Snow on December 16, 2021

It snowed pretty much all day yesterday.  It wasn't a hard snow, but it was steady.  Temperatures did not rise above 29F degrees, so it was able to stick.  Based on what we saw on the local news last night, Spokane drivers are not much better than Seattle drivers when it snows.  They go too fast, tail gate and in general are stupid idiots.  The last time it snowed, we were going up a slight grade to leave the neighborhood, there is a round about on the way.  A UPS truck, with chains, had slid into the curb, unable to negotiate the round about.  So we stopped to give him room to back up and recover.  An idiot in a 4 wheel drive truck started to pass us.  Where did he think he would go?  After UPS cleared the intersection, we went and noticed in the mirrors that the truck hit the curb and slid down the icy street below.  Schadenfreude at its finest.

Yesterday the snow let up about 4pm.  All of the neighbors popped out of their houses to remove the snow.  The one on the left lives there by herself.  I've watched her shovel before, she can lift a shovel of snow as high as her head.  Yesterday it was time for the blower.  The one on the right lives up the street, he did part of the sidewalks and then came over to help her with the driveway.

Here is Jim, wearing his new fuzzy boots.  I really wanted a pair like that, but my feet hate them.

Here they are up close.  They're really good, the bottom black part is waterproof, and the laces start fairly high on your foot.

Last night the local weather heads were saying we would wake up to ice fog.

Clearly they were mistaken.

Something walks through the yard at night.  We have not determined what it is.

Could be deer, there are moose here, so who knows?

We cooked today, we made stoup.  It's browned chicken, carrots and sweet potatoes.  Stoup is a portmanteau Rachel Ray used to describe meals that are thicker than soup, but not as thick as stew.  Anyway, the question for me is how much liquid do I need.  Refer to the next picture.  The arrow is pointing at the level of liquid, about 14 ounces of wine and stock.  It's just below the vegetable layer.

I chickened out, added more stock.  Too much!  It will be fine, but one of these days I'm going to get a thicker consistency.  Please make a note of this, 14 ounces is plenty and I should stop there.

During the cooking, Jim's new bread pot arrived.  It is so cuuuuuuute.  It's a Lodge 4 quart.  It was really nicely packed, box within box.  The lid, which you can't see had two layers of cardboard.  The two Lodges will be so attractive lined up on a pantry shelf.

The furnace guy came out this morning to have a look.  It's good, it should work all winter.  Later the glass guys came out and installed the new shower enclosure door.  It fits, there are no scratches and we are done.  Happy we are about that.  They weren't wearing masks and one wonders if they are vaccinated.  The labels on the glass are telling us how to care for the inside of the enclosure.  It's treated with a compound that prevents build up of crud as long as you squeegee after each shower.  Abrasive cleaners are forbidden.

So, that's what's shaking in Spokane.  It's currently 23F.