Perhaps I've come home too soon. It's -17F again this morning. I'm still not moved back into my house. Thankfully we've been able to stay at my daughter's. I've been having difficulty getting the house to a livable temperature.
The diesel in the van gelled and it stalled out a couple miles from the house. I climbed a nearby hill and got enough of a cell phone signal to call my daughter. She came to my rescue with a couple bottles of 911 fuel additive. That got me going again. Apparently, the local gas stations have run out of winter blend diesel fuel and only have summer blend. That doesn't work too well with these subzero temperatures.
Winter has been too cold and too long in these parts. Propane is in short supply. Wood pellets for stoves are totally unavailable. Seasoned firewood is the same. Heating oil is horribly expensive.
The snowbanks are high and frozen solid. I was making some painfully slow progress, chipping away at the snowbank with a round tip steel dirt shovel. Then the plow came, winged the snow banks back and undid all my work. Stoically, I set to work all over again. A neighbor came by and asked if I was going to do all that work by hand.
I said, “What are my options?”
He said, “I'm going to plug in my tractor and warm it up. You are too painful to watch.”
When I went back that evening, he'd cleared my parking space. The weather is cold, but family and friends are warm.
-Sixbears
Hi Sixbears,
ReplyDeleteI`ve enjoyed following your winter of cruising. It looks from your pictures that your next few posts are going to be very different from the Florida chronicles. As we say here in Ireland the scenery is lovely but you sure can`t eat it.
Tony.
http://www.tonyoscarlawlor.com/
I'll have to remember that saying. Thanks for visiting.
DeleteYour pictures remind me why I moved south. Stay warm.
DeleteHappy to provide the reminder. :)
DeleteWow, that is a lot of snow. You sure do have your work cut out for you. Hope your roof can hold it all. I remember snow from my years living up north. Thanks for the memories, but I am enjoying the warm and sunny days here, except in the middle of summer.
ReplyDeleteI built the house to take tremendous snow loading. This is nothing. Right now it's the cold more than the snow that's holding me back.
DeleteToo much snow for me, stay warm and safe.
ReplyDeleteI'm pacing myself but plugging away at it.
DeleteI was onest told that if'n ya stay in the south long enough, the snow at home will melt
ReplyDeleteI am reminded of the story of the Southerner Moves North.
ReplyDeleteGoogle it if you aren't familiar with it, it is hysterically funny.
The part about the snow plow driver had me laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes.
Here is a link, I'm sure you will identify.
http://www.mindspring.com/~toxiccow/14_0378.html
Good luck my man.
Stay warm.
So . . . where's the joke? It's all true. Talked to one of the other residents at the lake. He wants to move so bad. Rough winter.
DeleteYou need a blowtorch!
ReplyDeleteGot one!
Deletetold you to stay south
ReplyDeleteWildflower
Maybe it's good to get a reminder of why you started heading south in the winter.
ReplyDeleteIt did that for me, that's for sure.
DeleteSweet Mother! We thought we had a rough winter but you trumped anything Alberta has dished out lately.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have good neighbours, that is worth coming home to anytime but still, we wish you strength and good fortune in your struggle to re-open your home.
Looks like you camped on a hill there, good plan..... because when that lot melts!
No smart arsed remarks from us Odd bods. We know that you know what to do next year.....
It's a good thing we can stay with my daughter while getting things fixed up.
DeleteThank the Lord for good neighbors with tractors!
ReplyDeleteYes indeed! Saved me a lot of back breaking labour.
DeleteWow Sixbears I do not envy you...
ReplyDeleteWell, at least I'm not bored. Spring is coming.
DeleteBe thankful you waited until Spring to come back.
ReplyDeleteWinter was cold and snowy. You wouldn't have liked it.
Spring? What spring?
DeleteSpring is a sad rumour.
Delete