“Although snows seemed to come more frequently to our mountain area “back then” than now, snow could cause some hardships in taking care of farm animals, having enough wood at the woodpile ready to bring in to burn in fireplaces and heaters to keep the house warm. Back then there was the delightful “snow cream” made with freshly-fallen snow mixed with some sugar, milk and vanilla: our winter “ice cream” treat. One day it quickly came a snow blizzard when my little brother Bluford was a first-grader and I was in fifth grade. My father came to Choestoe School house to get us. He carried Bluford but told me to “step in his steps” as we walked the snow-laden mile to our home where a roaring fire in the fireplace soon warmed us. We also used winter time to piece quilt tops and ladies would gather to have a “quilting bee” to finish the beautifully crafted quilt top in its cotton stuffing and solid-cloth lining. Winter Memories are sweet. We survived!”
~Ethelene Dyer Jones
——————–
I finally got a dusting of snow here in Brasstown yesterday. Not enough to fully cover the ground but beautiful nonetheless.
Tipper
We actually got quite a covering of it here in the NC Sandhills (Angier) Sunday night. No traffic moved out here at all on Monday, and when daytime came, the sun melted a bit of it off the top, so that when night came, the low temps froze it all solid, and now walking across the yard is worse than trying to navigate an ice rink because we’re on a hill, and everything keeps trying to slide down it toward the neighbor’s house a block away. LOL
Still, the electricity we use for heat held, and we’re blessed for that.
God bless.
RB
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Barbara-thank you for the comment! I know if I lived up North I wouldn’t feel the same about snow-I’m positive I’d get tired of it-especially the hazardous issues it can cause. I’m hoping you don’t get anymore this year!! And that all the roofs hold with no damage.
Tipper
Blind Pig The Acorn
Celebrating and Preserving the
Culture of Appalachia
http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com
Ethelene’s mention of the difficulty of caring for farm animals in a snowy winter really rings true for me. I’m in rural MA and have been wading through over-my-knees snow two or three hours every day for weeks now, caring for my little herd of cashmere goats. Not the easiest Winter, but I’m grateful to have the strength to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Spring will be here soon, and we’ll all be planning gardens and planting seeds. And I’ll be doing a big Spring Clean, because my house sure hasn’t been getting much attention lately.
We are up on the Cumberland Plateau and only got a paltry 3 inches. But not to fear,we have more on the way Friday.You may get more as you are all not too aweful far from us.Keep your fingers crossed for some snow cream.
In Vermont, we have had more than 6 feet of snow since the fist of January. All of it stll on the ground. More to come this weekend.Temps have been down around zero with wind chill as low as minus 25. Winter seems to lasting forever. A lot of concern about the roofs. Wish that I could share it with everyone. Barbara
We had some ice and then a dusting of snow. A pine tree fell on the power line just up the road from us. We lost power from Monday night until this morning. We managed well with the gas logs and gas wall heater downstairs. We had water and could cook so all was well. I sure was thankful to see the big white EMC truck rolling in this morning! We are up and running again and thankful for our blessings.
When I was a kid we used to build snow forts in the yard and tunnels connecting them. One time we built an igloo that lasted about a month. We walked on the snow and packed it down with our feet until it was about six inches thick then cut it into blocks to build our structures. I haven’t seen snow like that in 50 years.
One winter it was -15° in the middle of the day and we were almost out of wood. I got the chainsaw cranked and cut some trees but it took a long time. The wood was frozen so hard that the chain would throw sparks.
We used to get up in the morning and find it had snowed 8 or ten inches overnight. Daddy had some tall slender pine trees on a south facing hillside he was taking care of and if the snow had them bent over, he would send use boys out to get it off. We would shake the trees if we could or hit them with something to loosen the snow, then try to run far enough so as not to get dumped on. The pines would suddenly straighten up when the weight was taken off them and sway back the other way sometimes into other snow ladened trees causing them to lose their load too. Sometimes the domino effect took over and half the snow on the hillside would come down. All you could do then was lay face down until it was over. We would spend half a day over there in the sunshine clearing those trees. It didn’t seem like work at all for a couple of 10 year old boys. We made a game out of it. I would like to do that again but it don’t snow like that any more. Besides if I got hit with that much snow now, I would probably shatter.
That is the same hillside where the two graves I wrote about sometime back are located.
I know this reads like a Paul Bunyan story but every word of it is true.
The snow here in Morgan County KY is about a half-yard deep and according to the Mistress Of The Household it was 15º below zero on the front porch last night. So far today we’ve had a high of 3º.
I would be more than willing to accommodate anyone who longs for snow; bring your own shovel…
Tipper,
Ethelene’s life challenges are
really nice to read about. I
especially liked “walk in my
footsteps”, reminding me of when
I was young.
I had another inch of fresh stuff
last night, but it was rough
sweeping the snow off the porch
and car. I’m just glad I got 4
wheel drive. I don’t ever remember it being this cold after
Valentine’s Day…Ken
tipper
hope you are all well and warm.
been a snowy February for all.
cant wait till spring.
I remember living in erie, pa when I was young and we had deep snow always, so im not complaining. lol
big hugs
lynn
Mercy,
It is a lot warmer in parts of Roane county than others…10 C…in West end of O. R…must be the radiation warmin’!
It’s 12 F in our end of Roane county, south of I-40….
Just messing with ya, Eva!
Ah! Good for you! Bring out those quilts and snuggle up because more may be just around the corner. Be glad you’re not in Boston. A little might be fun, but that much – WOW! Happy day!
Middle Tn–we’ve got about 6 inches of snow & bitter cold with maybe more coming this weekend.
I understand the lady who has no bananas–my husband eats one every day & there are only two pretty battered looking ones left. He’ll have to take me to the store in his truck, I guess.
I was so fortunate to get a BRAND NEW CAR about two weeks ago & no way will I risk it on bad roads unless it’s a terrible emergency.
We rarely got snow here in South Carolina growing up, so anything over an inch was a big deal. My dad showed us how to make snow cream with only the very fresh snow. My brother still had his sled from when we lived in Virginia and would try to use it, but there was usually not enough snow to do very much sledding. A few weeks ago, I found those elastic shoe blades for walking on snow and ice, and bought them thinking that I would not likely get to use them any time soon. I could be proved wrong if this weather keeps up.
My wife is from South Florida and we moved here in 2013, so last winter, after a nice snow, I introduced her to snow cream, which she had never heard of, poor thing!
We got a severe wind storm on Saturday in Brevard, NC, with wind gusts measured over 100 MPH. Then we got snow and freezing rain beginning Monday afternoon. We haven’t left our home since Sunday. Our UPS guy called me yesterday telling me he had a delivery for me, but could not get up the last hill to our house, so I could either come and get it or he would hold it for better weather. I put on my hiking boots and trekking poles and walked down to meet him. I have All Wheel Drive, but nothing would have worked. We only have about 3 inches, but it is like sheet ice.
Tipper,
and TMc…You will not believe how much folks appreciate the work of these borrowed electrical lineman crews! There are still folks without power in counties around us…I think Roane has got most everyone back up and running.
They were advised to leave their homes last night due to the drastic dip in temperatures, where they weren’t sure the power would get back.
They are working in shifts around the clock. It is so cold I don’t know how they stand it!
In our county Monday night, there was a serious accident when a iced tree jumped, twisted and fell on a lineman trapping him under the tree…He is still in ICU and needs our prayers.
He wasn’t a rookie either, he was an experienced tree person working with the local electric company.
These ice storms are dangerous work for our electrical and tree cutting service men and women.
Accidents happen anytime but iced trees, lines on hillsides can be treacherous.
Thanks Tipper, and Tmc thank them all for their brave work!
Tipper, I like the story it used to snow more than now seems like. We got about an inch but boy is it cold. this is gross but the boogers will freeze in you nose it finally got to 13 degrees from 3 this morning.
It could have been ice storms which is worse I think, it is so pretty seeing the snow fall but my old bones can stand the cold like I used too.
Maybe we should truck all that snow in the northeast to the south and southwest for drought relief~.
Everyone in the family is blaming our recent snow on me! I’ve wished for a big snow all winter and finally got way more than I wished for. With our state of emergency, the mail hasn’t even been delivered in my little city. I promised I wouldn’t make a wish for a big snow again. I’m getting cabin fever and another storm is on the way.
I also remember snows coming more fequently back then. They put tire chains on the bus and seldom ever cancelled school no matter how much snow we got.
Dear Tipper & Ethelene: Your post today made our morning more cosy. Jim is worried about our two inches of snow over a sheet of ice on our inclined drive way. YES WE HAVE NO BANANAS TODAY and we probably will have no bananas tomorrow! He is contemplating trying to get out today BUT the temperature is about 10 degrees C. I hope you have a sunny day!
Eva Nell
no snow where I am but sure enjoyed being reminded of snow cream. Hope all of you stay safe and warm.
We had a fire here on Sunday morning at 5:00 a.m. Thank God we woke up and saw the glow. Tor went out and beat and raked the flames away from our garage
and the neighbors house and I called 911 and all the neighbors to make them aware.
We lost about 50 acres up top and the forest service had to bring in bull dozers to contain it. All my azalea and rhodies coming up the driveway are scorched but I hope with pruning they will recover.
This snow is so welcome because it covers all the horribly scorched ground around our home.
Tipper,
I loved Ethelene’s post this morning! It’s hard work farming in winter. Making sure the animals have water, feed and some shelter.
We quit burning wood several years ago. It was getting hard for us to cut wood off of our land and bring it to the wood pile. Our concrete porch still shows the ‘pot marks’ where the axe or go devil split a log that was too big to bring in…LOL
At this time it is 5 degrees, going to warm up to 18 degrees and go back down to minus 3 degrees…Calling for wind as well. We still have ice on shrubs and trees. They are still sparkling this morning. More snow and sleet predicted for Friday…
It is not March but I am hoping the old saying is early…
That “WINTER is going out like a LION and SPRING will come in (early) in March like a LAMB!”
Thanks Tipper,
You still may get more than a skiff before these winter storms are over!
Tipper, Thank you for posting my memory of that long-ago time when my dear father got my little brother Bluford and me safely home from Choestoe School through the driving snowstorm and accumulation. I remember how quickly and furiously that snowstorm came up. We didn’t have much warning then–no long-range weather forecasts, except for our parents’ sort of “built-in” knowledge of weather lore. Since we didn’t have a bus that had to get through snow, the teachers sort of let the snow “slip up” on us as we studied around the heaters that warmed the two classrooms! I’ve used my father’s words, “Walk in my footsteps,” many times as an illustration of a point in having someone trustworthy to follow–and especially during the storms of life!
What a neat memory!! We have had more than our share of snow and cold in northern PA..it was -30* on Monday morning! It has been windy with white-outs alot. We had to move our goats into a smaller shed,because they were too cold. The horses seem to be ok,as do the chickens.I keep thinking that spring will come…but as said,we’ll survive!
good morning Tipper ! I would have gladly have shared with you, we got 10 inches Monday and another 3 inches Tuesday night. It was -8 here last night ,so we still have most of it. Hope you and the family are safe and well. There is no school here the entire week.
Yea thank the Good Lord we only got a barely dusting.. Crews are in Tennessee working to help restore power where they had a ice storm Monday.. We’re bracing for round 2 Friday…
A little snow plus a lot of cold is what we got. There is no denying the snow is beautiful. I, however, could live nicely without these single digit temperatures!