A Few Quick Notes - 627

-After several days of warm weather we awoke yesterday to relatively cold and windy surroundings.  Of course, it seems that what passes for cold these days is nothing like winters past when cold was cold (and cars needed to be plugged in).

-One major consequence of our unseasonably warm weather is that we haven't had much snow to shovel.  While I can't really complain about the lack of shovelling, I was expecting a somewhat typical amount of shovelling this year.  I was further expecting that this shovelling would finally be enough to wear out one of our two shovels.  Because of these nested expectations some number of months ago I began dreaming about the replacement shovel I could justify buying once the cheap shovel I'm currently using finally wore out.  Somehow, and maybe for the better, the cheap two-pack of shovels that we bought about three years ago just so that we would have shovels when we moved into our house have been much more resilient than expected.

-Several months ago, for reasons that are no longer entirely clear to me, I decided to try to up my cabbage consumption.  Thinking back on this decision I think that it must have had something to do with price as it wasn't until after I'd made the decision that I learned that there were some nutritional benefits to be derived from the dietary addition.

While I can't say that I'm yet a daily consumer of cabbage, I have gotten pretty good at adding to my soup rotation, using it as the base component for any salads, and adding it to sandwiches.

I'm quite impressed with myself that I've managed to keep this going for a few months with relative ease.  Maybe with a few months more of effort the practice will become so ingrained that it will no longer require effort.

-I really think I need a nap.

Cameron - 4
Neil - 0

Definitely a storm

I rather prematurely doubted the severity of today's forecast storm.

Soon after my post things really began to pick up.



[Embedded video]

Of course, just as things were picking up we had to head out for my optometry appointment (and a trip to the local Asian grocery store).

Not only was the blowing snow really quite good at reducing visibility, but the cold temperatures (almost -40 with the windchill) and high humidity (about 80%) were causing cars' windows to frost up in a most impressive fashion.  I've never experienced anything quite like it.

Normally, when it's this cold the major upside is low humidity (including a low risk of snow).  Somehow, we've managed to get everything today.



[Embedded video]


[Embedded video]

Fortunately, the snowing is supposed to stop in a few hours.  I guess once it does I will have to head out and take care of some shovelling.  Yum!

Cameron - 11
Neil - 0

Big bad snow storm?

So, for the first time this winter in Regina we've been warned that a snow storm may be on our way.  Of course, I thought it was supposed to start hours ago and presently it's just begun to snow lightly - so I'm not altogether what this says about the impact of the forecast storm.  Is it just a little late?

Of course, one of the things I find funny about this storm is that it is supposed to bring with it 10-15 cm of snow.  In other parts of the country this quantity of snow would hardly be worth noticing - particularly during a winter when the eastern portion of the continent has been hit repeatedly with more substantial blasts.

To be a little fairer to this region, even a relatively small amount of snow and wind can make driving, particularly highway driving, quite dangerous.  As there is almost nothing to stop snow from blowing once clear streets and highways can instantly, or so it seems, have snow patches that might impact the trajectory of one's vehicle.  Even days after a snowfall light and fluffy snow can be blown around in ways that are problematic for drivers.

What makes this storm particularly notable, though, is that it is supposed to be taking place while it is relatively cold (-21ish and with a windchill of -37ish).  Normally when it is this cold we don't get all that much snow - and we certainly don't have snowstorms in these conditions.

I guess we will just have to wait and see if the storm does materialize.

Cameron - 9
Neil - 0

A Few Quick Notes 618

-After about a week and a half of unseasonably warm temperatures we've again seen the mercury drop to something approximating the seasonal norm (even if we're still a few degrees above where we normally are).  The nasty consequence of the warm weather is that much of the snow that we had on the ground melted and then re-froze as ice and because many people hadn't been completely up to date on their sideway clearing much of this ice is now on sidewalks around Regina.  Snowfalls, however slight, since the drop in temperatures have conveniently masked much of the ice making walking even more treacherous than it was when it ice was exposed.

-This morning at about 8:30 I went out for a nice shovelling session.  I managed to take care of our shovelling and to also shovel the sidewalks of our neighbours on both sides.  Much to my surprise, I think I managed to take care of this shovelling before any humans walked along the sidewalk.

-For dinner tonight we should be having a nice batch of mushroom and barley soup.  If I decide to be ambitious we may even have some type of freshly baked bread or dessert to accompany the soup (maybe even both).

-I think that after about a month since we first felt the symptons of a cold Jeannette and I are both back to about 98%.  There's a bit more phlegm than either of us would like, but it's not too bad.

It was also new snow tire day

Just as the installer was finishing with our new garage door, I was making my way north to our snow tire installation appointment.

This winter, our third in Regina and our third with this car, we decided to switch from the all-season tires that came with the car to dedicated snow tires.  Though we hadn't had issues with the tires over the past two winters, we were assuming that as the tires aged/wore they would be less effective in Regina's winter conditions.

Pleasantly, the installation process was quick (even though the vendor, apparently, hadn't properly booked our appointment and then had to squeeze us in).  Conveniently, it was also the case that it was snowing on the afternoon of our appointment so I had the pleasure of driving on our old tires to the appointment and then our new tires from the appointment.

Almost as soon as I started driving on the new tires I could feel the difference.

Of course, since the tires were installed we've hardly had any new snow (and for the past few days it has even been above zero).

Spring's arrival is no longer quite so ominous

After a little investigation yesterday morning, I was very happy to learn that all of my sump pump problems could be attributed to user error.  I was also happy to learn that we don't have a sump pump with an internally wired switch - so if either the switch or the pump go I can replace the problem part and not the whole operation.

Maybe it was the good news on the sump pump front, but somewhere I found the motivation to finally open up and apply our epoxy crack filling compound.  Of course, I'm not sure that the stuff will end up being all that effective as the instructions imply that it works more quickly and effectively when applied to warmer surfaces.  Unfortunately, our basement walls aren't all that warm at the moment.

The other good news of the day is that the forecast sun hasn't yet arrived.  With sun and higher temperatures we'd really be in the midst of a rather intense melt.  The absence of the sun should slow things down somewhat dramatically - which will hopefully allow us to avoid any Spring melt related problems.

On the other hand, because of the location of the snow during last year's thaw we've been keeping the patio and side of the house free of snow and it would be nice to have a rather dramatic melt to provide me some comfort that my work was worth it or the knowledge that no matter how clear I keep the foundation we'll have thaw leakage.

Anyway, no matter what the sun does, we should have at least a little melting today and we should be ready for it.  If I'm particularly motivated I may take this opportunity to remove some ice at the base of our driveway.

A Few Quick Notes 605

-After temperatures just above zero, we've now dropped into the -20 zone.  As surprising as some of you might find it, I actually prefer this temperature because it's much drier and easier to content with while walking.

-I seems that between Friday night and Saturday morning we had a bit of a secret snowfall.  Because it was just a few centimetres and because it was almost -40 (with wind chill) I opted to leave it on the ground yesterday.  Of course, this means that at some point today I'll have to head out and deal with it.  Yum.

-In a rare roll reversal, this morning Jeannette suggested a trip to the grocery store and I suggested that such a trip wasn't necessary.  I wonder when this will happen again?

-After nine days off, I'll finally have to head back to work tomorrow.  Hopefully my sleep schedule hasn't been too contorted by this break.

-Thanks to our turkey-free lifestyle this holiday season hasn't been too bad for our diets.  Aside from an overconsumption of holiday breads, we've managed to eat pretty normally over the past few weeks.  I guess this means we won't need to make any sure-not-to-be-followed dieting resolutions for New Year's?

A Few Quick Notes 604

-It has been between about -24 and -21 for the past 24 hours.  Of course, the windchill's been dipping into the -33 range, meaning that we've been feeling it a little more than we might have.  Amazingly, it doesn't take long for -20 with no windchill to not feel particularly cold - but as soon as you drop that by -10 (either with windchill or pure chilliness) it has a much more effective bite.

-Though we did have a little snow today it wasn't enough to motivate me to head out to shovel.  If I had  to guess it looks as though maybe less than a centimetre.

-At about lunch today I started to prepare some pea soup in our slow cooker.  Unfortunately, I'm now a little nervous that the soup won't be ready for our normal dinner time.  I guess it's good that we don't have a strict schedule today and that a delayed dinner shouldn't be much of a problem.

-We're shockingly close to Christmas.  I guess because we didn't do much shopping this year, and the shopping we did do had to be done early enough to be mailed across the country, it hasn't really hit me that we're only a few days away from Christmas until now.

-I've really been doing a bad job at blogging this year.  Maybe 2014 will be different?

It's still snowing

Though there may have been intermittent short breaks, it has more-or-less been snowing since before I woke up yesterday morning.  Not only has this meant that my attempts at shovelling were a little less long-lived than I would have hoped, but that I'm witnessing the most substantial snowfall to occur since I moved to Regina.

This may be somewhat surprising for some of you given the reputation for putting on a good winter that Regina has.

It seems rather than having large snowfalls each winter, Regina secures it's "Winter Wonderland" status by having a number of smaller snowfalls that just don't melt until the spring.

Yes, it's entirely possible that the base layer of snow that's been deposited this weekend will actually be around until May (only March if we're lucky).  Of course, by the time things start to melt it's likely that several more dumps will have been piled on top, helping to ensure the longevity of the initial dump.

Because we've spent the past weeks in Regina and watched the temperatures and their steady downward trajectory none of these developments are particularly surprising.  What is much more surprising to me are the photos of the rest of Canada that seem to suggest that large swaths of the country may only be experience fall-like conditions.

Regina, quickly and silently, has tricked me into considering November a wintery month.

A Few Quick Notes 603

-After a few false starts, we've finally had a full-fledged snowy winter's day in Regina.  At the moment I'd say that we have somewhere between 5 and 7 cm of snow on the ground, though I guess my estimate could be a little off due because zero-ish temperatures are leading to some simultaneous melting.

-Because of the snowfall I'll have to head out for some shovelling later today.  I tried to do some shovelling a few weeks ago when we had another small snowfall but there wasn't enough to really clear.

-Last weekend we purchased a discount vegetarian Indian cookbook.  The night we purchased the book we prepared about four of the dishes in the book.  They were great.  The only problem with the book is that it has lead us to over eat.  Of course, this overeating hasn't discouraged me from fantasizing about preparing even more dishes from the book this weekend.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

-A few months ago we purchased a food dehydrator.  Since that time we've been really into dried apples and fruit leather.  Turns out that with a few hours of dehydrating time you can turn a dozen apples into nothing more than a few grams of dried apples/fruit leather.  The problem, if you can say there is a problem, is that the dried fruit can be consumed almost instantly and without the feeling that you're chewing through multiple apples in a matter of seconds.

-Turns out I should probably do some fish tank cleaning today.  Do Saturdays get more fun?

-Last weekend, while socializing with neighbours, one of the guys recommended a pomegranate de-seeding technique.  When I finally got around to trying it last night I was amazed that it was actually as easy and effective as promised.  You really have do the whole thing in less than a minute.



[Embedded video]

Spring comes to Regina

Finally, after months of snow accumulation or non-melting, we've finally had a day with substantial melting.

Because the temperatures crossed 10 celsius for the first time this year we've managed to lose a very good chunk of our remaining snow cover.

Of course, because I had a sense that today would be the day that we would witness this melting I decided to capture the event with some time-lapse.

[Embedded video]

Then I decided to jazz up the previously captured video to make it a little more watchable - I'm not sure if I've really succeeded.

[Embedded video]

Can't wait for the melt to continue tomorrow (so I can time-lapse even more).

A tale of two storms

It seems that yesterday two of Canada's most important cities, Regina and St. John's, were hit with crippling snow storms.  Of course, these storms were quite different.

In St. John's/much of Newfoundland a very substantial snowfall was accompanied by strong winds and sizeable drifts.  Not surprisingly, many people throughout the province lost power - and there are apparently many who are still without power.

Of course, maybe the worst aspect of the St. John's storm (aside from the mass power outage and crippling snowfall) is the fact that for the past 24 hours the temperature hasn't been below freezing.  So all of this freshly fallen snow is in the process of melting or at least turning into slush.  Yum (especially if the forecast about lower temperatures later in the week comes to pass).

Not surprisingly, the way things played out in Regina has been a little different.

First of all, we had less snow and less wind (so our drifting wasn't nearly as bad).  On the other hand, I suspect we've had a touch less ploughing of side streets and we had side streets that already had inches of ice build-up so many side streets are almost impassable and will likely remain in a similar condition for at least the next few days.  Oh, and instead of the temperatures dropping to something that might allow melting of the snow the temperatures have dropped substantially.  It seems that a windchill of -29 is as high as it has been in the past 24 hours (when I was walking around in this weather it seemed cold but in retrospect I timed my walk during the warmest part of the day).

Anyway, while if I had to choose one of these two storms I'd likely choose the Regina storm it will, nonetheless, likely be with us a little longer than the already melting snowfall that recently befell St. John's.

Things I've learned since I moved to Saskatchewan

1. There are people in Canada that actually follow the CFL

For most of my life I assumed that the CFL was mostly just a punchline or a trivia answer.  Turns out it is actually a going sports concern in parts of Canada.  Of course, at least as far as I can tell, those parts of the country that care about the CFL are likely found somewhere west of Winnipeg and east of Calgary (I'm pretty sure Vancouver is way too cool to be into anything in a big way).

2. Municipal snow plows are only for primary arteries

Yup, they basically don't plough residential streets in many communities in Saskatchewan.  Instead of ploughing residents just pack the snow into inches high sheets of ice that they are then expected to drive on.  Of course, over time deep ruts develop and those lower clearance vehicles may have a few problems - but that seems to be accepted as a consequence of owning anything less than a pick-up truck.

3. Saskatchewan is one of the world's primary sources for lentils

This cool fact seems to be under appreciated by most of the Saskatchewanians I've spoken to so far.  Of course, I'm still hopeful that eventually this informational nugget may form the basis of some kind of 'healthy protein' campaign, or at least as a protein heavy response to Alberta beef.

4. Saskatchewan mistakenly thinks that Shannon Tweed is a native daughter

Everybody knows that Shannon Tweed is really from Newfoundland.  Case closed.

5. 'Dry cold,' like 'dry heat,' makes all the difference

Though it's been at least -15 for the past few weeks it's not nearly as bad as -5 and the sideways-falling sleet-like precipitation that one often encounters in Newfoundland.  Of course, when you start getting really low temperatures your car may not start or you may get frostbite - but aren't these just small prices to pay for no slush?

I'm dreaming of a white Easter

This Easter development was certainly unexpected.

On again, off again

Since last night we've had periods of snow followed by periods in which the freshly fallen snow quickly melts away to almost nothing.

So within a few hours of waking this morning, much of the wonderful winter scene had vanished and been replaced with bare trees and a grey sky.

Then, almost as soon as our driveway was completely clear it began to snow again.

It then cleared and once again started to snow.

Because the ground is not frozen and it just isn't that cold I am sure that the snow we are receiving presently will also not last, though it is at least pleasant to look at (and it isn't making the roads all that bad - though I am sure that there are at least a few slippery spots).

Almost in the ballpark

A few hours ago I noticed that it had started to snow heavily.  Since I first noticed this snow the pace of snowfall has been maintained.  Given that we've now had a few hours of steady snowfall I was curious what the forecast for the region for the night is.  It is as follows:

Cloudy. Rain showers or flurries beginning early this evening then changing to flurries near midnight. Snowfall amount 2 cm. Low minus 2.

At this point 2 cm seems a little low.  I'm pretty sure we passed 2 cm hours ago.

Given the apparent inaccuracy of the forecast, at least it looks nice out there.

I'm sure there are at least a few people who go on trips to see this kind of thing.

How can it be this amazing?

Every time I head out and drive through the Annapolis Valley area I am struck by its incredible beauty.  And whenever I think I have seen it at its most beautiful it manages to find a way to outdo itself.

Anyway, today I ended up stopping by the Look-off and then heading back through Gaspereau.  I wasn't disappointed.

Of course, I don't think my photos do the scenery justice.

Why is snow-covered farmland so fun to look at?

Oh, and because it was me visiting these locations I decided to try to take a quick time-lapse video from the Look-off.

[Embedded video]

I actually think that this time-lapse clip turned out pretty well.  The downside is that the image quality is not as high as I would like.  Maybe I will pay the $1.99 to upgrade from the free to paid software to be able to get higher quality images.

Cameron: 44
Neil: 0

Bonus snowfall

Much to my surprise I looked out of our living room window late this morning and discovered that we were in the midst of a sudden snowfall.  I guess I hadn't checked the weather in a while and wasn't aware that we were to be getting any snow.

When I eventually did get around to checking on the forecast I learned that 2 to 4 cm is what was expected for today.  Though I haven't gone out with a ruler, I think that we are already much closer to 4 cm than 2 cm, and we may even already be past 4 cm.

Cameron: 24
Neil: 0

Storm? - 5

Well, it seems that after I went to sleep last night we did get some snow (it came after a nice base layer of freezing rain).  The temperature also dropped to -7 overnight.  As I haven't been outside I don't know exactly how bad it is, but I have to imagine that it is at least a little slippery and icy.

I think it is safe to say that this wasn't a particularly bad storm here and that we didn't get anywhere close to the 30 cm that had been forecast at one point.

Cameron: 23
Neil: 0

Storm? - 3

When I first started writing this post I thought that it hadn't started snowing.  Because I am a dedicated fact-checker I thought that I should take a look outside before making such a bold claim.

Much to my surprise, when I looked outside I learned that it has started snowing.  Of course because of the warm weather we've had all day the snow is quite wet and has not really started to accumulate.

At one point I read that we could be in for as much as 30 cm of snow.  I really hope we don't get 30 cm of this stuff.  Hell, even 5 cm of this stuff would be unpleasant.

And for those of you who are curious, I have received on-the-ground reports from Sackville that it is also showing there.  Even though their snow started much earlier in the day I am not sure if they are expected to get as much as us.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Cameron: 19
Neil: 0