Snowy Morning

It was a balmy 11° degrees this morning, warm enough that the water pipes didn’t freeze again, warm enough that the car felt like a car again instead of a stiff old lady, warm enough that the dogs got a bit of an actual walk. In other words, it is a beautiful morning.

With below zero temperatures and a 20-25 mp wind, my water pipes froze twice on Monday. This happened despite keeping the faucets dripping and with that electric tape around the pipes. So I am now keeping the light on in the basement and the taps are closer to running than dripping. This seems to have helped, though the diminishing of that wind and the warmer temperatures may well have been the biggest part of the improvement.

I came home to the sound of no water dripping on Monday after work and then spent the next half an hour or so in the basement with my trusty hairdryer before the pipes opened up again. So when I went to bed on Monday night, the faucets were dripping even more than before, and the basement light was on, in the hope that would create at least a little warmth down there.

I captured as much of the dripping water as I could—hating to waste it and not daring to turn them off again. All the plants got a good watering. The dog bowls were filled to the brims. I filled water jugs and bottles.

I woke up around 1:30 a.m. to the sound of no dripping faucets again. So out into the frigid night air I went, as the basement door is only accessed from the outside. Fortunately, this time the pipes opened up quickly but afterwards I never really fell back asleep soundly again.
So the slight moderating of the temperature and especially the diminishing of that wind is most welcome.

Overnight, a little more snow carpeted the woods again. It is soft and fluffy stuff with virtually no moisture. I broomed off the front deck, sending snowflakes high into the air with little effort on my part.