My first blog post of the year was about the lack of snow in Northwest Pennsylvania on January 1st. It didn’t even feel like winter that day, with temperatures in the low 50s. About mid month Winter arrived, with a vengeance.
I took this picture around 9:30 am on January 16th. We had a couple snow storms earlier in the month, with no more than 6 inches lying on the ground at any one time. This picture shows how much snow was left from the last snow storm. Then came Winter Storm Izzy …
I took this picture the next morning, on January 17th. This picture shows how much snow we got from Winter Storm Izzy in a 24-hour time period. Bob estimated there was 10-11 inches of snow on the ground.
After Izzy left, lake effect snows began. Snow continued to fall at least through January 18th, adding 2 or 3 more inches of snow on top of the 13-15 inches of snow left behind by Izzy.
The warning for Winter Storm Landon began at 1:00 am on Thursday, February 3rd, and lasted through 10:00 am this morning.
I took this picture on Wednesday (2/2) at 2:43 pm before Winter Storm Landon arrived. The snow on the ground is what remains from our last major winter storm, Izzy, and lake effect snows. Note that the fire ring located behind the pavilion is visible.
I took this picture at 7:36 am this morning, while we were still under the winter storm warning for Winter Storm Landon. Note that the fire ring behind the pavilion is totally covered.
We got at least a foot of new snow from Winter Storm Landon. It is almost noon, and snow continues to fall! This is Winter in Northwest Pennsylvania.
This afternoon we went for a short walk in our neighborhood.
Looking Across Neighbors’ back yards to our house
I live in northwestern Pennsylvania. What crazy weather! It is January 1st. There is no snow, and the temperature was 53 degrees during our walk. The weather is crazy, but I like it. I would love today’s weather, if the sun was out!
On this New Year’s Eve, I am wishing a Happy New Year to my family and friends wherever you may be! Best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2022 filled with opportunities!
It has come to my attention that some of you may have missed seeing three of my blog posts. Our Benezette weekend getaway was a good time, and I wouldn’t want any of my readers to miss the blog posts. I backdated all three posts to appear before Christmas, when our getaway happened. The link for the third post is here. There is a link in that post for the previous two posts. Enjoy!
There was a light dusting of snow on the ground on Christmas Eve morning. That was the extent of our White Christmas, as the temperature for both Christmas Eve and Christmas were well above freezing. It also rained on Christmas Eve for most of the day.
Our Christmas Tree
Sometime after I took this picture the pre-lit lights on the top half of our 4-foot Christmas tree stopped working. There didn’t appear to be any reason for the bulbs not to work. The fuse was good. Bob checked individual bulbs, as best as he could, for any bad bulbs or bulbs not seated properly. On Christmas Eve day we took off the ornaments on the top half of our Christmas tree, and Bob pulled the top half of the tree from the base. He still wasn’t able to figure out why the bulbs wouldn’t light on the top half of the tree. We removed the light string completely from the top of the tree. He inserted a bulb contained in a plastic bag fastened to the string of lights. That bulb blew out immediately! It was then that Bob decided to remove the bottom string of lights as well. Afterward we put the ornaments on the Christmas tree and placed it back on the end table in front of the living room windows. So, on Christmas Eve, the only light on the Christmas tree was the star at the very top of the tree. We will buy strings of lights, or possibly a new Christmas tree, next year.
We spent a few daytime hours on Christmas Eve with Stacey and our granddaughters at their home in Oil City, PA.
Harper and Juniper had spent the previous night at “Big Grandma” Chris and Jay’s house. We picked up the girls there at 1:00 pm. The four of us arrived in Oil City around 2:00 pm. We kept the visit casual. For food we snacked on pizza, chicken wing dip and chips, breaded mozzarella cheese sticks, and beef franks in a blanket. We exchanged gifts with each other.
Our granddaughters liked their Triceratops and Brontosaurus night lights. The soft silicone night lights change between a variety of colors and giggle when they are touched.
Sometime after our gift exchange, Juniper asked if I wanted to go outside and watch her hit a ball. That activity allowed us to talk about sports. I asked Juniper if she would be interested in playing ball at school. Juniper said no, that she likes to come home from school immediately.
I LOVE this picture of our granddaughters and me!
Stacey, our granddaughters, Bob and I on Christmas Eve day
Stacey and the girls baked Peanut Butter Kiss cookies. We took home a dozen cookies, which we ate in their entirety before the end of the day. It is a good thing we opted to take only a dozen cookies! We left for home around 4:30 pm. We enjoyed our visit with Stacey and our granddaughters very much.
Bob and I spent Christmas, just the two of us. We liked the Christmas gifts that we got from each other. I gave Bob a golf club and a gift card for a local golf course, baking utensils for his pizza oven, and a Type C Micro SD card reader. Bob gave me a hardback copy of The Bowser Family History, a Ninja smoothie maker, USB flash drives with a carrying case, and a battery backup for my electronic devices.
For Christmas dinner Bob prepared a spatchcocked turkey that he grilled on the pellet grill.
Bob splatcocked a turkey for our Christmas dinner.
The turkey was delicious! Accompanying the turkey was mashed potatoes, stuffing, broccoli and cauliflower, and cranberry sauce.
For dessert we each had a slice of the frozen peanut pie that “Big Grandma” Chris had brought to us the other day.
It was a quiet, but nice, Christmas. We didn’t mind spending the day just the two of us.
I hope all of my readers had as good a Christmas as we did.
It is the morning of Christmas Eve. We have a White Christmas Eve morning, as there is a light dusting of snow on the ground. It doesn’t appear that we will have a White Christmas, as the weather forecast calls for rain and temperatures well above freezing today and tomorrow.
From Bob and me Merry Christmas to all of my blogging friends
The Beauty Around Us 