Something Unexpected

Winter doesn't officially start until the 21st of December, but we got an early dose of it this week that caught me by surprise. It was the kind of surprise that meant I hadn't drained the fountain yet:

 

I drained as much water as I could out of it before it froze solid, so hopefully it won't break.  Hopefully we will get a few more warm days so it will thaw and I can drain it properly and cover it.

It was the kind of surprise that saw me take the afternoon off work on Wednesday so I could make a run up to the cabin and make sure all the water lines were drained, the pipe warmers (yes, there are such things) were turned on, and there was anti-freeze in the traps.

It's just as well I made the trip, because on Thursday and Friday this is what happened:

 

 That's about 18 centimetres of snow on top of the car.  I don't think it's ever snowed that much at once in Boise in the time we've been here.

It's also been fiendishly cold.  It was  MINUS 17 degrees C when I got up on Saturday morning.  Thank heavens for warm clothes and our new furnace!

And I was caught short on a few other things, too:

 I did manage to get most of the plants that need mulching taken care of before the snow.  I hope the strawberries and rhubarb will forgive me.  I never did get the last of the tomato plants pulled out.  I imagine they'll still be there in Spring.

I was not surprised by this:

 I thought our blue house would look lovely in the snow!

And, lastly, Lynette was wondering how the rosemary recovered after being so terribly singed by the house painters this summer.  Here you go:

Tee-hee!  Couldn't resist.  I'll get you a better picture in the Spring.

Not sure when this snow will go away, or if it even will since it's still really cold.  We're also expecting more on Wednesday, I think.  Maybe we're headed for what the native Idahoans call an "old-fashioned, proper" winter.