The Things We Do ...

Winters are loooong here in the North Country - which is great if you love snow, wearing soft, warm sweaters and wrapping your hands around a hot drink on a cold day. (Of course, you can do two of those on most spring and fall days too!)

People often ask "What do you do to keep from going crazy during the long, cold, dark days?"

First of all, the days are not long (in fact, they are quite short!) and they are not dark. Because we have snowcover from November through April (at least), any faint light that the sky emits reflects off the snow and makes for quite bright and cheery days. As far as the cold part ... that part IS true!

I thought I'd post a few pictures of some of our favorite moments from this winter. Notice that I'm speaking as if the winter is over. I'm hoping it will catch the hint!)

The Things We Do on the short, bright and cold days of winter...

We linger around the dinner table telling silly stories and laughing until we can't breathe!

We celebrate special moments in our lives ... like first roses from a boy!

We travel to visit extended family and celebrate special days like Wayne's parents' 70th birthdays

We fix ourselves fabulous breakfasts even when there are no guests

We undertake projects ... like the beading of Sodie's hair

Over eight hours later (spaced over 4 days), the finished product. Keene Valley has never seen such a thing!

We sneak away for a fun afternoon at a Phantoms hockey game

Here's a little of the action

No hockey game is complete without a fight! This one was spectacular!

Look at that score ... now look at the time left on the clock ... yep!

What an exciting finish to a great game!

We snowshoe (those of us who have snow shoes!) and explore the beauty all around us. Wayne looks out from a vantage point on Snow Mountain - right behind our house.

CorrieAnne (she has snow shoes!) on the summit of Baxter Mountain

We warm ourselves by the fire ... a lot!

We create warm things by the warm fire!

(Isn't there just something so perfect about a dog laying beside a fire?)

We enjoy visits from old friends (old as in long-time!)

And enjoy meeting new friends!

(Wait a minute - maybe he IS old ... 92?!)

We get things done that have needed to be done for a long time.

I had no idea that a cabinet for laundry soap would bring me such joy ... but it does!

As winter draws to a close and the next season sets in (No - not spring! MUD season!), we enter our slowest time of the year guest-wise. Now we can tackle BIG projects! Just a few days ago, Wayne tore off the first sheet of wainscoting as our Passages room begins its long-awaited journey to transformation. Don't worry - I'll post pictures all along the way!

A Record Setting Snow Year!

Anyone who knows Wayne knows that weather (particularly SNOWY weather) is a passion of his! This man checks the weather forecast and radar maps before he even eats breakfast! During two "mild" winters (very relatively speaking) here in NY, he watched from afar as friends in Philadelphia and DC got hammered with snowstorm after snowstorm. I have to say ... he kept his cool.

"I know the statistics" he said. "It'll be our turn soon."

Well .... he's a happy camper this winter. According to his calculations, 2011 is now officially the snowiest winter of his entire life!

Let me show you what's been happening here in the North Country.



(Wait a minute ... that doesn't look like winter!) This is the ROCK - an obviously unmoveable object in our back yard that we have decided to decorate. This is what the Rock looks like in the summer.


This is what the Rock looks like now! Wayne uses the Rock as his measuring stick. Winter can't end until it's covered. Now that it's covered, he's happy. Now he can welcome spring ... whenever that may be.

Just to give you some perspective ... this is a view from another of my kitchen windows. The snowbank you see is about 12 feet high and it truly does cover more than half of my window. The big chunk you see in the foreground is a massive icicle that Wayne chopped off. It speared the snowbank with a hearty thud. It's a good idea to chop them off before they fall on someone's head!

This lovely picture was taken by our friend, Danel, during her visit. While she and her husband were here, we received 26 inches of snow, bringing the yearly total (so far) to 115 inches. Following that storm, we had between 3 1/2 and 4 feet of snow on the ground.

This is what our guests see when they walk up our front steps. The snowbanks are about 7 feet high on either side! As you can see, our lamppost is almost buried!

Not only does Wayne get to shovel and plow to his heart's content here at the Snow Goose. He gets to do it all day at work too! His trusty truck and plow are ready for a day's work...

There is a house back there somewhere and the people who've rented it for the weekend would probably like to be able to get to it.

The view from the cab of the truck ... that's a LOT of snow to move!

After several hours, the job is done ... on to the next house!

Yes, that's a chainsaw! The snow and ice on this deck were rock hard so Wayne pulled out the big guns!

Wayne has truly moved TONS of snow this winter. And just because it's mid-March doesn't mean we won't get hammered again. Sometimes the man's smile is weary, but it's still there!

For a snow lover, it's been a wonderful winter!