Up On The Roof

While once again shoveling snow alongside Himself...

Me: If I see another effin snowflake, I swear, I'm gonna lose it. You'll find me up on the roof.

Himself: Be sure to take the shovel with you so you can shovel the snow off while you're up there.

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week

1. We had one snow free day last week and another today. The calm before the big storm.

2.  The Young One showed her artwork to me she has uploaded to Tumblr. It's nice to be included in her interests.

3.  Sat down to work in my journal and was hunting for my eraser. The Eldest had sculpted it into a whale. Makes me smile to find the eraser turned into all sorts of creatures.

4. Himself's friend, M, called from warm (wish I was there), South Carolina, to see how we surviving in the snow. M is a gentleman farmer and has a few cows. He and his wife became grandparents in November. He decided his wife needs a more fun name than Grandma or Nana. So when he's around the baby he refers to his wife as Mooma. I asked if he was going to be called Moopa. Not sure he made that extension.

5. The Young One and I tromped waist deep in snow (hand to Gawd, it's true) to rake the snow off the roof. We fell several times making butt angels. I know how a turtle feels when it has difficulty righting itself. Wonder if the turtle laughs as much as we did?

How was your week?

Snow Is Not Pretty

To those in warm climes., I know some of you miss the snow or maybe you have never seen snow, and you think all of our snow pictures pretty. Snow amounts above a dusting are not pretty. The snowfall to date in the city of Worcester is 90.1 inches of snow. That's 7.5 whopping FEET of snow. This amount fell in 17 days! This is the highest snow total ever since the weather dudes began keeping records in the 1800s. WCVB, the Boston news station, posted this graphic about snow totals in Boston to put things in perspective.

This amount has surpassed the dangerous category. Some snowbanks at intersections are 15 or more FEET high. You can't see around the snowbanks for oncoming traffic. Backing out of the driveway is like playing Russian roulette with an automobile. How lucky do you feel?

Snow is not pretty. It's evil and back breaking to move. Himself did the math for the past two storms. You can view his answers here. Even with a snowblower, there's just no place to put the snow. Could you heave a shovel full of snow 15 feet over your head? Or snowblow through 3 feet of snow when the height of the snowblower is 18 inches?

Most cities and towns blew through their snow removal budget 2 weeks ago with the storm after the 2015 blizzard. They aren't doing a great job plowing or treating roads. In their defense, there's no place to push the snow, and two more substantial storms are being predicted for later this week. Compared to other areas of the country, our roads are narrow and winding. And that's on a sunny day. Add mass quanties of snow, some two lane streets are down to one lane. Good luck finding a place to park in the cities with some streets having parking bans so plows can get through.

The below freezing (32o F.) and below zero temperatures aren't helping. Even if the friction caused by the cars heats the road surface enough to melt a bit of the snow left on the road, anything that's remotely damp will freeze solid in the overnight. Driving on snow isn't fun, but driving on ice is treacherous no matter how many wheel drive you have.

Bad enough to remove snow from driveways, walkways, and stairs, but with this amount clearing the snow from your roof is an added worry or task. The icicles hanging from the eaves like dragon's teeth are far from charming. It's called ice damming. The cycle of heat from the roof causing the snow to melt and icicles to form also has the potential for the water to back into the roof and walls. The weight of the snow has caused roofs to buckle and collapse. Good luck finding a roof rake at this date.

Though we are looking foward to Spring, warm temps too early will cause this mountain of snow to melt into a flood. Storm drains, frozen or oversaturated ground won't be able to handle the amount of water. Water with no where to go ends up in basements.

Snow is wreaking havoc with public transportation systems. Schools have been cancelled for so many days, teachers and students will be making up days in August, if the weather keeps up this rate. Boston has had to shut down its transit system, MBTA, Freezing temperatures have caused the third rail, the rail that supplies electricity to the trolleys, subway, and trains, to fail. They are also having difficulty plowing the tracks. With no public transportation, many people can't get to work. No work, no pay, unless bosses are sympathetic and generous.

Snow is not pretty, unless it's on the front of a postcard or greeting card.

Wordless Wednesday

A repeat from last year because being piled high and deep feels this way.

Introduction to Heraldry

Commission 16 in x 20 in, ink and gouache

Even though the view outside my front window looks like the tundra, there are only 76 days until the Spring session of classes at the Worcester Art Museum.

I'll be offering a new class for this session. Introduction to Heraldry.

Monday, 6PM - 9 PM
27. April - 18. May 2015, 4 weeks
(if we don't keep having snowstorms Sunday night into Monday)

During the Middle Ages, coats of arms were used to distinguish knights on a battlefield. In this introductory class, learn the language of heraldry to design and paint your own coat of arms, or your family coat of arms.  Learn Uncial, a 5th. c. script to add your motto or family name to your coat of arms. Continuing students may use the script of their choice.

Despite the course title, this class isn't a historical class in the rules and regulations of heraldry. We'll be bending the rules for personal expression and enjoyment. We'll look to the Knights exhibit and other pieces in the gallery for inspiration.

I hope you can join me (if I can get out of the driveway)

Give 'Em an Inch

As if I don't have enough scrap paper laying around, after playing with the Gelli plate I found myself

with strips of custom made scrap paper. What to do?

I made Inchies and Twinchies. Inchies are tiny works of art 1 inch square. Twinchies are 2 inch square.

The twinchies have a Groundhog's Day theme: 6 more weeks to shovel

The inchies are mostly winter themed. Some I embellished with stickers, sequins, confetti, and some I just painted.

If you would like a twinchie and an inchie, leave a comment, and I'll randomly select one of each to send to you.

Snow Problem - Answers

Here are the answers to yesterday's Snow Problem. Did you get them all correct? Click on the image to enlarge it.