We all know the old saying, "Be careful what you wish for!" That applies to our weather right now. We awoke to a foot of new snow this morning and I just looked out at the stake in our back yard and we've gained at least another 4.5 inches since about 9 a.m. I have 32 inches showing at the stake. That's kind of an arbitrary figure because the wind could have shifted the snow around the stake. The best way to measure is to take several readings in different spots and average them, but I wasn't interested in strapping on snowshoes this morning, but may do that tomorrow. I expect we'll have a good deal more snow by then. I'll need to attach another yard stick to the stake, for sure.

These pictures were views from our house this morning. We haven't been able to see across the pond to Rt. 15 most of the day. The town has plowed and sanded several times, coming the first time around 4:30 a.m. Fred heard them - I didn't. We've seen them at least two more times so far, and it's about time for them to come through again. The temperature is staying right around the freezing mark, and so far the snow seems to be pretty light and fluffy. We lost power for a few minutes around 9 a.m. when Fred was plowing and I was taking my CoCoRaHS readings, so we aren't sure when or for how long. We have been lucky so far.

I shoveled the deck, as I usually do now that I have my weather gauge out there, but when Fred got back from snow blowing the driveways, he took over to do the paths. I didn't protest. Instead, I grabbed the camera. I took pictures in sequence, as you'll see by the captions. He has much better "form" than I have when shoveling.

I have developed a back-saving "push-scoop" method on the deck that shoves the snow between the spindles of the railing. He does the normal lift and throw method and never seems to have back pain, probably because he keeps in good shape while I shun any exercise except walking or snowshoeing, and don't do either of those as much as I should. Consequently, I do feel the "burn" when I shovel.

I just heard on the scanner that the road crews are reporting from five to 18 inches "depending on where you are" from this storm so far. They are expecting a few more inches from now until into the night, then the storm is supposed to let up and then change over to rain tomorrow. That will be a mess. We may or may not get the rain here at Joe's Pond, but the valleys certainly will. Temperatures are supposed to get into the 40's. We'll wait and see. The town truck just went through again, and Fred has gone to clean out the ends of the driveways and run up to Jamie and Marie's if there's enough snow since he did it at noon time to warrant it.

We had a comment on yesterday's photo showing Fred and Woody fixing the handle on the wood stove, and I think Woody can now claim an international fan club! We welcome our friends across the border in Canada. Always nice to hear from up there! We've been watching the Canadians in the Olympics. Joannie Rochette did a beautiful job in spite of her aching heart. Her courage and determination are remarkable. I know all of Canada and people everywhere are proud of her - and also her father who was on hand last night to support her.

Regarding international readers, last week I had a comment come in what I'm guessing was Chinese script. Of course I couldn't read a word and when I tried to copy it to put into an on-line translation program, I couldn't copy it from the blog program so I had to discard it. Now I'll never know if it was real or spam.

I'm noticing that the wind has just begun to pick up. That can be a good thing - or a bad thing. It may blow off some of the snow weighing down the tree limbs, but it may also topple some, and will certainly impair visibility on the highways. Looks as if the road crews may have a long, hard night ahead.