Cabin Crafted

Tag: winter

  • Cha-cha-changes

    This past weekend we had the opportunity to drive 275+ miles north and east in the state to visit one of our son’s and his family. Never have I traveled across the state and seen snow/ice everywhere. Twice we again drove through snow falling and traffic throwing salty, muddy splatter up on the windshield and rear window making visibility difficult.

    Our son’s family’s apartment is across the street from the hotel where we stay and with temperatures in the teens and up to 60 mph wind gusts outdoor walking was brutal. Then on Saturday we went to a play in the city about 10 blocks from where we could get off the Metro and it was bitter and windy . Sunday was still only in the teens and windy but not quite as brutal. The snow showers we experienced on the way there had stopped and the sky cleared on Sunday. We got home to find another 4 inches had fallen here and there were some deep spots in the path that had been plowed out on Thursday night.

    The plowed driveway that finally allowed us to drive to the garage and get back out.

    The new snow didn’t hamper that fortunately, and yesterday we started a warm up, thaw, and clearing finally after about 3 weeks of ice, snow, and temperatures never reaching 32f. Today, we reached a high of 57 f and we were able to take our daily walk outdoors, though the rails to trails path was only plowed to about half it’s width. It was wonderful to get outside in only a light jacket and enjoy the sunshine and mild temperature.

    I am still sore from my fall on the ice a week ago, but am managing daily chores and our walk as long as I don’t lift anything too heavy.

    With the more temperate week ahead, the chicks purchased in early January and now fully feathered, too large for the 45 gallon stock tank they were occupying in the basement, were moved to the empty coop. A bale and a half of pine shavings were added to it as it had been cleaned out in November when the adults were gone. A 5 gallon waterer and a 15 pound feeder were placed in before we moved the teenager chicks. They haven’t had heat on them for several days other than basement heat.

    Here they were at about 1 1/2-2 weeks old before they outgrew the smaller crate and were moved to the stock tank. Having them in the basement for almost 6 weeks, they have created an amazing amount of dust. After we moved them and removed the stock tank, I did do a surface dusting, but will go down tomorrow and do a more thorough cleaning and try to get the floor clean. This batch of birds will be the last ones I raise for eggs. It is getting too difficult to move 50 pound sacks of feed and hauling a 5 gallon water container to keep them fed and hydrated.

    After they spend a week or two in the coop to learn that it is home, they will be allowed into the covered pen on hay for another week or two, then allowed into the covered run around the garden, hopefully to keep the bug and weed load down in the garden.

    A box of supplies for the hydroponic herb garden was finally delivered today. UPS has been trying to deliver it for 2 1/2 weeks, but unable to get down our icy road. It will be nice having fresh herbs again once they germinate and get some size on them. Once spring arrives and they can go out to the half barrel on the patio, more will be sown and before next winter, the hydroponic will be started again for fall and winter use. I was too late this year getting the baskets and sponges to start it in the fall.

    I know winter isn’t over, but hopefully the artic temperatures have passed and more seasonable winter temperatures will prevail. There will be more wintry precipitation I’m sure, but inches of snow topped with ice then more snow creating 30 acres of glacier hopefully is gone. For the first time in weeks, we can see some grass peeking through the snow in the back field and gravel on the driveway. This has certainly not been typical.

  • Winter, it is time to quit!

    As we had been able to plod to the car up the hill in ice cleats and get out, we had been staying well supplied. Monday evening, we decided to go to town and see a movie. Though the lot was full of cars, we were the only two in the theater for the film we selected. Walking down from the car when we got home, using a flashlight to guide us, I apparantly lost one of the slip on cleat units on one of my boots and didn’t realize it. We were about 2/3 the way down to the house when that foot hit ice, slid out from under me and down I went hard on my back. Fortunately, nothing broken, I got up, carefully moved to an area of a drift of deeper unfrozen snow and got back to the house.

    The next morning, using my remaining cleats and one of hubby’s, I walked back up to find my missing one near the car.

    As we had a very early appointment on Wednesday morning in the city about 75 minutes away, we packed a backpack with overnight gear and next day clothing, trudged up to the car and drove to a hotel in the city nearer the appointment. The appointment got delayed by a couple hours and after a minor complication, ended up spending the entire day there. On our way home as night fell, it began to snow again. Not wanting to risk another walk in the dark, I drove carefully down our icy driveway to the garage. The snow accumulated another 1-2 inches on top of the ice. It is supposed to get up to about 35f (1.7c) and sunny today, so maybe last night’s snow will melt off, again leaving us just the ice.

    The young man that mows, bales, and takes our hay is coming down this evening with his truck and snowplow to try to break up the ice on our driveway and clear us a path so we can again get out.

    The weather prognosticators are threatening another inch or so tomorrow afternoon and night and a cold Saturday, but then a warming trend with a couple of days actually reaching the 50’s next week, so maybe it will begin to melt off.

    The snow is beautiful, the ice is treacherous, especially for our 78 and 82 year old bodies. It is time for the winter to moderate back to cooler, dryer weather and let this mess clear off.

  • Did I go to sleep in Virginia

    And wake up in Maine? The storm for which all the preparations were made ended up about 4 inches of snow and 6 inches of sleet. We never got the freezing rain, thank goodness, and our power never went out. However, the highest temperature we have had in a couple of weeks is in the upper teens and most nights in low single digits. With those temperatures, the ice wasn’t melting. Late in the week, we got the AWD SUV to the top of the driveway and out for more supplies. To get to and from the car, 2/10 mile away, we have to don ice cleats on our shoes to prevent falling on the ice.

    To make life more interesting for our senior souls, on Friday, we had another storm and about 6″ of dry blowing snow dumped on the ice. This morning, we managed to trod up to the car through the drifts and get out once again. Though once at the car and the snow brushed off, the cleats removed in the vehicle, I foolishly got back out without thinking and slipped to a sitting position by the driver’s door. No injury, just embarrassment at being foolish. We have had animal care duty for the past few days and needed to go check on them, thaw water bowls, feed the indoor critters, and purchase feed for my chicks and bird feeders. We got a short mall walk in while we were out, and parked the car again at the top of the driveway, hauling 90 pounds of feed down to the house on a plastic tobaggan that we had stashed in the back. The high today is 20, last night it went down to 5 and is expected to do so again tonight. The wind is howling and blowing the dry snow into drifts. Because of the wind and the fear of losing power, the woodstove has been burning for most of a week now. It heats the basement up to about 75 degrees and some of that heat rises to the first floor bringing it up to about 70. The upstairs is the 68 that the thermostat is set on. We finally have a couple days in the near future where it is going to get above freezing, but also three days of snow or snow mixed with rain, expected in the next 6 days.

    This is not typical Virginia winter and if the groundhog came out today, he would definitely see his shadow and 6 more weeks of winter (like there won’t be anyway by the calendar.)

  • Preparations

    Preparations

    We are in one of the eastern states that is in the path of the winter storm marching across the south. Far enough north that we will get snow followed by freezing rain. This morning’s prediction is 8 to 12 inches of snow followed by .25+ inches of ice. This is enough to cause power outages in our rural area where most of the above ground transmission lines run through wooded areas. An ice storm a number of years ago, took our power for 6 days and without power, we are also without water and our stove is electric. At that time we had two dogs and couldn’t just leave them to go to a hotel once the roads were clear enough to get out. We live about a half mile from a paved road, all uphill. This snow and ice event is supposed to be followed by a series of days where we will see single digit to very low double digit temperatures and even some negative temperatures at night, so melt off anytime soon is remote at best.

    We have a small tractor with a blade, but it won’t handle a foot of snow for plowing the driveway. Beginning about three days ago, every time we drove by the grocery store, the large parking lot was packed and since I didn’t do any canning this past summer, there was little on the pantry shelves that could be quick cooked. We generally shop on Fridays because we get 4 times gas points and braved the mobs of hoarders. It is fascinating to see the “bread and milk” buyers. If the power goes out, the milk will spoil. We picked up some produce that doesn’t require refrigeration, a few cans of soup, a couple packs of quick rice, and a couple packets of chicken. Once home, prep was done here. With a fireplace in the living room and a wood stove in the basement, we can keep the house from freezing. I filled a couple food safe 5 gallon buckets with drinking water and the downstairs bathtub for toilet flushing and dish washing. There was a load of wood in the garage and another in the basement, but I hauled 5 wheelbarrows of wood to the covered front porch, right by the door. Cleared a spot for the camping stove in the garage, located my backpacking alcohol stove that will boil water or heat soup, and the camp pots, so if necessary, we can eat. The three solar lanterns were put in the sun to charge up and the power block is also being charged up.

    Since the freezer has sausages in it, we bought a couple long forks for cooking them on the fire, and a package of buns.

    The hope is, since we are prepared, we won’t lose power, but if we do and can’t get out in the car, we won’t dehydrate or starve to death. Hmm, think I better go grind some coffee beans too.

    Here’s hoping it was all unnecessary preparation, but rather be safe than sorry.

  • Go Away, Just Go Away

    Spring is just around the corner, I know it is.  The calendar shows First Day Of Spring in just a couple of weeks.  I know that we will have continued periods of cold, even snow flurries well into April and can’t put most things into the garden until mid May, but winter needs to stop already.  We had a reprieve for a day or two and last week’s snow mostly melted, but between the melt, the roof drip off and the rain, the county is now under a flood watch.  This isn’t a problem for us as we are high on the side of the mountain and our creek flows into a sink hole that when flooded, rushes down the west side of our property, still well below the house.

    The roadsides that are steep from blasting to put the 4 lane main road through the valley are seeing minor mudslides, but the ground is totally saturated and pudding soft, so the fear of a more major mudslide that could block our ingress to town is possible.

    Yesterday it rained, then sleeted, then rained and sleeted again and this is ongoing today.  The high for the day, right at freezing and headed down about 30 degrees by midnight is turning the rain to more freezing rain and sleet with another 5 inches of snow due by nightfall.

    imageThe trees and shrubs are ice coated and if we really get a few inches of wet snow, there will be branches breaking and threats of loss of power.  We have enough firewood to get us through a couple of days, but that is all.   The grill’s propane tank is about half full and we have plenty of beans, rice, and frozen foods to make meals.

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    When I went over for chicken chores this morning, I realized that a small 5 year old dogwood near the side of the house has been seriously gnawed, probably by hungry deer.  It was sleeting out and the ground is still too hard to try to pound in stakes to put a piece of fence around it, but I was able to force a couple of fiberglass poles around it and drape a piece of row cover fabric over it to thwart more chewing until I can get a fence around it to try to protect it.  Perhaps I should check my fruit trees as well.

  • Welcome change

    A warm sunny day!  Yay.  Much of last week’s snow melted today, though the driveway is a muddy mess developing deep ruts in several places.  The chooks are happy to have more than a few square feet to move about.  We are happy because they had school for the first time in two full weeks and grandson returned.  The extended weather forecast is looking generally more positive with milder temperatures during the days, but still a lot of nights that are very cold and will freeze then thaw cycle.  We still have a treacherous path to the house both the front door and the garage doors as the areas that were “cleared” by the tractor developed ice several inches thick.

    The beast, our 210 lb English Mastiff is finding the walk in and out of the house scary as he has slipped a few times.  The German Shepherd and the Golden Retriever both bound over it like it isn’t there.  I tried to break it up today, but even when the chunks were manageable, they pulled up the sparse grass just off the front stoop.

    We fear at least a late start for school tomorrow as we are expecting frozen rain and sleet tonight.  We are ready for spring, dry yards and driveways and a garden that can be worked.

  • Winter’s Roar

    Our winter has been unusual to say the least. Until a couple of weeks ago, I think the temperatures had been above normal with occasional snow flurries, a few barely covered the ground snow falls that didn’t last. Then things changed. We haven’t seen daytime temperatures rising above 20° (-6.7°c) and night time temperatures near zero (-17.8°c) in more than a week. On Saturday, we were expecting flurries and got several inches with sharp temperature drops. We had driven in to town to a nice restaurant to celebrate our 37th Valentine Day and Anniversary and the drive back home was a white knuckle ride.

    Yesterday we took Son#1 and Grandson#1 to the bus to return home from bringing my car home and a weekend visit and it was brutally cold and windy, wind chills in the double digit negatives.
    There were severe weather warnings posted for today and the school makeup day that had been scheduled for today was canceled.

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    We woke to the expected snow. So far about 5″ with the heaviest part of the system due this evening and overnight. We may be looking at a foot or more with extremely cold temperatures and expected to drop to -10°f (-23.3°c) Thursday night. We aren’t used to that type of temperature. Our firewood supply is running low and our heat pump is struggling.
    My chooks won’t come out of the coop when there is snow on the ground and with the temperatures as they are, I didn’t even open the pop door today. I have gone out 3 times to change out the frozen water, twice to throw down a scoop of feed into the straw and collect the eggs before they freeze.
    Our neighbor has two very pregnant cows and we saw her go down to check on them before the snow cover got too deep. Our steep gravel road will be difficult to traverse in a couple more inches of snow. I hope the cows don’t calve before we have a moderation in weather back to around freezing this weekend.
    The grands are playing in the rec room, I am knitting, reading, and cooking stew and homemade bread. A good way to spend a frigid snowy day.

  • Stay Indoors weather

    Our winter storm didn’t fizzle as we hoped, nor did it give us pretty snow.  Instead we are encrusted in ice.  The cars look like someone poured water over them in a deep freeze.  The yard is white and slick.  The chicken coop run has hay on the ground that has 1/2″ of ice on top.  The chooks aren’t happy.  I finally went out with a pitchfork and turned as much of it over as I could so that they had a place to stand and eat as they came out of the coop and practically knocked each other over trying to get back inside.

    The weather prognosticators have extended the weather warnings “until further notice” with more ice, possibly freezing drizzle, maybe snow for the next 36 hours or so.  But they are predicting 61ºf by Friday, it is 27ºf now and has been since I got up this morning.

    This is a day to stay indoors and read, just finished Jefferson Bass’ latest novel Cut to the Bone.  I am a fan of forensic science novels and found this to be a good read.  It is the prequel to the Body Farm series.  And to knit, still working on the sleeve.  I hate knitting sleeves, they are so boring.  Once I finish this sleeve, there is a feather and fan band to pick up and knit and I will have another sweater to add to my wardrobe.

    This is Virginia, it is time for the winter to go away and bring us some springtime, though last year, we had light snow for 5 Fridays straight right up to mid April.  This winter is wearing on us.

  • Yoyo Weather

    Yoyo Weather

    We have two days of spring followed by two days of winter followed by two more days of spring.  And a winter storm is on the radar for Sunday night into Tuesday morning. I’m ready for spring to come and stay. After moving the now week old chicks to the basement, I left them there until they are another week or so older or until the weather reaches more moderate temperatures and looks like it may hold.

    Each warm day, Jim goes for a ride on his motorcycle. Today while he was gone and the big chickens were free ranging, I tackled fruit tree pruning and remulching. Over the past couple of years, we have planted 5 apple trees, 3 peach trees, and 2 Asian pears. The oldest two peaches were pruned for the first time last year and responded with lots of new growth. Most of the apples planted last year needed very little work. The peach in the chicken pen is getting too much nitrogen from the chickens, it is growing like wild but probably won’t produce fruit.

    One of our goals is to fence this area this spring and then the chickens will free range within the orchard and in non growing seasons, also the vegetable garden. They have effectively cleared all of the weeds from one compost bin and started on another.

    This storm will come without the return of our generator from the shop. Most of the pre storm prep is in place from the wind storm two days ago. A few supplies will be added tomorrow and again we will hunker down and hope the storm prediction fizzles. If it doesn’t, we may be facing another ice and snow storm.

    Come on spring, we are ready.
    Life is an adventure on our mountain farm.

  • Just Another Winter Wednesday

    Flurries of snow; winds do blow; bone chilling cold; but tonight is Knit Night with friends, hot tea, and fun.

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