Winter Storm Olive?

 Uh OH!

The Weather Channel named this storm: Olive.

The headlines read: Winter Storm Olive's Cross Country Trek will Pack Blizzard Conditions, Heavy Snow, and Ice. It will be a multi day event.

Well now. What a perfect time to need a repair person or a new home heater/furnace, right?

We may be south of the heaviest snow line? We may get heavy wet snow and then lots of ice and winds?

I spent all of Monday reading books and waiting for the Tech to call us. Yes, we have cell service, but no cell service in most parts of our house. We are in a hollow and have a house with a metal roof. I can make calls on the porch and I can always get texts, but phone calls don't always come through.

So we need a land line.

This morning it is 12 degrees outside with winds. Thank goodness, we are not on the ridge top and in the winds. It would feel much colder in the open.

Well, February snow storms are not unheard of around here, we've had lots of them in the past.

Feb 20th 2019:

Feb 24th 2019:

Feb 18th 2020:

I guess some snow would be fine. I'm not looking forward to any ice or winds though.

We'll see how this plays out. If we have power and stay warm I won't worry. Thankfully, I had the sense to hire someone this winter to plow us out if needed too!

I guess I can polish up my snowshoes and charge up my pocket camera so I can at least enjoy the storm if it hits.

Update ~~

I don't know why I didn't think of them before but when I ran errands I stopped at the Vet's office and saw the billboard for the Plumbing Company I used last year. 608 Plumbing For All of Your Plumbing and Heating Needs!

A tech will be out today to assess the situation and give recommendations for a new heater and hopefully get the old one running well enough to be safe.

Really. I do read billboards, but rarely ever really take note of them.

I think the weather

did this on purpose.

This weeks forecast was rain, rain, overcast and more rain. Cold, cold, then switching to warm and muggy and heavy rain with possibilities of 4" of rain with flooding and flash flooding.

I don't get too worried about the flash flooding as it happens and it is over quickly. I don't have the mules in an area where they will be washed away. During times like this I move them to the front pasture where there is little chance of trees falling on the fences... and I can keep an eye on everyone.

So all this week the weather has been either super hot and muggy or it has been raining.

All the rain has prevented me from mowing the yard. Which is a good thing. Bouncing around hurts the upper left ribs. I can walk on the flat and do fine, I can stroll slowly through the woods and do fine. But NO jumping.
The injury is not life threatening, I know that. But it sure is a pain.

I can do stretches and squats, shoulder mobility exercises, and even some gentle twisting.
Vacuuming sucks with the old vacuum cleaner.

So on Wednesday I took a nice long quiet stroll through the woods. I stopped often and watched squirrels, birds, and some deer. I didn't take Charlie and Sven so the walk was slow and easy.
Of course I brought my camera. You know better don't you?

Some shots from the walk.

These were shot with the converted camera. I just added the 'hot' mirror to use it with the regular light spectrum.

It was my regular fence 'check' and I am happy I did it. There was a branch or two down on the lines and I flipped them off. The creek made wonderful sounds that were calming.

I leaned up against a mossy tree and watched down from the bank above.

And I couldn't help but try an infrared shot. The green leaves reflect white and the trees in the distance reflected a slightly different color which enhanced look a bit yellow!

If you look carefully you can see my handiwork in the right side of the shot. It is the fence I rebuilt this spring.

I decided not to let the mules back down into the woods. Rains were predicted for up to 4 inches. Trees tend to fall when the ground is so saturated and I won't put the mules in an area where the fence could come down overnight.
The mules' hooves would just tear up muddy trails and provide more erosion to the ridge road, so they can't go back down until things dry up a bit.

In 2007 and 2016 parts of the creek banks were swept away. Our fence was left hanging in an empty space above the creek.

This morning [Friday] I will have to go down and check the fences again and do a quick check of the middle wooded pasture to make sure it is safe to let the mules out of the winter lot and back into the woods.

South of us there were mudslides and road closures and indeed, they had more than 4 inches of rain.
The weather service says we had only about an inch and a half. I'll have to check our rain gauge.

I have guests this weekend and a busy Saturday with going to the Fair and hiking.
It should be fun.
Part of the Kenosha gang is coming.
And the sun should be shining!