With the temps above freezing the past couple of days the huge piles of snow around our house have definitely shrunk a little.  John felt ambitious yesterday afternoon and decided to open a path to the bird feeders hanging from the trees behind the house. We hadn't seen any birds since we've been home, so we thought we might be able to entice some back to our yard.  Sure enough, we had several different birds at the feeders today.

Last night a blizzard moved into the Dakotas and Minnesota; however, the worst of this storm stayed to the west of us, but by this afternoon we still got snow and strong winds. We have a screened in porch on the front of the house and last night the roof collapsed under the weight of about 14 inches of snow and ice. Sam came down this afternoon and helped John brace up the roof and then shoveled the heavy snow off the rest of the structure.  John used the snowblower to open the walkway to the porch and then the guys got it up on the deck and cleared more snow away.  Next on the agenda is figuring a way to put up more bracing and get the roof slanted so water will run away from the front of the house. Right now there is a big hole in the porch ceiling.  I've contacted the insurance company and a claims adjuster should be on the way soon.  Never a dull moment!