Sunday, February 19, 2023

Would You Like Some Ice With That?

 The following two shots are of our back wood working area.
 
 
This is looking to the right.
 
 
And this is looking to the left.
 
Ice.  Solid ice.  This is a result of our high temps this winter.  Well, maybe not "high" for some of you, but certainly not usual winter temperatures for us in northern Minnesota.  We've even reached up into the 40s a few days, and the snow we received at the first part of winter continues to melt a little each day.
 
This month of February has so far given us temperatures quite a bit above normal so much of the area we keep plowed has turned to ice.  It makes driving in and out of our one-quarter mile driveway interesting. 
  
Not especially nice for being out and around anywhere, but it has been easy on our supply of firewood. 
 
We typically receive our greatest amount of snowfall in the month of March, but by then the sun is high enough that much of it hitting the ground melts during the day.  And will probably make more ice when the temperature drops at night. 
 
We may soon be putting on our ice skates to do our outside chores! 
 
 

14 comments:

gz said...

Snow is ok, but ice is not good...you don't need skates, you need spiked overshoes!!

Mama Pea said...

gz - As much I enjoy ice skating, I'm not foolish enough to try skating on that uneven, bumply ice covering our yard. And, yes, we both have a couple different sets of grippers or spikes to use under these conditions. Better than falling and going boom! ;o) We are forecast to get around 3" of snow overnight and into tomorrow so that will help the slipperiness a bit. It will still be wise to remember what's under that snow though!

Leigh said...

Oh my! What a contrast to our back yard. They're telling us we may get up to the low 80s by the end of the week. I'm not ready for that!

SmartAlex said...

Although we have had surprisingly little snow this winter, we have had to deal with an icy driveway several times. And of course, you can't leave the house without negotiating it so that is never good. We have had only three good snow falls and don't have a single snowbank saved up.

Mama Pea said...

Leigh - For some reason, you mentioning you may get up to the low 80s by the end of the week gave me a wide grin. Do we live in the same country?? ;o)

SmartAlex - Uh-oh, do you think it means you'll have a dry spring? We've even begun to think that for our area, unless we get a lot of snow in March, we're not gonna have much of a spring melt here either. :o(

Kim said...

Your photos look a lot like Fargo. I’ve got a good 3’-4’ of snow in my yard and ice all over the place! We are having a 4 day run on snowstorms starting today. I’ll be lucky if I see green grass by the end of May or first of June. grab you shoe/boot crimps and be safe.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Wow, we haven't gotten as much snow this year here. In fact, Feb. is the month we typically get the most snow. I hope you have spikes for your boots. I keep a basket with spikes in our utility room. They just slide right over the bottoms of the boots and attach with velcro. They have saved me many times with outside work or in the past, taking dogs out.

Anonymous said...

Mama Pea, same here! My yak traks won't work on this ice! 'Just ordered aggressive spiky grips. And I'm needing lots of grit like ashes, clean cat litter and/or ashes to make a safe pathway to the car or to pull in firewood. If I had a choice, I prefer more snow and less melt during this time of winter. Pray for snow!--M

NanaDiana said...

I don't mind driving in snow but I hate ice and black ice is the worst! Our February has been crazy weather wise, too, but I think you, like me, will be hit hard by this storm they are predicting. I guess we will see how close they are to predicting it right this time. lol. xo Diana

Mama Pea said...

Kim - We've gotten about 5" of snow so far today. Still coming down at 6 p.m. The snow has done nothing but make it even more treacherous outside. We will be careful. And please do so in Fargo!

Kristina - You've still got a couple of weeks left for your snowiest month of February to deliver! But I know you've had some unseasonable very warm weather, too, so maybe this is going to be a very light snow year for you. But that means lack of moisture for the ground come spring time so that's not so good either.

Anonymous M - Last week we spread pea gravel all over the areas where we had to walk. That helped A LOT, but now this snow today has covered up everything so you can't see any icy spots that are still in evidence. Take care and walk like an old granny like I'm doing. It's better than falling!

NanaDiana - Batten down the hatches as it does look as though the storm is coming your way! We already have more snow than predicted for us. Earlier they were saying it was going to go south of us. Wonder what we'll wake up to tomorrow morning? The best advice for driving on ice is DON'T DO IT!! Take care now.

Anonymous said...

Yeah it is an odd year isn’t it ?
I think every year is it in one way or the other. No complaints for us we have had a very wonderful old mountain traditional winter even in the valley of California where I spent a lot of time it’s been a dandy just like old times.

lots of rain ,snow at
higher elevations some down lower that brings us to this week. We are expecting rain starting tonight turning into snow and we are looking at at different levels anywhere from 3 inches to 5 feet of it. This could get interesting.
Some folks think snow in the mountains is an unusual even in California which somebody somewhere seems to think it’s always 110 and we run around in bikinis. I’m gonna burst that bubble for you. But what we are getting for the time of year is an interesting weather pattern and of course rain we’ve got rain coming out our eyeballs not going to complain.

I have already made by donation to the black ice club this year and one of my vehicles is currently residing in the body shop because of it. So I have to agree ice is lovely to look at if you can see it but that’s about it lol. Get your ice skates on or your snow shoes on with your good spikes and march like a soldier.
Goatldi

Rosalea said...

We've got the boot cleats out and in use here as well! We spread clean shavings collected from Hubby's woodworking onto the ice, then water it in with a watering can of hot water, to make regular routes walkable. I don't mind clean shavings being tracked into the house.

www.self-sufficientsam.blogspot.com said...

I have Yak Tracs that have spikes in them to walk on ice. I hear you're supposed to get more snow soon so it will cover up that ice for awhile maybe! LOL! We're getting thunder storms here in the SOuth and hopefully no tornadoes!

Nancy In Boise said...

We're having our second winter here! That big winter storm that's hitting the west coast is hitting Boise went from 50° first thing this morning down to 27 tonight. Possible snow here in the valley but lots of snow up in the mountains. That is one ice rink out there that you have for sure. I'm always paranoid about falling in the ice and breaking something! Stay safe!