Chinook

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Before I go to bed I check the thermometer, while waiting for Xena to go have a before bed whizbang. Warm wind blowing and up to -1c. Wow, a twenty degree rise in temperature in a day. We have had more snow and fortunately, another visit by YRB. We have a beautifuly flat, driveway now.

I went out the other day to get the Case Skidsteer running so I could clear out the yard. The ignition ring on the machine was loose, and when I reached down to tighten it up the key came out and fell through a slot on the right hand lever. No spare. A couple of hours later I have the skidsteer ripped apart so I can see the belly pan and hopefully, an errant key. No such luck. Plan "B", order a new ignition switch. That takes a day or so, and yesterday I get the thing back together and up and running. I whip out and start plowing what I can. I am getting faster with the machine and don't really have to think about what I am doing. Not the "which lever do I pull to make it ..." Well the down side is - I get motion sickness and after a couple of hours I am sitting in the house drinking ginger tea. What a woose.

One of the problems we have with our upper driveway is snow drifting. As the snow that is removed from the sides of the road build up it creates a low pressure area right over the road. That's where the snow drifts up. Today I am going to put the chains on the skidsteer and start making some snow berms a hundred feet on either side of the road to act as a snow fence.

While I was waiting for parts I insulated the windows on the south side. The windows in the house are pretty old. I have managed to seal the cracks around the side and the ones we look out of I put clear shrink plastic over the inside. It makes a huge difference in drafting.

The West side windows I cover with mylar insulating wrap and then two inches of pink styrofoam insulation. Then I duct tape all around the edges to keep any draft down.

If you notice in the picture you can see a round bulge on the top of the left hand side piece. Last year I didn't use the reflective mylar first and the sun shining through the window heated up the wire screen enough to melt the pink insulation. An amazing demonstration of solar heating. Hence the reflective mylar this year. We don't use these windows in the winter as not a lot of winter sun comes from that side so covering them makes a huge difference. We have heavy curtains that go over the windows so you don't see the insulation. Even when I replace the windows with some more thermally efficient ones I will still be covering them up. Windows, even high priced "efficient" ones just are not. But don't get me going...


Mean while Xena and her buddy Ewe (uass, in Carrier - which means snow) snuggle up and enjoy the draft free window ledge.

Ah, life is good

Comments

Carol Browne said…
I just can't believe Xena is so friendly with the kitties! I love it. How's the tire garden? Do you have any veggies growing in the chilly weather?
12:31 AM
Anonymous said…
test of comment problem.
12:31 PM
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