Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's ...

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to shovel snow we go.  It snowed again yesterday and so this morning it is time to clear it off before getting down to real work.

(Courtesy of VSTA Newsletter)

Makes me a bit jealous of L. She headed down to Arizona yesterday for some corporate training this week. Her biggest concern was how not to carry her heavy coat with her on the plane.  After all it is a toasty 3 degrees out right now with corresponding highs for the day compared to the balmy weather in Arizona (in a city where the BCS National Championship game is being played tonight.)

Odd question of the day: Do you have certain actors/actresses you like to watch and yet you cannot put your finger on why you like to watch their work? I do and it often bothers me as to why I like to watch their work.

In one example that springs to mind, the actress in question is not exceptionally good looking, sexy, or even capable. Her acting seems monolithic and wooden when I reflect upon the performance in retrospect. And yet I will scour NetFlix to find shows and movies she is in just to watch. Why? Who knows?

So do you have similar inexplicable quirks in your viewing preferences?

Hip Hip Hooray for Fall

It was close to 80 degrees this weekend. Truly unseasonable weather for this region. L loved it since the ski areas in her neck of the woods are already open or will open this week. Coming home to nice warm temps in the upper 70's is a bit like taking a tropical island trip in the deepest darkest days of winter - something to be enjoyed and treasured.

With the oddity of our balmy October and November, a major topic of discussion has been "when will fall really arrive?" Last year we had several snow falls in October and a full on blizzard in late October. This year? Not! No snow and no temperatures conducive to snow. Even some debate with myself as to whether I was wise to have shut off the water to the sprinkler system a few weeks ago to avoid freezing pipes.

But this morning! Ah this morning. What did I find when I let Molly out for her morning frolic? This:

Fall has well and truly arrived at long last. Nothing whispers fall better than a soggy, just below freezing, huge flake, dump of wet and wild snow.  I love this kind of weather!

The sky is grey and filled with white flakes, the trees and wires are coated in a rime of lovely white, but it is still warm enough that the streets and sidewalks are mostly clear. In fact, I took these pictures moseying around outside in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

Hip Hip Hooray for Fall!

Spoken Too Soon

You remember that I mentioned that at least it wasn't snowing yesterday?

Well, guess what I woke up to this morning? You got it.

More springtime on the high prairie.

The Weather Outside Is ...

Remember yesterday when I mentioned the snow was continuing. Well guess what? It snowed and flurried all day today. Around noon today, this was the view out to the back patio:

Yep, that is about a foot of snow sitting on the table. That doesn't include the  snow that blew off the table in the wind Thursday and Friday.

I spent a few hours shoveling the drive and the sidewalks (yet again) this afternoon. L proclaimed that I would be sore tomorrow when we spoke on the phone - we'll have to see. It was a very wet and heavy snow and has continued to flurry this evening, so we have gotten another inch or two since 4pm. Molly is truly enjoying it. She sprints out and buries herself in the snow and then pops out to try and scare me. She also loves to eat snow - I wonder if that is the doggie equivalent of human iced drinks?

Time to get on with the fun and games.

Let It Snow, ...

It has been snowing since early this morning and has picked up a bit this evening. I thought it was about through snowing and shoveled the walk and drive before I headed over to mom's for supper (and to fix her phone and computer). During the few hours I was there, my truck got covered with another 3-4 inches of snow and it is coming down. Of course, the under sheeting of ice from Thursday is still in place and it is like ice skating on invisible ice in places.

All of which brought the Olympics and Curling to my mind. There is something magical about watching one of the curlers skate on one foot down the ice. So now I am ready to become a curler - I can skate down my driveway on one foot sweeping with a snow shovel. Or at least waving my snow shovel.

In preparation for some Olympic snow shoveling in the morning, I bring you some other sports for guys my age from a belated birthday card:

Snow!!!

Last night, as the temperature dropped, that strange wet and white stuff magically appeared. By morning it was a winter wonderland.

This is the view out the back door from my workbench:

This is the view looking across the little patio:

Last, but not least, this is the view out the front door towards the driveway (which you might note I hadn't shoveled yet):

It had warmed up to a blazing 25 degrees by noon today. Will the Rockies game in Denver (about 125 miles further west and 900 feet higher elevation) be played today? Do many baseball teams have a snow removal plan? Inquiring minds want to know. Of course, I also wonder how long it will take the weeping willow to drop its leaves now that it has frozen hard.

After shoveling a few walks and driveways, I feel perfectly content to watch a college football game. The only question is which one. So as I make my decision, I leave you with the following:

What did it look like in your yard today?

They lied!!!

The "They" being the weather people. It was supposed to get up to a balmy 14 degrees today. Instead it peaked at about 6 degrees and the wind blew all day. The wind chill for most of the day was between -20 and -50 degrees. Contrast that with the 60 degree day we had yesterday. Lends credence to the old adage about the weather in the Colorado plains - if you don't like the weather now, just wait a minute and it'll be different. Right now the thermometer is falling past -3 degrees. (Since Google analytics says that about 50% of the readers of this blog are from metric based areas of the world - all the numbers are good old degrees Fahrenheit, not Celsius. [ -25 degrees F is ~ -32 degrees C ])

I finally decided that the wind was as calm as it was going to get about noon and went out to shovel the walk and driveway. Then I ventured over to the mother in laws and did hers as well. You could sure tell the difference in doing the two driveways. My house faces south, so shoveling the drive put me in the lee of the house out of the north wind so it was cold but not biting. MIL's house faces west, so shoveling her drive put me squarely in the north wind and it was definitely biting. You could feel your checks stiffening in minutes. One of the rewards was a plate of fresh from the oven cookies from MIL. Yum!  My mother and I were planning to attend the Master Chorale's Christmas sing this evening, but the cold, wind, and ice deterred us. All in all not a fit day out for man nor beast.

I see on the news that the temperature has already set a new low record for the date in Denver and will probably set a new one for tomorrow if it just stays as cold as it is now until midnight. (Denver International Airport is currently reporting -15 degrees) The silver lining out of all this is that the mountains are getting some great ski snow. Vail got 22 inches yesterday and is forecast to get another 22 inches tomorrow as the next front hits. Almost makes me wish I skied. Of course my wife is up in the mountains and is not quite as overjoyed as the tourists. I think she is conflicted - snow means good business for the mountain businesses, but it also means the ice and cold can get old if you are not skiing.

So what did I do to while away the cold afternoon and evening? Well, I made a casserole and baked a cake. Nothing like cold weather to make one appreciate the warmth of the oven and baking. I approach cooking as a form of experiment. Mix this and that and the other thing and see what happens. Sometimes it tastes good and sometimes it is a lesson learned (and a garbage can filled). The casserole turned out to be good. If any one is adventurous, here it is.

Squash Casserole

• 2 cups grated zucchini
  
• 2 cups grated star squash
  
• 1 cup chopped green pepper
  
• 1 cup chopped onion
  
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese (mozzarella)
  
• 1/4 cup oil
  
• 1 cup Bisquick mix
  
• 4 eggs
  
• salt and pepper to taste (about 1 tsp of each in my case)
  

Turn oven on to 375.
Mix everything together well in a large mixing bowl.
Stir well with a large spoon.
Pour mixture into a greased 9x9 baking pan (at least 2 inches deep)
Cook until the top is medium to dark brown, about 35-40 minutes
Makes enough to serve 6-8

The cook time depends on how much moisture is in the zucchini and squash. I used  frozen shredded zucchini and it was pretty wet after defrosting. It took an extra ten minutes or so to cook. Fresh Zucchini shouldn't take as long, but this isn't summertime!

Next time I may try using cheddar or jalapeno jack instead of mozzarella. Be interesting to see how the taste changes.

Time to get ready for the meetings tomorrow morning. It promises to be a long day with meetings starting at 9am and ending with an energy conference from 6-8pm. If it's as cold tomorrow as it was today, I don't think Molly will be anxious to go for a walk tomorrow night. We'll see. Today she romped in the snow while I shoveled the walks and driveways. She isn't a lot of help as she likes to shovel snow with her nose and throw it back where you've already shoveled. She doesn't get that snow removal is not a game!