R....aisin Bran Morning

"Wake up, honey; it's a Raisin Bran Morning!" I groan; not because I've been wakened from a sound sleep, not because it's 5:45 am, not even because I can hear the north wind howling, but because "Raisin Bran" is a code, a code that means, "We've had so much snow that to get down to pavement, you will need to take at least 'two scoops' with the shovel!"

So I grudgingly force myself to leave the soft, warm comforter and splash my face with cold water to prepare myself for the first task of the day...getting dressed. Complete with long underwear, heavy socks, heavy jeans and sweatshirt, I waddle down the stairs, a la The Michelin Man. There I add boots, an extra heavy jacket, my warmest hat (the one that makes me look like a character out of the pages of a Dr. Seuss book), tie a scarf around it and my neck, and pull on my warmest mittens. All set! Oops, you guessed it; I have to go to the bathroom! So almost everything has to come off and then be re donned for the occasion.

Now it's dawn and out I go with my handy, dandy shovel to do my part of the daunting task: the front porch and walk. Meanwhile, my dear husband, who was responsible for reveille this morning, is already hard at work on the back porch with his shovel, and then the long driveway with his snowblower. About an hour later, we're both back in the house ready for a huge breakfast and a nap. That's right, our "two scoop" morning, has turned into a two nap day! Isn't retirement in Wisconsin wonderful?

W.........inter parking, anyone?

Even though our village makes a superb snow plowing effort, this year after removing truckloads of snow, they had to resort to temporary No Parking rules so that emergency vehicles could get through. This is the first time in the 12 years that we've lived here that this has occurred! The only reason you see the car behind me is that the owner is a volunteer fireman, and needs to get out quickly! When my husband snapped this photo it was also 20 below zero. Such fun!!

W.........e love snow.........NOT!

There have been several reasons for my lack of blogging lately...and these pictures show one of them! The first 24 days of December brought us more than 50" of snow, and although the majority of the work entailed fell to my husband, I helped some, and we even enlisted the help of my son-in-law who needed to use snow shoes to get around the side of the house to clean the snow away from the furnace vent! Sorry for the quality of the pictures, but I opted to stay inside and shot through the windows and the screens. These were taken on Christmas Eve Day, when it was still snowing. And we still have three months of winter to go!
Nevertheless, we had a wonderful holiday, and we hope you all did, too!

W........inter in Wisconsin

Ahhhh.....Winter in Wisconsin! Two days ago more than 16" of white fell on Kohler and it took David seven times to clear the mess. He is over six feet tall, so the snow depth is obvious! It is starkly beautiful if you don't have to drive on it, as we discovered this morning when only through a great driving maneuver were we able to avaid a car that slid through a stopsign! Of course, that didn't stop us from joining friends for breakfast, and after a great deal of discussion and laughter on many topics, I was able to feel calm again. More snow is due tonight! Guess I should have cross stitched a polar bear instead of a panda on the new baby afghan! (shown on the right)