I thought I saw a thaw....

... but things are back to status quo.  Saturday and Sunday were both in the 40s!  I'm super glad I spent so much time shoveling and blowing snow off the driveway for the past week, even though it was still a solid sheet of black and white ice.

With the sunshine this weekend, the blacktop underneath warmed up enough to cause serious melt.  

Starting Saturday, I would go out and chip at the ice, fracturing it to hasten the melt.  

What I couldn't do is shovel all the snow off the deck.  Forecasts said we were going to get about 6 hours of rain Sunday night before everything froze up solid again. So I called by friend and Sunday they cleared the deck of 6-8" of frozen snow.  They made it look so easy.

So the rest of Sunday I chipped away at the exposed ice on the deck and the shaded part of the driveway.  By end of day we were down to dry deck and driveway.  *whew*  

Notice the glacier just off the deck?  As winter continues and snow gets blowed, my available turnaraound shrinks while the snowpack expands.  Man, that's solid too - mostly compacted snow and ice.  Gonna take some serious warm weather/rains to lose that ice shelf.

During the warm spell, I also took the time to clear the ends of the downspouts around the house.  Letting sunshine on the black tubes really clears them out. The one under the deck steps was the worse, no sun there at all.  And those corrugated drains hold water which then freezes and builds up.

It was 90% plugged, but there was a growing trickle of water as the sun-warmed melt from the garage made its way out.

For 2 days I worked at what looked to be a block of ice about the size of a very large yam.  By Sunday I could actually turn it in place, but it was still wedged in.  Finally, by Sunday night, I was able to get a grip on it and pull it out.

I had no idea what I'd been dealing with.  Good grief.  That ice was huge. Well, all that rain didn't happen.  We got about .2" and it froze.  It's been only in the 10Fs since then and should continue for days.  

But there ARE signs of Spring.  Just this morning I glanced out the kitchen window and saw not only a robin going after the dried crabapples, but there was a cowbird at the feeder.  Wow.  Both on the same day.  Before ya know it I'll be hearing grackles no doubt.  I can hardly wait.

How about you?  End of YOUR tunnel in sight yet?

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Meanwhile - healthwise there's good news and bad.  

Image from Web

Bad news:  Xrays show bone spur on right shoulder.  MRI shows some fluid in the bursal sack, some frayed muscle due to impingement and a complete tear of one of the 4 tendons of the rotator cuff.  The other tendons are showing some damage also.  It's pretty bargled up.

Good news: Xrays showed just a tad of arthritis and when shoveling snow on Thursday I somehow managed to pull apart some internal scar tissue, allowing me to get back the 20% of range of motion I'd lost on that arm due to pain and stiffness.   Bottom line, I'll get some PT for the shoulder for now.  Doc says lots of folks get through life without having a tendon surgically repaired unless it starts affecting their lifestyle.  Maybe, knowing what's going on with things now, I might just ALTER my lifestyle to accomodate this new limitation. Yeah, well, we'll see how that shakes out.  But right now, with the scar(s) broken, it feels better right now.  I'll keep ya posted. Fingers crossed.