Bogieblog

Ice Storm Weekend

Saturday, started out almost as ususal; went to the dump, had breakfast in town and came back home. However, we didn't start the morning with showers, or lights, and it was only 10 degrees, so there were a few bumps in the routine. Lines at all the gas stations were very long; people filling up their cars and gas containers in Hillsboro because it was one of the few places with electricity.

WS got out the generator (we had bought one from a friend moving to Arizona and uses it to power his welder) and we hooked up some space heaters to keep the basement heater pipes from freezing.

I had emptied the refrigerator and freezer out onto the deck. The freezer did not like running off the generator, so Mother Nature had to play freezer (which she did very well).

Later that night WS figured out how to hook up the heater and downstairs circulator to the generator so that we could run water thru the pipes. We had sausage stew for dinner (courtesy of frozen leftovers from a couple of weeks ago)About 9 PM we turned off the generator, brought in the air mattress and retired for the night.

Friday Ice Storm 12/12/08

Late Thursday night / early Friday morning: WS wakes up and we have no power, he gets up, re-starts the woodstove and places some buckets under the dripline to collect water off the roof. The alarm clock goes off, which really confused me since there were no lights on the clock. the battery did its job and told me when WS needed to get up (I had Friday off). WS goes to work and I snooze for a little before getting up and rotating the buckets of water. I filled the inside woodrack and keep the woodstove going.

Throughout the morning I heard trees cracking and crashing to the ground. Some were so big and landed so heavily that the house shook with their landing. About 9:30 the house shook with a different sort of sound. Again 15 minutes later, and around 10:00 I figured out what the noise/shaking was all about; the power lines were being pulled from the house along with the trimboard they were attached to.

I called PSNH and navigated their system to let them know that lines were on the gorund - which immediately tells them that this is one of the last sections in the state that they will work on (not enough customers on this line to get in a hurry over). Also call WS to let him know the developments.

WS left work early (only one other person there anyway) and when he got home, started calling to local lumber yards to replace the trimboard. Two lumber yards were not open (later we would find out we couldn't have gotten to them anyway), but the one in Bradford was, so we headed out to purchase lumber.

The hardware store that we went to had what we needed. Thank goodness we didn't need any batteries or lamp oil, as they were out (and so was everyone else around).

Jim came over to warm up as his trailer didn't have power either. He also helped WS replace the trimboards. After getting thoroughly warmed up, Jim left for home and we left to get dinner in town.

We got out the air mattress and slept in the living room upstairs. We used only 3 rooms all day; bathroom (water from the roof used for flushing), kitchen/dining and living rooom - strangely reminiscent of when we first moved in!

It Just Might Be Here

Last Sunday we got snow, then we got rain on top of it, making it a wee bit on the hard, slick side. During the week, we were supposed to get above the freezing point, so we figured it would melt away. Except, that we are on the top of a ridge, on the dark side of the ridge - it never melted anything.

People I work with are incredulous that we still have snow from the little bit that fell last week (most of them only got rain anywya). "Must be under the trees or in the shade" they say. Nope, even the wide open, sunny spots still have a layer of snow/ice. I think it is there to stay. We got a bit more snow last night (not much), and more is expected later today.

Guess it is time to take down the autumn scene and put up the winter scene on the front door.

WS's Christmas Gift

After much research thru magazines (I must have brought home about 20), forums and plain old Google (WS is getting fairly good at the internet thingymabob), WS has found, and bought, his Christmas gift: