Good-Bye, January!

 

1-31-10

I always feel a little relieved when January is over. We're just a little closer to spring now. 

Today was pleasant but cold. I played in the handbell choir at church this morning, we went XC skiing this afternoon and saw several deer, heard an owl, smelled a skunk.

Nearly Done

1-30-10

Just one more day to go this month. Today was gray until late afternoon when the sun came out. It was a rather pretty day but a bit cold. I painted walls in a bedroom for a good portion of the day.

TGIF

 

1-29-10

Another cold one. At least it's Friday.

The Longest Month

1-28-10

Every year about this time I think that January will NEVER END. It will never get to be February, then March, then SPRING. But lo and behold, today is January 28! We might have gone through a blizzard or three or seven, but January is nearly over. I might make it yet.

Sunshiney

1-27-10

This afternoon the sun was shining. We had some snow this morning but it didn't add much to the drifts. I know we've had our January thaw but I sure could use another one!

Aftermath

1-26-10

We had no school today because of the blocked roads out in the country (like our road). It's taking the snow plow drivers a long time to clear the drifts. Today is sunny but so cold! Fourteen years ago today we had another blizzard and Wayne didn't make it home from work. He spent the night with some other stranded commuters in a farmhouse several miles from here. Today is his birthday. Happy Birthday, honey!

The Worst One So Far

1-25-10

It's just impossible to capture the fury of a blizzard in a photo. The roar of the wind, the whiteout, the cold. It's scary weather and to me it ranks close behind tornadoes in awfulness. School was dismissed at 11:00 am and we struggled to see the road on the way home. Some school buses got stuck in drifts on the gravel roads and had to follow the snowplows sent to get them unstuck. I imagine there are many people not sleeping in their own beds tonight but I hope they are someplace warm.

The sun today:

Evening, visibility not improving:

A Strange Brightness

1-24-10

For a while today the sky was strangely bright and there were patches of blue. I guess the sun is still up there somewhere. We went XC skiing this afternoon. It was too icy to be good skiing conditions but we at least got some exercise.

Getting Ugly

1-23-10

It rained today. The snow is not so beautiful now. That black spot under the bird feeder is all the thistle seed that fell out as the wind blew the fabric tubes around.

Drippy

1-22-10

More fogginess with drizzlies. Not exactly the sort of day that makes you feel happy and upbeat but it could be worse. We didn't try XC skiing this afternoon due to the icy conditions.

Orange

1-21-10

Another gray day with mist and ice. School had a delayed start. Wayne checked out the conditions for XC skiing before he drove to the trail.  The snow has a thick layer of ice on top so he decided not to go.

Yikes! Confusion!

1-19-10

This is confusing. I took a photo yesterday and DID NOT POST IT! I forgot, much like I forgot to go to my hair appointment Monday. Too many Senior Moments lately.

Anyway, this is the photo I took yesterday and I'm posting it today (1-20-10). School was two hours late yesterday because of the ice fog. The trees were pretty. Here's a photo:

Ice Day

1-20-10

Today we had freezing and rain and sleet - and no school! The roads were too icy. While listening to the sleet hit the windows, I did some painting in a bedroom we are redoing.

I don't think winter is done with us yet but I discovered that I can now take a photo outside at 5:30 p.m. The days are getting longer!

Cotton

We had another day of freezing fog. Pretty, except when you have to drive in it. I had to drive about 30 miles in the fog and started feeling rather claustrophobic, driving through a cotton ball. Familiar roads felt very unfamiliar. This afternoon we actually saw a ROBIN in the woods where we were XC skiing. Now that was a totally familiar bird but in an unfamiliar setting - January in Iowa!

More ice fog this afternoon:

Two for One

I missed posting yesterday but I did take pictures. We had ice fog. The trees were pretty, if you like that sort of thing, but the sidewalk was slick. This photo is from yesterday:

This photo was taken this afternoon when we had more fog:

Yesterday when the fog was freezing on everything outside, I took these photos of the delicate crystals and icy trees:

 

Gray Skies

Not much to say about today. The snowplow was by here several times, pushing the snow back as far as it would go. We have had a break between big storms which has allowed the county road crew to really work on the drifts. During the storms and for several days afterward they worked some very long days, weekends too.

Moderating

Most of today was overcast and a little foggy but it was warm enough to start melting some snow.

(Hmm...not much to see here...)

January Thaw

Finally we've gotten to a part of winter that I like - the January thaw. It might get a little sloppy with all the melting snow but that's OK.

In the center of the photo above there are two pheasants, looking for some food in the cornfield. They were even so bold as to walk through our yard.

Dusting

OK, not "dusting" the house - which is what I should be doing. I'm talking about the light "dusting" of snow which we got today. The sun tries to peek through but isn't having any luck.

Mini Ice Age

Temperatures are moderating a bit today but I just read that some scientists believe we are at the beginning of a thirty-year mini ice age. Global warming will have to wait awhile, we're cooling off now. I really don't want thirty years of winters like this one but scientists' predictions have been wrong before. Guess we'll take what comes.

I've had a modestly productive day. I put the third coat of drywall compound on a room we are finishing. That is a job I dislike but not as much as I dislike sanding it smooth!

Nearly Missed It

We were gone for most of the day today and it was nearly dark when we got back. I thought I was going to have to skip the photo for today but I guess this one will do. The snow reflects enough light that you can make out features in the yard.

What to Say

The sun is so bright it hurts the eyes, the temperature is about zero. That just about sums it up for today.

Proper Footwear

This is the photo of the day. Below is the proper footwear for the day:

I'm getting a little tired of winter...

Near-blizzard

It's not the worst blizzard we've seen but it was bad enough to give us another day off from school. It would be foolish to try to travel anyplace in this weather. Hubby came home from work early this afternoon in his 4-wheel drive pickup and then worked from home via his laptop and cell phone.

Changes

It's overcast and snow is on the way. Thirteen degrees out and it actually feels rather nice! Winter's not done with us yet, however. I made a quick run to town for some groceries this afternoon.

Changes on the Way

They say big changes in our weather are on the way. The changes may not be exactly good but at least the photos won't look the same day after day. Today it's actually a few degrees above zero outside.

I think I will miss the sun. It's been the only nice part about our weather lately.

Not Again!

Another bright, sunshiny day. Back in November we really needed a day like this, at least the sunshiny part. November was drab, gray, depressing. Now we have bright sun with a temperature of zero. (Am I never satisfied?)

There could be changes coming, however.

Boring?

This is getting monotonous. Our weather hasn't changed much in the past three days, so the photos are pretty much the same. There may be more rabbit and dog tracks in the snow, otherwise not much is different. I may have to bend the rules a little if this continues. The temperature was about zero when I took this photo and it's going to plunge to around -15 tonight. I went cross country skiing with the hubby and didn't freeze completely.

One More, Same as Before

It's day two of 2010. Can you see anything different between day one and day two? Neither can I. It is COLDER today, only -4° after about -15° this morning. My husband just left to go cross country skiing.

Hey, only 363 days left!

Oh One, Oh One, One Oh

One per day. Can I do it? Can I post one photo, every day, taken from the same spot? I imagine there will be days that I'm gone or that I forget, but I'm going to try! (As far as New Year's resolutions go, this one beats diet or exercising.)

So here's my first photo. It's 4° out. I froze my face in the wind, loading groceries into the van at the local Walmart. The sun is nice but there is no warmth there at all.