How's this winter treating you?

flyerdan · Feb 7, 2014

It looked like winter was going to forget us until yesterday. Got about three inches and had a slew of accidents on the freeway south of here. Started snowing again around 1000 this morning and is still going, probably have around 7" so far, quite unusual for this area.

pajoube · Feb 7, 2014

Temps in the -20's for past week with Thursday at -36. Have not seen these temps in last 20 years or so. As far as snow, we have had 5 dumps that required me to plow our driveway and all the neighbors. We may get the low temps but it is very dry and we usually have sunny days. I shut down the furnace and use a wood burning stove (Blaze King) but at -36 I turned everything on.
PJ

cqaigy2 · Feb 8, 2014

Just a skiff of snow so far. We've only lost power for a few hours this winter and it's only gotten down to the high teens at night for a few days. Pretty mild, knock on wood.

Looking4new · Feb 8, 2014

Been cooler here than normal. Way less snow than normal too. We had our usual -40F temps for most of January. Usually it is only 2 weeks. I run both wood stoves this winter, (I've got hot peppers growing in the basement). After the wood fires die down in the wee small hours of the morning (4-5AM) the oil furnace kicks in and maintains the house at 65F. I am at the half way point on my firewood. I have 10 face cords left. That is 3.3 bush cords.

jfh28 · Feb 8, 2014

It looks like from the sounds of it I'm not the only one enjoying this lovely season....haha. Woke up this morning and found that my fun continues......the roads are still all covered with hard pack and ice from the last storm and someone took the turn to fast last night and lost control and nailed my mailbox.....snapped the post right off and sent it flying 50 feet. So now I've got to figure out something as the ground is frozen solid so can't install a new post........there's my Saturday shot to heck......lol. Thing is since I just got my tractor fixed and back in operation yesterday I had just plowed the huge snow bank in front of the mailbox back about 6 feet like I usually do to make it easier for the mail carrier to maneuver........if I had left it alone I'd still have a mailbox this morning........can't win! ........Jack

Lou66 · Feb 8, 2014

I can't complain,, it been a little cool here on the gulf coast south of Houston,, couple of days it got down to freezing but no snow,, no rain to speak of,, I need to edge and mow my yard,, that what my neighbors are do now.. lot of noise from all the mowing.. going to get up to 68 today.. and 74 tomorrow,, lot of sun.. no rain in the forecast,, I could use it on the hay fields and pasture. sorry for y'all bad luck.. Lou

Looking4new · Feb 8, 2014

jfh28 said:
So now I've got to figure out something as the ground is frozen solid so can't install a new post........there's my Saturday shot to heck.....Jack

Get yourself a bag of Calcium chloride and mix it with water, about 5:1 calc/water and pour it around the hole. Come back tomorrow and a cat bar /crow bar will pry the post out of the hole.

MossRoad · Feb 8, 2014

jfh28 said:
It looks like from the sounds of it I'm not the only one enjoying this lovely season....haha. Woke up this morning and found that my fun continues......the roads are still all covered with hard pack and ice from the last storm and someone took the turn to fast last night and lost control and nailed my mailbox.....snapped the post right off and sent it flying 50 feet. So now I've got to figure out something as the ground is frozen solid so can't install a new post........there's my Saturday shot to heck......lol. Thing is since I just got my tractor fixed and back in operation yesterday I had just plowed the huge snow bank in front of the mailbox back about 6 feet like I usually do to make it easier for the mail carrier to maneuver........if I had left it alone I'd still have a mailbox this morning........can't win! ........Jack

Put a 4x4 in a 5 gallon bucket of cement for a temporary mailbox stand until the ground thaws.

MossRoad · Feb 8, 2014

Well, our car died... new (used car) $17,000.
Then the stove died... new stove, $800.
Then the water heater died... new water heater, $800.
And then the washing machine died... I beat it senseless until it came back to life!!! GRRRRR!!!!! :laughing:

But seriously, this winter is just about like the winters I remember as a kid. We have piles of snow everywhere and the temps are frequently 0F. I love it. I miss these kinds of winters.
I ran out of places to put the snow. My plow is on the FEL arms, so I've been stacking it 6' high. Its now so high, if I push it over the top it goes into the neighbor's drive and vice versa from his side. The pile is 4.5' high and 200' long. Out by the road its so high we can't see the street to pull out safely. I popped off the plow and put the bucket on and had to haul about 20 - 30 yards of snow to the back yard. Its been so deep I can't use the high wheel cart to bring in firewood. I have to use the FEL bucket for that, too. And its so deep its buried my firewood pile to the point that my March supply on the bottom is buried. I'll have to dig it out soon.
I went ice fishing today. The snow on the lake is almost too deep to make walking viable. The ice under the snow is 14" thick. Its only been 4" thick the past 2-3 years. I may have to get out the power auger! :laughing: