After four days of -40 C, we thought we had done well and come out unscathed. Then, last night I turned on a tap and had no water. Exploration of the water line between the pump shack and the house showed a section that was missing it's insulation. There was self regulating heat tape, but every bit of insulation was gone. I blame..... ( more to come, I accidenlty hit post thread)
O my goodness. I wonder if the critters stole the wrap for pipes for a nest. What a bummer…It’s always somethin. We use a hair dryer to thaw pipes if it’s not too cold. it’s 15’ today ice storm hit . It’s slipperier than frog snot. Lil tiny beady balls that look like snow . Mel is your water movin yet? We use the water from the hot tub during power failures for ladies room calls.
..... continuation.... I went to the barn for some insulation, and wrapped the section that was exposed. Then retrieved some buckets and a tote to fill with snow and leave in the mud room overnight. This morning started the snow melting campaign. With the extreme cold the creek was frozen over, and to get to the middle to make a hole in a deeper area would not be safe. I started at 6 am this morning, and now have 6 four litre containers of boiled drinking water. I am now working on a few five gallon buckets so that dishes can be done and a sponge bath or hair wash can happen this evening. Paper plates were retrieved from storage. Soup and Chili came out of the freezer to make less dishes. Our temps are warming over the next few days so hopes are that it will thaw. If not, then possible issues with the pump will be explored. In all of this we have shifted from a cold weather event to heavy snow fall warnings. This however, made my quest for fresh WHITE snow much easier as the deck needs shovelling. It takes 5 totes of snow to melt enough on the woodstove to fill the two pots. This will give me a little more than a five gallon pail. There's lots of secret weird stuff in snow. Bits of this and that. Everything was triple strained to remove plant matter and mysteries. Then drinking water was boiled and strained again. Cooled and put in water containers. And now I'm working at filling one more 5 gallon pail. It will be Christmas in a couple of days and the closest little town will have rolled up the streets for a few days. If we need any parts, it won't be until the 27 or 28th that we can get them. Please excuse the yuck on the mat. It is debris from the strainers when they fell over. And then...it was time to have some fun and make snowman soup. I think so far today I have packed close to 70 totes of snow into the house and am ready for a rest. The snowman's mouth fell off, he fell over and pead in the soup. Now it is pea soup? And that was my day today Soup anyone? Made from fresh white snow.
Omg.. you have been really busy. Luv the snowman. I can just hear him screaming, Help I’m Melting”. Like Mr Bill on Saturday night Live years ago. It’s good to see you have kept your sense of humour…. Good your boiling the snow. It has a lot of icky toxic things in it from air pollution. Course you don’t live in a heavily populated area . No lead from autos etc. Your snow may be better than most, that’s heavy loads to carry … hope you had a hand trick or help. Just carrying in a small quart bucket of snow is tricky. That’s what we do when there's no power. Use the wood burning stove to cook. Like camping out. It’s a lot of extra work and exhausting just to boil water for a cup of coffee. Wood burning stoves can heat ya out of the house in no time. Is your power out too?
Sorry about your ice storm. They can do a lot of damage. If the water can sort itself out it will take a couple days at the warmer temps over Christmas. We will be much milder then. If not it will be after Christmas. I'm lucky to have an outhouse so I don't worry about the indoor biffy.....although I would change my mind if it was still - 40 C
My back says it is soon time to stop packing snow. It's not too far to the mud room fire from the deck. So far power is okay. Thankfully we have a generac that runs everything in the house except the dryer and oven. I sold my car when the kids left home to get the generac. It's been great as our power goes out often for long periods of time. They were grumbly after all of their years of having lanterns for doing homework, hair and makeup. It's okay to treat ourselves to a little easier life in our golden years
We have a back up generator have the same problem out in the country. We are the last to have power restored. So far so good still have power here too. Can’t take DH in for treatment today roads too icy, accidents everywhere. Like bumper cars going down icy hills.\ https://www.kgw.com/video/news/local/jan-2007-bumpers-cars-in-the-snow-and-ice/283-2452041
Mel—It is interesting reading your exchanges during these winter conditions. …and the bit about the snowman peaing into the soup— priceless. It gave me a bellyache. You are a natural comic talent. And Pacnor— I can hear the little snowman …. And the immortal words. “Oh no, mr Bill”.
Too right, Pac. My Bride and I still say that to each-other sometimes. I can recall the most useless of things.
Absolutely! I hope your situation improves - that's sort of an adventure but I could see it getting old fast. I need to go out and check for fallen trees. They are my source for firewood. That snowman DOES look like Mr Bill. Really funny! Oh no, not that!
I had to look up Mr. Bill. There definitely is a resemblence hahaha For many many years we only had one channel with antennae and only had CBC. I think I've only ever seen a handful of SNL shows at friends homes. . ( And he's on Youtube....time to catch up a bit). I worked so hard and getting so much water yesterday so that I wouldn't have to for a few days. And there was a conveniet fresh snow fall. Tomorrow I will flick the switch again and see if the magic has worked. You are so right....it's good to know I can still do it, doesn't mean that I want to for too long. Angus thought I was bringing the snow in for him.....he'd rather eat snow than drink water.
Mel.. angus is a real cutie. I never could figure out why most animals love to eat snow..so I had to look it up. Unless you've just filled your pup's water bowl, their water might not be the freshest. But it doesn't get much fresher or cleaner than newly fallen snow. It's in their DNA: Before dogs were domesticated, their ancestors in colder climates often had to rely on eating snow to hydrate. Dogs are smarter than some people I know.
Oh, dear, oh, dear, @Melody Mc., what an ordeal! I laughed at the snowman story. Absolutely brilliant! I so agree with you. Having fun amidst boring, necessary chores is very important. Good luck with the frozen pipe. At least there's snow. We had this icy cold, snowless winter one year that caused a lot of water pipes to freeze. Even some that were one meter below ground. Winter weather can be so unpredictable.
