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Saturday, November 11, 2017

Snow and Cold



I am very glad I didn't try to replace the van's starter by myself. Friday morning I woke up to a blanket of snow, temperatures in the teens, and forty mile per hour winds. Nearly froze to death helping the tow truck guy load the van.

We suddenly went from summer to winter. My lovely wife is cooking soups on the woodstove. The wind's supposed to increase tonight and temperatures are going to drop into the single digits. That's not wind chill, that's the actual temperature. With wind chill the temperature is “Oh God why have you forsaken us?”

The bad news is that with the van out of commission, I couldn't pull the sailboat out of the water. Next week they predict it's going to be warmer. Should have the van back by then. If I don't my daughter has offered her pickup truck. One way of the other it's coming out soon.

I was pretty busy digging a trench for my water line so less critical projects got pushed back. If I hadn't buried my supply line it would have been frozen by now. I have my fingers crossed that the frost won't go too deep before we leave in January. The snow should melt next week. I've got some salvaged insulation that I'll put over the line and throw some more dirt on top.

During the cold months we tend to gravitate towards the kitchen woodstove. My lovely wife and I move our laptops to the kitchen table and keep the kettle on all day. If we were to spend the whole winter here it would be tempting to move a bed downstairs and shut the top floors of the house. However, it's more fun to spend the winter traveling to warmer places.

-Sixbears

10 comments:

  1. Better keep moving so you don't freeze down.

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    1. That could be the motto of my life right now.

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  2. I can't imagine living in a place where it gets that cold, but having always lived on the good side of the Mason Dixon Line, one misses out on some things in life, I guess.
    Hope you get 'er buttoned up in time.

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    1. A good friend of mine married a girl from Texas. She thought New England was pretty nice -until she came here in winter and experienced sub zero weather.

      "Don't people know the roads go south?" she said.

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  3. When I was a kid I'd come home from ice skating (I lived in RI) and would warm my feet by putting them on the ironwork in front of the oven of the wood stove. Sometimes wish I still had one.

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    1. Hard to beat the comfort a good woodstove after a day in the cold.

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  4. Got so busy with cutting up those pine trees I forgot to drain and bring my garden hoses in yesterday. I think I will need to throw them in the bathtub and give them a hot water soak this morning.

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    1. I almost forgot to disconnect my garden hose from the outside faucet. The self draining faucet doesn't work if the hose is full of water. Lucky I saw that before the cold snap. Had to replace the faucet once before for that very reason.

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  5. I feel for you, having to do all these things in that kind of weather.

    By the time we get out first snow here, we'll be buttoned up. I'm seriously nervous about working outside in the snow and ice. Busted ribs at my age are no lark....

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    1. Slipping on the ice is a major cause of serious injuries. I've become more cautious over the years.

      At least the insect problems are over for now.

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