On Saturday morning the snow began to fall. Birds flocked to the feeders and clustered on the ground to eat the seeds Clif had scattered the day before.
The wind blew threw the trees and whipped around the house, a cold sound that made me shiver. A hint of things to come during this nor’easter?
On the stove, pots of water were at the ready should we lose our power. I also made some cocoa muffins and frosting for graham cracker sandwiches. I iced a couple of the muffins just for fun, to see which we liked better—plain or frosted. Not surprisingly, the frosted ones were the favorites. I was particularly pleased with the muffins. For the first time, I used psyllium husk powder—one teaspoon of powder mixed with three tablespoons of water—instead of an egg. The results were far better than I had imagined. The muffins were moist, cakey, and delicious.
Buoyed by my success, I put on my coat, hat, and boots and headed outside to take some stormy pictures. The weather was brutal even by my standards—10°F with a stiff wind, which blew the snow in my face. As I walked, the snow crunched and squeaked as it does when the weather is really cold.
I went to the end of the driveway to take a picture of our snowy road.
Turning from the road, I snapped a picture of our cozy home in the snow. If you look closely, you can see my footprints in the driveway.
Shivering as I went back down the driveway, I got some more stormy-day pictures.
Through social media I learned that stores large and small—from the Art Walk in town to Barnes & Noble in Augusta—had closed. A good decision as the roads are always slippery during a big snowstorm. Unless you are an essential worker, the best place to stay is home.
Midafternoon, Clif looked out the window in the dining room as he tried to decide whether to clean the driveway. The wind was blowing even harder, and the snow was slanting sideways.
“Well,” he said, “the snow’s just barely up to the hubcaps on the car.”
Spoken like a true Mainer. Clif decided to wait until the next day.
As it turned out, this was a good choice. Maine escaped the worst of the storm, which hit coastal communities farther south, especially in Massachusetts. We only got nine inches of light, fluffy snow—easy to clean—and best of all, we didn’t lose our electricity. There wasn’t even a flicker of lights.
The next day was sunny and beautiful. Not long after we got up, we went out to clean up the snow—Clif with Snow Joe and me with the shovel. As I began cleaning around our mailbox across the street, our kind neighbor came by with his truck and plow and asked me if I wanted him to punch through. Did I ever!
The worst part of clearing the driveway after a good-size storm is what we call the wall o’snow left by the town plow at the end by the road. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you’ll get a better sense of wall o’snow.
I am happy to report that Snow Joe easily took care of wall o’snow as well as the rest of the driveway. Yay, Snow Joe!
Here is one last picture of the sun, shadow, and snow.
Clif still has one more task to do, arguably the hardest one of all. That is, cleaning the roof.
Pictures tomorrow.
Notes From the Hinterland 
Thank you for taking us with you (snuggly inside, cold outside), with “only” 9 inches of snow. This post was lots of fun!
Thanks, Carol Ann. Very glad you enjoyed it.
Wow, what a snow fall. So pleased you didn’t lose your electricity.
Thanks, Susan!
Great storytelling!
We got about 20″ of mostly fluffy snow, and very high winds with whiteout conditions for several hours. Still, the storm was much less severe than forecast so everyone dug out without too much trouble. It was -6 here this morning. Folks here about get cold when the temps are in the 20’s….
Anyway, glad all is well there.
Many, many thanks! Glad the storm was less severe for you two, especially as you both not feeling well.
And here we are sweltering in the heat. I have thoroughly enjoyed your illustrated narrative of the snow 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it, Anne.
“cocoa muffins and frosting for graham cracker sandwiches”….
Yes, please!♡♡
Glad your storm was “light”. I missed the worst of it as well–16 inches and thankfully very light.
Phew, you got much more snow than we did.
I wondered how you made it out with the nor’easter. I think we got as much snow as you did. Some places on the Eastern Shore got more than a foot of the white stuff. Lovely pictures. I’m intrigued by the idea of substituting psyllium husk powder for an egg.
Glad the new snow thrower was up to the task. Light and fluffy is the best snow for moving, esp. at our age. 😉
Great snowy day photos!
Thanks, Eliza!
Hi. Your nine inches of snow beats the six that my area got. Still, I got plenty of exercise shoveling the stuff.
Yes, snow is like that. Nature’s gym. 😉
Your snow photos are beautiful, Laurie (especially when viewed from my place by the fire). 😀 Congratulations on those muffins and graham cracker sandwiches. They look delicious!!
Thank you so much!
I’ve been waiting for your photos Laurie, and they did not disappoint. The shot of the wheelbarrow is my favorite, closely tied for the shot of the long road. They’re stunning shots. It’s good to hear that Snow Joe performed as expected. You and Cliff are an amazing team.
Many, many thanks! I wanted to give readers a sense of what it was like here during a snowstorm.
You’ve done so beautifully.
Thanks so much!
Love your end of the driveway picture.
Many thanks!
I’ve never heard of psyllium husk powder so now I need to google and learn more. So glad to hear Snow Joe did his job well. I had to laugh at ‘only up to the hubcaps’ because when I’m home that’s what I look for when I check how much we have. It also reminds me of that old joke about New Englanders leaving picnic tables out so they can guess how much snow they got. Glad your power stayed on too – almost anything can be survived ‘with’ power. 🙂
You are so right that almost anything can be survived with power. What a difference it makes. That psyllium husk powder is incredible. Obviously, you can’t scramble or poach it, but it works beautifully in baked goods. Also worked very well to hold together chickpea patties. All it takes is one teaspoon of powder mixed with three tablespoons of water. A minute or two of gelling, and voila! Truthfully, I like the texture of the muffins better with the powder than I do with eggs.
Thanks for braving the cold and wind to share the great shots! When
l lived in N. Va. we had a picnic table on the patio and I put hot pots of soups and the like in the snow to chill before putting them in the fridge in the winter. Question about clearing off the roof: I know the weight can be a problem, but isn’t it also an insulator? What’s the quantity that makes it necessary? How in the world does he do it?
All is explained in today’s post, which will be up soon. Thanks for asking.
Glad to see that you all had a lovely storm and no loss of electricity! We only needed about 4-5″, which was kind of a disappointment!!
Thanks, Katie. Maybe more snow will come your way. Funny how just to the south of you, Massachusetts got hammered.
A most enjoyable post for us at any rate. A lot of hard work for you.
Thanks, Tootlepedal!
I’d forgotten about the squeak! The other fun thing always was that combination of melting and refreezing that created a kind of crust on top of the snow. You could ‘cut out’ hearts and flowers and give them as ‘presents.’ One year, my mother kept a snow heart in the big freezer for a while, until spring rolled around and no one wanted to hang on to snow — not even one bit!
Funny, but we’ve never cut out hearts and flowers from the crust. Sounds lovely, though.
Mittens don’t make for the sharpest ‘knife,’ but they work!
Happy to hear you weren’t too badly hit with snow. Good on you for have iced muffins ready 🙂
Thanks, June! Those muffins were pretty tasty.
Beautiful. I love how blizzard isolation makes one think of cooking.
Many thanks! Yes, blizzards bring out the urge to cook.
Glad Snow Joe worked! Looks so cold.
We are very grateful Snow Joe does such a good job. And, yes, cold.
Great post, and your house looks nice and snug in the snow, with the trees all around. I’m very glad you haven’t lost power. Thanks for giving a great overview of ”Home in a snow storm”….there’s a children’s book in there.!
A-w-w-w, thanks so much.
A hearty day for my favorite Mainers. True point – when you wrote “iced the muffins” my first thought was you stuck them outside – and I even wondered why! 🙂
Too funny! I suppose if I had put them outside, they would have been really frosted. 😉
You hardy souls! Snow looks so lovely but is hard work to shift. Enjoy it from the warmth indoors!
A-w-w-w,thanks! Yes, Mainers must be hardy to live here year round.
Your muffins look delicious. That is a lot of snow, way too much for me. It sure makes for pretty photos though,
Thanks! Snow is lovely but a lot of work.
I’m glad you and Clif weathered the storm without losing electricity or any other damage.
Thanks, Tanja!
Great photos, Laurie! The view down the road was stunning. So glad you escaped the worst of it. And those treats look and sound wonderful. My son’s girlfriend recently started eating vegan, so I am paying special attention.
My brother (the one who built a cabin in Maine) recently bought a property in Belfast, Maine, and his daughters are there fixing it up. They report 2 feet! And we (an hour away from the beach in NJ) had about 9 inches here. So the coastal regions really got the brunt of this one. We were fine, too.
Thanks, Jodie. I do want to add that I made oatmeal bars with the substitution of the powder for the eggs, and the bars were not a success. Dry and hard. Ah, well. Back to the Internet.
My daughter was a vegan for many years growing up. I found it WAY harder than vegetarian. Eggs are hard to replace. My son’s girlfriend is a vegan and things are easier now, I think. Way more available options. (We are near big cities, so we may have more options than you do.)
Eggs are hard to replace. As we are finding out. But you are right. There are more options now, even in central Maine. 😉
Those muffins look delicious Laurie and so glad you kept your power! Another yay for Snow Joe, he’s doing a great job! The snow scenes are so lovely and thank you for braving the cold to take these beautiful photos! 💙🙏
Thanks so much!
Yeah for muffins. They look great. I have never thought of frosting crackers. Were they good? Lovely snow images.
Frosted graham crackers are delicious. And easy. 😉
Love your cozy home and beautiful snowy photos!🙂 I wish I had planned as well as you and had some wonderful desserts in the house for our snowstorm today. We need to add another snow blower and after seeing all the snow you have to clear I’m thinking about looking at the Snow Joe. Raising Dion is off to a great start!!🙂
Many thanks! So far we are very happy with Snow Joe. We are about halfway through “Raising Dion.” Wish there were more episodes.
The wall of snow at the end of the driveway. Oh, how I remember that one from back east! Glad you are snug, safe and warm back there and did not lose power.
Many thanks! Always a relief not to lose power.
The muffins look delicious! Interesting that the vegan option was successful.
Many thanks! Alas, I made some oat bars that were not anywhere near as successful. Too dry. So the husk powder is not a perfect substitute. I will try again adding some extra liquid.