Saturday 31 January 2015

Snowy owl photo-op #3!

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critters: S.C. #59!
Eileen's Meme.
Not great photos, all I had was the videocamera on our trip to physio and the Naturopath in Carleton Place. It was bitterly cold, windy, and my fingers froze. I leaned up against the sign and still the wind gusts made the videocam jiggle! That said, I just stared at the video screen in awe of this beautiful creature. Thursday was the day we spent waiting for them to redo our well pump. This was a glorious gift!
This is the third Snowy owl I have seen. It just looked left and right, and all around for mice friends. Majestic. Traffic roared by me.

Snowy owl #3 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
After a snowy night, I spotted a Snowy owl near Perth. It's terribly shakey, but I was frozen, the wind was frigid, and gusty. I walked up to a sign post, and braced my camera on that. It didn't help! My finger were numb when I got back into the car!

January weather

Jan 30

What a soft, fine snowfall. That gives us 25 cm of snow cover. It's a lovely cushion on top of the icy snow.
THAT was a storm!
33 cm January

Jan. 26 blizzards out east,  17+ out west!

Jan. 12

Jan. 7

The cold came in for a few days. Bitterly cold. Only 1cm of snow.

Jan. 5

Lake Effect snow!



Record snowfall in Dec. 2014

Jan. 4 still bad out there

There are weather watches or warnings for 9 of 10 provinces.



Jan. 3 Warning


Hazardous winter conditions are expected. A low pressure system will intensify as it tracks over Southern Ontario this weekend and will bring a wintery mix of precipitation to the region. Snow ahead of the system is forecast to begin this afternoon and could be heavy at times, partcularly this evening. Snowfall amounts of 10 to 15 cm will be possible before the snow changes to freezing rain overnight. The freezing rain is expected to persist for several hours before temperatures rise above zero. The change to rain is expected to occur early Sunday morning for most locales. The Renfrew, Pembroke and Petawawa areas may be the exception as freezing rain could persist until near midday Sunday. After the rain comes to an end, a cold front will sweep through the region Sunday night, bringing a return to cold temperatures.


Friday 30 January 2015

Heckuva time with electronics!

It's been a heckuva couple of weeks. Between electronics, appliances, car, and all.

1. The stove electronics locked the oven door shut last week. We replaced that.
2. Monday
 Hubby dropped the car off in Ottawa. The car is in the shop being straightened and repainted. We rented a car, which they delivered to the repair show. Only issue? The trunk is too low for hubby to pick up his Meals on Wheels out of without hurting his back. He can dispatch, but not deliver. Also, it has 4-season tires. Slippery on the end of the driveway.

3. Wednesday
Waiting room sillies
We had to go in to see the Urologist to check on hubby's cancer. The good news is that his PSA level has gone down slightly after going up in a steady upturn. It was 0.79 three months ago, and it was at 0.77 this month. With his prostate removed it should be 0. He's set for another PSA test in 3 months, as well as a colonoscopy. After this appointment at Ottawa Hospital, the plan was to pick up the finished car. Cannot do that. Their paint machine died and got the shop behind. We drove to our favourite restaurant, the Twisted Lizard, and it was closed. Forever! We went to another spot and drove home safely.

4. Wednesday night
The well pump wouldn't shut off. The tank in the house wasn't filling. We had to turn it off; I could hear it losing its prime. Not good. We phoned our company, and left a message.
Curtis phoned first thing 8:00 a.m., and promised he'd show up and help us out. "It won't be cheap," he said. "But, it's only money, and you can't take it with you!" I took photos to show the kids where our Line of Credit will be drawn on today!

Thursday
I worked on Josie's dress
They spent Thursday uninstalling the rusty machine and reinstalling a new one. Curtis, the new franchisee, turned out to be a distant sort of a cousin. A younger generation, of course. He brought 2 guys and another truck with him by the afternoon. All of Perth didn't have a replacement pump. He drove to Kanata.
Hubby brought me home a Subway for lunch. Having spent a day without water, I was ready to get it back. Do you know how many times you go to the tap in a day? And then how many times I did it anyway, and suddenly remembered, there was no use!
There was a hole created by rust, in the intake in the bottom of the well. No wonder we lost prime. It was getting darker, the snow started to fall. They had to chop off the top of the fake well cover. It was so sad! You should have heard the cheer when the dang tank finally decided that they had primed it enough. We paid the bill, while his peeps packed up the two trucks!



5. Friday
It took me 45 minutes with the snowblower on the 100m driveway and we made it out of the driveway. The lousy tires on our little rental is terribly slippy in the snow and ice. We had about 10 cm (4") of snow last night. I knew we'd never get out of the driveway unless I cleared it. I began at 7:30, after only one coffee, and no breakfast, ran inside, got out of my sweaty clothes (no time for a shower) and into Carleton Place after a 45 minute drive.
Our naturopath, Dr. Jenn, was waiting for us. We were a half hour late. There were OPP with flashing lights and an ambulance, slipping on the fudgy snow in the intersection at highway #7 and Carleton Place. Pretty scary.
Towers of power
Dr. Jen has great nails!
The supplements seem to
be holding the PSA at bay.


Next, off to the physiotherapist to work on my Achilles tendon. Steve worked on my ankle, which is improving!
Then, brunch at Moxie's next door. The server didn't seem real keen on serving us. Slow, not so eager. We were disappointed, but the meal was good and hot. I think the cute young men at another table were claiming her attention!

On the way home I spotted a Snowy owl. Poor hubby turned the car around, despite the crummy snowy shoulder and back I went. It was freezing, with a bitter wind, but we did it!


Home, and I tackled the front step, ignored in the rush to get out the door. The overnight Trailcam did not reveal anything other than falling snow and morose-looking deer trudging across the wetland!
Dishes are done, and I should wash sheets. It's wonderful having water again.