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Dances With Teddy Bears
May you all have a Wonderful Christmas
and may the New Year bring all good things!
We've been snowed in for well over a week now. Hubby and I haven't been able to go anywhere. The snow is piled high. Our town has one snow plow and we have yet to see it.
But we're staying warm and still have lots of food. I had just started Christmas shopping when the snows hit early last week. Hubby hadn't started at all. So we've decided to have Christmas twice: On the 25th to celebrate the day and another when we can finally get out there to shop. Family is all in agreement, but we really have no choice.
We're together and very happy to have each other. After all, that's what Christmas is really all about.
Included a picture I took of our front yard.
Merry Christmas, Teddy Lovers! :hug:
Laura!
I think you're my new neighbor?! I've just moved to the Admiral area of SW Seattle. Yep, we've been snowed in too. And I'm coming from NW Connecticut where we get as much as 6 feet of snow. But, here, in Seattle they are not equipped to deal with snow and it's amazing what happens with 10 inches of snow 
What a rough time to move! But at least we're in walking distance to groceries 
We have to skip Christmas this year but maybe we'll do like you; celebrate when the snow melts 
Karen
KJ Lyons Design
Hi Laura!
SW Washington? As in the Vancouver area? If so, I'm just a jump across the river!! Yep, we're all in the same snow drift!! I've been stuck for 11 days now. My daughter and son live in North Portland and Gresham respectively. I'm in Happy Valley.....way up in the East Hills. We can't get together for Christmas either.....even though we're only 20 minutes apart!! Like you, we are delaying the gift and dinner part and will celebrate on New Year's Day instead.
Hi Karen!
You know, whenever I've tried to explain about snow around here no one understands. You have to see it to believe it. We're just not equipped for snow here. Too much snow and not enough plows to remove it. They only plow the freeways and main arterials. The rest is just a "wait for it to melt" type of deal. When you have 2-3 feet of snow it can be a looooong time before you see pavement or the mall.....or the mailman for that matter! We haven't had mail delivery for three days and probably won't see it today either. (sigh) Oh well. We wait patiently.
Stay warm and safe and have a very Merry Christmas!!
Merry Merry bear hugs! :dance: :hug:
Aleta
Dances With Teddy BearsKaren, Aleta ..You both put a smile on my face and a laugh in my heart. Thank you!!! It feels good to laugh!
We here in the Pacific Northwest don't normally get much snow, if any. And yes, we are not at all equipped.
It has been lovely, but enough is enough!
I actually live halfway between the two of you, in Castle Rock.
So here's to a Very Merry Christmas, at perhaps New Years!!!
Keep smiling..
We'll see the sun one of these days! :pray:
Happy Holidays! yup we are in the same snow drift here in Victoria BC too!!! I am from Nova Scotia so it isn't really a lot of snow to me, but they really don't know what to do with it on this coast!!
here is a photo of our hill that people are having a bunch of trouble getting up...thankfully we aren't too snowbound with two 4x4 Jeeps in the driveway, but we have been helping our neighbors get their shopping and groceries done.
the dogs are loving it though!
hugs,
Krista
Dances With Teddy BearsGreat pictures, Krista!
This was a wide spread storm. Funny though, when one is stranded at home the world shrinks to fit.
Let's hope a warming trend is on its way. But not too warm. We don't need a Pineapple Express right now!!!
Hugs to everyone!!! :hug:
Great snow pictures ~ so pretty, but I am sorry that you are stranded.
I hope that you have some sunlight that will melt the snow.
Best wishes that you can have a happy christmas now and then when you can get together with your family.
Having two Christmas's sounds great.
Hugs
Carolyn
Angela's Bear GardenWow...too bad your stuck like that. We have had just as much snow, but we are so used to it...we have lots of snow removal equipment. We were snowed in for 1 day, then they plowed us out, just ready for the next storm 
. I live right between the Great lakes, near Niagara Falls in Ontario. We usually get lake effect snow, so we get dumped on!! I couldn't imagine not having the snowplows on the job!
Have a wonderful Christmas...in spite of the heaps of snow!!!
I'm getting really gelous seeing all such wonderful snow, I love the snow, but unfortunatly we don't have any here in Salzburg Austria, we have in the south of Austria but not here
have wonderful snowy times
Lemmon BearsHi Laura,
We are heading your way tomorrow. My sister lives in Castle Rock, I used to, and tomorrow we are hoping to get to Winlock to Mom & Dad's. We are going to get together on Saturday. I hear some of Cowlitz county has been without power. I'm on the Oregon coast we've had rain the last few day, not nearly as much snow. thank heavens!
Hi Aleta,
I think of you when we are watching...and watching... the Portland weather and road reports. I think it is almost over what a mess up there. The coast seems pretty lucky this time, missing alot of the snow. We will probably make up for it the next wind storm
Merry Christmas!!!
Joan
Dances With Teddy BearsJoan, this is a small world!
We had about 4 more inches of snow this morning, on top of the 2 feet already on the ground. We live in the surrounding foothills. More snow may fall overnight., really hope not. Good news is we are slowly warming, and the snow should slowly start melting.
Yes, there's power outages throughout the area. Trees laden with snow are toppling onto power lines. We've been lucky, no outages, yet.
Have a safe trip. Driving has been treacherous, from Portland to Seattle, as I'm sure you know. I hate driving in this stuff.
Hope you had a good Christmas!
Hope everyone, everywhere, had a good Christmas!!! :hug:
DENBY BEARS
WOW, I live in tiny ole New Jersey and we had two inches of snow the other day and now it is gone and I am happy, I do not care if we ever have snow. I do not know how you people do it, I guess it is something to get used to. I want to be able to go when I want, even tho the snow looks beautiful, you can keep it there. LOL Enjoy your holidays.
Bears By Laurie BradyOK, I'm moving!!
I love the snow and a snow-in is my dream. Living in southern Ontario, we were lucky to have had a white Christmas this year, the rain started on Christmas day and is here for the week.
Enjoy the beautifu white stuff.
Laurie,
Don't be so quick to want to move! It's not as lovely as you might think. 
It's actually very, very bad here.
Laura,
Have you been out and about yet? It's miserable! The ruts in the roads are horrific. People are getting stuck and wrecked. The water has nowhere to go now that it's starting to rain so it's just standing in the streets because the drains are iced over. None, and I mean NONE of the side streets have been plowed. None of the parking lots have been plowed. It's one gigantic Bronco Billy ride wherever you're trying to get. It's sooooo dangerous! I am absolutely appalled by the actions of the city Portland (and surrounding areas including my own Happy Valley)....or lack there of. They are refusing to plow anymore streets.....telling the people they have to do it themselves or wait for it to melt because they don't have the money in the budget. It's a really baaaad situation.
I really, really detest snow....now more than ever. It's pretty.....in the mountains and in places that are equipped to handle it. What an absolute nightmare for so many, many people. The cost of this snow is unfathomable. Mental, physical, economical and personal property costs. It's unbelievable. Truly.
Stay safe! Warmest bear hugs, :hug:
Aleta
Dances With Teddy BearsAleta ..I finally managed to get out of my driveway today. It's still a tricky mess. Ditto on everything you said!!!
The roads are awful, and dangerous. Most roads haven't been plowed here either. And now comes the rain! And flooding.
This was the first time down to my store since the snows hit. I was afraid to look. 
The roof is leaking, but not too badly. Yet. It has a flat roof!
We have friends that live in Happy Valley. They were still stuck home as of Christmas.
I still love snow, but only if ..it snowed no more than an inch, on a Saturday morning and was all washed away by Sunday night. That'd be ideal!
Wishful thinking! 
Stay safe & warm!!! :hug:
Hi Laura,
Yesiree bobaroo.....flooding! Out of the frying pan, into the fire! Oiy!!
I do hope you get your roof fixed lickety split. Three shopping center roofs have caved in already. I can't even imagine. I was feeling poor, poor pitiful us getting stuck in our driveway last night after finally getting out to do some Christmas shopping. After getting stuck, one of the chains ripped loose and wrapped around the axel of the truck. Is this a nightmare or what?!!
The good news is....at least for us.....it looks like we'll finally have our Christmas celebration tomorrow!! Yay!! Oh, and we got mail delivery for the first time today too! Mark this a happy day. 
Warmest New Years bear hugs, :hug:
Aleta
Newcastle, OntarioHi Aleta,
I'm so sorry things are such a mess for you! It's awful that you have had that kind of response from your town. Snow removal costs are always a gamble for a municipal budget, but it has to be dealt with. I know Ottawa had a 18.5 million dollar deficit last year from all the snow, but now they have a 3 week old bus strike that is saving them 3.5 million dollars a day, so the mayor is delighted as he has now paid off last year's snow removal deficit and has a nest egg for this years budget BUT in the mean time, no one has any transportation! People can't get to work, kids can't get to school - it's ridiculous!!!!
Have a wonderful day tomorrow, celebrating Christmas with your kids! I'm looking forward to some peace and quiet LOL!
hugs,
Brenda
Lemmon BearsWe are home now! Friday morning the roads were good until the side streets, wow, so much snow! We finally had our Christmas Saturday.
My dad was fretting about his carport caving in all week. I am glad we missed alot of the snow. Western Washington and Oregon just doesn't know what to do with all this snow. I'm glad it's finally melting, but our rivers are looking a little high now too.
Yay! Yay! Yay! It's almost all melted!!! Wahooooo!!! We're back to green, green grass!! The snow is now where it belongs.....in the mountains for the skiers and snowboarders. It's all good. Weeeellll, except for those pesky swelling rivers. Drats. A fly in the ointment, so to speak. Eventually, all will be right once again.
You simply cannot know how delighted I am to have my freedom back. Funny thing is, I'll be home all day......still working on bears!!
Warmest bear hugs, :hug:
Aleta
Dances With Teddy BearsI second and third the motion...Hurray for warmer temps, melting snow, and green-green grass!!!
Our rivers are a wee bit too high, here as well. Hopefully it won't rain buckets. No Pineapple Expresses, please.
My roof is leaking at my store. More and more. It's been shoveled, twice during the snows. But all that water doesn't know where to go, except down and into my store. I have buckets everywhere.
Aleta ..Oh, that feeling of freedom. I know of what you speak!
Just to be able to get out of the house, is exhilarating! :dance:
Dances With Teddy BearsJoan, I'm so glad you made it home safely. The roads were such a mess heading to the coast, impassable at times. Glad they're finally better.
Let's hope we're done with snow for a while. For a winter!
I was moving to my new home during the snowstorm. IT was rough. MANY roads were closed. Here's a newspaper photo:
I know back east this is not a big storm but for Seattle it's paralyzing, they don't have many snowplows and they don't use salt. This picture shows a women walking to visit her sister. Her avenue has been closed to traffic for 8 days. It's right down from my address. BUT it's over, we have meltdown and travel is much better :dance:
Karen
Lemmon BearsThanks Laura, we made it just fine. I think I have more experience driving on ice and snow than my hubby. When we left for Washington he said the roads were fine, dry, well they were glare ice (thank heavens for studded tires). I had white knuckles for a bit until it got a little warmer Hubby hasn't driven much in snow and ice, he's always lived close to the coast and I think Washington gets a little more winter weather.
Joan
