Alright, it's hard to enjoy an ice storm. Or is it? Well, you can enjoy looking at it, those trees glistening with ice, as if they were decorated by an invisible all-powerful giant. But it's hard to enjoy when you're walking along the road with your dog, as we were this morning. Even with a massive amount of road salt, the ice wasn't budging and we had to walk along as if our joints were welded together.
But you need an ice-chipper. That's what that thing is in the photo. That was a homoe-made job, with a good blade and an aluminum handle. If I had to do it all over again, I might have forestalled the aluminum handle for a wooden one. Ah, the lasting beauty of wood! Well, it's warmer, too. Unless I'm wearing gloves, the aluminum could stick to my hands in very very cold weather.
You should be wearing gloves anyway--to cushion the shock. But look at the magnificent job I did. Well, almost did. Or half did. There are other options--moving to Louisiana or Florida or Southern California.
Or getting a dog. Our GSD, Mandy, loves to eat the ice. Not recommended for large driveways though.
I bought this machine after several years of hand spading the garden. It looks as if it may have come from a Star-Trek episode but really I got it at Home Depot for 200 bucks. Last year, I'd used a heavy duty and more expensive machine that I rented so the soil had been tilled once already. Even so, this little machine did the job. You can use it with all four tines for tilling or you can remove the two outer tines for cultivation between rows. 
I planted some lettuce early this year--it's a cool weather crop--even though there was a hard frost and the threat of more on the way. I planted it close to a foundation wall, however. The sun warms the masonry and continues to radiate, creating a mini-climate. Of course, the little germ-like baby lettuce could still get wiped out but so far our scheme seems to be working.
I'm waiting for the ground to thaw so that we can put in some lettuce seeds and spring onion sets. To relieve the waiting, I've trained our young female German Shepherd dog to bring in the newspaper. It's a task she enjoys, but sometimes, in her exhuberance, she likes to toss the paper about on the doorsteps and I have to shout at her to drop it. Nonetheless, we were very proud and amused with her unfailing capture of the newspaper out by the road and the efficient manner in which she would dash for the front door porch. 
Alright, it's hard to enjoy an ice storm. Or is it? Well, you can enjoy looking at it, those trees glistening with ice, as if they were decorated by an invisible all-powerful giant. But it's hard to enjoy when you're walking along the road with your dog, as we were this morning. Even with a massive amount of road salt, the ice wasn't budging and we had to walk along as if our joints were welded together. 
