Community Chat

[gardenman]

Southwest corner of NJ here. We got four to six inches. I've already been out with my Suncast Big Scoop and have got everything cleared. Temps are in the mid-twenties with gusty wind. Not too bad.

[threecees]

PA here, I shoveled about 2 inches of snow this morning, another dusting came and covered everything. Bitter cold and extremely windy.

Birds are still eating at my feeder. Poor things.

I'm not even going out to the mailbox. Hate, hate winter!

[Jordan2]

I live in NYC and I was out shoveling ( I rather shovel twice than all at once). It was so windy, the snow I was tossing on my lawn was blowing back in my face! I’ll have to go out tomorrow morning to finish it up.

[viva923]

it is nasty outside. 

looks like we got about 6-7 inches of snow ,the winds are horrid. my windmill in front yard is spinning strong enough to take off.

[suzyQ3]

So many of you were kind and thoughtful during our SoCal fires. I hope you all remain safe and as cozy as possible.

[Jordan2]

I live in NYC and as many know we got the mother of all snowstorms on Thursday. I shoveled out for two days in the single digit temps with punishing winds. I haven't seen a mail truck or mailman for three days. Anyway Friday night while I'm in my jammies watching MacGyver, at 8:30 the doorbell rings several times. I'm thinking who the heck is that? I normally wouldn't open the door, but I looked out the window and saw the UPS truck two houses away. It was probably my regular delivery man (I tip him at Christmas, he knows me and is nice). So I throw my coat on, not zipping it up. I open my screen door and because of the wind I go flying out of the house. I bend over to pick up my package (Ugg boots from Nordstrom), my pj top balloons up giving a show to anyone (although it was dark and I don't think anyone was out). It's a good thing I went out because the package was light and probably would have blown away. I felt sorry for the driver still delivering packages at 8:30 on a Friday night. 

[esmerelda]

I finally made it to the end of the driveway today!!  I shoveled a little each day the last two days, and today I made the final push!!  It had to be 9" if not a foot!

The Snow Joe shovel I bought last year was a HUGE help!!!  I don't think I could have done it without it.

Next year though...I'll have a snowblower.  What?  If I have a snowblower it won't snow?  Fine.  I'll get one for sure!

eta...Of course my Snow Joe snow broom and ice scraper will be here tomorrow.

[Jordan2]

Now Mother Nature is just piling on! It's bad enough we had a huge snowstorm on Thursday, now it is sleeting and the sidewalks and streets are an icy slippery mess!

[Lucky Charm]

Missing all the hoopla on the east coast (missing family and pets, too.)  

Been in California with DH and it's been rainy (just drizzly at times), but there's real worry about mudslides now.

Took a long drive and told DH to just keep heading south to try and beat the rains.  Got as far as San Clemente and gave up, it got us. 

Now I'm cold to the bone and it's mild out.   Can't win!

[gardenman]

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@esmerelda wrote:

I finally made it to the end of the driveway today!!  I shoveled a little each day the last two days, and today I made the final push!!  It had to be 9" if not a foot!

The Snow Joe shovel I bought last year was a HUGE help!!!  I don't think I could have done it without it.

Next year though...I'll have a snowblower.  What?  If I have a snowblower it won't snow?  Fine.  I'll get one for sure!

eta...Of course my Snow Joe snow broom and ice scraper will be here tomorrow.

---

Be forewarned that snowblowers don't necessarily make moving snow easier. I have one that stays parked as it's more trouble than it's worth. It uses one type of oil below 32 degrees and another type above 32 degrees. I'm not a big fan of changing the oil on a device in the middle of a blizzard. It also tends to clog easily with thicker snow. You really have to manhandle it also when you go to turn. They look impressive, but they're not ideal.

I researched how to move snow easily a few years back and discovered that in the Scandanavian countries they use a snow sleigh/scoop to move lots of snow quickly and easily. I bought a Suncast Big Scoop and have used that exclusively since then. It's the easiest thing in the world to use. You just slide it into the snow, tilt it back, slide it to where you want the snow, give it a push forward, then jerk it back and the snow slides off. It's more like dancing with the snow than shoveling it. Garant makes a similar device with an inverted v-shaped handle that I'll replace the one I have with as it will mean less bending, but I'll keep using my big scoop until it wears out first. I have a long driveway and I can clear it in very little time using my big scoop.