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About that snow blower…

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Okay, time to catch up on the snow blower situation!

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This driveway was not cleared with a snow blower.

We headed out to pick it up yesterday, along with the two chain saws.

The guy walked me through what he did. Along with cleaning out the carburetor, he added an inline fuel shut off valve, which would help with a leak. There already was a metal shut off valve, but it was not the sort that should be turned open and closed often, as it would wear out more quickly than the one he added. He mentioned that the float seems to stick, which concerned him a bit, but he tested it out on a snow drift, and it worked just fine. He mentioned that the sticking float was causing it to run at full throttle, and showed me what he did as a work-around – something I was already doing. He started it up – of course, it gave him a hard time! – and did a bit of a demo for me. Then he drove it out of the shop and left it running while his dad (the owner of the shop) walked me through what was done with the chain saws. After I paid for everything, the mechanic grabbed some ramps and drove the snow blower into the van for us.

Then he had to take it out and drive it back it in, because he loaded it faster than I could tell him it had to go in backwards, or we couldn’t close the door!

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When -18C is now warm! Also, a re-evaluation

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Going out to do my rounds was down right pleasant, today!

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I see you in there… should I run?

I didn’t even bother to wear gloves, for a change. Even Butterscotch came to me after I finished putting deer and bird feed out, wanting me to carry her for the rest of my rounds! :-D

Ferdinand was in the sun room this morning, for a change, checking me out while I scooped up some kibble in the Old Kitchen. Usually, it’s been Slick in the sun room of late. With the warmer temperatures, all the outside cats are more active. Even the water in the sun room had barely any ice on it. There is a down side, though; as things warm up, the sun room is starting to smell very strongly of cat urine. We’re going to have to do a very thorough spring cleaning in there!

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Progress

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The cold snap finally broke today!

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Where’s breakfast?

Though we woke to temperatures of -31C and wind chills reaching beyond -40C, by the time I got outside to do my rounds, it was a balmy -26C, with no wind chill.

We are supposed to continue to warm up over the next couple of days, with more snow on Monday and Tuesday. Since I have to go into town on Monday, then pick up the snow blower on Tuesday, today was the day to clear enough of the driveway that I could get out of the garage without getting stuck.

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Well, that’s not good

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The formation of icicles outside our bathroom window was noted recently.

Since that window looks into the sun room, not outdoors, this is something that should not be happening.

My first thought was condensation, but after thinking about it for a bit, I realized that didn’t make sense.

So when I went out to do the cat stuff this morning, I remembered to check out the window from the other side.

I found this.

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So much for predictions

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20190205.theoutsider.1

It seems that every morning, when I check the weather, the cold snap keeps getting pushed further and further into the upcoming days. We should have been in the low -20s and high minus teens by now, but instead I woke up to -31C with a wind chill of -42C, and the cold is now supposed to continue through Monday. Last Monday, it was supposed to extend until today, then start warming up.

Ugh.

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Snow blower status

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So, after not getting a call back from the small engine place, yesterday, I called them first thing this morning.

Which was a good thing, because it turned out my number that I left with them somehow got separated from my name.

I was talking to the owner this time, and he’s the one who worked on the snow blower in the first place, so it only took a moment for him to remember which one it was – it’s a rather unique piece of equipment, compared to what they usually work on.

In talking about the kill switch, he suggested that his son, who would be the one coming to get the snow blower, might be able to just fix it at our place!

Which would have been awesome.

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Let it snow

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Whoops. I started a draft with this screen capture on my phone, then moved to my desktop to finish it – only to find the WordPress app on my phone published it instead of leaving it in draft.

Ah, well.

As you can see, our temperatures have plummeted overnight, and that wind chill is pretty nasty! I’m happy to say, however, that this is no longer accurate. The Weather Network says we are -24C, with a wind chill of -37C, and we will continue to warm up. Over the next while, we should be in the low -20s and high minus teens.

One thing about living in the boonies. The weather is a much more serious subject than when we were living in the city, where even if we couldn’t get out ourselves, we could get things like groceries and even prescriptions delivered, is absolutely necessary!

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