Frozen@ Ionia

Holy cow it's cold

If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all!!!  5 days with the temperature (real) 20-25 below 0. Add the wind with gusts to 30 mph and the wind chill temperature is 50-60 below 0.

That cold wind found a tiny opening in the siding between the kitchen and silo room. Did I tell you that DH hasn't gotten around to finishing off the silo room to make it into a mud/laundry room? The silo is like a huge open chimney from that room. If there was any heat in that room it would soon be pulled out through that huge hole.  Anyway, over the door to that room the old barn siding let a tiny sliver of cold air find the hot water pipe going across the door. The wind let up just long enough one night to let it warm up enough for the water pressure to shatter that pipe... at 3 AM. We have 60 pounds constant pressure from our well, so all 10 showers can be used at one time without dropping the pressure.  It didn't take long to move LOTS of water through the ceiling. Lucky for us that Don and I had taken up residence in the 2 handicap rooms on the first floor, and I was sleeping lightly while listening for him to need some help since he was just a few days out of the hospital. The water sounded like Niagara Falls coming through the ceiling and out every opening it could find. Light fixtures, furnace duct, and down each side of the old barn beams that look so good holding up the second floor.

 Ladies, make sure you know where the switch is to turn off the water for your whole house. I did not. I opened the door to the mechanical room and was confronted with lots of switches and knobs. I had to wake DH to ask, and he was still so out of it from his recent surgery that time was wasted repeating my request several times.  I will be getting a new kitchen ceiling as soon weather permits a trip to the lumber yard and Fred is available. Dear Hubby will be NO help.

  

This bench near the front door will not be very welcoming to come and sit a spell for a while. One of my favorite spots to take a break from working in the flowers in the spring.

 

Alfie had very little interest to go outside in the cold. Today the cold spell finally broke and we got up to 28 degrees. It is a heat wave!! Donya took Alfie with her to see how the pine trees and arborvitae are doing. We are all getting cabin fever. Way too cold to even think about doing anything in the green house... but we can dream.