My folks live in Denver, and emailed yesterday to say that their local grocery store was a mad-house, with everybody panicking and buying up the place. Line in front of the checkouts were 20-30 people, and the parking lot was a total zoo.

I think this is where the next year's canned food drives score big time, when the folks realize that they didn't need all this stuff.

No snow here yet, but looking ominous.

Here's wishing you the best of luck, Coloradans.

Up here in the "Far East of WA" - we had about 50% more precipitation than normal thru the Autumn and the trend continues. There hasn't been a whole lot of snow so far, however, and most of what has fallen has been rained off.

This "stocking up" issue is an interesting one. Some see this as relating directly to their vegetable gardening. I have never been a canner and neither has the wife - a few pints of apple butter every couple of years . . . that's about it.

Our freezer is stuffed but what would an extended power outage do if we had warming temperatures? I'm not looking forward to turning a few hundred pounds of beef into jerky let alone trying to figure out what to do with all the frozen green beans, peas, and tomatoes.

Here's where an Asia-influenced diet may hold me in good stead. We have a rice cooker that is usually fired up every other day and, therefore, we buy rice in 50 lb bags. With a recent purchase plus a few bags of specialty rice - we've got about 100 lbs on hand. Additionally, there's about 4 square feet in our cabinets taken up by noodles of all kinds.

Water and heat could be serious issues but a little fuel and a few gallons of H2O (even if they have to come from the surrounding forests and the river) would be all it would take to have sustaining carbs for weeks.

Steve

It's Friday noon, and for right now it's stopped snowing up here in Thornton and the sky has lightened considerably. Just checked NWS, and radar shows almost everything is out of the metro area---for right now! I wonder what'll happen in a few hours! I got about 8-9" up here last night.

I think the stores were chaos yesterday because everybody is freaking out with two storms in a row! I've lived out here since '64 and don't remember EVER getting two BAD storms in a row like this. At least we're not getting the wind this time, so it's not a blizzard. That makes it so much worse. I agree with you, David. Hopefully the food banks will profit when people realize they didn't need half of their "survival package."

I was out a little while ago clearing all the snow off my bird feeders. Temps are supposed to be in the 20's and teens for the next few days, so they're gonna need all the calories they can get---and since everything is covered with snow, there's no natural food sources right now. I wish I could go out and give each of them a tiny wool coat! I added a suet feeder to my collection last week (just before the blizzard) and have attracted a red flicker. He'd need a BIG wool coat!

If you get too cold, close your eyes and dream of spring and your garden---and all that warm sunshine,
Skybird

Hey all,

At almost 3pm it's still lightly snowing here in Castle Rock. This storm is definitely not as bad as the last. It sure is beautiful looking out the windows at a sea of white. We got at least a foot on top of the foot or so that was already there. I'll try to post some pics in the next day or two.

My neighbor is a general contractor and used his bobcat to plow our driveway and a few other neighbors early this morning before any of us woke up and without being asked. Most everybody sits back at least an acre from the front of their driveway so it's no easy task. Too nice!! I think we'll be inviting them to dinner soon or offering to babysit for their 1 & 3 yr olds :)

Skybird- my son and I just got a suet feeder as a gift and hung it from a tree yesterday and all the magpies and bluejays are fighting over it.

David that's how the store and parking lot was when I went yesterday. Utter chaos and people looking stressed and even more stressed when the store was out of what they were looking for. At least they had cheerios and soy milk. My son would be happy to eat that for his three squares for a while!

I've got a big pot of split pea and ham soup on the stove right now.

I'm with Steve, that I've got enough canned (store bought) and dried goods in the pantry like rice, noodles and beans/legumes which we eat a lot of to survive for quite a while. We get our drinking water from our own well and all the snow is good for replenishing the well I'm told. The heat situation would be hard as we have a gas not woodburning fireplace. I've also got a freezer full of veggies including all the zucchini I shredded and had good intentions of making bread for everyone this year but instead it is taking up half of my freezer. Today would be a good day to make some but I don't have any eggs because of the store situation. Oh well.

Don't know if we'll make it to the mountains (WinterPark) with the cousins this weekend as planned.

You all take care,

Charlene

The snow is definitely good for replenishing the ground water for the well, Charlene, but I think this might be the first time you've had your own well, because if the electricity goes off, as soon as your pressure tank runs out of pressure, you're not going to have water---well, unless you have a hand pump at least. Are you on IREA? When I used to live down there the power used to go out fairly often, and every time we had a bad thunderstorm--or snowstorm--I got in a habit of filling up all my pitchers and big soup pots and a couple buckets for flushing the toilet. The worst thing was the summer the well went dry and I had to live with only a hose from the nearest neighbor as my only source of water. Brrrrr! Those were cold baths---even in summer! It was 3 or 4 days before I was able to get the well service out to lower the pump.

And, unless there's a fan and you can't use the fireplace without the fan, you should be able to get heat from your gas fireplace. I have a wood fireplace and a gas fireplace, and if the power were to go out, I'd pick the gas one to use for heat. After it's been on for a half an hour or so, it puts out an amazing amount of heat. There's no fan, and I just leave the glass doors and the screen wide open, and it heats up the whole room. I figure if I ever get desperate, I'll just pull the couch up right in front of it and sleep there. And I have several kerosene lamps too---also from when I lived down by Parker. Plan for the worst--and hope for the best---which is what it looks like we may have gotten this time. I just checked, and the NWS still shows us with a winter storm warning. I'm surprised! On radar it sure looks like it's on its way out. Well, Channel 4 just said that we ARE going to get more snow tonite--AND wind! So I may be prematurely declaring us out of the (wintry) woods!

Magpies are HUGE! Are they actually hanging on your suet feeder? I spent the afternoon chasing blackbirds away from my feeders. They spill and waste half the food, and they're so messy---and they travel in humongous herds! One will show up and then disappear, and 10 minutes later the whole backyard will be full of them. No wool coats for the blackbirds! LOL I enjoy watching the bluejays, though, and they only show up one or two at a time. But I like the flickers the best, because there aren't that many, so you don't get to see them that much.

Isn't it wonderful to have such generous neighbors! My neighbors have once again shoveled my sidewalk and entire driveway. AND, this time they shoveled the walk up to my front door--which never got shoveled last time, and was still nearly 3' deep. And the funny thing is---on the first day of the original blizzard my front doorknob broke---so I can't even use the door! I bought a new knob, but haven't tried to figure out how to install it yet. I'm not sure how I'm gonna say thank you this time! I don't think teenagers need babysitters. LOL I have a jade I can take over for them, but I'm sure it was the boys who did it---and I'm guessing they're not too into houseplants! I'll have to think about it.

I hope you're able to get out to Winter Park, Charlene, especially after missing your trip!

Happy New Year,
Skybird

Well, over on the other side of the state, (just west of Glenwood Springs) we got maybe 3 inches on the first go 'round before Christmas, a light dusting on Christmas Eve, and nothing but cloudy skies out of this last storm. The forecast originally called for us to get several inches, but then it changed at the last minute.

My mother and father-in-law came from Florida and took the train from Denver to Glenwood Springs on the Monday before the first storm, but my husband's sister and her family were supposed to drive up from Littleton for the holiday and had to cancel due to the storm. Even the stores here had bare shelves in the produce section, with signs posted saying the trucks were unable to get through with their deliveries. I was really surprised and impressed when a postal worker showed up on Christmas morning with a package I was waiting for from my brother. They weren't even required to work, they volunteered!!!

I lived in Castle Rock during the blizzard in March of '03, when we received 3 feet of snow. It was five days before the city plowed our cove. It was exciting, but I was 5 months pregnant at the time, and left the snow shoveling up to my husband.

I thought we might get more snow here than the front range, but that isn't the case so far. It does seem to stay on the ground a little longer though, as our temps are a bit colder.

Happy New Year to all of you Rocky Mountain gardeners!

highalttransplant--

Good to hear from you. I'm glad you didn't get too much snow. This definitely hit the plains more than the mountains this go around.
Many people are dealing with the streets still not being plowed. My cousin lives in Denver and you need four wheel drive to get down her residential street. We've been lucky and our streets are plowed nicely :)

Your family's lucky they came before they had to deal with the DIA fiasco. I can't believe you got a package delivered on Christmas day! We haven't been getting mail regularly. I feel for the postal workers--I see many mailboxes almost buried beneath snow. We dug ours out for her.

It sure is beautiful now though!

Happy New Year to you too!

Charlene

Will it never END!! Snowing again, big flakes, enough to fill in all of my paths to the chicken house and to the street. Already my paths in the snow are 2 foot off the ground. I've never seen this much snow on the ground for sooooo long here in Colorado. Makes me crazy - feels like we live in Minnesota! Cabin fever RAGES supreme at my house.
Sunny

That was my thought also, when I looked out the window this morning. Will it never end?
On the other hand, my AV's are looking better than they ever have before, because I've been repotting them all to fight my cabin fever.

What snow? It's sunny on this side of the state, LOL!

Cnetter, I can relate to the cabin fever though. Even though we haven't had near the snow as you guys, there is still ice and snow on the ground as it has been very cold for weeks now. I have been buying houseplants every time I go to the grocery store, I've ordered as many seeds, and plants as my wallet will allow, and have repotted all of my houseplants. I am thinking of starting some of the many herb seeds that I have purchased. I have a deep windowsill above my kitchen sink that faces south, and I think they would be okay there until it is warm enough to put them on the porch. Even if they don't make it, I have enough to start a second (or third) batch later on.

Anyone else starting seeds yet? If so, what are you growing?

I'm holding off on seeds - it's just too soon for me. Even for my daylily seeds.

Since you guys are talking seeds...I saw the most interesting idea for a gift and wondering if any of you have a clue how to do it. The gift was a large "bean" seed planted in a small box. When it sprouts, there is an imprinted message on the bean sprout....Love, Home, Believe, etc.

Beans are easy...the imprint another thing. What do you think they used to imprint?

And I probably should post this someplace else...but you guys started the seed thing in CO.

And, hooray for 50s this week. I'm "cabin fevered" and ready.

You've got me curious - please post more info, pics, whatever on the "bean" seed thingy.

I'm thinking I better get my seeds ordered because I will be planting some seeds that like cold outside in about a month and a half. Weather permitting.

We've planted the "message on the bean seed" several times. The first one read "Love" which didn't thrill my son as he was hoping for a secret spy type message. The second one read "Peace". We got ours at Walmart for a few dollars and it came in a little kit that looks kind of like a soda pop can. It has everything you need including the dirt and all you have to do is water it. The very first one we tried didn't work but I think my son over watered it. At the end of the summer they had a bunch on sale $.99 and I bought about five and gave with birthday gifts. It's pretty cool the kids love it. Anything to spark the growing bug :)