Weather report

First, a bit of geography for Red, who blogs at Hiawatha House. He's not sure it snows by me. I believe Red is in the Minneapolis area, between Lakes Superior and Michigan. The state is considerably more north of me, and between those two weather making lakes, Superior and Michigan. 

I live in Boston Township, about fifty miles below Lake Erie. When I lived in Lake County (guess where that is!), we were in the primary snow belt from the snow producing great lake, Lake Erie. Now I live fifty miles south of the lake, and two miles south of the Lake Erie, Ohio River watershed, in the secondary snow belt. Weather systems from the southwest, loaded with Lake Erie snow, and Lake Michigan snow, can hit that watershed and give us extra snow.

I read the average annual snowfall for Minneapolis is 45 inches. The average snowfall in the township is fifty inches. We broke the record a few years ago with over 150".

It snows here. This current storm began 22 hours ago, and is not expected to end until tomorrow. It snows as I type.

The snow was plenty deep when I came out for breakfast. 

My only answer was to put together a crostata. A touch of color!

Last month I made little packets of the fruit, sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice, and froze those. A mistake; the sugar drew juice from the berries and the syrup couldn't cook down. This time, no advance preparation.

And the reward, a beautiful bit of crostata.

Cathy called. Did I have any onions? Could she have one. That answer, no problem, except the snow. I called David, the young fellow a year behind Laura, so a senior this year. And yes, he could come, but much later. He'd fit me in his schedule. Made me laugh.

I had plenty to do. I cut the last length of fabric into rust towels. That reminds me of a towel story; I'll save it for last.

Mid afternoon I heard the sound of shoveling coming up the steps, so went to the door to greet Dave. And pay him.

But it was Dan, my neighbor across the street. The summer lawn mower. We chatted a minute and I asked him how the towels I gave him were holding up. I learned they are in a place of honor, unused. "Life's too short," I told him. "Use the damn towels!"

I texted David I no longer needed snow removal and went back to prepping towels. Here's a picture I took of across the street; one of Larry's cars still snow covered and one cleared off and backed as far under his awning as possible, because it still was snowing.

And the good news is, far less snow to remove tomorrow. But still...snow.

And here's my other towel story. One day last week I was making rolls. In my trailer the dishwasher is not flush with the counter, or recessed under the counter. No, it sticks out from the counter. That can lead to messy cooking jobs being cleaned from the dishwasher, too. So, I put a towel over the door to serve as an apron. And said to myself, "You should post that on 'Where the Towels Live'". So, I took a picture.

Over the weekend a hard working friend of mine texted me a picture of a use she has for a thick cotton towel. It was one of the texts that chimed in as I left the phone store yesterday. Both were posted yesterday, for your enjoyment.

Tomorrow, the envelope of pictures.