Saturday, February 9, 2013

Blizzard Report from Boston!

 Yesterday a blizzard blew into the Northeast~and we were smack dab in the jackpot zone of heavy snow fall predictions of 24"-30" of snow.  So Justin and his GF Madison and their new pup Sylvia planned to weather the storm at our house and leave their apartment behind.  After they arrived Syl got introduced to the dogs of Maison Decor~the snow had begun falling around noon time.  Syl and Tobey in the front yard~Syl was running around and loving the snow, while Tobey was being his bossy pants self and not sure he wanted any company.
 They all posed nicely for a photo~Syl is still trying to win over Tobey.
Dillon is just his cool collected self.  He is recovering from ACL surgery and is not supposed to do anything extreme like running or walking up or down steps. He feels like his old self so we have to work hard to make sure he doesn't take off into a sudden run~and with Syl asking him to play, I was hoping he would refrain from joining in.  Puppies are so full of energy, you forget how bouncy and quick they can be.  Tobey was not being friendly despite Syl's best efforts.  Syl would paw at him and try to get him to play and Tobey would just growl~
finally they settled down and got used to the situation....it was a blizzard after all!
 Of course with dogs, you need to bring them out, and with puppies, that is even more true.  Syl is pretty much house trained and we were happy to report no accidents.  Justin took her out in the yard and at this point you can see just a couple of inches on the ground.  We built that little ramp for Dillon to use during his rehab, but the only one that uses it is Tobey!
 Sniffing~lots of sniffing and checking each other out.
 The view from the side deck. Our house sits sideways on the lot...we have a sideways house. This is the view over to Marthas house, our elderly neighbor who passed away a year ago. But it will always be called Marthas house because she lived there for 90 years!! Anyway here you can see the snow starting to accumulate.  The prediction called for high winds, higher than we had in Hurricane Sandy.  I think wind can be pretty scary~downed powerlines and old trees falling down, and we have plenty of both in our yard.

 Hubs got called out to work a long 16 hour shift with the onset of the blizzard. He says goodbye and leaves us to take care of the city!   He would be traveling around in a 4 wheel drive vehicle for the first eight hours~then at midnight be manning the desk for the next eight.  There was a state of emergency called and the Governor of Massachusetts called for a driving ban! The first one we have had since 1978!! No cars would be allowed on the roads in the state after 4 pm.
 It called for us to sit tight and stay at home~sounded like the perfect plan to me!  I had made some homemade sauce and big meatballs and while they simmered on the stove I hung out with the dogs in the TV room watching the endless weather reports and updates.
iphone pic~the cutest moment of the day was this!!
 After meatballs and spaghetti, it was time for a little fun!  Justin, Madison and I played some Trivial Pursuit.  We are a competitive bunch and it got down to the wire with all of us having our full pies and one step away from the winning answer!! And the winner was.....ME!!! hahaha! I couldn't believe I won because the newer version of Trivial Pursuit has lots of contemporary questions in music and arts that I have no clue about....but I prevailed!
 That game lasted about two hours, now it was 10 PM~time to check on the snowfall.  It was really adding up now!  Justin shoveled a path out for the dogs to do their thing one last time before bedtime.  The mounds in the front is the snow on top of my iron urns. You can barely see edge of the ramp~and the mound of snow on the roof of the bird feeder was growing.
Ramp gets cleared for the dogs~
Tobey first!  

 After the dogs were done, round two of runner up Trivial Pursuit started!!
Ha! I opted out~and checked out Facebook and texted with Colin and Brandon for updates on what was happening.
 Brandon sent me this pic of him in the streets of Boston.  He lives in Chinatown and clearly was enjoying the snow.  He has always loved the snow from when he was a little tyke.  He was a nut on skis! I got him a bright neon yellow hat to wear so I could track him on the mountain when he would ski. So I really got a kick out of seeing him in bright yellow with a very similar hat!!
 He sent this darling photo of a mini snowman he came across in Chinatown.  Someone had made him on top of a city trash barrel and used Chopsticks for the arms!  The streets were eerily vacant of pedestrians and cars.
I looked out the front door and snapped one last pic 
and headed up to bed wondering what it would all look like in
the morning.  We live on the steepest hill in our city and the city 
plows could not get up the hill.  Thats kind of scary to think about emergencies
and no one can get to you.  Hubs called and said they were sending out a 
Jeep with a plow!! A regular Jeep in 4 wheel drive was able to steadily work side to side and get the first pass done on the street a little after midnight.
 By the morning I looked out for my first view of the street from my third floor window and this was what I saw~snow stuck to the screens and the cars left on the street were entrenched in snow.
I opened my front door and this is the wall of snow that was built up against it.
All the birds were enjoying the feeder.  I would wait for Justin to do the shoveling once again!
The wind pushes the snow around and creates drifting leaving some places 3 feet high and others almost bare. This is our side porch view~
 And looking over to the right towards our driveway you could see the cars just buried under the snow!! We never lost our power and I was so thankful for that.  Hubby came home safe and sound and is tucked in bed to get ready for his next shift. Our two stores are closed all weekend for sure...no one will be going anywhere soon.
So that was the Boston Blizzard of 2013~its still snowing and another 6 inches or so are on their way.  Hoping all my neighbors in the wake of the storm made out OK like we did.

Photobucket

29 comments:

  1. Looks like you are braving the storm well!How fun playing trivial pursuit.I am not good at that game at all!!! Stay warm!
    xx
    Anne

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  2. So glad to hear you didn't lose your power! Those driveways are a disaster! Good luck with that!

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  3. I've been thinking of you as they said Boston was the bullseye for all this. Glad you're OK, and hope you keep the power on. Thanks for all the fun pics, stay warm!!

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  4. Amy...crazy huh? Seeing those cars buried under all the white snow really puts it in perspective!!
    Hope you are staying in and staying warm!
    We got more than I expected, cannot imagine how long it will take for it to all melt! Oh well...it is pretty to look at.
    Yes, you are the winner! I was so happy when I called your number, couldn't have happened to a nicer person. Please send your mailing address when you have a minute. Enjoy the weekend!

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  5. Great storm report!! Thanks so much for sending it up to us in Nova Scotia!! ;0) We are "enjoying" it right now!

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  6. Glad you're all okay. Stay cozy, and safe.

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  7. OMG, I LOVE, love, love all the snow! It is so incredibly beautiful! Call me crazy but I wish we had all of that! There is no doubt about the affection your furbabies have for you :) I love that photo of all of them sitting around you. Stay warm and stay safe.

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  8. Brrr looks so cold outside
    fun to keep warm inside with the furry ones
    xxoo
    Pam

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  9. Love the pics of the pups! Stay safe and warm!

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  10. this California girl says "WOW".. mouth still open. wow!

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  11. Oh my goodness! that is a lot of snow. Happy for you all that Hubs and kids/dogs, are all ok.
    This gives you a perfect reason to take some days off. I bet you will find something to paint in your house, tho....lol. Blessings Paula

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  12. Oh my goodness! that is a lot of snow. Happy for you all that Hubs and kids/dogs, are all ok.
    This gives you a perfect reason to take some days off. I bet you will find something to paint in your house, tho....lol. Blessings Paula

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  13. Oh brrr! I love snow days but that's a lot of snow. It's great that y'all are making the best of it. Stay safe and warm. :)

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  14. Even though we're having beautiful weather here today, I would still LOVE to get a taste of that snow at your house! I haven't seen snow in a long time. You have plenty to share too! LOL! Looks like you're making the most of it too with your wine and board games. Sounds fun to me. Hope you've got a nice fire going in the fireplace as well. Hope you continue to enjoy a fun and restful weekend with the dogs and your family. Now, go out and play in that snow for me!

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  15. That last shot of the pups was ADORABLE Amy!! We got about 14 inches, but a little further south received over 20. Stay safe and stay warm:)

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  16. In solidarity I posted the measley few inches of snow we got here in North Texas a few weeks back. Your piles make our inches look sad!

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  17. Oh...my! That's quite the snow day! I bet you are kind of enjoying being away from the store. So fun to see all the dogs together. It's been cold and cloudy here today and they said we'd get rain but so far - none. We really are in a terrible draught. I hope you continue to have power. I know you must hate that Dave has to be out in all of it. I was thinking of you this morning and thinking how I miss our chats. We'll have to talk on the phone soon. I'm home all day tomorrow.- Sunday.

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  18. So glad you still have internet--you look good relaxing with your dogs. I think this is the only way you will ever get any rest..:) Enjoy it!

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  19. So nice that you did not loose power; hope that remains so for you! My sis lives in CT and they had to rake the snow off parts of the roof.

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  20. Keep on keeping warm and safe until this storm blows over. Mary (Scotland UK)

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  21. Wow! Now that's what I call snow - in the UK people tend to moan at a mere inch or two! Glad you've still got power, keep cuddling up to the furfaces.

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  22. We got hit hard here in Ontario, but you got hit twice as hard! Wow, that's a major storm. At least you and the pooches look nice and cozy! And you get to enjoy some family time you otherwise wouldn't have had. Silver lining!

    Nicole

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  23. Wow Amy, what a blizzard! You can really understand how people can get disorientated under these circumstances .. when everything is covered. Looks like you made the most of it:) Your dogs are so cute. I have one with a torn ACL too. She's 12 and we chose not to put her through surgery and had a brace custom made for her.

    Enjoy your snow day!
    leslie

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  24. The amount of snow you all got is just incredible, Amy. We kept watching the news and weather and I kept thinking about you out there in the middle of it. How far is Quincy from you? Didn't the whole town lose power or something? I'm so glad that you made it through safely! Bet you're ready for spring now, aren't you?? lol!

    xoxo laurie

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  25. Smart going Amy, hunkered down like we did. It was wicked once it got into blizzard mode. The wind was howling.

    Looks like here. Cars buried. I was very thankful for our neighbor and his tractor.

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  26. Glad to hear you have survived the storm. Nice to have your son there to shovel for you! Snow is so pretty as long as one doesn't have to deal with it.

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  27. Oh my goodness! Whew! I love seeing all of the photos! I've been hearing from my family about all of the snow but hadn't seen any pictures. WOW! I have to say as much as I miss the snow, I do not miss all of the shoveling that goes with it. Haha - I guess it's nice having sons, right? Hope you stayed warm and toasty!

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  28. I have been thinking about you the last few days wondering how it was going. Looks like you're doing just fine and enjoying the down time! The dogs are so funny and cute... Toby is just being a grumpy ole man, who does NOT want a change in routine or annoying little intruders! Too funny...

    Cindy

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  29. I might get cabin fever but those are some awesome pics and from way down south;it looks like a lot of fun.

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