Feel sorry for us.

[Virginia]

Well, let's see, yesterday morning it was -17 here on Strange Magic Hill. This morning it was -7. OH and yesterday it never got out of the single digits! The Olympic Ski Team called and wants to use our driveway for a training facility. OH, also, our wellhead froze, so we have had no water for two days and of course it is snowing like a blizzard right now with already over 2" in the last hour or so!

Try and feed the little feathered ingrates on the covered front porch out of the snow and all they do if fight and poop all over the place, but they are cheap entertainment.

Guess it could be worse, we could live in southern California!

Love ya all and stay warm - but not on the beach - don't want to hear about that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

V & SL

[Domonique]

Virginia, Babydoll and I are in the same boat minus the frozen well head. I know we have a few inches on the ground already and no signs of letting up. I will be busy this evening plowing. Seems like no rest for the wicked here.

[April Rose]

I spent an hour yesterday at the top of a 30 foot ladder, in single digit temperatures, chopping away at an ice dam with an axe. The snow is so deep that the snow blower can no longer reach the top of the piles. If it snows again, I'm thinking about a tunnel.

[Carol Ann]

Well honey looks as if we are all havening a little problem. Wednesday I manage to get out and get to the store after four days of being snowed in (12").

Well last night it all came back with snow, rain, sleep, and this morning woke up to ice everywhere, having to run the furnace as I can not get out to the wood pile .

Sorry about your water as my pump is in a shed which I have a space heater in as last year I went like you with busted pipes and no water except for the reserves I keep on hand.
Keep the face Vinginia as some one told me spring was just around the corner , now if you believe that I got some land I can sell you.

Hug and love Carol Ann

[Nature Gal (SO)]

I DO feel sorry for you! Today it's starting off gloomy & gray here with a bit of drizzle, 56 degrees with a predicted high of 68 and rain for a couple days. 10-Day forecast has us in the upper 50's - low 70's. That's about par for the course in Southern California for February. Not good beach weather I'm afraid but certainly nothing to complain about like most of the rest of the country right now.

Now LAST week! That was beautiful flip flop and sun dress weather. We love it here!

Don't be hating.

[SilverLady(SO)]

Update: New snow is now at 4" and counting (on top of the 10-12" received on Tuesday), temps are at a balmy 5F . . . and still no running water.

Good news is that we still have electricity, heat, satellite TV, and internet . . .

. . . and each other!


- SL

[KimberlyS]

Heat wave here, +22 and had an inch of snow on the ground this morning. More cold coming in tomorrow. Virginia if you would not take all of our snow we would have more.

[Requal Jo]

A nice 28C here in Sydney Australia with some rain showers.

My daughter-in-law was in New York last week and left just before the drop in temp. Said is was around -7 to -10 during her stay. She was glad to be back home in Sydney.

A thought for my northern friends in Southern Queensland who have endured a cyclone with winds over 290Ks and rain fall of over 6 inches (300ml) and friends in the Northern Territory who have also experienced a cyclone of the same proportions.

[Anthony Simon]

The darkest hour is...

[Toni_Lynn_P]

Almost all of my work colleagues are in mid-west USA or east coast and they can't believe how we here in the lower mainland of British Columbia Canada are actually (much) warmer than them and haven't seen snow in about 8 weeks. Between 12 c and 14 c (55 to 60 F) every day with blue skies. The only snow is the bit on the mountain peaks around us.

Now I will admit that last nigh was cold -- right at the freezing mark, but snuggling with my sweetie was sooooo great!

Hugs

Toni-Lynn

[Robyn]

I do "feel sorry for" all of you. On the news every evening I watch people shoveling snow and dealing with the harsh conditions across the country... Burrrrr, I can't even imagine.

And Toni Lynn, being 1500 miles south of you we're a bit warmer, but I do know you all are having a dry winter as well. One of my clients manufactures mountain bike components on Whistler and they tell me they're getting a longer seasons on their bikes this year.

Well, we're supposed to get precipitation today but it hasn't started yet so NG and I are heading out to the garden to begin a ceremonial rain dance.

[Virginia]

Well, it warmed up! Mid-40's today, shoveled the "ski-slope" and the sun took care of the rest of it! The well has thawed out so we have done laundry and well, it solved other problems you have to deal with when you have no water! Hope that is all the -16 weather we have this season. Had a purple finch and a couple of robins come by for a brief visit as well.

Looking for a nice, quiet yet interesting week ahead!

V and SL

[DonnaT]

Sorry to hear about the frozen wellhead. Glad no pipes busted. Leave a trickle of water running to keep it from freezing again, until a more permanent fix can be devised.

Is the wellhead exposed/uncovered?

If so, you can build a basic insulated cover for it, leaving room for an outdoor rated drop light (nonmetal housing) with a 100 watt incandescent bulb.

With a little creativity, it can be made from sheet foam insulation, carved to any shape you desire (fake rock to an obelisk to a statue) and painted over with monster mud, then several coats of drylok waterproofer, followed by acrylic paint for decoration.

Monster mud: Drywall Joint Compound mixed with Latex Paint (Exterior House Black or any color you choose)
Mix together the compound and paint at a ratio of 5:1 using a drywall compound mixing attachment and a drill to whip the two ingredients together.

[SilverLady(SO)]

Donna -

Yes, the well head is exposed / uncovered; while this has never been an issue in the past, we've also never had -16F temps up here, either.

Thank you for the suggestions and recipe for monster mud. We will be constructing some type of an insulated cover for it, complete with electricity. If Virginia can create one that looks like a cannon, machine gun or Abrahms tank then I will be very pleased.


- SL

[KimberlyS]

otherwise the redneck solution is put some hay or straw bales around the well head in the winter time. If using hay in your area you may need a few extra as it sounds like you may also be feeding some wild life. But it may add to your wild life viewing in the winter also.