The Craftiest Workshop

I was digging through some newspaper clippings and photocopies of stories and jokes while visiting my parents in the fall. I found this story entitled Diary of a Snow Shoveler.

I have looked online to try to find the original author but only found others that have reposted it.

I felt a certain kinship with the author after experiencing our first full winter on our acreage last year. I decided to write my own version of it. All the weather data is true and dates accurate as I found some snowfall data for our area from last year. I am sure my husband helped out more than I project in my story?? I do recall him repeatedly saying, “Oh, I thought you said you love shoveling?”

I hope you enjoy the read and it makes you smile or laugh at my trials and tribulations.

Diary of Winter in the Country

Nov. 24:  Moved into our new house that sits on 15 acres.  So great to have so much space and quiet.  There is already probably 30 cm of snow on the ground.  The previous owners have nicely cleared the driveway with their tractor.  We opted to not buy it from them as we have been assured that this area does not get very much snow.

Nov.  27:  Spent some time traipsing through our forest picking up some larger branches and stacking them.  The cool fresh air is so lovely and working outdoors is the best kind of exercise.

Dec. 3:  The weather has been beautiful this past week with temperatures just above 0°.  I have spent a fair amount of time outdoors walking around our property and exploring all that it has to offer.  I even cleared a walking path through the trees. I am loving acreage living!!

Dec. 5:  Wish I had been checking the weather forecast.  Temperature dropped down to -20° overnight.  All that melting snow has changed into ice.  At least we now have a nice layer of snow/ice over the gravel driveway which will make it easier to shovel going forward.

Dec. 13:  It snowed for the first time since we moved in.  Only 2 cm, but enough for me to get out there and push some snow.  The driveway is about 40 steps from the garage doors to the edge and at least 100 steps wide.  My plan is do the driveway one day, the road to the far shed a second day and then tackle the drive to the main road on the third day.

Dec. 14:  Another couple cm of snow fell last night but I stuck to my guns and left the new snow on the driveway and only worked on the first part of the road.  It is 100m long but if there isn’t too much snow you just push a path down the middle then you can make a pass pushing snow on one side and a second pass pushing snow on the other.  Easy peasy and only takes an hour or so.

Dec. 15: With the snowbanks getting quite deep now, we decided to buy some reflector poles so we know where to drive to get out to the road.

Dec. 16:  Another 5cm fell.  Finally got to the last section that gets us to the main road.  Another 100m of shoveling and now there is about 10cm. With the strong north winds, there are some hard drifts in there.  Wasn’t quite as easy to shovel a path down the middle but I got it done.  I am getting my steps in and it is only around -15° on snowy days so it is a comfortable temperature for shoveling.

Dec. 17:  The colder weather has started to play havoc on the garage door opener lights.  They refuse to shut off automatically and manually doesn’t work either.  Hopefully when it warms up again they will go back to normal. 

Dec. 18:  We decided to leave Grande Prairie for two weeks and head back to Fort McMurray to visit our kids.  Not too much snow in the forecast so we figure we should be fine.  My husband’s brother has said he will come out to check on the house and shovel if there is too much snow.

Jan. 2:  We returned to a drive full of snow.  My brother in-law had brought out a friend’s snowblower and did the deck and main part of the driveway in front of the house but left the road driveway for us to tackle upon our return.  Good thing for those reflector poles, otherwise we would not have had a clue where the path should be.

Jan. 3:  It was slow going to clear the road.  A lot of push, lift and throw.  There is no more option of just pushing the snow.  The snow walls on either side of the road have become quite narrow now.  I went inside to take a break after the first section.  When I came back out after an hour break I noticed that a neighbour had come by with his bobcat and cleared the remaining part to the road.  What lovely neighbours we have.

Jan.9:  Over the weekend we got another 20cm of snow.  My husband finally took pity on me and came out to help.  He used the push shovel to make a path and I followed behind collecting the snow that spilled over the shovel.  Two people working together took half the time.  Don’t we look happy.

Jan. 14:  Temperatures were hovering around 0° all week.  I spent time outdoors every day trudging about with my snow shoes.  At one point I fell over, ended up lying in the snow laughing for a bit before I struggled to get up.  The snow is really deep.

Jan. 16:  We decided to invite my brother in-law and his family out for a weiner roast over the fire and some snow shoeing.  We were hanging out in the driveway when all of the snow on the metal roof slid down like an avalanche covering their vehicle in a heavy blanket of snow.  Luckily no one had been standing close enough to get anything more than a face dusting of snow.

Jan. 31: We have been spoiled this past few weeks with mild temperatures and not too much snow.  THIS is why we moved out to an acreage.  It is wonderful to be outside and enjoy the sunshine, even though the daylight only lasts about 8 hours.

Feb. 3: I have noticed that wherever the deer and moose wander they wreak havoc on the tree branches; so many broken branches. I guess I will have to think about making a path for the animals to save the trees. A deer ventured into the yard and ate all the lower branches of one of our spruce trees; it now resembles a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Feb. 5:  I awoke last night around midnight to the sound of coyotes howling.  It is the most eerie feeling to hear that when there is rarely any sounds at night.  I wonder how often this happens…it really upset my sleep.

Feb. 10:  We had a few days of -20° at the beginning of the month but then boy did it warm up.  Yesterday the high was +9° and we got some rain.  Of course the downfall to this is that the entire driveway and road turned into a sheet of ice.  It is becoming very precarious trying to walk outside.

Feb. 16:  Still quite warm out today with a high of 6°.  All the daytime melting and then refreezing at night has left our driveway in perfect condition for skating.  I took out my skates and skated all the way to the road….another great advantage of being out in the country.  My husband thinks I am nuts.

Feb. 19:  Another 15 cm of snow in the last three days.  Where is the neighbour with that bobcat??  I really hope the snow plow driver slows down as he passes our road and doesn’t send a bunch back into our driveway.  At least I don’t have to ask my husband for help anymore.  He just sighs when I am getting ready to go out and starts to get dressed.

Feb. 22:  So cold.  The overnight high is supposed to be -33° tonight.  The strong north wind makes our bedroom feel like a freezer.  I have more blankets on my bed than I have had anywhere else we have lived.  It has to warm up soon. The furnace started to blow only cold air so I had to go out and chip away ice from the cold air furnace return so it could breath again.

Feb. 28:  Another 10cm of snow overnight.  I am so tired from all the coyote howling.  Every night around midnight they start and it lasts about 30 min, just enough time to fully wake me up.  The snow piles are about waist high so every time I have to shovel I have to lift snow higher and higher.  The path to the road feels more and more like a tunnel every day.

Mar. 1:  I heard on the radio that the Grande Prairie area has received over 150 cm of snow since mid November.  I can believe it!! I have shoveled all of that 150cm.

Mar. 9:  Out shopping at Canadian Tire this afternoon and we found a nice snow blower on clearance at 50% off its regular price.  It didn’t fit into the back of our Ford Escape but we borrowed my brother in-laws mini van to get it home.  We are ready for the next big snowfall. Of course, now my husband wants to play in the snow.

Mar. 27:   It has only snowed four times since we got the snow blower and the most was just over 1cm.  That is hardly enough to bother even using the shovel.  Of course, after getting the snow blower, no snow would fall!  I guess I should be thankful that there will be no more significant snow this year.

Apr. 2:  We woke up and looked outside this morning to find a lake in our front yard.  Apparently, as the snow in the creek starts to thaw it drains down past our place.  150cm of snow can create a lot of water especially if the culvert is still covered in snow and ice. 

Apr. 3: I wore a pair of high rubber boots and splash pants, took my ice chopper and spent a couple hours getting the culvert clear enough for water to pass through. First time meeting our neighbours as they also came out to see why all the water was pooling. I realize now that I should have bought some hip waders instead of a snow blower.  Starting to wish for more snow….