Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Out My Office Window


It snowed on Saturday and that means I had to go to actual "work" as opposed to sitting in the office. We have a couple of commercial parking lots that have to be plowed when the snow reaches a depth of 2" and before they open in the morning. On Saturday we started plowing at 5 am. The picture above was taken at sunrise - about 10 am. It was my fourth parking lot.

I don't remember where I was for this picture but it is typical of the side roads I have to travel to get to the residential driveways I plow. Sometimes I get the driveways plowed before the State or Borough gets the roads plowed. Then I have to rerun my route and get all the berms out of the way.

This is heading north in Palmer, Alaska. My daughter's guitar teacher is in the building to the right and one of the best Italian restaurants I have eaten at is in the building on the left.



We have really short days here until my favorite day of the year - December 21. This was taken about 11:30 am.

This picture does not do justice to what a beautiful sunset it was. For a phone picture though it's pretty good. Sunset is at 4:00 pm or so. We are down to less than six hours of daylight.

My poor sheep get so confused this time of year. I feed on a 10 am to noon and 10 pm to midnight schedule. They are used to being fed when it gets dark. That's great in the summer but about 4 pm it gets real noisy in the sheep pen. So now I feed the sheep and the horses three times a day - hay morning and night and mash for the horses and more hay for the sheep about 4 pm. In three more weeks the sheep will get grain in the afternoon because they are due to lamb in February.

Hope you enjoyed take my blogger friends to work day!

9 comments:

  1. LOL! I did enjoy the ride! I guess I won't complain about our short days. Looks like you have a lot of work. The pictures are beautiful.

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  2. The second to the last photo is awesome...I'd love to be there to see it in person. You've definitely got your work cut out for you!

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  3. That second to the last photo is just plain stunning!
    I bet people seriously reply on you to show up and clear their road or driveway. I imagine that during the winter you are kept super busy. I'm such a wimp driving in snow. I assume that everyone drives with special chains or studs on their tires during the winter?
    With less sunlight each day, I'm guessing that the snow doesn't get much chance to melt like it does down here.

    I had to laugh at the names of the roads there: Arctic and Alaska. I suppose you all are so cold that road name creativity is the last things on your minds...those names fit perfectly, though. lol!

    ~Lisa

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  4. Lisa - I drive with studded snow tires in the winter. They are legal from September 15 to May 1. And of course my trucks are all 4 wheel drive. I've only had to drive with chains once. I'd rather not drive than use chains.

    Palmer street names are themed - alphabetically and botanically since it is home to the colonists who came up in the Depression to establish an agricultural community. Lots of street names are family names since the road evolved from the trail to their houses.

    I'm glad you guys enjoyed your ride along.

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  5. So beautiful! Thanks for taking us along. I've always wanted to go to Palmer, Alaska :)

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  6. Mikey - Come up with Lisa next year. I'm sure I'll have a pony for her to look at.

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  7. The 2nd to the last picture is beautiful!

    You left a note over at my blog about my GPS tracks. Here is what I posted in my reply:

    I set up an account on Garmin's website:
    http://connect.garmin.com/
    Plug your GPS into your computer and Garmin will walk you thru the steps. Then whenever you record a ride, plug back in, go to Garmin Connect & Upload. The picture I posted here is just a screen shot, but you can record all sorts of data. (I'll post on your blog, too, just in case you don't check back.)

    (Good luck! I love GPS & gadgets!)

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  8. You're posting this mostly to make me homesick and come up there, aren't you?

    I've never drove with studded tires and I don't know how to put chains on. Four-wheel drive is how I got around and up and down in Alaska. And often over the berms left by the plows when they'd block in my little cul-de-sac.

    Unfortunately, I don't think Roxanne would do well up there at all. No idea if she's got arthritis or not to go along with the bone repair work we can feel and see. As it is, she's tucked up on the couch next to me and asking to be blanketed.

    Casey is cold and cranky and needs to be blanketed when the temps drop under 40. Or, he becomes naughty and has blow ups. That was interesting to learn! Answers a lot of questions about past behavior too.

    I am in love with your sheepies!

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  9. I'd love to have coffee! I live on Lake Lucille so come by anytime for Coffee and food!
    jocelynmpayne@ gmail.com

    503-830-3943

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