On a recent morning my i-phone said it was 42 degrees, I dug out my hand-knit woolies and went outside to feed the birds! It was the perfect time to get some “real life” photos of me wearing a sweater, hat and mittens!
This is a cold temperature for Florida, but it’s been worse. I’ve lived (off and on) in Central Florida since 1979. I’ve seen freezes, rolling blackouts, and ice on trees when sprinklers are left on. Forty-two degrees is not exactly freezing, but I loved that I could dress up and pretend!
I remember how long winter months can be from my time living in New Hampshire. For all of you who live in the really cold winter climates, remember that Spring – and green – is right around the corner.
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.
I can barely bring myself to say “winter” these days. I guess we are all a bit like that – unless you were unscathed by last year’s horrible weather. The chore of changing over to the cold season never ceases to amaze me. Apparently my mind shut down after dealing with last February’s difficulties because I couldn’t find half of the winter clothing I thought I had.
It’s true that I had half been planning to move, so de-cluttering was on my mind in spring. The first things to go, when moving from the northeast to the deep south, would be heavy winter clothes. I am not a clothes hound by any means, but there is something about coats that attract me. I found myself with far too many of them, so they went to Goodwill. I only kept the 4 or 5 that I really love and do wear often. Most are only good for the cooler fall days, and one is my heavy, hooded winter coat.
Somewhere along the way, I inadvertently disposed of my son’s only winter coat. It is nowhere. So I had to splurge and buy him a new one. It had no hood, and he really needs a coat with a hood anyway. And even though we plan to only spend one more winter here, my son needed good mittens too. Mittens are one thing I never needed when living in Florida!
This past weekend I got out the snowblower (another nasty word I hate to speak out loud) and started it just to make sure I could. I’ll have to fill the gas can soon. Add it to the to-do list.
This year I will fill my metal bucket with sand before the weather gets bad. The town I live in offers free sand to it’s residents, which I only found out about last year. But getting it, is another story. I’m not exactly super-woman when it comes to strength. My son will have to do the lifting out of the car.
Thanks to the yard sale a year ago, my basement is very sparse. All it will take is a little organizing and it will make me happy to go down there. I still have far too many holiday decorations, so those must go to the swap shop soon. Lightening the load always makes me feel good.
By the way, if you plan to view the foliage here in northern New England, you’d better do it soon. It should be looking good for the next week or two, but there are no guarantees after that. I’m taking my camera out this week. The weather is going to be wonderful. Norway Hill apple orchard, here I come!
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!
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.
Is this Robin lost?
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.
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.
New England's Narrow Road 