February Fury: Episode 4 – Calm After the Storm

This morning we woke to find the weather had cleared greatly. A good time to inspect the damage and be amazed at the volume of snow that has shrouded the entire place!


The pics say it all… Note the collapsed calf shed, Saf snow swimming, Russ and Josie helping us dig out, Jayne trying to get to the car, Adam clearing snow VT style!

February Fury: Episode 3 – Attack of the Snow (seriously)

So, there we all were, happily feeding and watering the horses when there was an almighty hammering on the door. Someone had come to get help because the calf facility had collapsed (it’s one of those ‘poly-tunnel’ type buildings).

Russ and Adam dropped everything and went to help while Josie and I finished up in the horse barn. I left Josie doing the last bits and went to see if I could help.

The guys had cleared the half-collapsed barn of students who were trying to figure how to get the calves out - it was pretty unstable and people safety obviously comes first. Some calves from the still-standing end were moved pretty quickly to safety and then there was nothing for it but to dig all the snow from the outside of the collapsed bit and cut the poor li’l critters out through the walls.

When I got there it already looked like a well-oiled snow digging machine and I can only say what a great job Russ and Adam, Sarah (the herdswoman) and those students did. Two police officers had also arrived by snow-shoe to ‘help’ (we still haven’t worked out who called them) tho’ we’re not sure if they did much really. At least one of them had a pocket knife which was a good job after Russ’s dropped into the snow never to be seen again – kind of crucial for getting to the calves through all that sheeting. Actually, I think the guys got a little kick out of ordering the officers to ‘pass the wire cutters’, ‘pass the halter’ etc, surgery style…

So, long and tiring story short, all the calves were fine, as was everyone else except for being knackered from dashing through knee- to waist-deep snow etc. The calves were safely installed in a neighbouring barn and cosied in for the night, while we all headed back to the house for hot cocoa with a generous slug of Baileys (see pic). Mmmm.

February Fury: Episode 2 – Return of the Aussies

Any plans for a romantic Valentine’s night were blown away with the Fury (that’s if we had planned any in the first place… errm, nope!).

Instead, and more excitingly (!), the Brown House became a safe haven for Russ and Josie (both from Australia and now faculty at UVM). Josie was on horse barn duty that evening so she and Russ came by for a cup of tea afterwards. They wisely decided to extend their stay 'til morning as conditions outside worsened by the minute.

Good thing too as there were quite a few students still working on the farm, hatching all kinds of crazy plans on how to get home that night. Russ kindly organised a successful shuttle using his truck (yes, I guess we might need to get one of those) to get whoever needed to safely back to campus, only 10 minutes away.

So, we had dinner and a good natter in between all the to-ing and fro-ing, and then headed across to the horse barn to help Josie with the 9pm night check whilst Russ negotiated the last run to campus.

Boy, that snow had gotten really deep!

February Fury: Episode 1 – The Mail Van Fights Back

UVM officially closed down yesterday and Adam made it safely home for lunch after an inescapable video conference with Chicago.

It didn’t bode well early that afternoon to see the valiant mail lady get stuck in snow at the entrance to UVM farm.

“I’ve been digging myself out all #@!** day” the helpless maiden cried out.

Adam needed no encouragement to get out there and help her on her way, snow shovel in hand!

I guess she deserves a medal for still

doing the rounds mid-Fury, and I do feel pretty guilty that I’ve not yet had the inclination to even try to make it to the now virtually disappeared mail box… note to self: must do that before she comes back today.

The February Fury

Well, that’s what it’s being called out here. In other words, the mother of all snowstorms so far as we have ever experienced...

The last 24 hours have been pretty overwhelming but, since we’re all okay and I’m more or less housebound today (J), I thought I may as well keep busy and share a bit of the drama with you.

Needless to say, after some serious snow digging this morning, the determined professor that is Adam Lock caught a ride into work with Russ and his trusty truck (I’ll never convince him that an SUV would be better now…).

No more snow, no more snow, no more snow (please!)

The beginning of this week saw us inundated with severe winter weather alerts and today, it is here...

Burlington woke up to more than 6" of fresh white fluffy on top of what we had before, and it hasn't stopped yet. Forecasts say 16-24" by tomorrow morning.

Everyone is being told to stay home and not venture out unless absolutely necessary. And man do they mean it! UVM, and actually a huge chunk of New York State and Vermont, has pretty much closed down altogether.

That said, Adam is in at work today. He was supposed to be in Chicago but flight cancellations mean at least he’s here and not trying to travel about the country in this snow storm. He'll be back home just as soon as his video conference with the meeting he was supposed to be at is over.

In the meantime, here are some pics taken at lunchtime today. Puts a whole new slant on ‘scraping up the cow yard’...

Pic 1 – View from our living room window out onto Spear Street. The snow was about knee deep at the mailbox.

Pic 2 – Scraping up the cow yard (glad it’s not us having to sit out there in the skid-steer. The poor guy looked like the abominable snowman himself!)

Pic 3 – "Build it bigger John!" Gertie and Maud oversee developments for their new terrain park. Look out for the UVM Moostyle X-games, coming soon. Well, perhaps not, but those cows have been going nuts out there this afo.

Nephew Wilbo is Christened

Some pics have come through from Wilbo's Christening at the w/e.

As proud Auntie Jayne and Uncle Addie we thought we'd post them here so you can see how cute our nephews are and, for those who met him at our wedding, how much Wee Jim has grown since most of you would have last seen him.

The day went very well by all accounts, and Wilbo (William Robert Garven) made it without being dropped (only just!) and without shrieking down the vicars mic, tho' it seems he did try his best to remove it from her robe.


Pic 1 - Jayne's sis Katy with Wilby, looking only a tad concerned (maybe it was the change in attire from the norm)

Pic 2 - Katy and Jim with Wilbo and Wee Jim (centre), Jim's brother Bob and his wife Sarah (right) and Wilbo's Godparents Dougie and Jill plus baby bump (left).

Pic 3 - Wee Jim looking SO cutesy after piling his plate with

snashters and finding a quiet spot to munch it all up. Awww!

Snowboarding not an entirely good idea...

Today Jayne hit the slopes (literally) for the very first time on a snowboard, or 'hell board' as it has become affectionately known. In contrast, the boots are positively heavenly compared with ski boots.

One of the many benefits of volunteering with VASS is the free training the programme provides, including this weeks special on how to fall on your face (and bum, and... oh, the list goes on) faster than you can say, "I wish I had my skis on".

So, apart from the teetering, falling and swearing (sorry Mumsie!) some real stuff was learnt too:

• gliding in a straight line with one foot on the stomp pad
• gliding in a straight line with both feet strapped in (yikesy)
• toe edge turns
• heel edge turns
• garland turns (toe turn, straight line, toe turn, straight line etc)
• alternate toe - heel turns (that's where it all started going really wrong)
• link turns... Well, no. Not quite. In fact not by a long way. [Well, it was only a half day lesson - J]

Suffice it to say that only four short runs were completed as planned and without falling down, versus so many, many more tumble-tastic efforts. Ouch >:( Nothing that a very long, very hot bath won't fix.

All the while poor Adam was (and still is at time of writing) in at work. And yes, Jayne does feel somewhat guilty. Nothing that a nice roast dinner won't fix! At least Safi went in to keep him company, and he'll get to ski again next week if all goes to plan.

Pic 1 - The hell board itself

Pic 2 - Happy feet in the rented heaven boots just before handing them back

Pic 3 - See how comfy they look versus ski boots!

Thank Crunchie it's Friday!

Oooh, what we wouldn't give for a Crunchie bar... actually, we're all out of Heinz Salad Cream (light) so if anyone has the time and inclination to send an emergency supply Adam would be most grateful!

The remainder of this week has been pretty uneventful here, tho' reports of much snowiness are filtering through from UK. Up to 6" in places we hear. Be careful y'all, and take that flask of hot cocoa and blanket in case you get stuck in a snowbound traffic jam - booo - we don't miss that at all. Reckon they should declare a national snow day for you and give everyone a sledge... or at least a tin tray or bit of silage wrap to hit the hills with ;)

So, Adam has been working away getting various grant applications submitted left, right and centre, and even Jayne has been working some (!) and finally got one of her projects finished this week. Also managed to set wheels in motion to sort out some house/mortgage stuff so maybe there'll be more news on that front soon.

Adam's 'starter for 6' on the skiing front has encouraged a possible bonus outing this coming w/e, work and weather permitting. Hopefully the camera, which decided to work again today (see pics), will produce some fine evidence of Adam's improving talents on the slopes. Jayne is hoping to take advantage of a last minute opportunity for a free snowboarding clinic... let's hope it doesn't turn out to be too much of a bad idea.

At least it might help make up just a little for the fact that we were unable to get back to UK :( for nephew Wilbo's Christening which takes place on Sunday 11th.

Pictures
After today's lesson with another client who has autism, Jayne had time for a few runs with Cheryl and co. Riding up the Sunny D lift there was one run through the Graduation Trees (no tumbles or slingshots today) and two down the Riemergasse Terrain Park, thankfully only catching 'small air' over the jumps. Yikes. Bit scary and accomplished with much turning and wedging to keep a low speed - it was way steeper than it looks here.

Pic 1 Riding up Sunny D, terrain park below, Cheryl and Ed on chair in front.
Pic 2 Riding up Sunny D, terrain park below, Russ on chair behind.
Pic 3 Contemplating Riemergasse and jumps... feeling a tad scared.
Pic 4 Cheryl waving at top of Sugar Run... she was less scared.
Pic 5 Jayne safely down onto the lower slopes (phew).

Two out of three ain't bad

OK, so make that 20 out of 20 for Jayne and 18 out of 20 for Adam...

What? You don't know what we're talking about??

DRIVING TESTS!

Yup, we both had to take our written test yesterday afternoon at the VT DMV (dept. of motor vehicles). It was all computer touch-screen stuff which is a step on from when Jayne last did one in the UK - old paper and pencil that time. Not too tricky thank goodness. So, now we just have our 'proper' driving test to do and then we'll be all set with our VT licences.

Dunno why we can't just use our UK ones... like, driving's so much harder here what with the auto transmission, cruise control and, oh, all those tricky straight roads and... grumble, grumble. Well, I guess we needed to learn how to handle the US dashboard dining thang or summat...

[It was quite fun really. Well, at least I scored better than Adam. - J]

Jayne tackles the bi-ski, tethering and her first 'tree run'

It turned out to be a week of firsts for me too. Earlier this week I was down at Sugarbush for my regular 2-3 days a week with Vermont Adaptive and got the chance to learn some new techniques...

Thursday's client was really quite badly disabled so we took her out in the bi-ski (bucket seat and frame mounted on two fixed skis) - she can't control it herself but loves to feel the speed of it when you push her along. It's pretty much a case of skiing along and steering a big sled in front of you at the same time. It was interesting to have a go but kind of hard on me back (must be me age!). Getting on and off the lifts with a bi-ski is quite an art too. No disasters tho' thank goodness!

Friday's client was a sweet kid with autism - he gives the greatest hugs :) He's pretty much non-verbal so communication is mostly visual... I spent a lot of the time running backwards down the slope (not easy in ski boots) so he could 'catch me'. Turns out he likes to ski with his eyes closed (oh dear) so I had my first experience with tethering. It works kind of like long-reining a horse, with the tethers attached to the front of the skis. It's useful to help the clients learn balance and control etc without setting them loose on the slope, which of course could be quite hazardous in more ways than one ;)

So, Thursday turned out to be another beautiful sunny day and conditions on the mountain were the best so far this season... plus hardly anyone else was up there :)) After my morning adaptive session I headed to the summit and took a few splendid runs before meeting up with Cheryl (fellow Brit and VASS volunteer). She snowboards and does more extreme stuff than I'm used to, so it was fun to take up her challenge of doing a 'tree run'. If it's not obvious this is where you duck off piste into the woods that line each trail... oh dear...

It started out pretty well: into the trees, down a dip, up and around and... oops... no brakes... the gap between trees is too narrow to wedge it or side slip... it's kind of like a gully so, errm, yes... that would be me in a heap of powder with only one ski left on :) Hehehe - couldn't stop giggling. Carried on by grabbing tree trunks and twirling myself slingshot stylee. Very poor tree running technique me thinks, but it was GREAT fun! Popped out onto a familiar run and went back up to have another go. More success this time since I knew what to expect - faster with no falls or slingshots!

I'll be back at the mountain later this week as usual so maybe I'll have more to report next w/e.

DON'T FORGET... if any of this is tempting you skiers, boarders or wannabes just drop us a line and get your goodselves out here while the snow's so good!!

- Jayne

Adam skis for first time in 4 years - p.m.

Coming in from the clinic Jayne found Adam napping peacefully by the fire in the base lodge. ZZZzzzz... Roused by the prospect of a beef sandwich and hot cocoa Adam joined the gang upstairs for lunch.

A physically and mentally revived Adam headed back to the slopes with Jayne and Janice (a retired UVM Athletics coach) and some renewed enthusiasm. Some useful pointers from Janice improved Adam's skiing technique no end and the day ended with some enjoyable runs down Graduation, Sugar Run and Crackerjack.

There was time for a drink in the bar before we headed home to see to Safi, have a nice hot bath and collapse in a slightly crippled heap for the evening... oh those legs are sore.

Adam skis for first time in 4 years - a.m.

Yesterday it was time for Adam to don his snow pants and skis for the first time in four years, and for the first time in Vermont too. Sorry no pics - our old camera decided to stop working in the cold.

A great start was had at Sugarbush as Adamski made his way deftly from the base lodge to the Sunny D (Sunshine Double) lift - good wedge turns and control with only a few calls of "How do I do this again?", and "Which edge am I supposed to be on?"...

Mounting the chair lift was accomplished with some level of expertise and the dismount was impressively uneventful. An equally impressive run down Crackerjack with few spills encouraged an ambitious ride up GMX (Green Mountain Express), to take on a long run down North Star and Cruiser... Needless to say severe leg burn soon set in and the joyous start to the day quickly dissolved into a painful and difficult run with numerous planned and unplanned stops for the intrepid adventurer.

Arrival back at the base lodge saw Adam disappear indoors to remove the 'death boots' so Jayne headed out to catch up with the improvers ski clinic she was supposed to be on. Good job she found them too - the critique highlighted some bad habits she'd developed over the years along with the realisation that she'd never been taught how to use ski poles properly! Jayne's style has improved somewhat after the clinic, tho' when the going gets tough it's still all too easy to revert to the old ways, which are known to involve some sporadic arm flailing, teetering on one leg and involuntary 'wooohoos'.