themartianchick

Our temps rose to 43 today. There was about an inch of snow in the driveway from overnight, but it disappeared by 11am when we got above freezing. Warmer temps meant that it was drizzly outside. Tomorrow should be around 47 degrees.

When we had an old fashioned brick fireplace, we had the same issue in our 2-story home. Then we got it fitted with a fireplace insert. We use it to save on the cost of heating with our furnace. The furnace does not work in a power outage. The insert has an electric blower and a stem to control the airflow. Overnight, we stuff the firebox with wood and pull the stem. That allows the wood to burn slowly all night and it also burns the gas released by the wood. It can heat our entire first floor. If it gets too hot, we just open the doors to the upstairs and let some of the heat go up there. In a power outage, we can still burn wood, but would need to use something else to power the blower. I have an emergency battery-type power pack that can run the fan for a while. We can charge it up using the car outlet or take it elsewhere. Any battery powered fan would probably due the same if it were placed in front the insert. If high winds or a bad storm is expected, we crank the heat up ahead of time to ensure that the house is already warm. This makes it easier to maintain the heat with or without the blower. For water pipes, we heat water on our gas stove and fill empty plaastic bottles or jars with it. The bottles are placed against the pipes in the cabinets under all sinks. It is an imperfect method for keeping the pipes from freezing, but we seldom lose power for longer than a few hours. Our house has 2 kitchens and both are equipped with gas stoves. If we were unable to burn wood, we could use the ovens to heat each floor. or use a combination of methods. Our house is technically a 2-family home, as well. If we have working electricity and one furnace has broken down, then we can get the whole house to a tolerable temperature using the furnace on the other floor. It wouldn't be warm, but we wouldn't freeze. This works especially well when the upstairs furnace is out, as heat rises. Another alternative would be to drain the pipes on one floor to keep them from freezing and temporarily stay in the unit with heat. If it was going to be super cold, then we could also put a space heater or two in the basement. I almost forgot... With electricity, we also have a couple of electric heat tapes thst we could use. There is one stubborn pipe and drain in our bathroom that freezes up in temps below 10 degrees if they last for a few days.

What a heartbreaking situation, @Jeepers!! Kids often hide their fears until they absolutely can hide them no longer. I am so glad that your grandson has supportive people around him. To counter his fears, maybe his mom or others can drop by school for some happy occasions. A class party or to pick him up early for ice cream or a burger and fries.

Thank you, @The WE2's! I had never heard of this product. I just added it to my Walmart delivery order. This will be great to have around for dad.

Feel better, @The WE2's!

I returned to dad's house yesterday and discovered that he had company. About an hour earlier, I'd seen a person outside his house on the Ring camera. I kind of did a double-take because he was using a snowblower on the 5 inches of snow in the driveway and I was afraid that dad was the person that I was seeing. As it turned out, it was a young man from across the street. He is grown now, but he used to help my dad to shovel a few years back. He lives in one of the houses where ownership has changed since I was a kid. Just as he was finishing up, his snowblower stopped working. Dad invited him in and served him coffee and cookies. They were chatting when I arrived. Hubby checked out his snowblower and determined that the issue couldn't be fixed without a new part. I looked up the model number and the serial number on the plate on the snowblower and found the part and cost. During the course of our conversation, I also referred him to a couple of training programs that he might be intersted in. His mom works at a public school in my city and it is one that I volunteer at, so that was an interesting point in common. We told him that he could use Dad's snowblower to do his own driveway in case of a storm. This morning, I woke up to about 4 inches of snow which I decided to shovel by hand. I really can't use dad's snowblower because it is too big and has a lot of forward power. It is like being dragged behind a team of sled dogs and I don't understand how my dad has been able to use it in recent years. Truthfully, I don't use the snowblower at my house either. I don't like that much noise. The temperature was slightly above freezing and the sun popped out several times during the hour that I was outside. The driveway stayed clear all day, until the wind kicked up and the weather took a turn for the worse. Right now, there are about 2 inches in the driveway and it looks really icy. The wind gusts are making whiteouts. Fortunately, we don't have to go anywhere tomorrow. Hubby has promised to come out tomorrow and use the snowblower if we need it. After shoveling today, I worked on a grant for a client and then did some cleaning. There is always cleaning to do when I return to dad's house.

I think that we all feel loss so acutely at this time of year. I was watching a tv series on Amazon last week in which a character had lost a family member and didn't want to participate in a family singing tradition. He said that even with everyone singing, he could only hear the voice that was missing. That really resonated with me. It does take time to grieve, but it also takes time to live. You are worthy of happiness and finding a new normal. Things will never be the same, but they can be good again. Find new ways to become involved again. Now that you have a new computer, maybe you can participate in video calls with friends or family or come visit with us on Mrs. S...Maybe share that recipe for pumpkin pie with us? I make terrible pies and could use all of the help that I can get! Do you have an pets? Cats and dogs can provide a lot of comfort, but I also find fish tanks very relaxing. If you crochet or knit, maybe you could make some of those little hats used by babies in ICU. My sister belonged to a small magazine club. They figured that they didn't have time to read books, so they read articles and met at each others homes and shared a meal. That was before COVID, so a virtual version of that probably exists online now. You are not alone and we don't want you to be lonely.

They even make electric snow shovels. My mom used to use one. I saw it on Dad's back porch and meant to ask him if it still worked. I assume that you scoop the snow and it blows it to the snow bank... I dunno. We have one of these spreaders for salting the sidewalks and driveways. It works really well. I'm not sure where we got it, it just showed up one day and it was in used condition. We also fill a big coffee can with salt and create a cutout on the lid. That works well for salting smaller areas. We own 2 houses that are side by side and a wide vacant lot that used to have 2 houses on it. City code specifies that the property owner has to keep the sidewalks clear of snow and ice, so shoveling can be a big production around here. Thankfully, our tenants are responsible for snow removal at the other properties. If they neglect it, we would get a citation from the city.

We don't have much snow right now. It has been cold at night, but the daytime temps have been just at freezing so the snow doesn't really amount to much. We only have a few inches on the ground, but it is 29 degrees today and that is cold enough to allow it to stick. (I'm not a fan of clowns, so they are far scarier than any snowstorm! )

I was supposed to get an MRI done today, but my appointment was canceled. Since I don't have to go anywhere, I have deep conditioner on my hair with a plastic shower cap. It is a most attractive look! We've had a mix of snow and sun, with more snow on the way in NY. I spent a little time looking at my Ring cameras in Florida. I could really use some warm sunshine, though there is a freeze warning for Central Florida for the next couple of nights. I found a good deal on some pasta yesterday so I plan to put those in canning jars and dust off the pantry shelves a bit. I'd like to totally reorganize it, but I'm not quite motivated for that yet. Maybe after Christmas...

We celebrate Christmas the weekend before... I am already feeling as though there isn't enough time to get everything ready and I just finished doing Thanksgiving!

Today, I am doing some grantwriting work for a client and preparing myself mentally for some more medical testing tomorrow. I should probably finish the laundry, too. We got about 3 or 4 inches of snow here overnight. I wasn't about to go out in it. As my grant work involved a Zoom meeting, I di actually comb my hair and put on some makeup. I'm going to have to help hubby get some measurements for drywall before it gets dark! He has some new tools coming today to help him with his renovation project. I decided that if he was going to get a new tool, then I needed one, too. (Very mature of me, I know! ) I took advantage of an early Cyber-Monday sale and bought a new Dremel. That will be an early holiday gift to myself.

When I was having issues with dry eyes, I bought a whole house humidifier from either Walmart or Amazon. It works great with keeping my nose and eyes hydrated and my plants love it. I still use eye drops and nasal saline, but I need to buy a new bottle since I got sick. I don't want to re-infect myself by using the same bottle. in my nose. Speaking of Walmart... I initiated the return of the canning jars and they told me to keep them. So, 11 jars for free! I did have to clean up all of that broken glass, though. Some of the bits were so fine that they resembled sugar. I'm going to have to wash them all and put them away today. Hubby is working on the renovation project and I am trying to get him signed up for a Medicare Part G policy and can finally renew my own health insurance. My insurance company was involved in a disagreement with my physician's network. I have been waiting for them to resolve it before renewing. I didn't want to change my insurance because it has a large network that covers most of the places that I travel. I also didn't want to change my doctors because we are finally making progress in figuring out my issues. I might cook something today...

Nice cut, @snapshotmiki! I'm not sure that I've combed my hair since Turkey Day... I definitely have not set foot outside. Today was another lazy day of watching Amazon Prime (Balthazar) in French and with subtitles. French is not one of my strong suits. Hubby waited until 11pm last night to start another remodeling project. Yep... hammering and sawing ensued just as I was about to go to bed. I may have to go back to dad's house to get some sleep. My last box of canning jars was delivered today and (of course) one jar was broken into smithereens. I need to alert Walmart so I can get a refund.

Happy Thanksgiving !!! We really enjoyed our dinner today... Before eating, we Zoomed with my daughter in Las Vegas and with my nephew in Colorado. Despite my best efforts to not cook too much, there still was a lot. Cleanup was a lot easier, though. We used those clear plates that are often used for nice parties. Dad was appalled by the plan to throw them out, but I didn't care. I needed to make the day as easy as possible. I sliced up the turkey breast for those who wanted to take some home and then froze the remainder of the carcass. I can deal with that later. Everything else went into plastic containers for Dad to use as meals over the next few days. I put some items that he doesn't like into the deep freezer to use as quick meals for me and brought a few things to my own house so that I won't have to cook for the next couple of days. I left Dad with a clean house, no dirty dishes and lots of food Feet are up and I am snacking on taco dip and chips... Today was a good day!