I managed to keep the fire going most of the night, getting up a couple of times to stoke it, but when I finally got up at 9:30, it was just coals and the temperature in the sunroom was 47 degrees. A check of the outside temperature showed it was -22 degrees outside, so I didn’t feel too bad. That -22 degrees was the low for the night and as the sun came up in a clear blue sky, it warmed to -5 by noon, with hopes of even higher temperatures this afternoon.
The winds and snow accumulation, that National Weather Service predicted, didn’t hit me, so I only have about 10” of snow and as of right now (noon) it is calm. If the winds on the Divide didn’t blow the snow into impassible drifts, I should still be able to drive out in the truck. I will attempt a trip to town tomorrow or the next day, and if there are drifts that I can’t get through, I’ll come back and take the Argo into Marysville.
Due to the weather, I will stay inside again today and work on various projects I have in progress.
I did manage to shovel a path to both the generator shed and the garage, but other than that and playing with Zack a couple of times, I stayed inside and worked on the computer and some projects.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
It is cold this morning, with the low being 30 below zero at 6:30 AM. Neither of my weather stations record temperatures below minus 21.9, so I am going by my outside thermometer. I got up every couple of hours to feed the wood stove and I checked the outside thermometers in both the sunroom and the bathroom.
It hasn’t gotten above -10 degrees all day, but the sun is out and there is no wind. I had planned on going into town today, trying to drive over the Divide to Marysville in the truck, so Zack and I got ready and went out to the truck. While the battery wasn’t dead, it didn’t have enough juice to start the engine. The oil is probably like honey on a cold day, so it takes a lot to turn the engine over. I grabbed the RV battery, which I have inside the cabin and fully charged, but it too was drained before the engine started.
I tried the Argo and it only turned over twice and then was dead. I had started and ran all of the vehicles on Saturday but the -30 degree weather sucked the batteries power to almost nothing. I ended up taking all of the batteries out of the vehicles and bringing them inside to clean and charge over night. The combination of being in a warm environment and slow charged, should bring them up to par. If it isn’t too cold tonight, they should start the vehicles tomorrow.
By 4:30, I had everything inside and on the charger, so I played one last time with Zack and then fed him and the cats. Rusty is doing much better today, being more active at times, than yesterday. Still no breathing problems or runny nose and I haven’t heard him sneeze all day long. I am keeping my fingers crossed that his behavior is just his body adjusting to not having the antibiotics and that he will level out and be okay.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
It is windy this morning and I know it is going to build the drifts on the road; so going to town is looking more and more like the Argo instead of the truck.
The batteries needed to charge more, so I spent the day working inside on several projects.
Rusty seems to be fully recovered as he is active from morning until night and has been eating and drinking well. I haven’t witnessed any drooling but he is sneezing on a fairly regular basis, but that could be because of the wood burning stove and dry atmosphere.
Playing with Zack, Rusty and Zoey before feeding them and myself, took up the remainder of the day.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
It is still below zero at night, but the daytime temperatures are warmer and in the 20s.
After my morning coffee and checking my emails, I re-dug a path to the generator shed and then to the garage. I then carried the truck battery out and installed it, just so I could run the engine for a bit after that terrible cold spell. After I got it installed, I tried to start it, but it acted like the battery was dead, so I removed it and took it back to the house.
Buy the time I installed the Argo battery and got it started, it was already 2 PM, so I gathered my lists and after playing with Zack we headed for Marysville. After snow removal from the Jeep, I left it running to warm up and visited with Mary and Guy for a few minutes and then drove to town.
After running my errands and getting groceries and gas, we headed for home in the dark. I transferred all of the items to the Argo while visiting with Guy. By the time we got home and unloaded, it was 8 PM. I fed Zack and the cats after stoking the fire and then sat down to relax before taking my shower and eating a light dinner.
Friday, December 11, 2009
The sky is clear and the sun is out, even though it is still only getting into the mid 20s. Without any wind, it is nice enough that I will work outside.
By days end, I had split and stacked about a half a cord of wood from the stacked sections next to the log splitter. As the trees and mountain created a shadow on my work area, the temperature dropped from a high of 33 degrees to 17 degrees, and I had to come in to warm up a couple of times before I got all the split wood stacked.
By the time I fed the critters and sat down with my V-8, I started feeling the pain from all the lifting, stooping, crouching and carrying. I took some Ibuprofen and ate some dinner before I improved.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
The morning was overcast and threatening, with NWS predicting snow. By a little after1:00 PM, it began snowing lightly and continued all day long.
I spent the day inside working on this and that, stopping to play with Zack several times. I fixed a cardboard scratchboard and sprinkled catnip on it for Zoey and Rusty to play with, which they enjoyed.
Nightfall found all of my furry friends fed and napping, while I built up the fire and thought about my dinner.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Snow, snow and more snow. It hasn’t stopped snowing since yesterday afternoon and I now have more than 2 feet of new snow. It is the dry powder that skiers always dream of. If a wind comes up, it will all be blown away, just like most of the snow from the previous snowstorm.
I had to dig a new path to the generator shed and start the generator so I could do a couple of loads of wash. Zack and I played outside a couple of times and I generally worked on things inside today.
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