Nor'easter March 2017

 This post is for all my southern peeps who were asking to see snow photos from 

 around the farmhouse on Instagram today.  I posted a video this morning of the snow event, aka blizzard, we are having.  If you don't follow me on IG (Instagram) (and you really should!:):):) then you can click on my photos from Instagram from my sidebar > to view the video.  

Yesterday (when we had zero snow on the ground)  I wrote on IG that I was pretty sure Dan and I are the only people in New England not quite ready for spring just yet and we were excited to have some more snow.  I was pleased to get a lot of comments from New Englanders who shared our sentiments.  Nice to know we aren't the only crazy ones;):)

By definition a "blizzard" (i.e. big crazy snowstorm) has to meet three defined criteria to qualify as a blizzard:
1.  Sustained wind or frequent gusts of 35 miles per hour or greater.
2.  Considerable falling and/or blowing snow reducing visibility to under a quarter mile.
3. The above conditions must continue for at least three consecutive hours!

 So, put on your gloves, hats, coats and boots and join us in our blizzard!

The stone beehives at the entrance.  View from the road

We had about 14" when Dan and Big Blue braved the elements to plow the drive and create a p-patch for the girls!  They had tried to go out just prior to this and got to the bottom of the front steps and couldn't get beyond.  Daddy and Big Blue to the rescue!

You can see how deep the snow is in this shot.

Thank you to my "plowboy" for taking all these cold exterior shots!

As quickly as Big Blue could plow a path, the snow would quickly fill back in.

The upstairs master bedroom porch.  Our winter has been so mild we never got around to putting the porch furniture away :(  The wind blew the chair in the forefront to the center of the porch.

The view from the master bedroom.

Snow piled on the new copper roof from a window in the south guest bedroom.

The upstairs hall.  Again, the shadow at the base of the window is snow accumulation on the copper roof at the front porch.

Different angle, but still pretty!

Snow blown and stacked on a kitchen window.

The plowboy's down gloves drying over a heat vent!

The kitchen porch with a big pile of blown snow in the middle.

View from a dining room window.

Another pretty view from the kitchen window.

The winds have been so strong that the snow has blown off the roof.

The girls going outside this evening!  Magnolia and Louise always forgo the steps and sail right over the top!  Louise is in the front, Magnolia is in the air and Ella is bringing up the rear!

These southern girls love the snow!

Silly Magnolia (in the center) is crouched behind a mini snow berm waiting to play "attack" her sissy, Louise, as she approaches

The attack unfolds!

The "blue hour" from the living room.

The blue hour from the reading room.

Looking into the courtyard from the reading room.

The girlies waiting to be given the okay to snatch up their Charlie Bear treats!!

"Okay!!!!"

It has been a wonderful, beautiful snow day, safe and sound in the farmhouse with a fire going,  coffee and tea, breakfast as dinner, and lots of puppy sugar.  The girls love the snow, but they are quick to go outside, do their business and come immediately back in!  Smart southern girls:)
Hope your day has been warm, safe and cozy too!
xxojoan

crazy October snow...

This past weekend's nor'easter dropped 15-inches of snow at our house in one night.
It was a record breaking snow event for the month of October in New Hampshire.  The previous record for the entire month of October was 3-inches.  A nearby town received the highest snowfall in the state- 27.5 inches!  We were without power (and cable) for three full days.  Our power came back on just last night.  This was our first experience using our whole-house, automatic-on generator, affectionately called "Gen."  Gen has been thanked profusely over the past several days.  I'm thinking she is my new BFF! 
We are so grateful to have sustained no damage-  we didn't even have a limb down on our property, but were shocked to see the massive damage in our town and neighboring towns below us-  huge trees snapped off in the center.  We believe that our higher elevation received more wind and helped to blow the snow off of the leaves on our maples, thus protecting them from the wet, heavy snow sitting on the canopy and causing breakage.

This is the scene we woke up to Sunday morning.

Same shot off of the front porch after Dan cleared Ella a path out to the shoveled off "patch" that he made for her to do her business;)

Ella at full speed to get inside for breakfast!

She loves the snow. 

The driveway.  Notice the one tree that hasn't even begun to turn colors- still green. 

It is such a strange sight to see all of this snow with the Fall color still on the trees.
Strange... but beautiful!

it's good to be back!

I hope those of you who were also in the path of the storm are safe and sound.... and have you power on!

quieting the voices...

If you've been reading my blog for a while, or if you are one of those wonderful, crazy new followers that have told me that you've gone back to the beginning and read the whole thing  (xo to all of you!) then you know how much I love New England and how much I love living here. 
That said, there is one thing that I dislike HATE about it.........
power outages.


This morning we woke up to this winter wonderland!

 As much as I enjoy the beauty, there is this nagging little voice inside my head screaming...
"PLEASE DON'T LET THE POWER GO OUT!"


It was in our second winter here that we lived through what is now referred to in the media as the "ice storm of the century."  (the story is here)  While we were some of the "lucky" ones who only lost power for SIX days (some people were without power for over three weeks), it was still a very traumatic event.  We were living in a rent house while the farmhouse was being renovated, and our rent house's only source of heat was a tiny flame from a very lame gas fireplace with the temperatures getting down into the single-digits every night.  When we lived in Dallas we would have the occasional power outage and would gripe for days if the power had been out for 2 hours!!  So, needless to say six days was a really long time.  Last year we lost power for two days and then just last Saturday we were out for a full day. 

There are a lot of occasions in New Hampshire for power outages:  snow, ice, high winds, falling trees, etc...   When we renovated the farmhouse (and after the ice storm) we buried our electrical lines from the road, but that doesn't eliminate all the other factors around us. 
(I would also like to note for the record, that somehow Dan always seems to be out-of-town during these power outages..... hmmmmmm...)


So.... this week this little beauty was installed!  For those of you not familiar with this type of animal this is a whole-house generator that comes on automatically when the power goes out.
(This should make some of the voices in my head go away!!)
let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

(I would also like to point out that Dan, with the help of Big Blue!, built the stone retaining wall behind the generator... it is still a work in progress!)


So, what's the longest you've ever been without power?!

the winter house

I realized I had not shown you around the house in the winter... 
We already had about a foot of snow on the ground, and I am very happy to report that we only received another 12-inches in this latest double-storm that hit our area, instead of the 20-inches plus that were predicted!  While the difference might not sound like much, it makes a huge difference in life after a storm.

It's difficult to remember that the house looks like this too!

The stone beehives at the entrance of the driveway in their winter splendor!

Our road. 

And, our beautiful mailbox that sits across the street from our entrance surrounded by reflectors and pink tape that blows in the wind and reminds the town plow to stay away!!

My plow guy...Dan on Big Blue!
  Dan clearing a parking pad for the workers, who have taken a "snow day," but will be back tomorrow.  Dan has found that it is easier to use the front "scoop" on the tractor to "pick up" the snow rather than to plow with the snow-blade which is attached to the rear of the tractor and only pushes the snow off to the side- and you have to drive backwards to use the blade.

Scooping snow onto the snow pile... one of many piles!

Plowing the drive to the house.

This is a good sight:  a "plowed" driveway!

Ella hopping off of the front steps. Check out those "bunny" ears! 
Like her Mama, this Texas-girl loves the snow!  The sound and feel of walking on snow is magical to me!

View towards the back meadow.
It is absolutely beautiful, but what truly surprises, delights and amazes me on a daily basis is how natural this winter scape is to the soul of this born-and-raised Texan.
When we told family and friends of our decision to move to New Hampshire we were asked over an over how we would survive the winters??  In all honesty, the winters were the wild card for us, as neither of us had ever lived anywhere that had a true winter.  People would ask what we would do if we couldn't tolerate the winters.  Our answer... we'd move back. 
Lets just say.... we don't see that happening any time soon!

I hope all of you who were in the path of this winter storm are safe and warm.

And, to my Australian friends in the eye of Yasi.... continued prayers for you and your country.