Winter's Dance is in Full Swing

[alee_grrl]

So Winter Storm Harper hit New England yesterday evening and is having a grand time dumping a good bit of snow on us. Last I looked it seemed to have lightened up some. As of this morning we probably had 12 inches, and it's probably somewhere between 14 and 15 inches now.

We did at least manage to go out and celebrate one of my heart-sister's birthday yesterday afternoon before the worst of the storm hit. There is a Mead Hall nearby that does very tasty Viking inspired food (some picked veggies, cheese boards and black break, and tasty slow-cooked pulled chicken and pork) as well as serving Mead. I can't have the Mead as I'm still restricted from alcohol for my health, but the food is quite tasty. So we had a good time and then headed out as the storm started picking up speed.

I did all my shopping Friday evening, which is my normal shopping day. So I settled in and enjoyed a cozy evening. Snow must have picked up over night as we had about a foot or so when I got up this morning. I went out around 10 a.m. to dig out my car, and by good fortune met one of my new neighbors (he apparently moved in earlier this month), who was an angel and helped me dig out my car. I thanked him profusely, because while my health has improved a lot in the past years I am still nowhere near able bodied. Even with helped the whole exercise wiped me out. I came back in and finished my coffee and rested while catching up on fanfic I hadn't gotten to earlier in the week.

I did get a bit of a second wind in the afternoon, and went back out around 2:30/3:00 p.m. and did another round of cleaning off the car and shoveling the little bit that had accumulated. But that will be all I manage for the day I think. I am thankfully off work tomorrow, so if there is more accumulation I can tackle the clean-off then.

Now I will continue to rest and enjoy some hot tea. A friend got me Republic of Tea's Pumpkin Spice tea blend, and it is actually not overpowering with the spice and there is a hint of pumpkin as well as the spice. So that was my choice of warming tea this afternoon.

For dinner I'm planning on trying my hand at American style goulash (otherwise known as beef and tomato macaroni). I have some Tsardust Memories seasoning which will be a nice addition to the dish. It's been ages since I made it and now that I can have pasta again it has been on my "I should make that list." It's a perfect warm-up dish for the frigid, snowy weather, and thankfully not hard to make.

For those who are curious here are the before and after pics of my car this morning (taken from my back door). The first one was taken shortly before I went out to start clearing snow, and the second one was taken about ten minutes after we'd dug it out.







All in all not a bad way to spend the weekend.

Comments

[untonuggan]

hope you stay safe and warm.

[alee_grrl]

Thank you! I have spent as little time outside as possible, and am super happy that I had the day off from work today. <3

[sulien]

Glad to hear that you are doing well after Harper, I hope that is the last big storm of the season.

The mead hall sounds wonderful! And so does the goulash, I'm glad that you can have pasta again.

Stay warm and safe and I hope you have a good week.

[alee_grrl]

They Mead Hall is delightful, I'm sad that they'll be relocating their distillery soon and their new space doesn't have room for a restaurant. They do hope to open a new restaurant at some point though and will do pop up Mead Halls in the interim. They've been a great boon to the geek community and were always hosting events and game nights. So I do hope they find a location for a new Mead Hall sooner rather than later.

The goulash turned out very tasty, though I improved my way through a recipe so I will likely have trouble making it exactly the same way twice. But I had fun making it and it certainly tasted yummy. The wonderful thing is that it's one of those dishes where the leftovers actually taste better than the fresh meal as the flavors have time to set a bit.

It remained ridiculously cold today, and I took my time getting to work as the roads weren't completely clear. But I made it safe and sound. I plan on being careful for the rest of the week as well. It's supposed to warm up into the mid-30s tomorrow, with more precipitation. Which means the roads during the later part of the week could be even yuckier. I'm actually kind of hoping it doesn't warm up that much. I'd rather deal with more snow than wintry mix on top of snow. But no matter what I fully intend to be careful when out and about this week.

Hope all is well with you! <3

[sulien]

Yeesh, I'm with you, I hope it doesn't get slushy. That's bad enough on its own, but when it gets colder again, it turns to a sheet of ice, which is never, ever good on anything other than a body of water. :-p

As for me, I'll quote the peasant in Monty Python and the Holy Grail: "I'm not dead yet!" ;-)

[mia6363]

Ahh I'm glad you're okay with the storm. So much snow!!! The perfect weather to be cozy :)

[alee_grrl]

Definitely the perfect weather to be cozy. :D