Bright and sunny!

March 8, 2007 (12:52pm)
25º F, Bright sunshine, S wind 10 mph.

Good afternoon,

‘Bout time I get one of these added to the blog. Has been awhile. We got a pretty good snow storm on Friday and I waited until Saturday to clear things out. No where in particular to go or reason either for that matter. With the rain from the night before, the snow was pretty tough to move by hand. The snowblower had less trouble. My real concern was the end of the driveway and how much the plows had put there. There was about a two foot curl of very compacted snow/ice to move. While it took some effort for the blower, it was nothing compared to using only a shovel! Might still be at it.

After the drive was cleared. I headed for town to do the uptown chores. Well at least that was the intention. I had checked the snow on the windshield before starting the blower and found that the snow was loose on the glass - until I started the van and found the wipers wouldn’t move it. Apparently I picked the only "loose" spot on the glass - the remainder was covered with 1½" of snow/ice mix and not moving at all. I really tried, but it was really stuck. So .... I let the engine run with the defroster on for a few minutes, then everything slid off of the warm glass. What I didn’t know was the end of one wiper blade was damaged and a piece of it remained in the ice - when it slid off of the glass. When I did get to town, I ended up buying a new wiper blade! More expensive than in the past, but could not do without it at the moment.

We did have another snow storm scheduled by the weatherman on Tuesday afternoon, up to 6" of snow. It came in right on schedule and a few hours early. I saw it coming so we decided to head to Green Bay for our supply run during the morning, rather than wait until after Bible study and then go. As it turned out, I was right on my prediction and it started to snow just after noon, instead of mid-afternoon as predicted. Very small flakes, but a lot of them. By the time we got home there was maybe a couple of inched on the ground, but here was not appearance of them letting up anytime soon. The next morning there was about 4" total of very light, fluffy snow. Not enough to crank up the snowblower, so just shoveled off the deck and around the van.

While in Green Bay, I finally picked up a pair of choppers (leather mitts). Been talking of getting them for a couple of years, and after using the snowblower, it became a requirement. I found that holding onto the handles caused my hands to get really cold and numb with the inactivity of just holding on. The gloves also get a lot wetter too, adding to the coldness of my hands. I got the biggest pair I could find, so I can wear my normal leather gloves underneath them. The pair I got, were also lined, which is more than I expected. Should not have cold hands anymore. Wanted them mostly for hauling wood, but they will do just fine for this too.

We have missed a couple of Bible studies now, but we haven’t missed church on this past Sunday. A very long sermon this week. Hope the snow will cooperate so we don’t miss too many more.

The kitchen cabinets have spring loaded hinges on them to keep the doors closed. As the years go by, more and more of the springs break or their bracket do. I picked up a bunch of catches and will install them on as many as I can. One, over Margriet’s mixer really caused a nuisance as it broke the other day. She really gets grumpy when she has a cabinet door on her nose! Got the problem fixed this morning and it sure is a lot less grumpy around here. A bunch more to go. Hope to get all of the doors with catches on them before too long.

Yesterday was also the clean the fans and replace the furnace filter day again. This time it was much easier for some reason. Not as much dust and dirt in the fans, but the filter was really loaded. Don’t know why, but glad there is a filter to change. I have enough filter media left for the rest of the year I think, then have to get more. Bet the price us up again.

Our gasoline prices have gone up again too. Up to $ 3.549/gallon again. Was really hoping that it would stay lower for sometime to come. Not to be I guess. Seems like last week it was below $3.00/gallon! Sounds like it will go up more too. Forgot the reason this time, but it happens all the time and with the seasons. Wonder how much a bicycle costs?

Margriet was able to "chat" with Woelter online today. After apparently completing a portion of his treatment in the hospital, he is now home for a bit before the next phase. Not too sure what that is, but he will find out on the 19th. He really had a rough time of it. Not being used to confinement without any visitors, he really was down. It became impossible for him to eat, so was fed by a tube in his arm. He was not a happy camper there at all. This chats were about ½" long and very depressed sounding. Margriet was really worried. She did chat with one of his daughters last night, saying he was home and eating macaroni and cheese. Eating is always a good sign. Today he acknowledged he had a pretty rough time and things were not happening as they used to. Probably will be that way for the duration and not a happy prospect. We are overjoyed he is home and sounding so much better.

Time to get a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><