Walkin’ in a Winter Wonderland
Last weekend brought about the first significant snow of the season. We experienced numerous flurries with some of the snow remaining on the ground for a day or so starting in early November of last year. But it was nothing more than a flurry that melted upon reaching the ground, or enough to make things appear white all over. As of last Sunday/Monday, we became the proud owners of a property with six to eight inches of snow blanketing the ground. The irony of it all though, is my husband left on Saturday, the day before the snow began to fall. And has been in Hawaii for work all week. True irony, people.
The man cubs and I immediately began our work midmorning on Monday, when we were sure the snow was gonna stop long for us to accomplish any significant clearing. We only tackled the front stoop, a small section of the walkway leading up to our house, and the back deck. And then we worked to clean off the top of the chicken pen and coop. We also added a significant amount of cedar shavings into the coop, and mixed up the new bags of feed.
Unfortunately, our greenhouse is no longer living however. The little bit of snow we received caved in the entire center of the greenhouse. Numerous bars are bent. We knew better than to leave it up all winter, but it takes two people to put it up and two to take it down. Having enough adult hands around to accomplish that as of late was not possible. We knew this greenhouse wouldn't last a long time, but we had hoped to use it next year. One hiccup in our homesteading plans that I have to rectify. I'm glad the chicken coop and pen are holding up. That would have been a devastating blow compared to the temporary greenhouse.
Tuesday, we spent the day inside on household chores and school. Everyone finished all that was assigned to them (YAY). The man cubs spent the evening relaxing while I did some deep cleaning in the kitchen. I piled up each daily load of clean laundry on the table while we worked on other things around the house that we only have to do when the snow falls. It was Isaac's turn to stay up late with me that night. So once everyone else got into bed, he got to snuggle with Mom, watch a movie, and play ABC Mouse.
Wednesday...oh, Wednesday. I decided it was time to tackle our parking area and driveway. These are connected, yet technically two separate entities. I used the snow blower to clear a large rectangular shape in front of and around the suburban so I could move it out of the way for plowing purposes. Isaac discovered part of the discs in our snow blower were not turning. That explains why I had some difficulty with what little snow I needed to clear. Not knowing where any spare shear pins were, I resorted to using the plow for all that remained instead of the drive way only. Before all of that though, I had to get the tractor started.
We have an ancient Gravely tractor. That thing has proven it's worth time and time again, despite it's age and lack of horsepower however. The handful of issues we once had with it, Paul was able to replace parts and improve upon it's design to enable to last longer for us. That does not change the fact that old tractors do NOT like to start in cold weather. After numerous failed attempts at starting the tractor with every combination of choke and speed and changes in gear I could think of, I had to resort to texting my husband to inform him I needed a part for the snow blower, and I couldn't get the tractor to start. Several hours later.....He informed me that I missed one combination of choke and speed. I went out and attempted said combination. After three tries, the old fart started, and I began plowing the parking area.
Isaac and I spent roughly two and a half hours clearing the parking area and moving along the driveway in short passes. When he finally got cold and went inside, it was dark. I was determined to finish the driveway that night. And then I killed the tractor...I'm suspecting the engine may have seized...NOT GOOD. I can't do anything about that until Paul gets home. However, I did have to call the elder man cubs back out to help me get the tractor turned around in order to ride it on the downhill slope of our driveway, and then push it back into the garage.
After all the hard work we did, along with everyone's phenomenal behavior, we treated ourselves. I made burgers and fries, and sauteed broccoli (the man cubs LOVE sauteed broccoli). And then we sat down to watch Hotel Transformania with our frozen chocolate dipped raspberry sorbet or strawberries and cream bars. Everyone was up past bedtime by roughly an hour. But it was worth it. We worked hard. Everyone behaved. The movie was hilarious. And it is never too cold for a frozen treat. Never!
Interjection here: My husband was complaining earlier in the week that although he had packed lighter clothing for Hawaii, he did not expect to be experiencing eighty plus degree weather. So he had to make a few necessary purchases to prevent swamp stench and heat stroke. Bahahah! I'm over here trying to prevent frost bite and he's over there trying not to die in the humidity. I forget sometimes that he did not grow up in Missouri. Paul and humidity are not friends.
Today is Thursday. After staying up past 2am to clean up the kitchen, wash David's diapers, fold all of the clean laundry, and create product labels for the newest addition to my Etsy shop (Pssssssst! Coffee Scrubs), I slept in late. The man cubs had made themselves breakfast without creating a huge mess. As soon as I had consumed the bitter black nectar that makes my world go 'round, the elder man cubs and I set out to finish the snow maintenance.
The tractor would not start. Screeching noises are no bueno. I did not make more than three attempts to start for the sake of not damaging anything further. I replaced the missing shear pin in the snow blower and set off to finishing the final third of the driveway. We did get roughly an inch of snowfall last night. Not enough to make it worth clearing everything again. Our parking area and driveway are primarily rock. Using the plow is wiser so we aren't throwing rocks everywhere. With the snow blower, the rocks can jam it up. I prefer not to use the snow blower for that reason.
I had it finished in roughly thirty minutes. Then I went out back to help the elder man cubs break up the remaining snow on the back deck. They handled chuckin' the snow over the side once I finished the muscle work. By the time they had finished, I had lunch ready. It's another late day to start school lessons. But there is plenty of time to accomplish something rather than nothing. Tomorrow, we are setting out for donuts, groceries, and money to pay the company that plows our road.