SUNDAY AT ZERO DEGREES

[Nasoosie]

It warmed up a bit in the night, thank heavens, and so it's standing at about zero now rather than way below as I feared----it was already -9 when I went to bed!

My wood fire is crackling away as I am getting it started for another day.....looks as if we won't be getting any sun today.

The videos of the mid-Atlantic states and DC are looking more like the Adirondack Mountains in the winters! Many people are without power this morning in the blizzard zones, with frozen pipes, split pipes, and all. My Honda 2000 will run the fan that powers my Monitor Heater here, so, even without wood, I could have my heat. The problem would be in the basement where the pipes come in from underground----I would still have to fire up my two Propane Buddy heaters for down there to keep that back room warm. I have a regulator to hook the larger of the two heaters to a 20 lb. propane tank, so it would keep running for quite a while.

And I still have no way to hook up my water pump to a generator, so I would use my gallons of water I always keep on hand, as many of us do, or melt snow on the woodstove if necessary for washing, flushing, and anything but drinking.

But we missed the entire storm up here in the north country. It was VERY cold all day yesterday, hence I did not go skiing, even with the sun out. Anything around zero hurts my lungs when I do any exercise, so Molly and I just brought in firewood and played with her ball in the cleared driveway parking lot.

My brother in PA, near Philly, must be so exhausted today after snow-blowing his STEEP and rather long driveway all day yesterday. I sent him some links to YakTrax boot sole grippers last evening, so the next time he doesn't have to be afraid of falling on that steep grade on packed snow or ice. He said his knees were black and blue from slipping and falling behind the blower----dangerous to say the least.

Coffee is hot and good, and, with this nice wood fire, we are comfy in here. Molly is playing with her pelican stuffed toy and wishing for his Orlando home-town climate! Come on in and tell us what happened in your neck of the woods yesterday, if you have power this morning.

I hope Cedar is feeling better this morning, and that the rest of you are safe and comfy wherever you are.

[avalen]

Good Morning
we had a little sprinkle during the night, a tiny little bit of wind as it bumped the
fifthwheel just a couple times but the temp really isn't bad. Bandit was fine to go
out this morning. His little nose is my temperature gauge, if it smarts when I open
the door he balks about going out.
I'll have to finish up my laundry in the laundryroom dryers today since I didn't get
it all done yesterday, spent too much time surfing into some really cool websites,
including my High School reunion. Got an invite for the 40th reunion, it would be fun
to go but I certainly can't afford any trips. The online yearbook was fun to view,
and one of the guys is living here nearby.
Dogs are fed and back to bed, coffee is fresh and hot and I'll check into new posts,
get the laundry started and plan my trip to the grocery store. Have a good day and
be safe.

[asirimarco]

Good Morning All - well we have finally left Mazatlan and are now about 200 miles (as the road goes) south at Aticama. If any of you read Tioga & George - this is where he usually hangs out. But we are a week too late to meet him - he is going south.
We are in a small campground right on the water - not a beach. Between us and the water is a steep seawall and rocks. It has 15amp electric (well almost), good water and dump. No wifi. We'll be here a week. Our satellite is up and working good (have already had one person ask if they could use it) Funny thing is they don't have to ask - it is unsecured so all they have to do is connect - that is something we'll get changed as soon as we can.
Very expensive toll roads yesterday - less than 200 miles and almost US$70.
Bought some delicious banana bread from road side vendor - this area is known for it.
Weather is getting warmer as we go south.
Hope all of you in the storm area manage to thaw out and be warm. If your're traveling stay safe.

[Getupngo]

Good morning, everyone. Sitting here with my coffee, listening to NPR's Sunday Edition. Had a scary thing this morning ... my Bandit dog (who has NEVER turned away any kind of food -- ever!) didn't touch his bowl of food. He just lay there and looked at me. So I opened a fresh can, sat on the floor and hand-fed him until I got his interest going again. All is good now. Sigh.

[BarbaraRose]

It is a balmy 20 degrees this morning! However, we are in for a snowstorm this afternoon into Monday night. They are saying up to a foot of snow here (I know, not nearly as bad as the east coast...) but will be a b**ch driving tomorrow while it is coming down! We have had about an inch or two of snow every day last week and that made driving a mess too. I get a headache driving on bad roads having to pay attention constantly to everything going on around me.

We had a little incident the other night here. Mocha attacked Buster. I heard Buster screaming and I ran over and separated them, shut Mocha in the bathroom, and ran to check on Buster. He was really shaken up so I cuddled him for awhile (which he normally doesn't go for but was more than willing to snuggle with me now). Then I checked for any injuries. He has a little bite mark on the back of his neck. It isn't a full punture wound but just scraped the skin. It is scabbed over now and I am watching it carefully for infection. Mocha was very upset about being yelled at and put in the bathroom, so I had to calm her down (and me!). Now, when the ferrets are out, I very closely supervise everything! When the ferrets get too close to Mocha, I just pet her and tell her she is a good kitty. If she acts like she is going to move at all towards them, I loudly say "no" and hold her back. She settles right down again. Now she just watches them. I didn't see what instigated the attack, so maybe Buster came up behind her and scared her and she reacted in defense. She is still a little skittish here, altho she and my cat Zoey seem to be working things out pretty good. They still hiss a little at each other occastionally but have been sharing the bed together (on opposite corners). Still trying to find some food that she likes.

Today is laundry day and I might frost my hair later. Tonight I'll be watching the Super Bowl (for the commercials, of course!).

Barbie

[Echo]

GOOD MORNING SISTAHS!!!

Oh goodness Soos glad that you up there didn't get buried under a thick blanket of snow and loose power too. And alternate sources of heat are great. I use to use a kero heater when our power went out in the little house we lived in when we first moved to TN. In TN so many of the houses around where lived are all electric. When ya lost power ya lost everything except maybe water, most places have city water. Of all the time we would lose power, not once did I lose water. Once we lost power for a week and a half and the pipes froze!!! Thank goodness for the kero heater. It had the house warmed up so I dragged it thru the cellar window and let it warm up the cellar to thaw the pipes. Yep kero heater and 5gal of kerosene on hand are super. but then again a genny would be good too.

Not much doing today. Need to heat water and do up the dishes and just some general camp clean up inside the screen house. Need to tidy up the tent today as the floor in there is messy. It rained off and on all day yesterday so thoughtless as I was I tracked dirt and yuck in on my floor and throw rug. Boy was I P-o'd at myself.

Ok, coffee is hot and I have some to share, grab a cup and sit a while. Hope everyone has a good day and of course ya'll need to be careful.

Love to all

[jemek]

It is a little rainy and cooler today. Yesterday was wonderful and spring like..almost hit 60 degrees. Made me start getting Camping Fever. But in the past when we have had no winter up to this point..we seem to get hit with a late storm's in end of Feb and March.

I am sure the olympics people are not happy over this warm snap we have had. They are now looking at bringing in snow. It is even too warm to make it themselves. They did stock pile some snow in higher elevations just in case. They also talked about moving all the outdoor snow events up to Whistler vs having them at the resort that is closer to Vancouver. Even that will make it challenging with limited lodging and then the drive up to Whistler.

We are thinking of getting up bright and early on Tue morning to take the kids to see the Olympic Torch. It will be at Peace Arch State Park at 7:20 am. Not sure how crowded it will be with it being that early in the am.

Well things are all going well...we have all 3 bathrooms remodels are complete. A few little things here and there, but the majority of it is done.

The furnace people are suppose be here tomorrow to finish everything up. Yes we have heat..they have cardboard in place now. They had to custom fit a part and make it. It is the part that goes from the furnace to the ducting. Then they will also finish up with the AC unit.

Kris

[Redetotry]

We are supposed to get another round of snow this week so I've decided to get an estimate to have one of those whole house generators installed. After the ice storm last year and then the inland hurricane we had in May when the power was off for almost a week, I'm really nervous about loosing power. These generators sit outside and a line is run to the gas. Hopefully it won't be too expensive as we have a gas furnace, the generator is connected to the gas source and if power goes off it just automatically starts. It gets so hot & humid here in the summer I really would be just as stressed without A/C as without heat.
I went to a benefit for a local pet shelter this afternoon, they had a great turn out and super music. It was held at one of the wineries so everyone had a good time.

[Nasoosie]

I will interested to see what one of those generator systems would cost, too, Rede, when you get the quotes. I think it's a good idea when you live somewhere that the loss of power can mean either roasting to death or freezing to death!

Seeing that Olympic torch would be neat, Kristy! And I know how frantic those olympic organizers are getting with the lack of snow in Vancouver. We have 4 top-seeded athletes headed there from our little town, and we shall be watching the events daily on our TV in the classroom.