Winter Storm Watch Warning for Friday

January 8, 2025

While we got a few flurries of snow on and off earlier this week, we didn’t get any real accumulation.

This morning, I woke to an alert for a winter storm watch. The polar vortex is about to arrive. The National Weather Service is predicting snow to start at 12:00 AM on January 10, with heavy snow possible in Northern Alabama and Southern Middle Tennessee. Total accumulation is predicted between 4 and 6 inches with possible higher amounts at 8 inches.

It is predicted to snow all day on Friday.

I am sitting here looking out the window and seeing a beautiful sunny day. It is hard to believe that a snow storm is coming. It hasn’t been very warm lately. So while it is sunny, the temperature is currently freezing (32 degrees F) with the wind making it feel like 25 degrees F.

I am glad I ordered winter jackets from Key Apparel. They are very warm and tough work jackets. Unfortunately, before they arrived, Bruce managed to rip a small hole in one of the sleeves of his nice leather jacket. Sigh!

This morning, we watched some birds in our front yard from our picture window. We saw several flickers (at least six) and two blue jays. Bruce also saw a red headed woodpecker. The mocking bird flew past a few times. Nox wanted to be picked up and held so she could look out the window as well.

Nox decided she wanted to go outside. She walked around the yard some and decided it was cold outside. She made it clear she wanted back inside.

We are being extra nice to Nox since she went to the veterinarian yesterday. She got shots, a nose squirt, a blood draw and a pedicure. It wasn’t fun for her; she shivered the entire time we were in the veterinarian’s office.

We also provided poop and urine samples to the veterinarian for testing. The poop collection was easy. I just picked it up with a dog bag.

The urine sample was a bit tricky. I took a ziplock quart freezer bag, turned the ziplock section down, and waited for Nox to start peeing first thing in the morning. I snuck up behind her and slipped the bag under her, while telling her she was a good dog. She continued peeping into the bag. When she was done, I zipped up the bag. I didn’t get any pee on me or the outside of the bag! I washed up and put the bagged samples into a gallon ziplock bag and washed again.

The veterinarian suggested a different medication for Nox’s bad shoulder. We are going to try it and see how it works for Nox’s pain.

When Nox was done with her appointment, Bruce stayed behind to pay and to schedule Nox’s dental appointment. I took Nox outside to the truck. As soon as we left the building, Nox stopped shivering. She settled happily into her bed in the truck while I hooked her harness to the seatbelt.

Here are some other things we’ve been up to.

On Monday (January 6), we received several forwarded packages from Escapees mail service. Several of the exchangeable heads had arrived from Greenworks. We received the small tiller head, the pole saw head, the hedge trimmer head and the blower head.

On Tuesday (January 7), we received the electric motor, battery and string trimmer.

Today, we dressed up warmly and tried out the string trimmer and hedge trimmer.

The string trimmer works well. The hedge trimmer started out well, but then it didn’t seem to want to cut through blackberry canes.

I made sourdough bread today, a nice activity for a cold day.

I have been planning my garden out and some seeds arrived today.

I just received another weather alert.

“WHAT…Heavy mixed precipitation is possible in Northern Alabama and Southern Middle Tennessee. Total snow accumulations of 2 to 5 inches and ice accumulations from freezing rain of around one tenth of an inch possible.”

That’s a little different from the first alert.