I also turned on the ceiling fan that's set to the winter cycle. In the living room/kitchen part of the house, we've got a vaulted ceiling, so in some ways, I wasn't surprised that the space is cold (our bedroom was so warm we were sleeping on top of the covers). But it made me anxious.
Happily, the inside temperature is now back where I set it, and I set it a few degrees higher, at 73, just to see. The oven is over halfway through its cleaning cycle.
We've had a night of wind, which has also made me anxious. I will always wonder if I would be as anxious as I am when the winds pick up had we not been here for the remnants of Hurricane Helene. Before the fall of 2024, I thought that all trees stayed upright unless something unfortunate happened, like a lightning strike or an insect infestation.
But let me write about more pleasant things. Our snow day yesterday was delightful.
The snow was light and fluffy, as promised. Mid-morning, I decided that I wanted to take more of a walk to see the winter wonderland for myself. I bundled up but then I decided to add my winter jacket on top of this winter coat; I added it less for reasons of protection from the cold than because I wanted an easy access pocket for my phone.
The snow was at least 3 inches when I went out, but it felt deeper. There was a set of tire tracks on the road so I walked beside them. I thought about going on a longer walk, but the wind was picking up, and the temperature was already in the low 20's, so I decided to be safe. I was more worried about slipping and falling and breaking a body part than I was scared of frostbite. I took a selfie before I went inside:
I also took a closer picture of the front of our house. I always love this Christmas card look (well, the way it would look like a Christmas card if I moved the trash can at the side of the house):
I spent much of the rest of the day cooking. On Friday, I bought a whole chicken at the grocery store, and then three hours later, my spouse bought a whole chicken too. So we cooked one of them on Friday, and then we cooked the second one yesterday, along with roasted potato chunks and carrots. We made some chicken stock out of the bones, and then I made a chicken pot pie, which turned out to be a bit more like a chicken veggie soup with some puff pastry on top. The sauce will be thicker today. I also made snow cream.
I used the snow off the top of the table on the deck. Before I collected it, I mixed milk and half and half and sugar and a bit of vanilla extract. I'd like to make more today, but the snow is not as clean. It has tree debris, not the other kind of dirtiness. The picture below shows the snow in its more pristine state:
It was a good snow day, but I'm a bit concerned about the aftermath. How long will it be before the roads are clear? I'm guessing that it will probably take until Tuesday or Wednesday when the highs get back into the 40's. Classes are already cancelled for Monday, and I'm hoping they'll be cancelled for Tuesday too, since I am unlikely to be able to make it down the mountain.
