Yard Photos

I was tempted to do that today but my neighbors, across the street and next door to me, have helped me out many times over the years before I finally bought a trustworthy snowblower this year, so I don't want either one of them to start clearing my driveway thinking that I am either not home or that I'm having trouble. Now that I can contribute, I'd rather do some paying back than taking on more obligations.

As it is right now, my neighbor across the street is an auctioneer so he is sometimes away during a snowstorm, so I will clear his sidewalk and drive if I see that he's not around. Plus, his snowblower is now getting old and unreliable and he's eighty-two, so I would rather not see him shoveling. He's cleaned up my driveway many times, particularly when we were living up north during the winter, so I owe him a lot. Our next door neighbor has also cleared my driveway and sidewalk several times so if his hasn't been done yet after I finish mine, I will start on his. More often, I pay him back during the summer though. He spends time at his camp so I'll mow his lawn for him.

This works out well for all of us because my wife and I sometimes stay in hotels if we're away from home rather than driving home in a storm, and it's rare that we will return to find that someone hasn't cleared our driveway, or at least enough of it so that we can park.

Blowing snow is kind of fun, as long as I can get the thing started, and that's where it's nice having a new one.

 

I am guessing that the snow-blob by the snow shovel is actually your Tracker ? Poor little fellow is almost totally buried ! At least now that you have cleared the driveway, that moose can make it out back to find the Tracker in case he wants to stand on it and pose for you to take pictures for us.
Seriously.... that is a lot of snow, and you look pretty frozen out there, even all bundled up like you are. I can see why you were mentioning that you might consider moving to a warmer climate.
We had winters like that every year in Idaho, and I do not miss all of that snow shoveling at all ! ! Plus , when it builds up on the rooftop, then you have to get it off of there somehow, and that is no easy task, either.
I will quit complaining that it is only 57 here and too cold to go outside and work in the yard. (I have become such a wimp, weatherwise) We have hyacinths almost in bloom, a hollyhock coming up, and I have been seeing daffodils blooming all around town when we are out and about; and both Bobby and I are ready for 70+ and spring yard work.

 

It looks buried in the picture but it's not. It's clear of the snow, with just an inch or so on top of it, and I left that there to keep the tarp from blowing off. The snow that looks like it's on top of my Tracker is actually past it, alongside the house. That pile wouldn't be there if I still felt safe getting up on the roof. The snow from the metal roof comes down on the roof of the porch, and the guy that we pay to shovel the snow off the porch roof, so that it doesn't collapse, doesn't seem to understand that you can't just drop it all down alongside the house and let it build up there. Too late, I noticed that he had done that and it had already frozen in place, so I guess I'm stuck with it for this winter. If I were doing it, I would shovel it off the roof, and then move it away from the house, but he doesn't get started until late in the afternoon, so by the time he gets the roof cleared, it's dark, and by morning it's all frozen in place.

The pile to the left of the door is on top of the shed that I had built to store my lawnmower and snowblower. Covered with frozen snow and ice, it's not much good as a storage space, so I have to keep my snowblower covered with a tarp instead. I guess that's what happens when you hire someone from West Virginia to shovel snow.

 

Yeah, that roof has worked out very well, particularly after we replaced the shingles with a metal roof. It makes a lot of noise when the snow decides to come down, though. I hope to replace the shingles on the back porch with a metal roof too. That part of the house isn't so steep that the snow would necessarily slide off of it by itself but it wouldn't be hard to bring it down with a roof rake. The only reason I didn't do that when I had the metal roof put on the rest of the house is that the shingles on that part of the house were only a couple of years old.

 

It was the most snow I've seen at one time in a few years, but it wasn't so awful. I think other parts of Maine had it worse than we did.

 

In inches, I don't know. It was a blizzard so the winds didn't distribute it equally.