Typical New England Weather

[KD Talbot]

"I hope this next storm fizzles and turns into a non-event."

Thanks, I appreciate the thought, but looking out the window right now there is snow blowing horizontal across the pond. It's been snowing since 2PM yesterday and we're up to about 10".

Some people have lost their power again, and some haven't got it back yet. They need our thoughts and prayers at this time of year.

What is hard for us right now is my mom's in rehab after falling and fracturing 2 ribs and her shoulder blade. She is recovering slowly, but won't be home for Christmas. With these storms it's been tough to visit her, but we try to everyday. Seeing Emma really helps her mood. Thank goodness they let dogs visit. Her Dr. has a black lab that follows him from room to room as he makes his rounds.

KDT

[Brad]

Now that is really cool to allow dogs to visit. It probably helps even more than the other guests.

[Charlie]

is this a large hospital ,that is strange that they do that but it is good

i know Rosie would love to walk around one and she would be a big hit with the people

i hope she does well and has a quick recovery

[KD Talbot]

It's a decent sized hospital, no dogs allowed there, but she's at the rehab next door which isn't very large. Great policy, though.

KDT

[TrishandAlex]

KDT, I'm really, really sorry to hear about your mom. I hope she heals quickly, and that she's out of the hospital soon.

[KD Talbot]

Thanks, Trish! We're just glad we were here when it happened and not off on some mountain, or away for the weekend. If we had been I hate to think of the outcome.

Ironically, it is a good thing she was in rehab when the power went out. We would have had to take her somewhere which she wouldn't have wanted to do.

12 degrees out and snowing hard again. Very fine, powdery snow. I'm not much of a meteorologist, not even close, but my observations over the last 50 years are that it is usually much warmer when it snows down here in the flatlands. Yesterday's and today's storms have been very cold, 12-15 degrees with very fine snow, like in the mountains.

KDT

[KD Talbot]

(Most of this is just a rehash, but I finally got some pictures posted.)

I wish that quote was an original, but I stole it from a sign in front of someone's house. After 164 hours without power that's pretty much how I felt last week. We managed better than many as we have 2 wood stoves. Our neighbor has a generator so we were able to plug in one line and at least have lights and TV, just no cable, so DVDs only. Too bad I only own about 3.

No water because the pump to our well is hard wired. We wouldn't have had any hot water anyway. We used buckets from the pond to flush and went to my brother in laws for showers. We've camped longer and colder, but I'll tell you, it's no fun when it's in your own living room.

There are still some in the area without power. It must be very tough mentally. I know I was at the end of my rope after a week without it. They need our thoughts and prayers. Our power went out again tonight, but thank God it was only for about an hour. I'll tell you, my spirits really sank.

I awoke to Jude shaking me about 2am on Friday the 12th. 65' white pines next to our house were shedding limbs under the weight of the ice. KRACK/BOOM!!!! I was hoping they didn't hit our little pop-up camper parked near them. Luckily they didn't. The power was already out and stayed that way until about 9:15pm the following Thursday, the 18th.

We got up and tried to go to work. Couldn't get to the highway in one direction because of downed trees, so turned around and tried to go the other way. We got about 3 miles, winding back and forth across the road to avoid downed limbs and wires. Stuff was still coming down, some of it hitting our truck. Snowplows were out just to push fallen limbs off the road. We turned around and went home. First time in 26 years either one of us didn't make it to work because of a storm.

Friday's storm brought about 8" of fine powder. It was supposed to just flurry on Saturday, but snowed all day. We had about a foot when the next storm kicked in today. It's been blowing and snowing hard all day. Well over a foot of fine powder on the ground right now, drifting and blowing and hasn't stopped yet.

I took some pictures of the ice storm. The stark beauty belies the devastation.



Neighbor's Mailbox



View Across the Pond



In the Marsh



Neighbor's Cherry Tree

Two or Three days later the ice was gone, just like it never came, but the devastation gave away it's visit in southeast NH. Now we're buried in snow.

There are some places I'd like to visit before the end, but there is no place I'd rather live than right here in New England.

KDT

[Steve M]

Kevin, thanks for sharing and the photo's are great. Glad to hear your mom is recovering. It is amazing what freezing rain will do. Unlike snow which is able to slip off objects when it gets heavy, ice just sticks and breaks things. At least you all will have a nice white Christmas which can be hit or miss up there from year to year.

[Brad]

I really like the cherry picture. Not sure how much sow we got from this latest storm. probably a bit over a foot - of very light powder. Already have been up and out for coffee. roads are fine.

[billysinc]

Kevin glad to hear you guys made it through ok. Now I just hope those who are still without power get an early Christmas present.