Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day, before the bottom fell out yesterday and today.
2nd Man had a last minute work meeting online and were it not for needing to prep for the arctic freeze, I would have skipped. Certainly no mowing this time of year, as you can see above.
But 2nd Family offered to come help so I went on out and we got things prepped.
We left the lights hung up under the house last year so I'm grateful that was not needed. We did have one that was burned out, thankfully it was near the edge of the house and I could change it easily. All we had to do was plug them in, one in an outlet on the back of the house and the other on the front porch.
Also got the clamp on lamps in the bathroom (away from anything flammable) and pointed them at the water heater/under the sink. The bathroom is small, and with both doors closed, it gets nice and warm.
Under that random box (thank goodness for downstairs recycling area) is the pipe and faucet that comes up from the main valve (which is shut off). It was wrapped with a towel, bubble wrap, a piece of foam over the faucet and another smaller cardboard box with this one over it all and weighted down. Not the most attractive look but hey, it worked last year.
"J" helped me carry the plants in (I got the small ones she got the heavy ones) and we put them in the kitchen and a few in the utility room. We turned on the two oil filled radiator heaters and all was done.
When I got back into town, 2nd Man had two loaves of whole wheat multigrain bread baking in the oven (he was great and multitasking, ha. It smelled wonderful and tasted equally amazing.
Now we cross our fingers and wait.
And pay the high electric bill when it comes in, ha.
Stay warm and safe. It seems most of the country is in the midst of crazy cold and dangerous weather.
It’s great that 2nd Family helped you with the freeze prep. And that you already had a prep system that works.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful smell to come home to - fresh bread baking!
I checked all my freeze cloth covers and they’re still in place. Hoping they keep my garden and fruit trees from freezing. Even lower temps coming tonight and tomorrow night. Fingers crossed. We had sleet/freezing rain this morning.
Stay warm and safe.
Yes, it's great to have good neighbors for sure. Nothing like fresh baked bread smell, funny thing, when I got off the elevator in the building on our floor, I could smell bread, I'm sure the neighbors were jealous, ha. Hope your beautiful garden is ok.
DeleteI hope all is well for you and no loss of power.
ReplyDeleteso far so good, the grid has held up and the power has stayed on both here in town and out at the farm.
DeleteTommy took all the plants from ramp to utility room, covered faucet outdoors, plugged in a bulb and put it into the washing machine in the utility room, left faucet running in kitchen sink. So, that is it for us. It is good you had someone to help with the heavy carrying.
ReplyDeleteAre the windows in the crawl space covered or just holes? I see you have foam covering the pipes.
The smell of fresh made bread is intoxicating.
sounds like you have planned as well!! Hope it's all working. I'm ready for warm, ha. No windows, just open space. Next year, house on a slab, ha. Yep, covered the pipes last year with lots of foam. And yes, fresh bread is one of those aromas that is SO amazing. Stay warm!!
DeleteOur condensate line from the freezer froze solid and shut down the gas furnace. Luckily they came and cut the line so it could drip straight to the ground temporarily and we had heat again .. I keep thinking how I as a teenager went under our house, cause my dad worked for the road department and mom worked for the power and light cooperative ... I was the only one left ... a northeaster came in quick from the
ReplyDeleteFrazer valley in Canada and froze out old iron pipes solid in nothing flat. Even got the pump in an insulated pump house. Once that cleared, I replumbed the house on my own: I must not have even been legal driving age, as I remember taking measurements and they cut and threaded pipe for me in the back corner of the grocery store and I carried those lengths of pipe home over my shoulder. It worked and we had running water again a few days later ...