It is partly sunny with the temperature remaining just above freezing and no wind. During the night, it snowed lightly, just covering the deck and other things with a powder. NWS is predicting a 50% chance of snow tonight with 80% chance tomorrow.
I had planned on going to town today, but needed to finish a few things first, like cleaning and repacking all of my emergency kit items that I carry in the Argo, and attaching boxes to my platform to hold the groceries.
By afternoon, I finished fixing the inside of the Argo so I have some secure storage for groceries and loose items. Due to the time of the day, I decided that I would attempt to make my trip to town tomorrow. During the course of going over the Argo for the trip, I discovered that two of the eight tires were flat and I was unable to get them to keep air, so will warm a can of Fix-A-Flat in the cabin over night and try to seal them tomorrow. The Argo is still drivable, but it could cause problems if the tires slip inside the snow tracks. One tire is in the very front on the right side, and the other is in the very back on the left side. Those are key drive positions, and I need them fixed.
After loading one empty propane tank and three empty 5-gallon gas cans in the Argo, I should now be ready to go first thing tomorrow.
Playtime with Zack, stirring the fire, feeding everyone and showering took me until after dark; so I sat down to relax before fixing myself some dinner.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
It is overcast this morning and NWS is predicting snow, but so far it hasn’t materialized. It is close to 32 degrees and I even see some signs of the sun trying to shine through the clouds.
Before I could finish my coffee, the power went out, so I had to trudge outside and start the generator. Just as I got back inside and took off my coat and gloves, it quit. Back out I go to add oil, as I am sure that is the problem. I keep the oil in the cabin now to prevent it from being so thick from the cold temperatures.
It started right up and continued to run; so back to the cabin I go. I remove my garments and look at the power panel only to discover that the inverter isn’t reading the generator, so back out I go. The green light is on, as well as the Christmas tree lights, which are plugged directly into the generator, so I suspect the plug and cord as being the problem. I disconnect and check the wire nuts on the connection going to the inverter and found that the white wire was loose. Convinced that cured the problem, I start it back up and return to the house. I check the panel and it is charging, so I remove my outerwear and sit down to finish my coffee.
I have an outside light connected to the same wires as the cord to the wires going to the inverter, this way I can see at a glance if the generator is online. I check it frequently from my chair in the sunroom and when it abruptly went out, I had to go back out and check the generator. This time it was the connection at the plug into the generator, and I had to disassemble and reconnect the wires and then it worked without further problems. If it isn’t one thing, it’s another. Such is the plight of living off the grid and being self reliant for power.
Before noon, Zack had his play time and we were ready to go, so I pulled the Argo in front of the cabin, leaving it running to warm up the insides, and tried the Fix-A-Flat to seal and air up the two flat tires. I discovered that the rear left one has a split valve stem and there is nothing I can do about that without removing the track and then the wheel. I don’t have the equipment to disassemble a tire from the rim, and of course don’t have a replacement valve stem, so I decided to continue my trip and hope for the best. The right front tire accepted the fluid but never completely filled with air. The can says that after putting the foam in that the tire should be driven 4 to 8 miles to allow the foam to spread and increase the air pressure, so hoping for the best, off we went.
We had no trouble making it over the Divide and to the Jeep, but due to about 4” of frozen solid snow on the car, it took another 25 minutes. I had to break through the icy crust and then shovel the ice and snow off. Once that was done, I had to scrape each window so I would be able to see where I was going. Luckily, the time it took me to get the snow and ice off, the car defroster had helped with the ice removal on the windows.
It was now 1:45 and because Mary and Guy weren’t home, we headed straight for town. It seems like I can never get an early enough start so that I have time to leisurely run my errands and get home before dark, and today wasn’t going to be any different. Living like I do, I didn’t even think about the crowds out shopping, so the traffic and stores were all packed.
I stopped at the Humane Society and finalized the adoption of Rusty, so he is officially part of the family. The girls there were thrilled to hear he was doing well and had a good home.
My next stop was to get the propane tank filled and then on to Safeway for groceries and gas. Once that was completed, it was getting dark, so we hurried to pick up Zack’s meal supplements before getting my mail and heading for home.
Guy and Mary were still away, so I loaded all of the items into the Argo from the Jeep and almost died trying to load the full propane tank into the back, which now weighs 187 lbs. I never try to lift it, but push, shove, and manipulate it so it is leaning against the Argo and then push the bottom up until it balances itself and can be pushed into the back. It took me three attempts, which is two and half too many, but I finally got it in.
The Argo had been warming up the entire time and Zack was comfortable in the passengers seat. We started up the hill and had no problems, other than moving slowly due to the additional weight of the full propane tank and gas cans. By the time we got to the steepest part of the short cut up the power lines, the Argo couldn’t get enough traction and the wheels began to slip inside the snow tracks. After four attempts to get up the road, I had to back down and try the long way around that part.
I guess that due to the friction of the tires slipping, it heated them up and the snow and ice melted, causing the tires to continue slipping all of the time. Progress from this point on was tenuous, and we had to move in low gear at a walking pace.
I was very relieved when we reached the summit of the Divide and the remainder of the trip was basically down hill. We inched our way along, arriving home at 7 PM. I spent the next half hour unloading everything and then putting all of the groceries away, feeding the crew and building a fire. I was too tired to do much but sit in front of the fire and have my V-8 while reading my mail. It was 9:30 before I had the strength to fix myself some dinner. It dawned on me that I hadn’t had a single bit of food all day. I was in a hurry to leave this morning, so only had coffee, thinking I would grab a bite to eat in town, but I never felt hungry, so had nothing.
It started snowing by the time we had reached the Divide and was lightly snowing when I let Zack out before bedtime. NWS predicted a 70% chance of snow in the afternoon, so it was late, but I was glad as the lights reflecting off the snowflakes and the windshield wipers going make driving the Argo at night even more difficult.
My warm bed will feel good tonight.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Having stayed up until midnight, plus the wear and tear of yesterday, I slept until ten O’clock this morning, and felt that I needed the extra sleep. It is cold this morning, with the temperature at 11:00 being 1 degree and snowing heavily. I am sure glad I made the trip to town yesterday.
The snow is beautiful and I can enjoy sitting in front of my nice warm fire watching it coat my outside Christmas tree. The flakes are large and slowly floating to earth, just like one imagines a Christmas snow should be like. After today’s snow, it is supposed to be cold but mostly cloudy for the remainder of the week and the weekend. The high for today is supposed to be 8 degrees and it looks like it will achieve it.
I spent the day cleaning my kitchen so I could bake cookies and make peanut brittle, which I will give as gifts to my friends on Christmas day. I made a batch of peanut brittle and when it came time to put the baking soda in, which is at the very end, I couldn’t find it. Last week, I made a batch and left all of my ingredients out on the kitchen island and I guess I must of accidentally pushed it into the burnable trash, which is at the end of the island. I had no choice but to finish and hope that the missing soda wouldn’t ruin it.
After feeding the animals and stirring the fire, the peanut brittle had cooled enough that I sampled it and it tastes fine, so I’ll make another batch tomorrow and have enough to fill my Christmas containers for gifts. I am also going to bake chocolate chip cookies to give with the peanut brittle.
I don’t believe it got above 8 degrees all day and without any wind, it isn’t too hard to keep the cabin warm enough for all of us to be comfortable. I welcomed bedtime early, as I was still tired from the exercise I got from the trip to town.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
The wind picked up during the night and blew hard enough to charge the batteries fully. The battery bank registered 23.7 when I went to bed, and was at 24.1 when I got up this morning. It is cold again this morning, with the warmest of the day being 12.5 degrees at 11:30 last night.
I spent the day baking cookies and making more peanut brittle, all of which turned out well. I also attempted to fix the two flat tires on the Argo, without any luck. I don’t have time to remove the tracks and rotate the wheels, so I will hope that it will get us down to Marysville for Christmas dinner tomorrow and back again. Without any load to weigh it down, I should be able to make it home without a problem.
Several play periods with Zack and giving Rusty and Zoey some individual attention between baking the cookies, rounded out my day.
Friday, December 25, 2009 - Merry Christmas to One and All
The weather isn’t following NWS predictions and instead of clear and cold, it is overcast with light snow flurries. I am hoping that the tracks from my trip to town on Tuesday are still there and frozen over as it will provide a good base to travel on without sinking into the snow.
After spending Christmas morning with Zack, Zoey and Rusty, whom all got a visit from Santa, I prepared the spinach salad to take for the dinner and then got ready. After ironing a pair of slacks to wear, I played with Zack and then started the Argo to warm it up. I checked the tires again and found that the two bad ones were completely flat, plus an additional one was almost flat. I am not positive but I believe the cold weather is having something to do with it. I used another can of Fix-A-Flat and then aired up all three tires. The right front one held air and the rear left tire appeared to hold some air, but I couldn’t get it above 2 lbs. of pressure.
Zack and I headed to Mary and Guy’s in Marysville for the Christmas feast, making the trip without any problems.
Ray and Rae were already there, as was their dog, Oaklie, so Zack joined her on the deck along with Mary and Guy’s two dogs, while I enjoyed a glass of Cold Duck with the others.
Dinner was served at 4 PM and we all sat down to enjoy it.
When we finished, we had coffee and desert of apple pie and Christmas pudding. The Marysville fire chief, Dan, and his wife and two children stopped by and enjoyed some desert with us. Zack and I left around 6:30 and were home by 7 PM, without incident.
I built a fire, fed the animals and enjoyed some television before bedtime.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
The sky is clear and brilliant blue this morning, with the sun bouncing off the snow and making the day brighter than I’ve had for a while. NWS predicts the next few days clear, with a 20% chance of snow on Monday. The temperatures are still cold and the low was -6 at 8:00, and the highs are in the low 20s.
I spent today relaxing and aside from watching a couple of movies, I got out my sewing machine and set up. Although I purchased it some time ago, I haven’t used it, so needed to read the instructions, set up the bobbin and thread the needle. I have never used a sewing machine before, so this is a new learning experience. My machine has 28 different stitch patterns and for each pattern a different foot is needed. While several accessories are included with the machine, the foot necessary for darning, which is what I wanted to do, is an option. Not having experience, I am not sure if the type of mending I what to do, can be done with the accessories I currently have.
I tried my hand at practicing some different stitches on scraps of material and found it fairly easy to use. The machine does most the work for me, leaving me to keep the material straight and allowing it to feed through the foot. By the time I got the hang of it, it was getting dark and I need to play one last time with Zack and then feed him and the cats.
I managed to do two loads of wash while learning how to use the sewing machine, so folded the dry clothes and made the bed with clean sheets. I showered and then fixed myself a nice steak dinner with a spinach salad.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
The morning is cold, with -6.7 being the low at 8:20 AM, and the sky is clear with the bright rising sun coming over Greenhorn Mountain.
Before I finished my morning routine, I became involved in a couple of programs on the History Channel. One was the French Revolution and the other was on the conspiracy to kill Hitler called Valkyrie. I always find history educational and I am always surprised at how much it has changed. New discoveries have changed it since my days in schools and it make me wonder if most of what I was taught was just someone’s version of what they wanted us to believe.
I spent the day doing some house keeping and mending, getting more practice on the new sewing machine. I managed to sew up the ripped pockets on my sweatshirt, the crotch of a pair of pants and put a patch on the knee of my work pants. They may not look great, but at least they are now functional.
The day warmed up in the sun as the outside temperature registered 44 degrees, but the outside thermometers in the shade never climbed above 20 all day.
