We did end up having a white Christmas, though our snowfall pales in comparison to what my parents got in Welches, OR this year. At any rate, when I opened the door and saw I had to push snow out of the way to get out I thought I should probably start scooping. It still hadn't stopped snowing at that point but I had to get to it while my little friend was napping or Daddy might not have been able to get back into the driveway when he got home from work. In the end I think we got about a foot. I never thought it would take such a long time to scoop snow! Now that I look back on that first good snow with some "Michigan scooping experience," I can say there are a few factors and techniques that can make it easier to scoop. It is amazing how quickly I have forgotten my scooping time in Montana. Although, the driveway here is much, much more intense than my steps and sidewalk in Montana. The colder it gets the easier it is to scoop because the snow is much lighter. This snow you see here was scooped at 28 degrees, which made it much heavier. When we first moved in it seemed so neat that we were so far off of the street! OK, OK, it's not that bad- this only took me a few hours- my Dad's took him a couple of days- at least it was worth a wow from my hubby when he got home. :)
Whew! Now for the side walk...
It was actually nice to have an excuse to get outside for a while. By the end I was looking for more to scoop since Lainey was still sleeping and I didn't feel like going back in yet. Is this the adult version of the snowman? Fun. That night it got a little cold. Coldest it's been so far here. David went to the sink in the kitchen to wash something and said the cold water wasn't working...oh no! Yes, our pipe was frozen. Thank goodness I had just been washing dishes a few minutes earlier, so I knew it couldn't be that bad yet- at least I hoped. I guess it doesn't take long at zero degrees. I got the hair dryer and an extension cord, pulled back the ceiling tiles downstairs and went to work. I used to think the tiles were ugly and wonder why they didn't just use sheet rock...now I am thanking my lucky stars! I had called my parents to make sure we were doing everything right and Britt answered the phone (my 10 year old brother). I asked if I could talk to Dad and he said "sure what do ya need?" I told him I had a frozen pipe and he responded, "well jeez, that's easy I can tell you what to do for that..." It was so cute I soaked up all of his step by step instructions on how to take care of your pipes in the winter. Apparently, they had just gone through something similar outside, so my dad gave him a lesson on pipe care. Believe it or not, Dad, he listened to every word of that "lecture." :) Oh I miss those boys so much! We got the pipe all unthawed in no time and then started looking for the root of the problem. Wow- the cob webs we found above the ceiling tiles were actually blowing in the breeze that was coming in from a hole in the outside wall between the foundation and the framework of the house. David got to work right away sealing up the hole. He even had some extra insulation from the garage so he stuffed that in there too. For those of you who have visited- now we know why it is so cold under our dining room table! When David has a spare day I think we will insulate around the whole house to save some heat loss. Hehehe...take a look at this...
Yes, we had too much time on our hands that night.
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..... :P
2 comments:
Good job Melissa, to be honest, I actually like to shovel snow too. I haven't had to yet this year because we are in an apartment, but I would if I had to. I am so glad that you guys found the whole in you house before some animal made it their home:) Can't wait to see you guys in a few months!
Melissa, about the blog book. I've not looked into it personally, but I here there are several sites out there that will make your blog into a book. The most popular, is blurb? You might try a google search on blog books. My Aunt mad hers, 160 pages, for $69 dollars. It looks really great, so I might think more about it.
Post a Comment