Friday, February 25, 2011

I Told Ya It Was Still Winter

So, so hard to crawl out of that warm, cozy bed this morning. The temp? Minus 4 degrees. Even if it were +4 it wouldn't seem like such an insult this time of year. -4 is a December or January temperature. But I've said before that in our part of the country, we can still expect more than a month of honest-to-goodness winter weather and this morning . . . Old Man Winter is here stomping around with heavy boots.

Our daughter left her snow plow rig with us yesterday when she went to work in town so we could use it to clean up the recent snowfall. We got at least 6" and I've got to say it made our little homestead a winter wonderland.

Bet you didn't know we could grow cotton way up here in northern Minnesota, did ya?

20 comments:

fiona@fionacampbell.ca said...

He's stomping around our place, too, though I'm hoping there won't be too much accumulation. Growing cotton -- love it!

Alla said...

Winter wonderland yes, but I would be oh so tired of the snow. But if you pretend you're growing cotton it might be easier to take. *smile* Since some days I've been able to get outside it drives me nuts like today where the weather is cloudy, cold and chilly. I want total spring!! To bad I don't always get what I want. LOL

Sparkless said...

We are getting a deep freeze here with temps of -16C (converts to 3F). I can't even remember the last time it was this cold. I'll take your snow over this cold.

LindaCO said...

Good to see you haven't lost your sense of humor! It seems it's been a tough winter this year for a lot of people.

Anonymous said...

Brrr... I am excited, tho, we got snow! Okay, only an inch or so. But after feeding the animals (and trying to get the feed room latch unfrozen) I don't know how you do it with all the snow for so long. Wow!

Teri said...

Lol - thats funny - it does look like cotton! We got another 6 - 7" lastnight and this morning, but the good thing here is the temps are really warming up and it won't last long. Its supposed to be 51 and rainy on Sunday. Hope the warmer temps make it your way soon! :)

mtnchild said...

He he, I'm growing lots of cotton too! I think we got somewhere around a foot since yesterday morning. It just kept coming. It is about 13F and there is a slight breeze which makes the clumps in the pines come down, usually on my hear.

I will have one more cup of coffee and then out to shovel a bit ... my morning routine of late.

Stay warm,
Yvette

Jane @ Hard Work Homestead said...

Mama Pea, you have one strong constitution! I have no idea how you can take so much of that weather. We don't get weather nearly as bad as you do, but I am starting to see why people retire to Florida :)

Lisa said...

After reading your blog today, I really appreciate, even more, your thoughtful, selfless, comment on my blog about the daffodils!! Love the "cotton"! Down here in the South, we call it "southern snow"....guess you've got the real thing! Your oatmeal bread looks great! Have you ever substituted whole wheat flour for the unbleached white flour?

Anonymous said...

Yes, we can apparently grow cotton up in the Laurentian mountains in Quebec, lol! I do love the winter wonderland look! We only got a few inches over that crazy ice, so it's still quite slippy. I see snowfall in our forecast for the weekend a little, but the temperatures are so mild these days that it doesn't really accumulate, which is nice too! I'm dreaming of sitting on the porch swing on the deck, enjoying the lake breeze (from inside a mosquito netting of course!!!) :)
I've been away from the blogs...Winston had a violent seizure yesterday, Mama Pea...I've never been so scared, it was the first time I've ever seen that. The vet tech said if he eats and seems normal, no need to rush in, but if it happens again, we'll have to see. And today he's jumping and running and barking like a puppy...he's definitely been keeping me on my toes!!!

Mama Pea said...

Fiona - Possible more snow for us this weekend and first of the week, but it doesn't look like too much accumulation. I just wish it would warm up a little. We have a bright, sunny day so the cold unexpectedly smacks you in the face when you step outside!

Alla - Boy, would I be jealous if you always got what you wanted! ;o) I do love the snow but also want a little bit of warmth with it this time of year! (Am I asking too much?)

Sparkless - Ugh. Cold WITHOUT snow is the pits. No good for humans, animals or plants.

LindaCO - Sure has been a lot more snow in areas that don't usually get it. We're prepared for it up here but it's got to be frustrating and dangerous for parts of the country that aren't used to it.

Ruth - You got snow! Yay!! We're just used to it so kinda know how to handle it. Lots of winter exercise shoveling and moving it.

Mama Pea said...

Teri - 51 degrees and raining . . . ha! That sounds like our June weather!

Yvette - A foot of new snow! Wow, you did get dumped on. Coffee, shovel, tea, shovel, coffee, shovel. I think you've got a system goin', Girl.

Jane - Oh, I would be such an unhappy camper having to live somewhere that didn't have the four distinct seasons. I've seen Florida. No thanks. (Apologies to all you Floridians. I know you'd hate living here, too!)

Lisa - Hi! And thanks for commenting. You have no idea how many times I've thought about your masses of daffodils in the last day or so!

I do substitute whole wheat (actually spelt more often) flour in many of my recipes. But I've never done it in the Oatmeal Bread 'cause that's the recipe I make when I want to fool myself into thinking I'm eating white bread! (Did that make sense?)

Rain - Oh, it must have been so terrifying to watch Winston go through that. Just be grateful that he doesn't seem any the worse for wear. Our old Zoey has periods now when she gets up that her legs don't seem to work and she collapses in a heap. But she bounces right back up like nothing happened. A lot more disconcerting to us than her apparently.

Anonymous said...

Winston's done that too, what Zoey does, just loses control of his hind legs, but yeah, he just keeps going! The seizure though, was scary. I was holding him and have bruises all over my arms from his thrashing. The vet tech said he was most likely not aware it was happening. I mean, right after he stopped, he was trying to jump up after my bowl of chili, lol!

Amy Dingmann said...

Cute "cotton" pictures. That Ol' Man and his boots...ain't it time for him to take the boots off and rest his weary feet? He sure has done a lot of stomping this year. :)

Jenyfer Matthews said...

LOL - I remember not so long ago when you were lamenting your lack of snow cover!! I guess that taste of spring spoiled you a bit too soon...

Snowed on Monday evening in MD, Tues cold and already melting, Wed rainy / drippy, today snow is gone and cold and windy. Probably going to rain again. Yes, I guess it is February.

Mama Pea said...

Rain - Sounds like a normal doggie. You're so shook up you can't eat and he want's your chili!

Mama Tea - Maybe I should buy him a pair of flip flops, set them out and see if he takes the hint?!

Jen - No doubt about it. Even though I said that warm little spell earlier in the month was way too early, it did spoil a few of us!

Erin said...

LOL that DOES look like cotton! We went from 74º at 1 p.m. to 44º at 6:30 pm.... strange.... also sustained! winds at 45 mph all day, ugh!

Mama Pea said...

Erin - I complain about our high winds, but I think you suffer from them even more than we do! Ugh. Don't like wind.

Dirt Lover said...

I'm ready for Spring. And we don't have snow. It's been cold here the last few days. I'm planting seeds and putting them on top of my rope lights, hoping that by the time they're ready to go out, the weather will cooperate.
Maybe you could stay inside and bake. Perfect weather for that. Or quilting.
~~Lori

Mama Pea said...

Lori - Yep, our weather IS perfect for staying inside. Snow today with high winds . . . and COLD. Not looking forward to going outside to do a little shoveling.