 | ||
|
Monday, February 23, 2015
2.23.2015
The temperatures definitely took a dive again today. We just got back from our walk and it was quite the chilly one, even dressed up as well as we were. This was a cute sign we saw in someone's yard...Free Snow!
Sunday, February 22, 2015
2.22.2015
The snow and cold continues on...and on. Yesterday we got another 6" or so - it was a beautiful snow. We walked to church in it, then took a long walk home and it was just really pretty.
However, it takes on a different tone when you have to be out in all that snow. Jim decided to go to the property this afternoon and do some plowing. He tried taking the 4Runner up the hill...and since there is a nice, thick layer of ice under all that snow, the truck got stuck.
The snow had really drifted on top of all the snow piles in the driveway which made it even worse. Jim tried shoveling out but to no avail. So he brought the Bobcat down and tried to pull it out from the front. No luck.
He had to do more shoveling to get the Bobcat behind the truck and put the hitch on the 4Runner. He was finally able to pull it free but it took some work.
However, it takes on a different tone when you have to be out in all that snow. Jim decided to go to the property this afternoon and do some plowing. He tried taking the 4Runner up the hill...and since there is a nice, thick layer of ice under all that snow, the truck got stuck.
The snow had really drifted on top of all the snow piles in the driveway which made it even worse. Jim tried shoveling out but to no avail. So he brought the Bobcat down and tried to pull it out from the front. No luck.
He had to do more shoveling to get the Bobcat behind the truck and put the hitch on the 4Runner. He was finally able to pull it free but it took some work.
After all that, Jim did more shoveling up to get to the vehicles - he put the battery back in the truck and got it started, as well as started up the other 4Runner.
Today was the warmest in quite awhile but the bottom will be falling shortly and we're heading back to the deep freeze!
 |
| High 31/Low 0 |
Sunday, February 15, 2015
2.15.2015
However, brave souls that we are, we decided to get out of the apartment for a short walk. We made sure to dress for the elements though! When we got home and checked the temperature, it was 1 degree with a wind chill of -19!
Be safe, everyone!
 |
| High 8/Low -18 Brr.... |
Friday, February 13, 2015
2.12.2015
After a lot of rescheduling, the door was finally delivered today! They gave Jim a two-hour window so he went up early to plow the driveway again and make sure things were ready. Thank goodness for the Bobcat with its handy forks - makes taking these kinds of deliveries so much easier!
This picture doesn't do all the snow justice, but Jim had to shovel a pathway just to get to the carriage house. He didn't go all the way to the bottom so it's kind of deceiving. There's a lot of snow up there!
Jim had to carry the steel door on his back through the snow to get it into the carriage house! But he's very happy with it. This is a total custom door - those pieces on the side are all custom anchors to attach the door to the door frame - and even into the concrete if he decides to do so.
Our new carriage house man door!
As only Jim would do, he spent some time taking apart the crate the door came in. All of that is wood that can be repurposed at some point.
This picture doesn't do all the snow justice, but Jim had to shovel a pathway just to get to the carriage house. He didn't go all the way to the bottom so it's kind of deceiving. There's a lot of snow up there!
Jim had to carry the steel door on his back through the snow to get it into the carriage house! But he's very happy with it. This is a total custom door - those pieces on the side are all custom anchors to attach the door to the door frame - and even into the concrete if he decides to do so.
Our new carriage house man door!
As only Jim would do, he spent some time taking apart the crate the door came in. All of that is wood that can be repurposed at some point.
We are in for a brutally cold weekend coming up but now that the door is here, when temps warm up a bit, Jim has some things he can work on now if he wants!
 |
| High 33/Low 5 |
Thursday, February 12, 2015
2.11.2015
After many rescheduled dates, the steel door for the carriage house is supposed to be delivered tomorrow. Jim headed up in the afternoon to do a little more plowing to make sure that the driveway and the end of the driveway at the street were clear.
While he was there, he decided to start the excavator and let it run for awhile. Unfortunately, there was a ton of snow to get through first. Walking through it is hardly an option - it is at least 30" in areas. So Jim took the Bobcat and plowed through the snow to get to the excavator.
Once he got there, it required a lot of hand shoveling, both around the excavator and inside, as you can see from this picture! Unfortunately, the excavator didn't start. All this frigid weather is definitely not good on batteries. He had left the box truck battery in the back of the truck just for this purpose, so he went back and retrieved that. He then had to jump the excavator - he finally got it started and let it run for awhile.
While he was there, he decided to start the excavator and let it run for awhile. Unfortunately, there was a ton of snow to get through first. Walking through it is hardly an option - it is at least 30" in areas. So Jim took the Bobcat and plowed through the snow to get to the excavator.
Once he got there, it required a lot of hand shoveling, both around the excavator and inside, as you can see from this picture! Unfortunately, the excavator didn't start. All this frigid weather is definitely not good on batteries. He had left the box truck battery in the back of the truck just for this purpose, so he went back and retrieved that. He then had to jump the excavator - he finally got it started and let it run for awhile.
There's lots of snow on the deck again, of course, and it's becoming hard to reach the carriage house too. Lots of shoveling will have to be done. The trenches that we made last fall for the septic lines are basically full to the top with snow. But things look safe and secure for the time being, thank goodness. We're in for some more really frigid weather this weekend and into the beginning of next week - they are talking actual lows of about -18 with wind chills reaching to -25 or lower. Brrr....that's scary cold! Be safe everyone!
 |
| High 27/Low 0 |
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
2.9.2015
As Monday comes to an end, so does the snowstorm that enveloped the area. It was a longer storm which started Saturday and is finally winding down, leaving us with at least 15" of new snow.
The heavy snow accumulated on the roof of the apartment has done a lot of damage - there are now huge leaks and broken ceiling tiles littering the lobby from the massive ice dams. Jim has had to scrape and move the cars multiple times this weekend on the whim of the landlord so they can try to plow. A roof crew is supposed to come tomorrow. Jim is just happy that this isn't his roof issue to deal with!
Jim went to the property today to do some plowing of the driveway. He had to trek up the hill in all those 15" since the 4Runner wasn't about to make it through the huge plow truck piles at the end of the driveway.
The other 4Runner is pretty well encased in all that new snow!
Jim had just cleaned off and used the Bobcat a few days ago but you can see he definitely had to do some cleaning off before he could use it again!
We are starting to amass our own giant piles of snow just from clearing the driveway!
A snapshot of all that snow after the driveway was plowed.
We still went for our walk in the afternoon - it was really pretty with a light snow still falling. However, it wasn't an easy walk - although they do a great job here clearing the sidewalks and streets, the snow from this storm came faster than they had time to keep up with. That meant we did a lot of walking through piles of snow - quite the workout! You can see that the street sign is just about buried in this picture!
 |
| High 20/Low 14 - lots of snow! |
Thursday, February 5, 2015
2.5.2015
Our day started out as warm as it was going to get - the temps dropped all day and our low is supposed to get to -11 or colder tonight. Plus, they are calling for another 6-10" of snow this weekend!
So Jim wanted to get the rest of the deck cleared off before any more snow fell. He went out after lunch and got it all cleared off!
So Jim wanted to get the rest of the deck cleared off before any more snow fell. He went out after lunch and got it all cleared off!
 |
| High 17/Low -11 |
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
2.4.2015
Jim got an early morning phone call from Lowe's - they want to postpone delivery of the door until next week. They said they are very behind in their deliveries because of the snow. I know Jim is anxious to get the door and get it installed, but there's no huge rush so next week will be fine.
After lunch, Jim headed out to the land. This is how much snow was on top of the deck!
As Jim started shoveling, he took time to take a picture of the thick blanket of snow covering the land and all of the equipment.
At least this time, there wasn't the thick layer of ice underneath the snow that Jim faced the last time he shoveled. Still a lot of work moving all that snow and dumping it 10 feet below! He got about a section and a half done - but this is the one section that had a little bit thinner gauge decking, so this was the important one to get done.
After lunch, Jim headed out to the land. This is how much snow was on top of the deck!
As Jim started shoveling, he took time to take a picture of the thick blanket of snow covering the land and all of the equipment.
At least this time, there wasn't the thick layer of ice underneath the snow that Jim faced the last time he shoveled. Still a lot of work moving all that snow and dumping it 10 feet below! He got about a section and a half done - but this is the one section that had a little bit thinner gauge decking, so this was the important one to get done.
 |
| High 29/Low 15 |
2.3.2015
The morning started extra early for Jim. We got a call before 9:00 from the landlord to move the cars so that he could plow. If you looked at the picture of my car from the snowfall yesterday, you could see that wasn't going to be an easy task. And it was frigid...-17 when we got up! Jim had to get all bundled up and then go out and shovel the cars out. He ended up not moving them - just shoveled all the snow off and around them into an area that the guy could plow it. But he spent over an hour outside working on it. They definitely don't have a good system for removing snow in the parking lot here - they expect you to be available at their whim, which can be quite frustrating.
After lunch today, Jim headed out to the property to get the driveway plowed out so that he could be ready for the door delivery. He said there was probably 18" on the ground - made for a very difficult walk up the hill (he didn't even try to take the 4Runner up).
Once he made it up the hill, this is the winter wonderland that appeared! If you look at the top of the deck, those pieces of rebar are 18" - so the snow is deeper than that!
The snow is really filling up all of our trenches now. Look at all that snow! What's very cool is that the snow is pristine - besides Jim's going to the building, there isn't a footprint in sight the rest of the area. Not even too many animal tracks - a few brave bunnies and every once in awhile a deer at the edges of the woods. Gorgeous.
When Jim was done checking things out, he tried to get the Bobcat going. Seeing as how it had gotten to -17 degrees this morning, the poor Bobcat's battery wouldn't start. This required Jim to crawl under the box truck, take out its battery, and jump the Bobcat with it. Not easy to do with all the snow and freezing temps! But he got it running.
In order to plow the driveway, Jim had to get the forks off the Bobcat and put the bucket on. But the bucket was totally buried in snow! You can see the little corner of it in the middle of this picture - Jim had to dig it out and then clean everything off in order for everything to mate correctly.
After lunch today, Jim headed out to the property to get the driveway plowed out so that he could be ready for the door delivery. He said there was probably 18" on the ground - made for a very difficult walk up the hill (he didn't even try to take the 4Runner up).
Once he made it up the hill, this is the winter wonderland that appeared! If you look at the top of the deck, those pieces of rebar are 18" - so the snow is deeper than that!
The snow is really filling up all of our trenches now. Look at all that snow! What's very cool is that the snow is pristine - besides Jim's going to the building, there isn't a footprint in sight the rest of the area. Not even too many animal tracks - a few brave bunnies and every once in awhile a deer at the edges of the woods. Gorgeous.
When Jim was done checking things out, he tried to get the Bobcat going. Seeing as how it had gotten to -17 degrees this morning, the poor Bobcat's battery wouldn't start. This required Jim to crawl under the box truck, take out its battery, and jump the Bobcat with it. Not easy to do with all the snow and freezing temps! But he got it running.
In order to plow the driveway, Jim had to get the forks off the Bobcat and put the bucket on. But the bucket was totally buried in snow! You can see the little corner of it in the middle of this picture - Jim had to dig it out and then clean everything off in order for everything to mate correctly.
He got the driveway all plowed and everything locked up for the night. Things should be ready for the door delivery tomorrow. We even went for a long walk when we got home - there was a beautiful full moon out and the sky was so clear. It's been very cold here - Jim saw that we had 12 days in January with the low below zero and the average low was just 4 degrees! - but it doesn't feel as cold as Ohio - Jim said that it was a more humid cold there.
 |
| High 25/Low -17! Brr... |
Monday, February 2, 2015
2.2.2015 - Happy Groundhog's Day!
Well, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today...six more weeks of winter!
And his prediction was definitely true today - we got quite a bit of snow overnight and during the day! My little car is pretty much buried.
We still went out for our walk today in the snowstorm - it was just a little more slow going. They do a great job here of clearing the sidewalks, but today it was coming faster than they could keep up with it.
And his prediction was definitely true today - we got quite a bit of snow overnight and during the day! My little car is pretty much buried.
We still went out for our walk today in the snowstorm - it was just a little more slow going. They do a great job here of clearing the sidewalks, but today it was coming faster than they could keep up with it.
Jim will probably head to the property tomorrow and see if he can get the Bobcat started, clear the driveway a bit (our door may be delivered Wednesday) and then see about shoveling some of this snow off the deck.
 |
| High 9/Low -7 with lots of snow! Brr... |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)