Ok I am going to whine a little. Winter sucks. I have never been a winter person and I am not warming up to it. We have had a couple of huge snowfalls so far and I keep saying to myself only 6 weeks to go. Lol
Snow is not my only gripe. Water is a pain too. Having to winterize my fresh water tanks and no running water is a definite ugg. I do however use my sink and grey water tank since I have retired. I pour very little water down it and add waterline antifreeze when it gets really cold. So far, fingers crossed, I have been able to manage not freezing or cracking the pipes.
Last week we had our first big snowfall. Now I live in Southern Ontario for the most part in the winter. Our snowfall is not near as bad as the rest of Ontario but the Niagara Region is between two lake, so lake affect snow is a possibility. Luckily I am staying at my daughter’s place so with the help of my grandsons and son-in-law I dug her out.
When you have a huge snowfalls like that the snow on the top has to come off. I do not want the that snow sliding off on someone’s windshield on the highway or mine when I come to a stop. There is always a layer of water between the snow and the roof. As I heat up the van with the furnace it will heat the roof enough to melt a little but not it all. It can make it very dangerous. The only way to get it off is with a ladder. My son-in-law has one in his truck so I used that and my grandkids to get it off. They had fun pushing it off the otherside especially when it came down on me. Lol.
Shoveling snow is kind of ok the first time it snows. This week we got another big dump but this time over two days. That meant shoveling two days in a row. Oh my aching back! I also need the ladder again before I can move. Oh my stars!!!
Just after digging out last week I mistakenly dumped hot water down the drain. I usually do not do that as cold piping meeting extremely hot water will crack the pipes. I was in a hurry after making coffee and just was not thinking. A couple of days later I noticed my carpet was wet. Investigating further everything in my cupboard was wet. Oh darn!!! I broke a pipe.
So it was a not using my drain to Ottawa trip. What was cool was on Saturday morning in Trenton when I got up at 6 am to go to the freedom rally I threw the hot water out the door and made snow. Ok that was cool.
When we got back I asked Tom to look at it. I was thinking a little flex tape and it should hold until spring and we can take it apart and fix it properly. Turns out it was not my hot water but the drain had rotted away underneath. Oh wonderful. Off we went to the store to find a 4 inch drain with a 1 1/2 inch pipe 6 to 8 inches long. Easy right??? Hahaha! Um no! We did find all the parts but had to kind of piece it together. The trap was also frozen but a little heat from the space heater and the furnace and she was thawed in no time.
I also discovered how much stuff I have in my cupboards. Holy moly!!! I had three jars of peanut butter, some cereal that was very stale. I found the bag of french vanilla coffee I had bought out east on my Newfoundland trip and saved it! Phewww! But there was a lot that had to go. My problem is stuff gets pushed to the back and I cannot reach it and forget that it there. I am thinking next summer of putting those roller shelves in that you find at IKEA. That way if I want something I can just roll it out instead of getting on my hands and knees looking for it.
Saturday I woke to a beautiful sunny day, looked out my window and this little Robin was sitting in a tree. Reminding me to hang in there. Spring is coming!
68 days until spring! Yes I am counting! 68 days until running water and not worrying what’s on top of the van before I can drive away.
Thanks for coming on my Chipmunk Adventure.
See you next week.
🐿