Thursday, January 14, 2010

Winter weather

Since the beginning of Dec. we've had over 20", which is really remarkable. We haven't had a winter like this since probably '74. Combine all the snow with 3 weeks of below freezing weather and then a week stuck below 0, with driving winds, and you have a recipe for disaster!

Now everyone knows when it rains, it pours, and boy did it around our house! Over half our pipes had froze up by Friday morning, so we left for my parents house till the spring thaw. Saturday morning a plumber stopped by to say one of the rentals had frozen and burst pipes. That was so really expensive so I figured ours would be too. Phil had just found out his car needed as many repairs as the pipes and would cost the same. And my favorite appliance broke, the washing machine. Yikes!

So Matthew and I stayed at my parents from Friday till Wednesday morning. Tuesday the pipes got fixed at our house for 1/10th the price of the rental pipes. Tonight Phil comes home and the repairman for the washer will come tomorrow. Hopefully it will be a simple fix too.

I took all of these pictures Monday. It started warming up Monday, but it was still below freezing. We also had heavy fog that stayed till 2 in the afternoon. So the fog coated the trees and bushes like heavy frost. It was really quite beautiful.

Anyone feel hearty enough to come spend the winter with us??? Any of you CA relatives? (I know you complain about it being cold at 50's. Think you can make it through -17 degrees?)

4 comments:

Auntie said...

Great news on the pipes, and great shots. You have a very good eye. I took some shots w/ my cell as I drove back. The cell photo has poor resolution but the photo reminds me how beautiful it was. I think that frozen fog on everything is called hoar frost. Anyone who remains in the midwest is definitely a hardy sort!

Anonymous said...

I know that my dad & mom moved us from Grand Forks, N.D., when I was 6 yrs. old: I loved to play in the snow BUT...the mind of a child! The house sat vacant (didn't sell very quickly) AND the pipes froze that winter at great expense to my father. It certainly is easy sitting at this end of the blog to enjoy the magic of your snow. So those of us in(rainy)CA salute you for your stamina & thank you for sharing the beauty of it with us!(I hope you recognize your own talent, Girl!)

Mom said...

Love your photos, and am glad your expenses on plumbing and the washing machine were not so bad as you'd thought! It was great having you and Matthew with us for a while!

The author said...

Wow, Susan, that would be worse because of the distance issue. I loved the snow alot more as a kid. I think kids don't get as cold as adults as fast. At least I freeze quick these days. Thank you for all the compliments on the pictures, but these I just pointed the camera out the window and hoped for the best! Sheer luck!