If the weather forecast proves to be accurate, by tomorrow night we will have about 10 inches of snow. Welcome to winter! In the next day or so, nighttime temperatures will drop into the negative digits as well. I am definitely not ready for this, but it will come whether we are ready or not.
I was thinking this afternoon about the bountiful harvest we had this fall. Even though the weather is blustery and we may not be able to get out until the township grader or plow makes its way into our driveway, we have plenty of food to eat. What we have stored is nothing like we used to stock up on in the city, but here it's home canned vegetables. We also have our home grown chickens in the freezer, and upstairs in our shelled in main floor we have a freezer filled with the 2 deer that Jonathan shot for us. It's time to head to our friend Paulette's and pick up more of our potatoes that are stored in her root cellar, but for the time being we are doing okay. What a blessing to be a bit more self sufficient than we have ever been before.
The local radio station reported that the power company is gearing up for possible downed power lines due to very windy conditions, so we filled a few bottles and jugs with water in case we lose electricity and our water pump. The animals are safe in their shelters, and that is a blessing as well.
Jim and I are trying to think of creative ways to keep it warmer here in the basement. At the moment I am reliving the memories of being in our pop-up camper, scrunched up in sleeping bags and piled high with blankets. Our bathroom area in here is reminiscent of our trips to the "compost toilet" (a bucket with a toilet seat) in the woods. The thermometer reads a chilly 55 degrees back there! The first winter in the basement we had 12 inches of insulation at the ceiling, but since we had no windows or upper floor the insulation became soaked with trapped humidity, and rained on us. Last year we had our neighbor that baled our hay make square bales for us, and we used them to cover the roof and then had a tarp that secured them. We were a bit apprehensive, but it proved to be a good way to keep the basement warm. This fall our main floor was built but not insulated, so there is only plywood and rolled roofing between us and the cold air. We are thinking we will have to do some sort of insulation again this winter inside the basement, and I'm hoping it won't be the pink or yellow stuff that sprinkles Fiberglas all over when it's being installed.
A year ago Jim's Mom sewed window treatments for us from materials purchased at JoAnn Fabrics, from a company called Warm Windows. They do a very good job of keeping the cold air that seeps in from the windows out of here. We do have to open the shades in the morning, because without any heat in that area the windows develop ice on the edges. It's also much harder to wake up in the morning when it's so dark in here!
I don't suppose reading this blog encourages anyone to move up to the frozen north country, but as they say, the cold keeps the riff raff out!
6 comments:
Hi Lynn
That blog pretty much explains it.
"Gota" turn that floor heat on, and leave it on. The heat only goes 10 ft high so it seems to me that heat loss from that system would be minimum.
55 in bathroom is only for those who lived in the 1920s.
Don't forget the generator. It should run the water pump. I assume it has 220 volt outlet. May have to wire up a separate plug for it though.
Good luck
Gp B
Hi Lynn,
The eyeglass place is called Zenni Optical found at www.zennioptical.com
It is a great place to get cheap glasses. We bought three pairs (all rimless) for $120.00.
Glad you are ready for winter. We will try to escape Feb. and March's snow in 2007, Lord willing!
I have told people on our travels about Biblical Concourse. We have given the peers test to many and it brings on lots of spicey dialogue!
We pray for you often. Thanks for keeping up with the girls' blogs.
Laurie
Hi Lynn, Winter is here that is for sure. We got about 8 inches and had some winds last night so there is the drifting this morn. I take from your post you and the family are hunkered down in your basement while your house is being built. I know what ya are talking about when you mention your facilities. We did time in my work shop while our house was being built. We used similar equipment for the bathroom. We got pretty cold and I tried to heat the shop with a couple of 1500 watt construction heaters. They couldn't get er done. That was 2 years ago and we had a big snow in Sept. My wife still talks about it. I am going to print your post to show her. You are all makin some memories for your yung uns that they will have for ever. What a great way to raise your boys. Keep warm.
Oh brrrr, -25F. I sure hope my horse is warm (we didn't have time to build walls and he only has a roof shelter at Stegmans!)
I must be living in the 1920's then because our house is usually at 55F, and we won't even mention the bathroom (at the far end of the trailer) or the bedroom. Thankfully we aren't freezing in the bedroom as we put our bed in the living room to keep us more cozy.
Cold bathrooms do inspire us to take shorter trips though :). Our neighbor out of the blue gave us two heaters and so we can put one in there for 15 minutes if we need it warmer for a bath for Emily, rather than turning the furnace up for the rest of the house.
Wood heat does make things much more cozy and I can't wait til we have it again. Our cat is going through warm withdrawal as Stegmans was warm enough for t-shirts with the wood heat and she slept by the fire. Now she has no where to sleep that is that warm and ends up curling under the covers on the bed.
If you want another good place for glasses, we get them from Grafton at Lighthouse Optical. We got 5 pairs for $170 last year (Ben's prescription, Ben's prescription sunglasses, my sunglasses and 2 pairs of prescription blueblockers for travelling.
He is a lovely Christian fellow who likes to visit and show you how he makes the glasses, so it is often an hour or two visit, but we always enjoy it. He considers it a bit of a ministry which is why his prices are that low
Heather
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