"Ed Pawlowski" > wrote in message
...
> On 1/28/2015 1:44 PM, Ophelia wrote:
>> This is the news we are receiving ...
>>
>> Massachusetts, Connecticut and Long Island had 3 feet of snow and icy
>> floods
>>
>> Plenty more he
>>
>> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...sland-way.html
>>
>>
>>
>
> You got better coverage than our paper here. They mentioned Auburn MA
> getting 36". That is about 20 miles north of me, a palce I go to
> frequently. We eded up with 26". I got the rest of my driveway and cars
> cleared this moening.
>
> I closed our work today too. A few people would not have made it and the
> plowing was not completed yet. We have our own pickup with plow and this
> was just too much to keep up with.

Are you in one of the the affected areas mentioned in that report? The
pictures are horrific!

--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

On 1/28/2015 3:06 PM, jmcquown wrote:

> My occasional neighbors (they're seasonal residents) arrived in South
> Carolina from wherever MA a couple of days ahead of the storm. It sure
> sounds to me like they just didn't want to deal with it. Then again,
> they're in their 80's.
>
> Jill

Good for them. I have a 20' walk in front of the house from the
driveway, then a couple of steps to the door. It will take me 20
minutes to clear it. I figured if a kid going by wanted to do it, I'd
pay 20 bucks. Not easy work, but still a good hourly rate. A bit
later. there was a knock at the door. Two teenagers offered to shovel
it for me. I asked how much and they wanted $25 apiece. No thanks.
I'll do it later. I clear it for safety as we never use that door
anyway.

On 1/28/2015 3:10 PM, Ophelia wrote:
>
>
> "Ed Pawlowski" > wrote in message
> ...
>> On 1/28/2015 1:44 PM, Ophelia wrote:
>>> This is the news we are receiving ...
>>>
>>> Massachusetts, Connecticut and Long Island had 3 feet of snow and icy
>>> floods
>>>
>>> Plenty more he
>>>
>>> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...sland-way.html
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> You got better coverage than our paper here. They mentioned Auburn MA
>> getting 36". That is about 20 miles north of me, a palce I go to
>> frequently. We eded up with 26". I got the rest of my driveway and
>> cars cleared this moening.
>>
>> I closed our work today too. A few people would not have made it and
>> the plowing was not completed yet. We have our own pickup with plow
>> and this was just too much to keep up with.
>
> Are you in one of the the affected areas mentioned in that report? The
> pictures are horrific!
>

Just deep snow, no damage here.

"Ed Pawlowski" > wrote in message
...
> On 1/28/2015 3:10 PM, Ophelia wrote:
>>
>>
>> "Ed Pawlowski" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> On 1/28/2015 1:44 PM, Ophelia wrote:
>>>> This is the news we are receiving ...
>>>>
>>>> Massachusetts, Connecticut and Long Island had 3 feet of snow and icy
>>>> floods
>>>>
>>>> Plenty more he
>>>>
>>>> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...sland-way.html
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> You got better coverage than our paper here. They mentioned Auburn MA
>>> getting 36". That is about 20 miles north of me, a palce I go to
>>> frequently. We eded up with 26". I got the rest of my driveway and
>>> cars cleared this moening.
>>>
>>> I closed our work today too. A few people would not have made it and
>>> the plowing was not completed yet. We have our own pickup with plow
>>> and this was just too much to keep up with.
>>
>> Are you in one of the the affected areas mentioned in that report? The
>> pictures are horrific!
>>
>
> Just deep snow, no damage here.

Good! Hard work to clear it though, eh?

--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

On 2015-01-28 3:21 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

> Good for them. I have a 20' walk in front of the house from the
> driveway, then a couple of steps to the door. It will take me 20
> minutes to clear it. I figured if a kid going by wanted to do it, I'd
> pay 20 bucks. Not easy work, but still a good hourly rate. A bit
> later. there was a knock at the door. Two teenagers offered to shovel
> it for me. I asked how much and they wanted $25 apiece. No thanks.
> I'll do it later. I clear it for safety as we never use that door anyway.


You gotta love the predatorial supply and demand price gouging. When I
was a kid you would be lucky to get 50 cents to shovel a double drive
and the sidewalk.

I have about 25 feet of sidewalk and a parking area that will fit 6 cars
and we are on an unopened road allowance that goes past us to the
neighbour's place which is about 100 yards further from the road. With
the old neighbour, I would get out some time in the morning and shovel
my drive, parking are and the lane up to the road. I used a shovel if it
was light or the snow blower if there was enough snow to warrant it. He
had a tractor mounted snow blower and he would do the rest. If he was
out before me he would to the lane and part of the parking area, staying
clear of the cars to avoid accidental damage.

The new neighbour has a friend with a plow who comes by and does the
lane and his circular driveway. The times we have had snow at night the
lane was plowed before I was up for breakfast.

On 1/28/2015 3:21 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

> Good for them. I have a 20' walk in front of the house from the
> driveway, then a couple of steps to the door. It will take me 20
> minutes to clear it. I figured if a kid going by wanted to do it, I'd
> pay 20 bucks. Not easy work, but still a good hourly rate. A bit
> later. there was a knock at the door. Two teenagers offered to shovel
> it for me. I asked how much and they wanted $25 apiece. No thanks.
> I'll do it later. I clear it for safety as we never use that door anyway.

We park our car at the end of the driveway, then shovel a path down
the sidewalk path over to the car. If I can get to the car, I don't
see any point to clearing the whole driveway. I also try to make
a path across the grass on both sides for the mail carrier to go
house to house.

nancy, lazy

On 2015-01-28 5:17 PM, Nancy Young wrote:

>
> We park our car at the end of the driveway, then shovel a path down
> the sidewalk path over to the car. If I can get to the car, I don't
> see any point to clearing the whole driveway. I also try to make
> a path across the grass on both sides for the mail carrier to go
> house to house.
>
Why? I once saw the post office doing a time and motion study. The mail
carrier was doing his regular route while someone with a stop watch was
timing him. Rather than walking along at a brisk rate and walking
across people's lawns, he was dawdling along and going up and down
driveways. If their routes are established based on those studies, just
clean the driveway and sidewalk.

"Nancy Young" > wrote in message
...
> On 1/28/2015 3:21 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
>> Good for them. I have a 20' walk in front of the house from the
>> driveway, then a couple of steps to the door. It will take me 20
>> minutes to clear it. I figured if a kid going by wanted to do it, I'd
>> pay 20 bucks. Not easy work, but still a good hourly rate. A bit
>> later. there was a knock at the door. Two teenagers offered to shovel
>> it for me. I asked how much and they wanted $25 apiece. No thanks.
>> I'll do it later. I clear it for safety as we never use that door
>> anyway.
>
> We park our car at the end of the driveway, then shovel a path down
> the sidewalk path over to the car. If I can get to the car, I don't
> see any point to clearing the whole driveway. I also try to make
> a path across the grass on both sides for the mail carrier to go
> house to house.

Is your area suffering such large snowfalls?


--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

On 1/28/2015 5:51 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2015-01-28 5:17 PM, Nancy Young wrote:
>
>>
>> We park our car at the end of the driveway, then shovel a path down
>> the sidewalk path over to the car. If I can get to the car, I don't
>> see any point to clearing the whole driveway. I also try to make
>> a path across the grass on both sides for the mail carrier to go
>> house to house.
>>
> Why? I once saw the post office doing a time and motion study. The mail
> carrier was doing his regular route while someone with a stop watch was
> timing him. Rather than walking along at a brisk rate and walking
> across people's lawns, he was dawdling along and going up and down
> driveways. If their routes are established based on those studies, just
> clean the driveway and sidewalk.

I don't have to, and it's not as if my neighbors connect my path,
but if I can make their walk a little easier, why not. They
walk house to house through the snow unless it's really deep, not
up and down the driveways.

They already walk miles a day, they don't go up and down the
driveways if they can cut across.

nancy

On 1/28/2015 5:17 PM, Nancy Young wrote:

>
> We park our car at the end of the driveway, then shovel a path down
> the sidewalk path over to the car. If I can get to the car, I don't
> see any point to clearing the whole driveway. I also try to make
> a path across the grass on both sides for the mail carrier to go
> house to house.
>
> nancy, lazy

I clear it all. One reason, I can park 8' from the house using the
family room door. I don't see any reason to schlep a dozen bags of
groceries returning from our monthly shopping trip. I also want it
clear for any emergency, delivery, whatever. I have a remote starter
so the car is warming up when I get to it.

We used to do it all by hand, but now it is machine done. I'm very glad
we did that a few years back.

On 1/28/2015 5:51 PM, Dave Smith wrote:

> Why? I once saw the post office doing a time and motion study. The mail
> carrier was doing his regular route while someone with a stop watch was
> timing him. Rather than walking along at a brisk rate and walking
> across people's lawns, he was dawdling along and going up and down
> driveways. If their routes are established based on those studies, just
> clean the driveway and sidewalk.
>
>

Kind of funny watching those studies following the carrier. They follow
the rules exactly. Now they keep tabs on them electronically. My
mailbox lid has a bar code label inside and the carrier must scan it
whether we have mail or not. My box is the first on that section of the
route.

wrote:
> On Tue, 27 Jan 2015 17:47:38 -0500, "Jean B." > wrote:
>
>
>>>
>> Same here. They really NEED to have their food. I can't imagine why
>> this guy said what he did. I sure hope he didn't convince anyone to put
>> away their feeders.
>>
>> I do have a question, which someone might be able to answer. One is
>> often told (or reads) that birds need water in the winter. BUT how on
>> earth did the birds survive before man started putting out water for
>> them? Obviously the birds DID survive without man putting it out. What
>> am I missing here?
>
> They drink from puddles, I have seen them doing that and I think they
> get moisture off blades of grass as well when times are hard.

But in the winter, puddles are apt to be laced with salt. And the
grass, at least now, is covered with snow. Obviously birds did survive
the winter. Hmmm. Maybe the salt complicates things?
>>
>> (And I do view food differently because I have been feeding the birds
>> and figure they make their nest near sources of food and thus become
>> reliant on those sources.)
>
> I am certain the old trees near me get more woodpeckers because I feed
> during the summer as well and it's a short flight between my balcony
> and the trees. The woodpeckers are probably my favourite, they become
> the most friendly and by mid-summer do not fly off just because I go
> out there.

I love my woodpeckers! I have two feeders and foods that they
particularly like: blueberry pellets (which never attracted
blueberries) and a fruit-nut blend. Both of these are in peanut
feeders. Now I can't find more of those feeders. The ones I DO see are
just wire mesh. The ones I have are metal with round holes in it.

Julie Bove wrote:
>
> "Jean B." > wrote in message
> ...
>> wrote:
>>> On Tue, 27 Jan 2015 14:08:00 -0500, "Jean B." > wrote:
>>>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> On Mon, 26 Jan 2015 20:37:58 -0500, Ed Pawlowski > wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The big snow starts after midnight. Expecting 24", maybe more.
>>>>>
>>>>> I guess it has left the USA now because it is here. I am just keeping
>>>>> my fingers crossed that the power does not go down The wind is
>>>>> due to gust at 100km around lunchtime.
>>>>>
>>>> It is still snowing here. When I awoke, late (I obviously was going
>>>> nowhere) and looked out the window, the snow looked quite innocent,
>>>> with
>>>> tiny flakes flakes drifting... I was going to say down, but they were
>>>> dancing all over the place. For a moment, I thought this must be a
>>>> good
>>>> sign, that there couldn't be that much snow on the ground. But when I
>>>> got to the point where I could gaze out at the bird feeders and toward
>>>> the road, I was greeted by the appalling sight of A LOT of the dreadful
>>>> white stuff. I had decided NOT to start dealing with this at a time
>>>> that would guarantee that I would get soaking wet, so I haven't
>>>> explored
>>>> yet. Instead I am pondering the most-logical approach. At least it
>>>> looks like the thoughtful plowing contractor has been on the job,
>>>> because we don't have a lot of compacted snow at the end of the
>>>> driveway.
>>>>
>>>> I will add that my main preparations were to get two more bird feeders
>>>> and a lot of bird food and suet, so my birds would be happy even if I
>>>> couldn't get to the feeders for a couple of days. Some idiot at one of
>>>> the places where I bought bird food told me I should take in my feeders
>>>> because the birds wouldn't be out. I am glad I was skeptical, because
>>>> the birds are very much in evidence.
>>>
>>> I have feeders on my balcony and there has been a lineup nearly all
>>> day with squatters on the rail and feeders occupied! Ground feeding
>>> birds find snow very difficult and need the extra. I put out lots of
>>> suet to try and keep them warm.
>>>
>> Same here. They really NEED to have their food. I can't imagine why
>> this guy said what he did. I sure hope he didn't convince anyone to
>> put away their feeders.
>>
>> I do have a question, which someone might be able to answer. One is
>> often told (or reads) that birds need water in the winter. BUT how on
>> earth did the birds survive before man started putting out water for
>> them? Obviously the birds DID survive without man putting it out.
>> What am I missing here?
>>
>> (And I do view food differently because I have been feeding the birds
>> and figure they make their nest near sources of food and thus become
>> reliant on those sources.)
>
> Before we built roads and houses like we have now, there were likely not
> only more natural sources of food but sources of water too! Things like
> a fallen log could hold water in the cracks of the bark. And naturally
> shady areas tend to hold moisture.
>
> I see now not only why we got that rat under our house but why my
> neighbor has a mud slide in front of his house. He did clean up the mud
> on Sunday only to have it come right back. Not only did he remove every
> bit of vegetation from his back yard but he totally leveled the land as
> well. The entire back yard is mud now. And it is on higher ground than
> the front yard that slopes towards the street. I also think there still
> is a broken pipe there that needs to be fixed because I had that problem
> as did the person on the other side of me. And we had over 24 hours of
> dry weather, yet the mud slide came back.

That's gross.

Re the birds and water, sure. But the moist areas are covered with
snow. I don't know what the birds are doing, but they survive. (Or
maybe I just don't see how many don't survive, which I am sure is the
case in general.)

Ophelia wrote:
> This is the news we are receiving ...
>
> Massachusetts, Connecticut and Long Island had 3 feet of snow and icy
> floods
>
> Plenty more he
>
> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...sland-way.html
>
>

We are inland, so we didn't get floods, although coastal areas did.

I can attest to having A LOT of snow. I was afraid we would not be
capable of shoveling what needed to be cleared, but somehow we did. I
was glad to see that I could shovel for 5+ hours straight and not have a
heart attack. I did vary my approaches whenever I got tired, and that
seemed to work.

Tomorrow, I will hack away at some of the peaks, widen some paths, etc.
because more snow is coming on Friday and again... I don't even want to
think about it.

I will say that at first I was alternating between a walkway and making
a path to my front birdfeeders. (Someone else made the path to the back
ones.) I could see that one of the front feeders was low and knew that
one of the back feeders must be on the verge of emptiness.

On 1/28/2015 8:57 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> On 1/28/2015 5:17 PM, Nancy Young wrote:
>
>>
>> We park our car at the end of the driveway, then shovel a path down
>> the sidewalk path over to the car. If I can get to the car, I don't
>> see any point to clearing the whole driveway. I also try to make
>> a path across the grass on both sides for the mail carrier to go
>> house to house.
>>
>> nancy, lazy
>
> I clear it all. One reason, I can park 8' from the house using the
> family room door. I don't see any reason to schlep a dozen bags of
> groceries returning from our monthly shopping trip.

For whatever reason, that doesn't bother me at all. Still,
I got a pop up bag from Costco last month, it's amazing how
much stuff fits in that if I'm trying to save a trip to the
car. Used it today, as a matter of fact.

> I also want it
> clear for any emergency, delivery, whatever. I have a remote starter
> so the car is warming up when I get to it.
>
> We used to do it all by hand, but now it is machine done. I'm very glad
> we did that a few years back.

You do have more wintery weather than I do, for sure. We sometimes
get a lot of snow but many years, not much.

nancy

"Ed Pawlowski" > wrote in message
...
> On 1/28/2015 5:17 PM, Nancy Young wrote:
>
>>
>> We park our car at the end of the driveway, then shovel a path down
>> the sidewalk path over to the car. If I can get to the car, I don't
>> see any point to clearing the whole driveway. I also try to make
>> a path across the grass on both sides for the mail carrier to go
>> house to house.
>>
>> nancy, lazy
>
> I clear it all. One reason, I can park 8' from the house using the family
> room door. I don't see any reason to schlep a dozen bags of groceries
> returning from our monthly shopping trip. I also want it clear for any
> emergency, delivery, whatever. I have a remote starter so the car is
> warming up when I get to it.
>
> We used to do it all by hand, but now it is machine done. I'm very glad we
> did that a few years back.

We don't often get snow here but it is necessary to clear it all. If we
don't then whatever is left there will melt during the day, then as the sun
sets, form ice. I suppose if you did little bits you could just put down
ice melt but removing it all is the best thing to do.

I was rather amazed when we lived in NY, MA and PA that we didn't get that
melting like we do here. We could actually clear a path there and it would
remain clear until the big melt occurred. Our temps. just fluctuate too
much here. Has been in the 60's during the day. Is 38 right now which I
think is the coldest it will be for a week or so.

"Ed Pawlowski" > wrote in message
...
> On 1/28/2015 5:51 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
>
>> Why? I once saw the post office doing a time and motion study. The mail
>> carrier was doing his regular route while someone with a stop watch was
>> timing him. Rather than walking along at a brisk rate and walking
>> across people's lawns, he was dawdling along and going up and down
>> driveways. If their routes are established based on those studies, just
>> clean the driveway and sidewalk.
>>
>>
>
> Kind of funny watching those studies following the carrier. They follow
> the rules exactly. Now they keep tabs on them electronically. My mailbox
> lid has a bar code label inside and the carrier must scan it whether we
> have mail or not. My box is the first on that section of the route.

Our street is apparently one where they take their lunch break. The mail
truck will pull over and stay in the same spot for about an hour. You can
see the mail person eating in there.

When I lived in what was at the time referred to as North Seattle, the mail
man would at times go into my neighbor's house. And he would stay in there
for a while. We timed him once. 20 minutes. We had no clue why but you
can imagine the stories that circulated. That neighbor was a really odd
duck. She once complained about my sun bathing. This was many years ago
when people still commonly did this. We had a tall, wood fence separating
our properties and you couldn't really see through it unless you put your
eye close to the cracks between the boards and concentrated on trying to see
through. Still, she claimed that I might be turning on her husband if he
were to see me. That was also the area where I put in a small vegetable
garden and she complained when I watered the vegetables if so much as a few
drops of water went through to fence to her side.

"Jean B." > wrote in message
...
> wrote:
>> On Tue, 27 Jan 2015 17:47:38 -0500, "Jean B." > wrote:
>>
>>
>>>>
>>> Same here. They really NEED to have their food. I can't imagine why
>>> this guy said what he did. I sure hope he didn't convince anyone to put
>>> away their feeders.
>>>
>>> I do have a question, which someone might be able to answer. One is
>>> often told (or reads) that birds need water in the winter. BUT how on
>>> earth did the birds survive before man started putting out water for
>>> them? Obviously the birds DID survive without man putting it out. What
>>> am I missing here?
>>
>> They drink from puddles, I have seen them doing that and I think they
>> get moisture off blades of grass as well when times are hard.
>
> But in the winter, puddles are apt to be laced with salt. And the grass,
> at least now, is covered with snow. Obviously birds did survive the
> winter. Hmmm. Maybe the salt complicates things?

Not here where salt is never used. And did they use salt in the old days?
I don't really know. I just either read this or saw it on TV. Can't
remember now as I saw things about ponds in several places. But they were
talking about man made ponds in your back yard and they said that the trick
to keeping them free of ice in the winter was to put tennis balls in the
water. They claimed that the balls would move around and help prevent ice
from forming at the top. I suppose this might only work if you lived in an
area where you didn't get an extended deep freeze and perhaps if the water
was deep enough.
>>>
>>> (And I do view food differently because I have been feeding the birds
>>> and figure they make their nest near sources of food and thus become
>>> reliant on those sources.)
>>
>> I am certain the old trees near me get more woodpeckers because I feed
>> during the summer as well and it's a short flight between my balcony
>> and the trees. The woodpeckers are probably my favourite, they become
>> the most friendly and by mid-summer do not fly off just because I go
>> out there.
>
> I love my woodpeckers! I have two feeders and foods that they
> particularly like: blueberry pellets (which never attracted blueberries)
> and a fruit-nut blend. Both of these are in peanut feeders. Now I can't
> find more of those feeders. The ones I DO see are just wire mesh. The
> ones I have are metal with round holes in it.

Oh man. I have wood siding so I do not like them at all. I had one peck
on. I spoke sharply to it and told it to go elsewhere. It did! But I
still hear them around here.

My parents were not so lucky. Their house was targeted several times by
woodpeckers and they did a lot of damage to it. In the end they had to hire
a company to put stuff on the house to scare them off. The things that my
dad bought and tried did not work. What they eventually put up were some
bright, silver things that spun in the wind. They had to be put on every
corner of the house and more in the areas where the woodpeckers often
pecked, which was outside what used to be my bedroom window.

Julie Bove wrote:
>
> "Jean B." > wrote in message
> ...
>> wrote:
>>> On Tue, 27 Jan 2015 17:47:38 -0500, "Jean B." > wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>>
>>>> Same here. They really NEED to have their food. I can't imagine why
>>>> this guy said what he did. I sure hope he didn't convince anyone to
>>>> put
>>>> away their feeders.
>>>>
>>>> I do have a question, which someone might be able to answer. One is
>>>> often told (or reads) that birds need water in the winter. BUT how on
>>>> earth did the birds survive before man started putting out water for
>>>> them? Obviously the birds DID survive without man putting it out.
>>>> What
>>>> am I missing here?
>>>
>>> They drink from puddles, I have seen them doing that and I think they
>>> get moisture off blades of grass as well when times are hard.
>>
>> But in the winter, puddles are apt to be laced with salt. And the
>> grass, at least now, is covered with snow. Obviously birds did
>> survive the winter. Hmmm. Maybe the salt complicates things?
>
> Not here where salt is never used. And did they use salt in the old
> days? I don't really know. I just either read this or saw it on TV.
> Can't remember now as I saw things about ponds in several places. But
> they were talking about man made ponds in your back yard and they said
> that the trick to keeping them free of ice in the winter was to put
> tennis balls in the water. They claimed that the balls would move
> around and help prevent ice from forming at the top. I suppose this
> might only work if you lived in an area where you didn't get an extended
> deep freeze and perhaps if the water was deep enough.
>>>>
>>>> (And I do view food differently because I have been feeding the birds
>>>> and figure they make their nest near sources of food and thus become
>>>> reliant on those sources.)
>>>
>>> I am certain the old trees near me get more woodpeckers because I feed
>>> during the summer as well and it's a short flight between my balcony
>>> and the trees. The woodpeckers are probably my favourite, they become
>>> the most friendly and by mid-summer do not fly off just because I go
>>> out there.
>>
>> I love my woodpeckers! I have two feeders and foods that they
>> particularly like: blueberry pellets (which never attracted
>> blueberries) and a fruit-nut blend. Both of these are in peanut
>> feeders. Now I can't find more of those feeders. The ones I DO see
>> are just wire mesh. The ones I have are metal with round holes in it.
>
> Oh man. I have wood siding so I do not like them at all. I had one
> peck on. I spoke sharply to it and told it to go elsewhere. It did!
> But I still hear them around here.
>
> My parents were not so lucky. Their house was targeted several times by
> woodpeckers and they did a lot of damage to it. In the end they had to
> hire a company to put stuff on the house to scare them off. The things
> that my dad bought and tried did not work. What they eventually put up
> were some bright, silver things that spun in the wind. They had to be
> put on every corner of the house and more in the areas where the
> woodpeckers often pecked, which was outside what used to be my bedroom
> window.

I wouldn't like that either, but my woodpeckers are busy at my feeders!

wrote:

> It was still snowing off and on yesterday, today is lovely but more
> forecast for tomorrow evening.
>
Yes. And here, more Sunday night and Monday.

On 2/1/2015 8:03 AM, wrote:
> On Sat, 31 Jan 2015 23:21:02 -0500, "Jean B." > wrote:
>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> It was still snowing off and on yesterday, today is lovely but more
>>> forecast for tomorrow evening.
>>>
>> Yes. And here, more Sunday night and Monday.
>
> I just heard that forecast - urrrggghh
>

Not just the amount, but the timing. Heaviest will be drive time in the
morning for us and will stop a couple of hours after the drive home. My
solution is to stay home tomorrow. I take a day a week off anyway so
tomorrow will be it.

On 2015-02-01 12:43 PM, wrote:

> Good plan! I pride myself on being an excellent driver, I also have
> snow tires but you meet people without snow tires and idiots on side
> streets who pull out forcing you to apply the brakes in a stupid
> manner to avoid them. One thing they have just done that should
> sharpen up the younger idiots, fine for being on a cell phone or
> texting went up to $250 and three demerit points on your licence.
> Three is a lot when five will have you off the road
>


One night last year I was out snowblowing the driveway. It was quite
late at night. I live on a dark country road. A car booting along. The
guy was speeding and had the interior lights on so that he could text
while driving, though I just caught a brief glimpse of it because he had
only cleaned a little bit of the snow and ice off his windshield and
side windows.

"Dave Smith" > wrote in message
...
> On 2015-02-01 12:43 PM, wrote:
>
>> Good plan! I pride myself on being an excellent driver, I also have
>> snow tires but you meet people without snow tires and idiots on side
>> streets who pull out forcing you to apply the brakes in a stupid
>> manner to avoid them. One thing they have just done that should
>> sharpen up the younger idiots, fine for being on a cell phone or
>> texting went up to $250 and three demerit points on your licence.
>> Three is a lot when five will have you off the road
>>
>
>
> One night last year I was out snowblowing the driveway. It was quite late
> at night. I live on a dark country road. A car booting along. The guy was
> speeding and had the interior lights on so that he could text while
> driving, though I just caught a brief glimpse of it because he had only
> cleaned a little bit of the snow and ice off his windshield and side
> windows.

He didn't need to clean much snow and ice off his windshield and side
windows, because he wasn't looking anyway.

For bird water I use a heated birdbath mounted on the rail of my back porch and an electric dog water bowl on the ground for ground birds and squirrels. We've had single digit temps for quite a while, with wind chill of -25° predicted for tomorrow along with another 12-18" of snow to go with the 30" from last week. It's a tough winter for birds this year. I keep 4 feeders of suet filled at all times for my woodpeckers, Downy, Hairy, Pileated, Flickers, Red-Bellied, etc. and 4 feeder of sunflower seeds too.

Denise in NH

On 2/1/2015 7:52 PM, wrote:
> On Sun, 1 Feb 2015 16:47:20 -0800 (PST),
> wrote:
>
>> For bird water I use a heated birdbath mounted on the rail of my back porch and an electric dog water bowl on the ground for ground birds and squirrels. We've had single digit temps for quite a while, with wind chill of -25° predicted for tomorrow along with another 12-18" of snow to go with the 30" from last week. It's a tough winter for birds this year. I keep 4 feeders of suet filled at all times for my woodpeckers, Downy, Hairy, Pileated, Flickers, Red-Bellied, etc. and 4 feeder of sunflower seeds too.
>>
>> Denise in NH
>
> I don't have any power out on the balcony with which to heat water for
> the birds and it would be disastrous to leave the door open enough to
> run a lead out. I was amazed this afternoon to see a Pileated
> Woodpecker fly in, he looked so huge compared to my regular Downy
> Woodpeckers.
>
Pileated woodpeckers are big! They're so pretty. I usually see and
hear them in the spring.

Jill

> wrote in message
...
> For bird water I use a heated birdbath mounted on the rail of my back
> porch and an electric dog water bowl on the ground for ground birds and
> squirrels. We've had single digit temps for quite a while, with wind
> chill of -25° predicted for tomorrow along with another 12-18" of snow to
> go with the 30" from last week. It's a tough winter for birds this year.
> I keep 4 feeders of suet filled at all times for my woodpeckers, Downy,
> Hairy, Pileated, Flickers, Red-Bellied, etc. and 4 feeder of sunflower
> seeds too.

We don't have the same birds, but we keep our feeders full too. Just now we
have dried mealyworms out too because some of the birds are beginning
to nest.

--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

On Sunday, February 1, 2015 at 7:47:28 PM UTC-5, wrote:
> For bird water I use a heated birdbath mounted on the rail of my back porch and an electric dog water bowl on the ground for ground birds and squirrels.

I never thought about water. I get 35 pound bags of seed from Tractor Supply for ten bucks. I have some shrubs that are semi protected from the snow. I always toss a few scoops there for the squirrels and such.
8-10 inches overnight, a few more to go. Going down to 5f later.

Pennsylvania

On Mon, 2 Feb 2015 07:45:31 -0800 (PST), Thomas >
wrote:

>On Sunday, February 1, 2015 at 7:47:28 PM UTC-5, wrote:
>> For bird water I use a heated birdbath mounted on the rail of my back porch and an electric dog water bowl on the ground for ground birds and squirrels.
>
>I never thought about water. I get 35 pound bags of seed from Tractor Supply for ten bucks. I have some shrubs that are semi protected from the snow. I always toss a few scoops there for the squirrels and such.
>8-10 inches overnight, a few more to go. Going down to 5f later.
>
>Pennsylvania

In winter I put out a second heated pet water bowl away from my feral
cat heated water bowl, in warm weather there are plenty of ponds,
creeks, and streams here. I make up a 50/50 mix of premium bird seed
and cracked corn, I go through several hundred pounds a year. I also
put out in-shell peanuts that I buy in 50# sacks for $40, the blue
jays love them. I get squirrels but not a lot. I get possums too,
and all kinds of critters, many I rarely see as most all critters are
nocternal, but they all need to eat... much better than giving
donations to so called charities, those ALL steal, critters have no
pockets. I offer lots of snacks to the deer, the Canada geese, wild
turkeys, mallards, crows too... nothing edible goes in my trash. I
used to have very nice bird feeders but the black bears wrecked them,
so now I feed birds directly on a wooden table on my deck. I do put
out suet blocks on fence posts, and in summer I put out a hummingbird
feeder.

Catskills

wrote:
> On Sat, 31 Jan 2015 23:21:02 -0500, "Jean B." > wrote:
>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> It was still snowing off and on yesterday, today is lovely but more
>>> forecast for tomorrow evening.
>>>
>> Yes. And here, more Sunday night and Monday.
>
> I just heard that forecast - urrrggghh
>
Someone here said we were having snow from Saturday through Tuesday
(!!!), but that is not what I am hearing from other sources. Thank
goodness the snow tonight and tomorrow morning will only be 3 or so
inches. BUT good luck to everyone here who is experiencing all this snow.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> On 2/1/2015 8:03 AM, wrote:
>> On Sat, 31 Jan 2015 23:21:02 -0500, "Jean B." > wrote:
>>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> It was still snowing off and on yesterday, today is lovely but more
>>>> forecast for tomorrow evening.
>>>>
>>> Yes. And here, more Sunday night and Monday.
>>
>> I just heard that forecast - urrrggghh
>>
>
> Not just the amount, but the timing. Heaviest will be drive time in the
> morning for us and will stop a couple of hours after the drive home. My
> solution is to stay home tomorrow. I take a day a week off anyway so
> tomorrow will be it.

I hope that strategy continues to work for you!

Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2015-02-01 12:43 PM, wrote:
>
>> Good plan! I pride myself on being an excellent driver, I also have
>> snow tires but you meet people without snow tires and idiots on side
>> streets who pull out forcing you to apply the brakes in a stupid
>> manner to avoid them. One thing they have just done that should
>> sharpen up the younger idiots, fine for being on a cell phone or
>> texting went up to $250 and three demerit points on your licence.
>> Three is a lot when five will have you off the road
>>
>
>
> One night last year I was out snowblowing the driveway. It was quite
> late at night. I live on a dark country road. A car booting along. The
> guy was speeding and had the interior lights on so that he could text
> while driving, though I just caught a brief glimpse of it because he had
> only cleaned a little bit of the snow and ice off his windshield and
> side windows.

Idiot!

wrote:
> For bird water I use a heated birdbath mounted on the rail of my back
> porch and an electric dog water bowl on the ground for ground birds
> and squirrels. We've had single digit temps for quite a while, with
> wind chill of -25° predicted for tomorrow along with another 12-18"
> of snow to go with the 30" from last week. It's a tough winter for
> birds this year. I keep 4 feeders of suet filled at all times for my
> woodpeckers, Downy, Hairy, Pileated, Flickers, Red-Bellied, etc. and
> 4 feeder of sunflower seeds too.
>
> Denise in NH

Oh! I will have to hunt for such a dog water bowl. I have so many
birds, including many types of woodpeckers. I was getting yet more seed
today. Unfortunately they are out of the REALLY big bags of one of my
mainstays.

The holes in my newest sunflower feeder are too large for the seeds I
can find closeby. I need to switch feeders or find yet another one. In
the meantime, other critters get the spillage.

wrote:
> On Sun, 1 Feb 2015 16:47:20 -0800 (PST),
> wrote:
>
>> For bird water I use a heated birdbath mounted on the rail of my back porch and an electric dog water bowl on the ground for ground birds and squirrels. We've had single digit temps for quite a while, with wind chill of -25° predicted for tomorrow along with another 12-18" of snow to go with the 30" from last week. It's a tough winter for birds this year. I keep 4 feeders of suet filled at all times for my woodpeckers, Downy, Hairy, Pileated, Flickers, Red-Bellied, etc. and 4 feeder of sunflower seeds too.
>>
>> Denise in NH
>
> I don't have any power out on the balcony with which to heat water for
> the birds and it would be disastrous to leave the door open enough to
> run a lead out. I was amazed this afternoon to see a Pileated
> Woodpecker fly in, he looked so huge compared to my regular Downy
> Woodpeckers.
>
Neat!

Ophelia wrote:
> We don't have the same birds, but we keep our feeders full too. Just
> now we
> have dried mealyworms out too because some of the birds are beginning
> to nest.
>
I put those out last year, and no one was interested in them. :-(

Brooklyn1 wrote:
> On Mon, 2 Feb 2015 07:45:31 -0800 (PST), Thomas >
> wrote:
>
>> On Sunday, February 1, 2015 at 7:47:28 PM UTC-5, wrote:
>>> For bird water I use a heated birdbath mounted on the rail of my back porch and an electric dog water bowl on the ground for ground birds and squirrels.
>>
>> I never thought about water. I get 35 pound bags of seed from Tractor Supply for ten bucks. I have some shrubs that are semi protected from the snow. I always toss a few scoops there for the squirrels and such.
>> 8-10 inches overnight, a few more to go. Going down to 5f later.
>>
>> Pennsylvania
>
> In winter I put out a second heated pet water bowl away from my feral
> cat heated water bowl, in warm weather there are plenty of ponds,
> creeks, and streams here. I make up a 50/50 mix of premium bird seed
> and cracked corn, I go through several hundred pounds a year. I also
> put out in-shell peanuts that I buy in 50# sacks for $40, the blue
> jays love them. I get squirrels but not a lot. I get possums too,
> and all kinds of critters, many I rarely see as most all critters are
> nocternal, but they all need to eat... much better than giving
> donations to so called charities, those ALL steal, critters have no
> pockets. I offer lots of snacks to the deer, the Canada geese, wild
> turkeys, mallards, crows too... nothing edible goes in my trash. I
> used to have very nice bird feeders but the black bears wrecked them,
> so now I feed birds directly on a wooden table on my deck. I do put
> out suet blocks on fence posts, and in summer I put out a hummingbird
> feeder.
>
> Catskills
>
I've started mixing seeds and other materials. I don't like the
so-called supreme bird food, which contains a lot of filler. So I mix
better stuff into that. I also put a tiny bit of the supreme into my
really good mix, mainly because I gather some of the ground feeders do
like millet, which I otherwise think of as waste.

"Jean B." > wrote in message
...

> I've started mixing seeds and other materials. I don't like the so-called
> supreme bird food, which contains a lot of filler. So I mix better stuff
> into that. I also put a tiny bit of the supreme into my really good mix,
> mainly because I gather some of the ground feeders do like millet, which I
> otherwise think of as waste.

When I did feed birds, I always made my own mix. None of the birds here
seem to eat millet.

> wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 05 Feb 2015 01:28:17 -0500, "Jean B." > wrote:
>
wrote:
>>> On Sat, 31 Jan 2015 23:21:02 -0500, "Jean B." > wrote:
>>>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> It was still snowing off and on yesterday, today is lovely but more
>>>>> forecast for tomorrow evening.
>>>>>
>>>> Yes. And here, more Sunday night and Monday.
>>>
>>> I just heard that forecast - urrrggghh
>>>
>>Someone here said we were having snow from Saturday through Tuesday
>>(!!!), but that is not what I am hearing from other sources. Thank
>>goodness the snow tonight and tomorrow morning will only be 3 or so
>>inches. BUT good luck to everyone here who is experiencing all this snow.
>
> Raining here at the moment, creating dangerous puddles as many drains
> are deep under snow, going to change to freezing rain then when the
> workers commence their evening run it is going to change back into
> snow. Days like today I am thankful to be retired It has
> followed that pattern every other day now for a week.

Oh Ours has calmed down not but it is very cold. Between -1 and -4 this
week at night. We still have snow lying from last week. It isn't shifting
at all.



--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

On Thu, 05 Feb 2015 01:33:42 -0500, "Jean B." > wrote:

wrote:
>> For bird water I use a heated birdbath mounted on the rail of my back
>> porch and an electric dog water bowl on the ground for ground birds
>> and squirrels. We've had single digit temps for quite a while, with
>> wind chill of -25° predicted for tomorrow along with another 12-18"
>> of snow to go with the 30" from last week. It's a tough winter for
>> birds this year. I keep 4 feeders of suet filled at all times for my
>> woodpeckers, Downy, Hairy, Pileated, Flickers, Red-Bellied, etc. and
>> 4 feeder of sunflower seeds too.
>>
>> Denise in NH
>
>Oh! I will have to hunt for such a dog water bowl. I have so many
>birds, including many types of woodpeckers.

I have several. Lots of stores sell heated pet bowls, but Amazon has
the best prices. Don't get a bird bath heater, the bowls are far
easier to clean than a half frozen bird bath in freezing weather. Make
sure to use outdoor extension cords. Rather than on the ground place
the bowl on a table or a chair, makes it easy to sweep snow away.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...% 2Caps%2C459

>I was getting yet more seed
>today. Unfortunately they are out of the REALLY big bags of one of my
>mainstays.
>
>The holes in my newest sunflower feeder are too large for the seeds I
>can find closeby. I need to switch feeders or find yet another one. In
>the meantime, other critters get the spillage.

I found bird feeders to be a pain having to constantly keep them
filled especially in inclement weather... so I just put seeds on a
table on my deck.

Julie Bove wrote:
>
> "Jean B." > wrote in message
> ...
>
>> I've started mixing seeds and other materials. I don't like the
>> so-called supreme bird food, which contains a lot of filler. So I mix
>> better stuff into that. I also put a tiny bit of the supreme into my
>> really good mix, mainly because I gather some of the ground feeders do
>> like millet, which I otherwise think of as waste.
>
> When I did feed birds, I always made my own mix. None of the birds here
> seem to eat millet.

I asked about that and gather doves and some other birds do avail
themselves of it. I was going to stop using anything that contained it,
but decided to cut way down on it instead.

wrote:
> On Thu, 05 Feb 2015 01:28:17 -0500, "Jean B." > wrote:
>
>> wrote:
>>> On Sat, 31 Jan 2015 23:21:02 -0500, "Jean B." > wrote:
>>>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> It was still snowing off and on yesterday, today is lovely but more
>>>>> forecast for tomorrow evening.
>>>>>
>>>> Yes. And here, more Sunday night and Monday.
>>>
>>> I just heard that forecast - urrrggghh
>>>
>> Someone here said we were having snow from Saturday through Tuesday
>> (!!!), but that is not what I am hearing from other sources. Thank
>> goodness the snow tonight and tomorrow morning will only be 3 or so
>> inches. BUT good luck to everyone here who is experiencing all this snow.
>
> Raining here at the moment, creating dangerous puddles as many drains
> are deep under snow, going to change to freezing rain then when the
> workers commence their evening run it is going to change back into
> snow. Days like today I am thankful to be retired It has
> followed that pattern every other day now for a week.
>
Oh! I absolutely detest whether like that. I hope you don't suffer any
calamities.