn from the house and lie about the yard. The paper that remains is dog-eared, weather-worn, faded and pitiable.
On top of the shabby country chic look, the roof over the vestibule leaked during the most recent flood. There was a dry day between teeming rain and a snow storm. We had 5 guys on the roof, one weilding (professionally) a machete, and another who even knew how to roof, getting a new roof on before sundown. They finished the roof and beer at sunset. It snowed the next day and was cold enough that clean up was an unfathomable option. While most of the old shingles are piled in a tough old red grain trailer behind one of the tractors and sits in the backyard, the smaller pieces of debris remain on the ground. The snow has melted, the crocuses are sprung up among the brick bits and cement leftover from the brick removal process, which also did not get the clean up needed.
While one of the squirrels that was living in the attic that was shooed out and then returned, was dispatched, the second one was doing some renovations the other day, using a saw, I'm sure. I'm expecting a deck or something stylish to be built up there, with the amount of noise that's been leaking through to the bedroom. Rick says it's the an old squirrel. A friend asked how he knew it was an old squirrel... saggy skin? grey hair (it's a grey squirrel)? balding?
While there was the intent to finish over the winter, (and intent does count), the winter was abnormally cold and snowy. The ground was covered and there was not much hope of the walls getting done. Can't hold the farmer responsible for any of that.
It's about 6 weeks til the Farmer gets machinery in the ground.
Stay tuned. Any bets on for it getting done?
On top of the shabby country chic look, the roof over the vestibule leaked during the most recent flood. There was a dry day between teeming rain and a snow storm. We had 5 guys on the roof, one weilding (professionally) a machete, and another who even knew how to roof, getting a new roof on before sundown. They finished the roof and beer at sunset. It snowed the next day and was cold enough that clean up was an unfathomable option. While most of the old shingles are piled in a tough old red grain trailer behind one of the tractors and sits in the backyard, the smaller pieces of debris remain on the ground. The snow has melted, the crocuses are sprung up among the brick bits and cement leftover from the brick removal process, which also did not get the clean up needed.
While one of the squirrels that was living in the attic that was shooed out and then returned, was dispatched, the second one was doing some renovations the other day, using a saw, I'm sure. I'm expecting a deck or something stylish to be built up there, with the amount of noise that's been leaking through to the bedroom. Rick says it's the an old squirrel. A friend asked how he knew it was an old squirrel... saggy skin? grey hair (it's a grey squirrel)? balding?
While there was the intent to finish over the winter, (and intent does count), the winter was abnormally cold and snowy. The ground was covered and there was not much hope of the walls getting done. Can't hold the farmer responsible for any of that.
It's about 6 weeks til the Farmer gets machinery in the ground.
Stay tuned. Any bets on for it getting done?
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