We love winter - have for years. But this year we're really ready for spring. After a slow start to the snow season, things really picked up in February. I haven't kept track of snowfall or frequency but for awhile it seemed all I did was clean out the driveway and the yard. Since our tractor doesn't have a blade yet, it takes about 3 hours to do a proper job plowing the driveway and cutting back the banks. I sure am glad I spent the time pushing snow back. After the last snow, I was beginning to get concerned about where to push another snowfall.
Most of the pictures are various locations on Anam Cara illustrating the snow depth. The tent-like structure interior is our firewood pile. We started the winter with 3 chords and this is what we have left. It's possible we will finish the winter with wood left. Since the temperatures have been in the low 40's, we have not been doing a fire in the daytime. Generally we start a fire sometime after the sun goes down and throw a few logs on at bedtime. The house retains heat pretty well - we're very pleased.
Since these photos were taken, we've been in a slow snow meltdown. Yesterday it rained most of the day (yuk). The snowpiles are considerably reduced and the ice which has plagued our driveway is starting to give way to brown. Mud season is very likely not far around the corner.
We've added another vehicle to the VW used car lot. Our neighbors were going to send this Toyota truck to truck heaven. We bought it and had the frame repaired. Now we have a handy vehicle for transporting all the stuff you need to make a homestead.
With the coming of the meltdown, flu has also invaded our house. Jayne had a mild case several weeks ago. We thought we'd dodged the bullet since quite a bit of time passed without Cheryl or I getting sick. But then an office mate came down with the upper respiratory stuff. Then I caught it the week before I was scheduled in Vermont on a hydro startup. Up until the Sunday before I left, it was touch and go as to whether I would be in good enough shape. Fortunately Cheryl loaded me up with 1000mg hits of vitamin C and some other stuff. By Tuesday I was actually in decent shape and by the Thursday I was nearly recovered. It would have been a real problem if I wasn't able to go since the job was already scheduled and no one else in my company could go either.
While I was in Vermont, they received the third highest snowfall ever. About 30" if I remember correctly. I drove my car which is not exactly a great snow vehicle. On Monday morning I was snowed into the hotel parking lot. Thankfully the hotel maintenance guy was patrolling the parking lot with a snowblower. After I got out of the parking lot, I found the roads hadn't been plowed for hours. When I reached the hydro site, the side road was filled with snow from main road plows. So I drove on and turned around after several miles. Just as I returned, a town snowplow showed up and cleaned out the side road. I finally reached the site and started the work day. The news channel said to stay off the road unless it was an emergency. I guess getting to a hydro upgrade project qualifies as an emergency!
Making Plans
This winter has been a time for rest & renewal as the building push was tiring, but it has also been a time for planning our next phase of creation. Spring to fall will once again find us busy making our new life. Top priority is being given to establishing food growing. We're going to start an outdoor kitchen garden on the sunny southern slope south of the house which will be several raised beds. Secondly, we'll be implementing the construction of an attached greenhouse/sunspace on the southern side of the house. Cheryl designed this with the help of a great book from the 80's about attached greenhouses. Ours will be 24' along the house starting at the west end and will be 9' wide. The height of almost 10' will allow the accumulated heat, that will help to heat the house, to enter the house into the second floor, which is where additional heat is needed when the only heat source is a first floor wood stove. The prime purpose of this space will be for year-round food growing, but the added heat in winter and the year-round sunny living space will also be very welcome. We'll be using many containers of water in here for heat storage including a 100+ gal tank which will be part of our solar hot water system. This greenhouse will be glazed with glass due to its permanent lifespan. The third growing space being planned is a detached 18' geodesic dome greenhouse which we will buy as a kit and build ourselves.
In addition to growing food one needs to store food for the winter. So our second priority for the coming active time is establishing at least a temporary root cellar system. Our winter food plans include root cellaring, drying, canning, cold hardy crop growing, and some freezing.
Our third priority is the building of our barn/workshop. We have purchased plans for a 20' X 24' barn and would love to have it before winter hits again, but we don't really expect to make that happen. We'll be building it ourselves and siding it with pine lumber from our land. Kirk has a backup plan for providing covered storage for Ollie the tractor by adding a shed roof off the side of our tool crib.
Kirk's paid work volume has increased to the point where he is working full-time probably for several months to come. So if we want to see all our plans come to fruition we need help around here. We are now in the process of seeking someone with building skills who would like to barter work for a place to live. Our Craigslist ad brought in several interesting prospects. We'll house this person or couple in our travel trailer during milder weather. If we all want to make the arrangement more long-term, we'll have to get a cabin built before the snow flies.
Living with Jayne is still a roller coaster ride but she's doing pretty well. She's still working on her voice, has a job interview coming up in a few days, and is volunteering at a local orchard/bakery/restaurant where she's learning skills from barista to waitstaff to baker. She's gotten creative with getting around since having to face the hard realities of no money and parents with snugged pursestrings.
