Being in the northeast US we had a terribly cold start to the year, well, technically it also ended 2017. It has been (according to the weather reports) the 3rd longest period with the temperature below freezing for this area since records were kept. I know many of you will scoff at this as the temperature where you are is (much) more often below freezing, but luckily for us, not that common here. Add to the unusually cold weather strong winds - in some areas wind chills were below 0 Fahrenheit - again I know elsewhere this is not that unusual.
As you know from last week’ post, we had a snow storm last Thursday. Due to the cold weather, the snow has stayed. - I must make a correction to last week’s post - I mentioned that a neighbor had helped us removes snow from one of the driveway cuts. I assumed (and you know what that means) that it was the neighbor who lived in the house immediately next to us on that side as he had been helping, what I thought was his wife. I was surprised as the neighbor has had back problems and even asked about same and he told me that he was fine. I later telephoned him and thanked him again. The next day I received an email from his wife - the neighbor had not been the one who helped us - he was in the house as he cannot leave same due to his back problem. The neighbor on the other side of her house - who we have never even met before (it is a main street and therefore we only know the neighbors on either side and one house to the other side, but that is due to a shared car accident by a 3rd party). Even nicer of him to have helped. She did not know his telephone number or email so I am going to write a thank you note. So, thank you, Dave! - Oh, and we did find the nut that goes with the handle that fell off the snow blower.
We stayed in the house on Friday for the entire day as it was the coldest day of this period of subfreezing weather. I took advantage of this time in the house to finally finish putting up my Christmas decorations - yes, on the twelfth and last day of Christmas I set up my teddy bear village! It is now setup and we are enjoying it. My normal time to start take down the other decorations is this coming Monday, but I may leave them up a few extra days - I will ask husband what he thinks and if he is ready. Between his worrying over the weather and our “visit to the 18th century” we have not really had a chance to look at them The village always stays up longer.
I checked with my mom - 88 years old - tonight to make sure she has groceries, heat, running water, etc. and she does. I asked if she needs anything and she told me no, she has groceries for at least another week and she is sure the snow will melt by then. She cannot open her front door as there is snow against it, but is sure after tomorrow (it is suppose to be 50 degrees Fahrenheit and to rain tomorrow) she will be able to open her door. I made her promise (which she would never keep) to call me if she needs food or help getting out. She is our only parent left.
Another followup to the snow removal story. When we put out our outdoor Christmas lights husband placed a strand on a low bush next to the steps to our door. He was draping them around the front of the bush. I suggested that maybe we did not want them that far forward and reminded him that once when we had someone to clear the snow, they ran the snow blower over the lights on that bush. He did not remember. Before the snow came I suggested that I unplug all the outside lights - afraid that water might get into the lights and short them out - maybe even start a fire. Husband instead turned off the breaker to that circuit. (The front outdoor outlet is on its own circuit as is the back outdoor outlet.) Good thing. As I mentioned last week husband ran over the Christmas light strand with the snow blower and we found pieces of the wire as far away as the other side of our small property). We have basically just left the snow as it was after we cleared it then as it was too cold and we were too discouraged to do anything about it. Today the temperature was in the upper 30s. Husband decided that the snow would not melt properly and he would blow some more of the snow out of the driveway cuts so that it would spread around more and melt faster. In addition we are suppose to clear the sidewalk in front of our house and had not done so - too much work and anyone can use our driveway to get from one side to the other. But, he also had not cleared the driver’s side of our van and to use it one needed to go in through the passenger side to get to the driver’s seat and he found it cumbersome, the time he tried moving the van to see if would move. So he decided to clear the sidewalk now, which would also give him access to the driver’s side of the van. (Normally the van sits there, but I need to go to a client next week and if the van is frozen in, he has no way to go out for lunch or to amuse himself while I have the car.) He was doing okay, but then the snow blower started to make funny noises and sort of “buck’. He pulled the snow blower to a spot on the driveway that was clear and shut it off. He looked inside (with a little shovel stick that came with the blower) - nothing stuck. He had me lay down the blower for him - handle to the ground and found the problem. Apparently much more of the light strand had been pulled by the blower and it was wrapped around both sides of the axle of the blower’s wheels. About 15 minutes later - with the help of needlenose pliers and a wire cutter - the blower was fixed.
Instead of going in, husband decided to clear the snow off the windshield and hood of our RV (remember this is a Chevy van). It would not move. I suggested starting the engine - by logic and what I have seen happen before - this would heat the snow on the bottom and it would slide off the hood easily - if not on it’s own. He insisted that would not work and kept pushing until he removed enough to make him happy.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Okay two of them -
First, unplug or shut off the power to your Christmas lights before using a snow blower near them.
Second - Keep yourself, your loved ones, and your home warm in cold weather so that all survive safely.
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