What a day. I worried about the chickens running out of water all night so finally got up rather early to take them a different watering container that will hold water. I had a smaller one in the garage that holds water and needed to get it down to them. I put the container in the car along with a bucket of water. I wanted to see if I could get out the driveway to go to a meeting tonight so got the car out of the garage and headed down the driveway.
Wrong thing to do! I should have walked the driveway to check it out first. I got stuck in a hip deep snow bank. I took care of the chickens and then came back up to the house to think about how I was going to get my car out.
My dear neighbor had messaged me while I was out taking care of the chickens and offered to send her husband up with his pickup to break a path in the driveway if needed. What divine timing! I sent her a note back and said I was stuck and she said they would be up to get me out.
They came up in a pickup with a tow chain. The chain was too big to go through the tow hole on the front of my car. I got a S hook out of the chicken coop but it wasn’t strong enough to hold. We were trying to come up with another option so I went in the barn to see if I had something in there that might work.
I noticed the camper had a safety chain and told Mike about it. He was able to get it disconnected from the camper and then used it to connect to the towing chain he had brought. It worked and he was able to pull me out.
What ever would I do without my dear neighbors? They have rescued me several times now. I owe them big time for this one (and the other times).
There is a knee high drift in front of the barn that I worked on shoveling for a bit. Kathy came home and is going to work on it some more. If we can get it knocked down we can park in the barn until the drift blocking the driveway goes away. Looking at the forecast it might be a month or so before it warms up enough to melt it down. Our high for next week is to be in the low 20’s with nighttime at or below zero.
I did shovel the ice off the garage pad so we can walk into the garage from the barn without falling and breaking a hip. I also shoveled the pad in front of the barn that didn’t have snow on it but had a layer of ice. It is really melting today so that should dry off and not be a hazard to walk on.
I called the leader of the meeting I was supposed to go to tonight and told her I wasn’t going to make it in. I don’t want to be out after dark if I have to park in the barn. It is a bit tricky to walk up to the house from the barn with the deep snow. I don’t want to do that in the dark.
I really need to find someone with a tractor or a plow on front of a pickup to come up and plow out the big drift in my driveway. This has only happened one other time since I have lived here the last ten years. The rest of the driveway is clear and free of drifts. The drift blocking my path out is a big one.
Feel like I have gotten a days work done and I haven’t done much. Shoveling this heavy snow is a workout! It is really melting a lot today and there is a hard crust on top of the drifts. Most drifts I can walk over and not fall down into but sometimes, when I least expect it, I go down and then have to work my way out. I have used muscles I had forgotten I had.
I didn’t get much sleep last night. I finally got up around 4:30 and took another bath and that helped me find three hours of sleep. I am thinking a nap is on my schedule this afternoon. I won’t be going anywhere so I might as well take a nap.
We are to get more precipitation Thursday night and Friday morning. Hoping this one isn’t as bad as the last one. The cold front comes in Friday and temperatures will drop quickly and stay that way for most of next week.
I am going to postpone the Five Wishes Workshop I had scheduled for Saturday. It is too hard to get to my house right now. I don’t want someone coming and falling on the ice and snow. Everything will be frozen solid by Saturday and the risk is too high. I will reschedule for another day when the weather is better.
I do need to get to town either Friday or Monday to sign insurance papers so I have coverage January 20 when the coverage I currently have expires. I’ll see what the weather does Friday with the expected storm coming in. Hopefully I can make it to town Monday If I can’t go Friday.
Oh the joys of country living. One learns how to be resourceful and how important neighbors are. It was a scary feeling knowing I was trapped and couldn’t get out if I needed to. Thank heavens I have all that I need and can stay home for several days before I have to get out.
I need to take the chickens some dry straw. The watering container leaked for several days before I connected the dots and figured out why they were running out of water. The bottom of the coop is wet and the chickens need some dry straw to help keep them warm this next week. They do have a heat lamp in the coop but dry bedding would help lots. I will go get that taken care of when I get through blogging.
The propane guy came today and filled the tank. That is a relief. This coming cold snap is not the time to run out of propane. I haven’t seen the propane ticket yet so not sure how much he had to put in. I had meant to check it when I went down to do the chickens today and got distracted when I got stuck. Grateful he showed up and got it taken care of.
Louis was happy to see Kathy today. Kathy will be home to stay tomorrow afternoon. She has been housesitting for a friend in Strong City. Louis is a bit spoiled and doesn’t like Kathy being gone so will be happy she is home to stay tomorrow.
Trusting the rest of the day will be less eventful. I plan on tucking in and not getting out. I have plenty to do around here if I find the motivation to get something done. I don’t need any groceries so will stay inside. I bow to Mother Nature and will honor this quiet time.
Grateful for my neighbors who pulled me out of a high snow drift, grateful for Kathy for coming to shovel in front of the barn, and grateful for a timely propane delivery.