First snow of the winter

Yay! The first snow fall of the season. The trees were absolutely beautiful this morning coated in snow. I'm sure it will be melted by the time I get home, but what a winter wonderland today. The pups had a good romp in the backyard, racing, skidding and rolling in the snow.

The Ice Storm Cometh

This is not really the kind of winter wonderland storm you want to have. Our latest storm has brought us a good 1/2 inch of ice before turning to snow. This morning the trees were coated in ice - and this is what causes them to break.


And our poor young arbor vitae are doing their best to withstand the pressure. The ones closest to the house have sustain the worst damage. If you try to shake the ice off - the branches just break. Hopefully being young, the trees will recover and straighten back (with some help from us).

If you have four-wheel drive, you can get around but it's not advised. The city buses were pulled off the road at 8:30 this morning because of the icy conditions. Even Hillary Clinton postponed her Madison town-hall meeting today due to the storm.


But never fear, my friends, Wisconsinites are used to weather conditions like this. Went to the grocery store yesterday and have supplies. Today is just another relaxing winter day. We'll make cornish hens for dinner tonight. That's about all that's on the agenda.

Ohmigod, the snow just keeps coming...

5:00 pm: It's been snowing since last night and now we have about 14 inches of fresh snow on the ground. WOW. I think we are going for a record breaker this year. Earlier this morning, I took Nanuk here out to play - as snow frisbee is his absolute favorite game. Bonus for Raine! Madison canceled school again today - twice in one week.

Here's a gallery of photos showing the progression of the snow from early morning to the final blowing of the driveway. If you click the photos directly it will take you to my picasa gallery where the photos are bigger. The best shot? The one showing Todd clearing snow away from the mailbox.

I think we've had enough snow now

I think I've had enough snow now. We had another six inches yesterday - This is the most snow - this early that we've had in wisconsin for years. We're still trying to figure out the global warming angle to all this snow.... The snow-encrusted patio furniture picture was taken off the back deck right as the sun was dawning this morning.

But all this snow means that ski season has arrived as well. Last night, Raine and Todd headed up to Cascade mt. for the first ski run of the winter. It was Raine's hella lucky day, as she got her christmas present early - new ski boots and a helmet.

Soon they will be heading to Mt. Bohemia in the UP for some serious extreme skiing. I'll take a nice green/blue path any day with a chalet where I can get hot chocolate after each piste run.....

Let it snow....

All Right! Let Winter begin.....

The first big snow storm of the season is predicted to hit southern Wisconsin starting around noon on Saturday. The meterologists are threatening promising us a little bit of everything; snow, ice and maybe even thundersnow (thunder and snow together, how cool is that?). Will provide photos of anything exciting over the weekend.

12/07 Update: That was an intense storm - By Sunday morning we have over 6 inches of snow with the first 3 inches being heavy icy crud. It took over 2 hours to blow and shovel the sidewalk and part of the driveway. The temps then went down to 0 degrees to really harden everything. I've been chipping at the iceblocks in the driveway ever since. And during the week we've received another 7 inches of snow - It is definitely a winter wonderland in good ol' Wisconsin this year.