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.

Phone calls and walks

The Ghost Plant or Indian Pipes are coming up! I love these things!

The shot below is 4 days later:

After leaving an early morning message with the Tree Trimming Service, a message with a neighbor, and calls to the VA, emails to one doctor, and re-scheduling appointments...and a run to town for groceries...

I decided to take out the dynamic duo.

I really don't like to wait around for return phone calls. However, I was smart enough to leave my cell phone number as an alternative to the house phone. I wonder? How many folks still use land lines? We decided to keep ours basically for 911 calls. I don't have to describe where I live, the dispatcher knows immediately because I am calling from a land line.

Anyway...

Sven deferred to Charlie, following him all over. He took turns between coming for a neck rub down and petting to trotting after Charlie. Sven is a great hiker and because he was bottle raised he is very attached to humans. The two of them are great friends and practice grooming each other. Sven will nibble around Charlie's shoulders and Charlie will lick Sven.

Below, Fleabane flower with a crab spider.

It was just one of those hikes where I walked the trail and basically followed the dynamic duo allowing them to pick the way.

I was trying out my converted IR camera and the 550nm filter. The filter works better with sunlight, foliage, water, and sky as elements in it, but I had to test it out in the woods of course. And why not?

The spectrum of colors comes out incredibly different than what a person could imagine.

Well this was not much of a shot...
But it turned out better in black and white...

and the Indian Pipes didn't reflect anything as they don't have chlorophyll in them so black and white was the way to go. They would have appeared blue otherwise.

After Rich's PT and the Nursing Home visit today, I think I have some free time.
I think I will head out on the bicycle and see what I can come up with.

The yard work is done and I have a lot of other small odd jobs that need doing, but for a most of them I need some help from the neighbor to get started.

I'm going to take the metal tracks of the skid steer and send it in for maintenance. I won't put the tracks back on as I don't anticipate driving through the soupy quagmire that Rich used to. But it may be handy to move some dirt for me!

Have a great day.

Stuck inside so

I haven't done fractal art in a while. And since this week so far I've been stuck inside ....
well, I haven't really but my Monday was taken up by running the tire to town and grabbing things for the impending storm that really didn't happen.
Yesterday I had a killer headache and it probably was from calling Rich's provider and trying to get calls back from the VA, along with making a spreadsheet, looking up costs for a walk in shower, redoing the living room floor...
you get the idea.
Yesterday was a work in frustration and my headache won out.

So I figured to go back to town this morning, but now I see the promised snow is falling. I don't know how much but if it is around 2 inches, it won't be a problem to get to town for the tire...

So after doing the housework, I decided to delve back into the world of computer artwork.

These two were created with Incendia Next not the newest version, I am trying that out today to see what I can come up with.

I fiddled around with Mandelbulb 3D a bit this morning and ended up with something I thought would make a neat cave ... so I edited it and dropped in a couple of dragons.
Dragons like caves, and I guess they like to argue...so...

That was a fun early morning art exercise, but it looks better when it isn't reduced for a blog.
Oh well.

And last but not least... something from JWildfire:

I used to do these almost exclusively on cold winter nights But I've strayed away from those since Rich's illnesses. He'd be busy doing something else and I'd sit near by with my laptop whirring and creating abstract designs like crazy.

Not so much now.
The weather straightened up and the sun came out. The snow stopped and I had an opportunity to go on the ridge and go cross country skiing with the neighbors...

And after that...
it was a dog walk.
I should have worn snow shoes!