snow – New England's Narrow Road

Sharing Photos From My Trip to New Hampshire

It was a treat to visit my kids this Spring in New Hampshire. I was able to walk along some of the streets where I used to live and visit old landmarks. I had to make up for the two years since I’d traveled north.

In March when I arrived a bit of snow remained, but later in mid-April we had a snowstorm. One day the temp was near 80, but mostly is hovered around 50-60 degrees by late day.

The black flies were coming out by the time I left in May.

Spring Gardening

The weather was pretty nice, except for the day it snowed! So I bought some perennials for my daughter’s yard. I was able to find some old favorites which used to grow in my own New Hampshire yard.

The Lenton Rose (Hellebores) is an early bloomer and the plant we bought already had fading blooms. Forsythia were blooming everywhere with their tiny, bright yellow flowers, and daffodils were welcoming spring.

Forsythia in New England Spring — Daffodils

Columbine was always something I grew in my gardens and I had a huge monarda plant next to my house. The one I found at Tenney Farms was quite tiny, so I hope it lives to become a nice bush with bright pink blooms.

My daughter chose some Catnip to keep her little cat happy, and the cat rolled all around on top of this plant so much that I thought the stems would break!

Arrival, Snow and First Walk

This section should be first… but I am unable to move the section so…….

Out the window of the plane I got my first view of snow! It’s exciting when you live in Florida but love the north.

I did plenty of outside activities during my 7 week visit, including walking through woods and along roads, and hiking mountains.

New from the plane showing snow on the ground — From the plane

March New Hampshire with ground showing and some snow — From the plane

Day Trips to The Woodstock Inn and Brewery and Harrisville Designs

One day we took a trip to the Woodstock Inn and took a brewery tour and had lunch, with beer of course!

On another occasion my daughter and I visited Harrisville where the Harrisville Designs mill and shop are located. I’m a knitter, so I wanted to see where some of my favorite yarn is spun. Read more about Brooklyn Tweed and the HD mill here.

Woodstock Inn and Brewery New Hampshire — Woodstock Inn and Brewery

Canning Pig's Ear beer at Woodstock Brewery — Woodstock Inn and Brewery

The Great Outdoors – Sun, Water, Mountains, and Snow

I never tired of breathing the fresh air of the north. Most days were nice, cool and sunny. There were some cold and rainy days, and that day it snowed, but getting outdoors was a priority.

I arrived in March just as Maple Syrup season was ending. On a walk along the road I found some buckets still attached to the maples collecting sap.

granite seat next to Nubanusit Brook — Stone seat, brookside

Stone park in Peterborough New Hampshire — Stone seat, brookside

I enjoyed every day of my trip to New Hampshire and saw my kids as much as possible. I even met up with an old friend whom I had not seen in about 30 years! That was freaky and fun.

Icy Snow Covering Everything Today

Fontana watches for birds

Snow on the bird feeders

Snow covering the icy ground this morning. Just another day during a New England winter.

Winter can be beautiful, and I love seeing the snow. Life in the north can be tough, and especially so for an older woman without a man to help out. I’m capable of shoveling the deck and entryways. I lug wood and build a fire in the wood stove. And I run the snowblower and shovel out the mailbox. I even feed the birds and sometimes make my own suet for them. That means shoveling a path through the backyard to get to the feeders.

But the things that are most difficult for me are the problems that arise that I can’t fix, like when there is too much snow on the roof, or the driveway is all ice and we can’t get the car out. It’s hard for me to buy sand because it’s too heavy for me to move. Or when snowstorms cover the mailbox with heavy cement-like snow that I simply can’t lift with the shovel.

As my son has gotten older he can help more. He’s not happy about it, and he is away at school all day of course, but I do have that.

Here’s the thing; I am only getting older and I have no one to turn to for help. I hire the help when I can’t handle things, but I don’t have much money for that either.

Living in New England can be beautiful, but for me, the work and worry overshadows the beauty most of the time.

The Winter From a Frozen Hell

winter snow 2015 — Freezing temps. and tons of snow – in one month – make this one of the worst winters ever.

I’ve lived in New Hampshire since 2005. Not very long compared to many residents, but no winter has bothered me like this one. Maybe I’ve just forgotten the problems that winter brings to a run down house that still needs a lot of fixing, but this year has given me nightmares. I don’t think I am alone.

Once February began, we got snow. And then more snow. And on and on it’s gone. The kids are always home from school. Roofs are caving in, and the temps. start out below zero nearly every day. When it hits 15 degrees we are thinking it’s balmy! On the bright side, I’ve become an expert with the snowblower.

I was doing well and getting my house in order. Much of the siding had been replaced, and the front has all new windows. I’ve invested a lot of money. Then, unexpected personal problems came into my life and my savings evaporated. I wanted to replace the siding on the back of the house so I wouldn’t have to spend another winter frozen in my kitchen. And now I’ve discovered the hard way that I desperately need a new roof!

winter bird feeder — Feeding Birds in Deep Snow

But it was not to be. There was no money, and as the winter approached, I knew it would be a cold winter inside my home once again. At least the living room and my office are not too bad. But money is still tight and the thermostat is kept at 65 most of the time. The leaky roof has made me switch gears and instead of siding, I will need to save for a new roof.

At least I am not living outside like the wildlife. I always wonder how they make it in such unbearable cold. And it’s been horribly cold all of February. I don’t see deer tracks in the yard now, as the snow is probably too deep for them to walk. I imagine they stay to the woods. I can only get around by shoveling a path or wearing snowshoes.

The other day a robin was outside my window eating something off my burning bush. A robin? Aren’t they spring birds? It was below zero, and there is no place to find worms this time of year. I’ll have to look that one up. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a winter robin before.

I know I need a new roof and all the snow we’ve had was making me worry. I finally hired 2 guys to shovel off the roof, but that brought new problems. All that roof snow goes somewhere on the ground and must be shoveled. The guys did snowblow by the front door (see photo below) but now I have tons of snow all around the base of my house. I can’t get out of the basement or the front door and the deck is mostly covered except for a path I made so I could bring in wood for the stove.

winter snow piles — The Roof is Shoveled

It seems that winter is dragging on forever. I think we will all be grateful for temps over 20, and we are praying for no rain and a slow melt… please. But any day it doesn’t snow is a relatively good day at this point.

January Snow

The winter has not been a good one. Last year (2013-14) there was a lot of snow and truthfully I handled it much better than all the sleet and freezing rain this year. Up until today there has been only a crusty frozen few inches covering the ground. The driveway is a mass of icy ruts from the melting, rain and re-freeze.

When it rains in winter I have water issues to deal with. After the all-day rain last weekend, I had many inches of water to push out of the garage. First I had to dig trenches in the driveway to direct the water off to the side. Thankfully I had a door put in on the back wall, and it comes in handy in pushing the water out the back.
The water problem is an easy fix. The garage has a drain, but it’s clogged with sand. It’s been like that since I moved here a few years ago. So a new drain, in the back corner at the lowest point would solve the problem.
Just like all the other problems, big and small, nothing can be done about fixing them without money to hire someone to do so. So I deal with the issues as they arise, as best I can.

At least today it’s snow coming down and not rain. It should never rain in winter. In fact it should never get above freezing. That is when all the problems occur. Ice forms and makes walking treacherous and shoveling impossible. These are the things I forgot about while living in Florida for 27 years. I remembered the snow, but not the ice. Shortly after I moved north in 2005 I fell and cracked my head open on black ice. A few stitches later and lesson learned.

If we end up getting more than the 3-7 inches predicted, I will have to start up the snowblower and try to clean up the driveway. It was a bit difficult getting the thing started last time, which was the only time I’ve had to use it so far this season. Usually by now we’ve had a number of big storms here in New Hampshire – like the big one in October 2011. My daughter is disappointed as she likes to go snowboarding. The slopes have been making snow, but it doesn’t compare to nice, fresh powder.

This snowfall looks so pretty. Maybe the rest of the winter will be normal.