Wednesday 17 February 2016

What a storm and a story! Snowmaggedon 2016

Monday, February 15th


7:55 a.m. –I have long-celebrated our late neighbour, Mary. Her driveway, you could sit on! She and hubby, Ray, would be out there, we thought with hair dryers getting it cleaned after a snowfall. We lived across the street from her in Nepean.  If she put out blue boxes, they picked up blue boxes. If she put out the black recycling boxes (paper), that was what everyone else put out, too. (It was complex in those days!)

Hubby faithfully reads the handouts from our current Drummond/North Elmsley Township. He's a Mr. Mary Wannabe. The pamphlet that came with our taxes stated, specifically:
"No changes to blue boxes for 2016. 
Garbage for Feb. 15 will be picked up on Feb. 16th"
OK, no garbage, but someone in my house made me put out the recycling. I did. It was -25 C. this morning. sigh. No one else had recycling out. I was deeply suspicious. Later that morning, they picked up the recycling! I stand corrected!

Tuesday, Feb. 16th

8:00 a.m. Mr. Mary took out the garbage today. We were up to 25cm/10" snow at that point. He did the driveway. I went outside and saw the garbage truck drive by at a goodly speed. It didn't stop. I was deeply suspicious.

10:50 a.m. – My turn... I was doing the driveway with the snowblower, made it to the end, and found the garbage buried under snow! I cleared it off, moved it, then went back up the drive with the snowblower. Sometimes, they'll spot it when they come back. I came back for another run of the drive, and the garbage was on the other side of the drive. The plough went by and chucked it across the drive! I put it back on the snowbank.

Then I looked at the mailbox. It's toast. Ripped half off the post by the snowplow! No mail until we get a new one and I install it.
The roads were TERRIBLE!


We had lunch and rested. We refilled the feeders. The snow kept falling.

1:30 p.m. – Again, Mr. Mary went out to do the drive. I'd just done the sidewalk. The snow kept falling and falling. I stuck a ruler into the snow on the back deck.


The snow kept falling until the 12" ruler eventually disappeared! Later in the afternoon I finally threw the snow overboard. It was about 40cm/15+" at that point.


Buster sat in the front window and looked glum. Daisy was exhausted! Even the fish were worried about her! They spent hours bird watching. Buster went out in the garage to look for mice friends, Daisy on the front deck. Our Norwegian Forest cat mix stayed indoors. Dorah stayed in bed.


I brought in some wood. The deer appeared, looking for love!

The snow kept falling.


The birds were voracious. Thirsty, too! I need some mealworms and dried fruit for the robin.


Ottawa Statistics (I love stats!)

Ottawa had 51.2 cm total. They are much worse off, since the smaller side streets haven't been done yet.
They had 120 car crashes between 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. and two pedestrians were hit.
More snow on the way! I'm not sure our total. Hubby is scheduled to pinch hit for Meals on Wheels, again. Off we go to shovel the walks and driveway again!
My son-in-law went skiing. Seriously!
Commuters had a hard time getting home. One commuter waited 3 1/2 hours for a bus that never showed up. School busses were cancelled.
“Great shot by J.P. Unger of the Slater Station bus stop swarm...”
TWITTER.COM/CBCALLINADAY/S…

Carleton Place, west of Ottawa had a power outage, it was back up at 11:00 p.m., thankfully.

All transportation has been cancelled for today. Checkhttps://t.co/6JmZ0DmiUz for info.
School Bus Delays & Cancellations DirectionSchoolRouteOriginal Stop TimeDelayed…
STEO.CA/DELAYS

There was so much snow today not even the sidewalk plows could handle it. 
Approximately 40 cm of snow have fallen in the Kingston area Tuesday and as of 5 p.m. it's still coming down. Environment Canada says snow should end this evening Many meetings, organizations, stores and events have closed or cancelled for the…
BY KINGSTONREGION.COM


OK! Out we go, into the breach again!

9 comments:

Olga said...

Yikes! I would say the cats have the best way of dealing with such a storm. Bet that robin regrets his early return.

William Kendall said...

And I live on one of those little side streets! We won't see the sidewalk for some time, and it'll be days before anyone comes to haul away the snowbanks. It was quite a storm.

Nancy J said...

I loved your time chronicle today, had to smile, Garbage, post boxes, and so much snow. Take care, Mr J, if you dare to venture out, maybe by the time you read this you have been out and are home again. Down here, welcome rain, real rain, not just a few miserable drops. Cool, we are happy!!!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Too cold!! It's good to have neighbors who understand the complexities of the rules.

Lea said...

Trials and tribulations!
Just remember Spring is coming!

Cynthia said...

Cats are so smart! While the humans do all the work, they lie around looking exhausting. I don't envy you all that cold and work. I have rather enjoyed my first southern winter sans snow!

Red said...

That's a rough storm and the yah hoos on the snowplows don't help.

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
...and it headed this way; only by now it is just more of the wet stuff and none of the pretty white. We are over the wet stuff in the Soggy Isles!!! sigh... Stay safe and warm everyone. YAM xx

Anonymous said...

That's a lot of snow - love your winter shots.