Stanley Snow Day

Stuck as we were in Alexandria, we didn't get to visit Hawksbill Cabin over the weekend.  We asked neighbor Dan if he could take a look at the place to make sure everything was okay - and asked him to feed Momcat.

Dan and Sally were out on their cross country skis, and made their way over pretty easily.  I'm jealous of that - Mary and I have snowshoes but not skis.  Maybe we'll break down and get some.



I was worried that in our little hollow, which is just on the start of the upslope to the Blue Ridge, we'd get a huge dumping of snow.  But the pictures Dan and Sally sent back don't look so bad - maybe two feet up on the roof there.  In 2010, Snowmaggedon (click on the label for more info about that one) we had quite a bit more snow up on the roof, and hired the roofer to come over and shovel for us.

It's really quite a pretty setting.  Hopefully there'll be some snow left next time I get out, I'd like to go sledding in the front yard!

Alexandria Snow Day

It's hardly news anymore, but we had quite a big snowstorm last weekend.  Today I'll post a few highlights from the dig out in Alexandria, following up on yesterday's post about Luray.

I'll finish up the series with a couple of shots of Hawksbill Cabin, taken by neighbor Dan, tomorrow.  I've tagged this post with Snowmaggedon, as well - that was what we called the 2010 storm, and the label will take you to my posts on that one.

This time, the snow began on Friday evening and continued until very early Sunday morning.  True to form, Sunday was a beautiful sunny day - perfect for all of us to start digging out!






I powered through our stairs and got much of the walks done, and then Mary came out to help.  She found the Equinox, buried over there under a huge drift, and got it most of the way freed.

We learned our lesson from past storms, though, and didn't clear the driveway out to the street - we decided to wait for a plow so we wouldn't have to clear the space twice.

This plan worked fine, except by Monday night the plow still hadn't come.  So we dug out anyway.




We also went around back to dig out.  This was a major storm, around 20 inches of snow with deep drifts.  So I decided to make sure that we could get out the basement door and the sliding glass door in the back of the house.

I also shoveled a path part of the way into the yard so Tessie could get out there (she prefers to go in the street though, I think because she sinks in in the yard).

As a final touch, I cleared the space around the generator - just in case we need to go on generator power.  We're all set!

Chimney Chore

Weather and work deadlines kept us away from the Hawksbill Cabin for a longer interval than usual, and Mary and I needed to get out there to check in and see how things had fared during the snowpocalypse. Mary had made arrangements for the driveway to be plowed – twice, and she’d had our roofer Alan come out and shovel the snow off of the roof after the first big snow this month. Between the big December and January snows Alan had come up to install ice breakers and to upgrade the flashing at the base of the chimney, so this visit was also the first time we’d be able to check out his work on this small project.

The back of the house is partially below grade, so the above ground portion of that wall is between six and seven feet high. The snow that I shoveled off the roof in December lay back there in the shade, forming what ski resorts would call a respectable base of between two and three feet. In these approach photos, you can see that with the additional snow and from Alan’s shoveling, the snow was as deep as five feet behind the house, nearly blocking the clerestory windows.

We’ve had leaking on the chimney wall during heavy summer rains and also after the December snow began to melt. So my goal was to go up, shovel some snow from the roof, and then clear the chimney cap – where there was about two feet of snow remaining. I worked on this for about an hour – a wet and icy standing seam metal roof is slippery, so be warned, sports fans – and finally had the area cleared well enough to take a look at the new flashing job.

This is a technical solution to our leak problem, and it is often used for stone chimneys. The uneven surface doesn’t allow for a standard flashing installation to be effective, so you cut into the stone, inserting the edge of the flashing inside of the chimney. There is a mechanical attachment of the flashing to the base of the chimney, and then the overlap extends to the surface of the roof.

We talked to a couple of architect friends about the problem, including a couple of historic preservation specialists, before we settled on this approach. Fortunately, Alan was familiar with the method and was able to execute it for us. While there was no trace of the old leaking inside the house this time, I cleared the chimney cap off for good measure. Seems to be working so far.

You can probably see it from space

One of the things I remember about snowfalls like the ones we've had last week - and like the DC area had in '96 and '03 - is the big piles of snow that are left behind after the plows come through.

Yesterday at the Arlington shopping center where I get my shirts done (there is also a Starbucks there, and the famous Italian Store deli) I noticed the piles were taking up about a third of the lot.  They'll be there into March, and as the days warm up and people sit at the cafe tables, lingering in the shopping center, there will be traffic making it unpleasant to run errands here.  The snow gets pretty ugly while it's waiting to melt too.

Then, when I got home, I found that they'd come back through and plowed the streets in our neighborhood.  While we were lucky and they didn't block our driveway, they did add to the pile in front of the house - it's over 7 feet tall now.  I couldn't even begin to guess when this will melt away!

More snow on the way

They're saying the DC area is going to be hit again with a snow fall today, so nobody seems to be taking chances with the traffic.  Today I am on that bandwagon after checking the VDOT webcams along my route to my client's site.  There is still packed ice and slush in the roadway.  Thanks but no thanks!

Yesterday, only the far left lane (the fast lane) was cleared, everywhere else was packed with ice and slush.  There was a two or three inch edge to that.  I managed to trek safely but it's not an experience I'd care to repeat.  Despite all of this, I even encountered an impatient jerk yesterday behind the wheel, tailgating, AND on the cell phone.  C'mon people, remember, we're all in this together!  Your 7-11 corn dog and big gulp stop can wait by crikees!

I checked weather.com - maybe the Valley will be spared or get a lighter snow this time.  From what I'm hearing, they could use it.  The Guard was out to help evacuate people stuck without heat, and I have been hearing about long term power outages.  I'm sorry we can't be there to help out right now.

From Sally and Dan, we heard that the power has stayed on in the hollow, but the state hasn't been back to plow the road - it's a tertiary road and it may be a few more days.  They've had the fire going and have ventured out for cross country skiing, and since all of their vehicles are four wheel drive they can get out when they need to. 

Our roofer Alan went to the Hawksbill Cabin on Saturday.  He said we'd accumulated 35 inches of snow on the low-pitch roof...he and his team shovelled that off for us.  He'd driven in with a tracked vehicle, I'm guessing a skid steer or something, and his crew followed in the truck.  It was a relief to know all that snow is off of the roof, but it is piled behind the house now and who knows when it will melt away!

The Leylands are Goners

Taking some advice from friends, I went out to see if I could do anything for our privacy screen of leyland cypresses.  The sticky snow clung to them and has them bent to the ground - on both sides of the fence, so they are bent over the neighbors yard too.

There's a view from the front drive way looking back first - if you can imagine a green way about 20 feet high here, that's what it used to look like.

They've bent over and seem to be held up by the roof in back or by the power line, or both.  I went out with a wood pole, being careful to find the electric line, so that I could knock some of the snow off.  It's just too thick - up to 15 inches laying on the sideways branches. 

Here they are bent to the ground in the backyard.  At least for these, I could get some of the snow off of them.  But the rest is going to have to melt, just don't know what else we can do for them.

Luckily, they are pretty resilient.  Looks like a heavy pruning year for them.

Inside the snow bunker

When our neighbor Dorothy was over for a visit last night, we speculated on what our streetscape would look like in the morning after the plows came through.  She expected her drive way to be blocked, and it is, and we didn't quite know what to expect. 

We live at an intersection and I figured that they'd take extra care to clear it; I even parked a little ways up the street to be out of the way. My car is the first pile on the left in the photo looking up the street.  Some of our neighbors are RNs, they are already digging out this morning in case they get called in.

This sunny morning after, as I walked out to check our walks and observe the neighborhood preparing for the dig out, I was greeted by this wall of snow that has been piled in front of our house.  It's taller than some cars and many neighbors, and I think it is big enough to be seen from space.  I don't have any idea how long it will take to melt either - it may not be until March before I can park in this space again.

I wanted to send a note to our friends in Page County, some of whom have lost power, and can't even read this because of it - I wish we could be there to help out.  We'll be thinking of you, and hope we can get out next week.

Earning my keep in the snowpocalypse

I went out a couple of hours ago to shovel, first clearing the steps and a couple of alternative sites for Sofie and then going ahead and doing a first pass on the walks. Turns out, the other three neighbors on the corners of my intersection were out at the same time. So we had some good conversations shouting to each other between shovels full.

I parked my car up the street this time, away from the intersection. That has enticed the plow driver to come down our street twice already. I didn't expect that until tomorrow at the earliest!

I am still watching the Leylands with interest. Hopefully some of the weight will come off of them soon. I may do some preliminary exploring in a while - probably will pour a bourbon first so it can be waiting for me to come back...

Mary made us waffles and sausages for lunch. The sausages were those good chicken apple ones you can get at the Flower Market Cafe in San Francisco, a long-time favorite. (Shout out to Brian McG. and Cathy E. here!) And while it's not the chicken and waffles you can get at the LA Farmers' Market (Chris P.! Ryan B.!) it was pretty darn good eating. Here's Mary showing the waffles off. (How 'bout that gear, Appalachian Outdoors Adventures?)

You know, it really is all about the knife and fork for me (Bill G.!) -

C'mon in if you can make it to the stairs!

Snowmaggedon

Well, in honor of how the media is calling this snowstorm, I'm setting up a label to track the posts. My sister has already uploaded some beautiful winter wonderland photos of her Anne Arundel County, MD neighborhood...here are some photos of ours in Alexandria, with a few more to follow.

I use the rail of our backyard deck as a relative measure. Here you can see, midway through the storm, that we are in the two foot range.

Also, our green wall of Leyland Cypress, normally reaching 30 feet in height, is bent over under the snow. I am watching this with some concern, as I think what is holding them up at the moment is the power line. The line visible in the photo here is our land line phone. My sister tells me they lost one of these today.

Finally, our pride and joy crepe myrtle is bent over from the storm - that's it hunched over in the center of this photo. I hope all of these plants are resilient enough to recover, I expect they are, without too much pruning this spring. We'll do what we have to.

Also, an update from the cabin. Our neighbors Sally and Dan report that the power is still on...I can imagine them all set up with a toasty fire in their place and I would love to join them for one of Dan's Flat Tail Ales...we have our roofer Alan heading out to check on the Hawksbill Cabin and have an update - he used a tracked vehicle to get into the holler, and reports two feet of snow on the Hawksbill Cabin's flat roof. He's going to do an interim sweep for us, so we won't have any lasting damage to the structure.

More to follow on Snowmaggedon.

Snow panic

The Whole Foods in Arlington has been crazy all day long. On top of the scare of a big snow tomorrow, there was construction on the street that blocked one of the parking lot entries, so the cars lined up for blocks.

And then you get inside...well, it's a small store, and everything is already sold out. But I figure, hey, I've got beer and coffee, I've got sausages from Two Fat Butchers in Front Royal, I have steaks from Skyline Premium Meats in Luray, and I've got a full can of propane. Maybe just some green veggies, whatever they've got, and I can grill outside during the storm. Excellent.

So I go to Whole Foods last minute. It's crazy in there like I've never seen it. These photos are the checkout lines. I tried to cheer them up by telling them I was going to make them famous on Facebook.