Yes, I know posting has been light over the past few days, but not from lack of interest. Instead, blame Global Warming. (I might as well since so many people out there seem to blame Global Hotcoldwetdry for just about anything.)
In my case, it actually has been the weather, but not necessarily for the reason you might think.
Blame it on the warm temps and rain we had over the past couple of days.
Between the 'surprise' 14 inches of snow we had in the middle of this past week, the follow on temperatures in the mid to upper 40's, and then rain, BeezleBub and I had to spend a lot of time removing snow from the roofs and decks of The Manse.
If the snow we had to remove was the nice fluffy stuff that fell during our last round of snow it wouldn't have been much of an issue. Instead much of it was the heavy compacted snow from a previous storm that hadn't yet melted off, leaving a very heavy and dense snow pack behind. With the rain that was forecast for Friday we realized we had to see about removing as much of it as possible otherwise we could be dealing with ice damming and the subsequent water damage, or worse, a collapsed roof. (We've already seen that happen around New England, including one fatal collapse that killed a young woman when she was crushed under the roof of her car port when it gave way.)
It took us two days of effort, not because there was so much of it but because it was so heavy. Due to the weight of the snow pack we had to use smaller shovels otherwise we would tire ourselves out in short order, not to mention the possibility of straining muscles and joints. Even with all that effort we didn't get it all done. We knew we wouldn't. We had to prioritize.
First, it was removing the snow from the garage roof, which has a modest pitch. At the same time the second of the three decks also had to be cleared because some of the snow from the garage roof would end up on that deck, meaning it had to be cleared twice. I didn't want to see the weight of the snow from the roof being added to existing snow on the deck, perhaps causing a collapse, so the existing snow had to be removed first. Then once the snow from the garage and the deck had been removed the Official Weekend Pundit Snowblower was fired up in order to move the snow dumped onto the ground (much of it in front of and to one side of the garage) out of the way.
We didn't have to worry about the roof of The Manse itself because it has a very steep pitch and most of the snow cascades off, usually leaving only and inch or two of snow behind.
Then yesterday the rain and sleet arrived, bringing everything to a halt. Being Friday also meant I would lose any help from BeezleBub because he and Horse Girl departed yesterday for a week in Las Vegas to visit relatives.
Today it's supposed to be sunny and warm, in the mid 40's, so I'll be back outside clearing the big deck and laying out some ice melt - calcium chloride - to clear the rest of the driveway. (I use it sparingly, preferring to lay out sand, but I want to get the slope of the driveway cleared of ice as the sun doesn't hit it until later in the afternoon.) Of course we have some more snow forecast for tomorrow and Wednesday, but better I get ahead of it while I can.
They Weather GuysTM are saying this is the fifth snowiest February on record, but the month isn't over yet and we have at least two more bouts of snow to deal with before the end of the month.
