A Work at Home Mom’s Blog

I know I’m one of many, many people across the country who’s saying this lately… but man, is it ever friggin cold! We’re used to cold temperatures during the winter here in the mountains, but this is the coldest it’s been since I moved here. I remember one winter up in Virginia when it got this cold, but I’m just not accustomed to temperatures this bone-chilling.

I can’t imagine how shocking this weather must be to people who live in more temperate places. Hubby’s cousins are up here this week from down the mountain, and they have just been flipping out over how cold it is. It’s colder than what they’re used to down there, and coming up here and experiencing winter in the mountains is just blowing their minds. It’d be kind of funny if I wasn’t freezing my butt off every time I walk out the door, too.

I’m just glad we haven’t gotten any snow to speak of. Just a little skiff here and there. It was enough to get them to close the schools early yesterday, but by the time they would have gotten out normally it was all gone anyway.

I just hope it isn’t like this all winter. We’ve still got a good two months to go, and maybe more. I’m just glad we have wood heat now. As much as I hate it, I can’t imagine having to pay for oil when it’s this cold.

Yet another reason I hate winter: Snow days when I have truckloads of work to do!

They called school off yesterday, and for once it actually made a little bit of sense. We had an inch or two when we got up in the morning, and the road here hadn’t been touched as usual. Hubby said the walkway was very slick, too. So even though I really needed to work uninterrupted, I didn’t mind that they called it. I don’t want Pumpkin riding the bus, or my truck for that matter, on slick roads.

It snowed rather heavily until around lunchtime, but then it quit and the sun came out. By the time Hubby got home from work, the road was completely clear and there were only patches of snow on the ground. Pumpkin was disappointed because Hubby had said he’d take her up on the hill where the blackberry plants are to sled if it didn’t melt, but I was relieved. Heh.

There was no precipitation overnight. But this morning came, and the radio stated that there would once again be no school. They said there was still snow and ice on a lot of secondary roads. WTH??? The sun completely took care of it here, with no help whatsoever. I realize that some places get very little sun and traffic, but come on! The state had plenty of time to get rid of that. But for some stupid reason they didn’t do it. Par for the course around here.

It burns me up that the salt and scraper trucks are everywhere when we just get a little sprinkling, but if it snows enough to cover the ground, they’re nowhere to be found. Even if we get a pretty good snow, after it quits, they don’t do anything to the back roads (and sometimes even the main roads) for days. It’s so aggravating.

So much for my hopes that winter would start late this year. It appears that it has already arrived.

Temperatures haven’t gotten out of the 40s for most of the past week, and according to the forecast, they won’t for the next week, either. And it’s been intermittently windy. School was closed on Tuesday due to snow (which we didn’t get much of, but they didn’t bother doing much if anything to the roads, and they were slick in places).

It has been interesting trying to keep enough wood to keep us warm. We have two respectable piles outside, and they should last us a while. The problem is getting it cut up and busted into pieces small enough to fit in our tiny stove. Hubby has had to work on it when he gets home from work, and by then it is dark. For the past week or two we’ve just been busting up enough to make it through that night and the next day and carrying it in. Then lather, rinse, repeat the next evening. I hope he will get to work on it this weekend and get us enough ready to burn for a week or so. Then we won’t have to worry about it so much.

I want summer back! It gets hot around here, especially when you don’t have air conditioning, but I rarely complain about it. When I feel like it, I just think about the cold winters and get over it.

The weather here has been downright wintry the past couple of days. We’ve had snow flurries off and on all day. It has been very light, not enough to accumulate, but snow flurries in October??? Come on!

So as you can see by my change in themes, I’m trying to enjoy autumn in hopes that it will come back to stay for a while. I would prefer to have summer temperatures intermittently well into November like we did a couple of years ago, but I’ll take what I can get. So fall, I’m begging you. Please come back!!!

As much as I hate the changing of the weather to nice and warm to cold and, eventually, snowy, there’s no denying that fall in the mountains is beautiful. I need to get out and enjoy it while I can, before the leaves all fall off. They’re at their peak right about now, I think.

There is something about the crisp fall air and the bright colors that clears the mind and calms the spirit. I’ve got to quit hating on fall and start savoring the beauty that precedes the dreaded season that starts with W. That’s not to say if someone offered to pay for one of those fancy Outer Banks rentals for me I wouldn’t jump at it, but there’s plenty to enjoy right in my own backyard right now.

I’m going to try to get out and take some fall photos today or tomorrow, before we get the rain we’re supposed to be getting later this week. If I do, I’ll be sure to share them.

Fall isn’t officially here yet, but the signs are already abundant. The leaves are starting to turn here in the mountains even though the weather is still quite warm. Stores are putting all their sexy swimwear on clearance. And it’s starting to get dark earlier and earlier.

Autumn is quite lovely here. People come from miles away to see the patchwork of colored leaves here in the mountains. I’m looking forward to raking leaves and letting Pumpkin jump in them. And yet every year, I feel a twinge of sadness when fall arrives. Not because I dislike the season itself, but because I dread what comes after it.

We’ve also got a lot to do before cold weather sets in this year. We need to get our wood stove put in, and we need to get some wood and get it split. We also need to try to find an alternate heat source to use at night, and figure out how we will keep the pipes from freezing. And we will definitely have to stock up on rock salt, because sliding down the hill from our house to the road (or across it and down the very steep embankment on the other side) could be catastrophic.

I should really stop getting ahead of myself and enjoy the here and now. But I’ve never particularly liked winter, at least not since I got old enough to drive. And here in the mountains, it can be rather unpredictable.

It’s raining today. Rain is something that we really need right now. But the mud I could definitely do without.

I guess it’s due to the change in weather, but my foot has been very sore since I got up this morning. It was run over by a car when I was 16, and it bothers me off and on. It was, however, tolerable. But thanks to the mud outside my back door, it’s rapidly approaching intolerable.

Here’s the story: Our new Walker puppy was barking her head off, so I figured she was hungry. So I decided that would be a good time to feed her and the other puppy. I slid on my Born sandals that my mom gave me and got the dog food ready. Then I opened up the back door and stepped out, only to step right in a ginormous gob of mud. My foot went sliding, and I had to twist around to keep from falling and dropping the dog food and water. By the time I caught my balance, I was at Anna’s dog house.

My foot and sandal covered in mud, I went to put the food and water in her bowl. That’s when I realized that she probably wasn’t barking out of hunger. She was standing out in her lot, soaked from head to tail. The crazy thing had obviously been standing out in the rain when she had a nice, dry house to lay in. WTH???

Anyway, as soon as I reached for her bowl, she jumped up on my arm, covering it with mud as well. Lovely. I held my temper, filled her bowl, and set it in her dog house. And instead of going in to eat it, she stayed outside and stuck her head in. I just don’t get that dog.

When I started back toward the house, the pain set in. I could barely stand to put any weight on my foot. But I pressed on, removing my sandal so as not to track up the floor too badly, and went through the house to the front porch to feed the little one. He wasn’t out there, and I had to holler for him a couple of times. I don’t know where he was, but wherever it was he was dry as a bone. At least he’s smart enough to seek shelter.

I limped back in the house, washed my arm and foot, and went back to the kitchen to examine my sandal. I rinsed it off in the tub, but you can still see where the mud was. I hope it will survive, because that’s one of the most comfortable (not to mention expensive) pairs of sandals I own.

It’s supposed to rain all week here. So I guess I have lots more muddy adventures to look forward to.

It has been hot up here in the mountains for early June. Temperatures have been steadily in the eighties since the beginning of the month. It has been a little toasty in the house with no AC, but so far I’ve been able to live with it. But over the next week it’s supposed to cool down… according to the local weather website, quite a bit. See the notes for Thursday below:

High near zero, low near zero, huh? Well, if anyone out there is planning on coming to take advantage of this area’s fine golf courses, you might want to either come right now or put up your golf bags for another couple of weeks. And if that’s what they call pleasant, they’re seriously warped!

Today was a gorgeous day. Too bad I didn’t get to really enjoy it. Between nearly tearing my toe off and then getting one of those headaches that improved with medication but never really went away and left my head in a fog, I just didn’t feel up to doing much of anything.

I didn’t even get much work done. I did manage to get the work that was due today (but I had hoped to finish yesterday) done, but that’s about it. Oh well, at least I’m not behind.

According to the forecast, it’s going to be nice and warm for the next week. Surely between now and then I can get out and have some fun in the sun. I certainly wouldn’t turn down a chance to peruse Tuscany villa rentals, but when the weather is like this, I’m pretty content right up here in the lovely North Carolina mountains.

As crazy as the weather has been around here lately, I was beginning to wonder whether we were ever going to see any springlike conditions this year. But I just looked at the weather forecast, and it’s looking mighty nice for the next week.

Today is sunny, but a little on the chilly side and very windy. Tomorrow they’re calling for rain, but the rest of the week is sunny skies all the way. The temps are still going to be a little cooler than normal, but I’ll take what I can get.

The weekend is supposed to be a little warmer. I hope it all pans out like they’re saying this time. If so, you’d better believe that I’ll be taking another weekend off and having some fun. This could become a habit… but that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.