1.1.2019

Well, we had an interesting start to the new year.  We woke up to howling winds - they said gusts were over 60 mph.  We just stood at the kitchen window watching the pine trees sway back and forth.  It's extra scary because there's the tree close to the house that Jim wanted to come down before Thanksgiving - the tree guy still hasn't come despite talking to him a couple of times.  Weather hasn't been great but still.  So you just pray that it remains standing tall when we have winds like this.

Mid-morning, we lost our internet/cable/phone.  Normally, not a big deal but I was counting on getting lots of fire school work done today.  But definitely better to lose those luxuries rather than power.  Remember that thought.  I called Spectrum and they said the entire area was totally out and she wasn't sure how long it would take to get restored.  But within a couple of hours, we were back in business.

We did lose a few trees to the wind - look how it just sheared these trees off!  Thankfully they fell into the woods.  There was another big one that we saw on the side of the property that fell, but again it was in the woods.  And our scary dead tree remained standing thankfully.

Jim continued wiring up more circuits in the metal shop...

He finished wiring up the receptacle for the garage door opener and it is now plugged in and operating with no extension cord!

Wiring up the circuit for the receptacles along the back wall - Jim said this was a little tougher because the wire is thicker.

Jim was anxious to do a little pole barn work too - he cut the last piece of siding for the front side next to the garage door...

With that piece installed, Jim started working on the first corner piece...

All done - looks awesome!  He has enough screws to hold it in place but he's going to use that as a template for the other corners, because there are some complicated angles to cut.

So back to that thought about how grateful we were not to lose power this morning during the crazy winds.  About 3:30, we lost power.  We reported it to National Grid and their app estimated that it would be 9:00 before power would be restored.  Of course, then it was dark and the temperatures that started out in the 40s dropped all day and were going to be in the teens tonight.  So Jim put the generator outside, ran an extension cord inside and plugged in the bullet heater and a trouble light.  He opened up the stairwell door to let the heat come into the building too.  

At about 5:30, we had decided that our traditional pork and sauerkraut for good luck on New Year's Day wasn't going to happen and we were going to head into town to kill a little time and get something to eat.  Right then, power came back on!  So as it stands, I'll be starting to cook our good luck dinner here after all!

We wish everyone a very Happy New Year!

High 45/Low 12