Spring Break?

Happy St. Patrick's Day and where is Spring?  It's the time of year when it's supposed to be spring and I should be pruning grapes, but it's too cold to work outside without gloves.  So, on my five day Spring Break I, of course found other work to keep me warm and that I could do with gloves on!

Limestone barn foundation

Friday's job.  A neighbor tore down an old barn and I couldn't bear to see these old limestone blocks buried.  Two trailers full and hopefully I have enough for some retaining walls.  Will I finally finish my landscaping this year?



Saturday's job?  Clean the house hoping it would warm up outside to prune grapes.  I tried, I really did, but it was too cold.  I managed to get a few rows finished.

Current Woodpile

Sunday, Monday and probably Tuesday morning, the job was cutting wood.  Trees were drug out last fall, sitting in the field waiting to be cut.  Unfortunately, the snow and cold continued for so long that I didn't get to them.  Thank goodness for a father who can back a trailer and run a loader tractor!  This is three trailer loads and there is yet another one to get.  It might be more impressive if it was stacked neatly!

Greetings from the Tundra

How much more can I comment on the weather?  We have missed seven days of school since January started, and not to mention the numerous late starts.  I can't remember a full week of school or even what it feels like to work a full five day week!  And Mother Nature keeps socking it too us!  More cold and snow!  But there does appear to be a warm up in the future - maybe even above freezing temperatures?!

Observations on the winter of 2013-2014:   

1). I think we have had more days of sun this winter.  Yeah for the new solar panels!  Last year one cloudy day would force me to run the generator that night, but not this year.  I have only started the generator once since the wind turbine wasn't back in operation, which was mid January.  Before that date without a working turbine it's hard to compare data.  But I'm sure you can all attest to the clear skies, because they brought us so many days of frigid temperatures this winter.  

On a side note pertaining to the wind turbine...we put it up on one of those -20F days in January.  Why?  Well, it was sunny, the wind wasn't blowing and I had the day off from work due to the low temps.  The turbine went up fairly quickly and easily, but then the cold job of tightening all the nuts and bolts on the anchors.  I'm sure you can imagine the frustration of maneuvering nuts and bolts with mittened hands, and I sure wasn't going to remove those mittens!  A quick thought jumped into my head about using my mouth, which I always do with nails and screws while I'm working (in warmer temps, usually).  And before I really thought about it, my lips were bleeding.  Now, I'm not one to go out and lick a metal pole with my tongue, but I don't know what I was thinking...my lips would be dry and therefore the metal wouldn't freeze on contact?  Lesson learned!

2).  Another observation this winter, with the freezing cold temperatures and lots of snow, I have become a total home body.  I guess I have saved quite a bit of "entertainment" money.  I did get out one partial weekend...went to Baconfest.  Of course, who wouldn't leave the hermit shell for that?  It was a great time, except I worried about the heat in my house the entire time.  The only heat source I have is the outdoor wood boiler.  I had my dad scheduled to put wood in it Friday afternoon, and my brother Saturday.  Easy, right?  Apparently they filled the entire stove with wood Friday night and never checked on Saturday.  When I got home on Saturday night, the stove was fairly full of wood, but it wasn't burning and the water temperature was very low.  I had to pull out all of that wood and restart the fire.  Luckily the house will retain quite a bit of warmth, even without heat.  I usually just shut the stove off, but since it has been so cold I wanted to avoid that.  I did pay extra for the dual fuel capability and I should be able to switch it to lp backup, but there must be a wiring issue because that keeps blowing the fuse.  Time to call the repairman.

3). We have had a lot of snow, not all at once but an accumulation over the entire winter.  So far there has been no mid winter melt.  This means my driveway is an absolute mess.  The snow on the actual driveway is about 3 feet in some places.  The man with the blade gave up on that weeks ago and instead I have a plowed path in the cornfield.  With the freezing temperatures it has been bearable, but the forecast is finally calling for a warm up.  Melting snow and maybe even rain mixed with cornfields equals mud.  I suppose it's time to test the capabilities of the 4x4 truck in mud!

The best way to enjoy snow is with cross country skis.  Mine have been out of commission for most of the winter due to delamination.  I have tried to glue them, but so far it hasn't lasted very long.  Third times a charm, right?  I have had my snowshoes out, but those seem like a lot of work and you seem to use the same muscles as walking.  Xcountry skies just make the winter go by much more quickly!  With the new snow today, time to get out there and enjoy before it all melts later in the week!

Lessons in Life

I'm a firm believer that experience is one of the best teachers.  However, I would listen if someone else had the experience and could "teach" me that without going through the experience...  The lesson I learned this weekend was that 11 inches of snow with an inch of ice/snow on top acts much different than 12 inches of fresh powder.

 
How do I know this?  Since the temperatures warmed up last week for a couple of days and we received rain, the "temporary" driveway got a bit dodgey.  And since the three foot drifts were now melted down to around a foot, I thought the mighty beast of a truck could make a path through so I could actually use the gravel driveway.  Things didn't work as planned.  The hard top crust of snow and ice killed the momentum.  Luckily this ludicrous attempt was made on a sunny, Sunday morning, so I had many hours of daylight to dig.  And dig I did!

The man with the tractor and blade is in some sunny locale, so all I had was me and a shovel.  I did realize early on that as long as I broke the crust where the wheels would travel, I could make some headway.  Two hours and about 100 feet later, the truck is free and I can actually accomplish something productive today.  Chalk that experience up to a lesson learned!

On the agenda today is planting spinach, lettuce and carrots in the greenhouse, and begin pruning grapes.  It was 17 degrees F outside but 100 degrees in the greenhouse.  This makes winter more bearable!  The planting went alright except for the 3 cats trying to fight with my garden tools and digging up my rows.  The grape pruning was a different story.

The grape cordon is 36" from the ground.  Right now, the snow is about 32" deep which means I was kneeling in the snow to prune my grapevines.  I was fortunate that the snow was crusty and therefore I didn't sink with each step but could walk on top of the snowpack.  Fortunate?  I was only out for about an hour before my knees were frozen and I decided to call it a day.  There was progress, but with temperatures dropping again the rest of the week to below normal, not sure how much time I will spend out there.  I'm wishing for 20 degrees and above with sun.  Is that too much to ask for the end of February?

Deja Vu

During those couple of days of -40 windchills, I thought to myself how lucky I was to have such a warm and cozy house.  If I needed more heat, throw a few more logs on the fire (yes, I would have to go outside, which I did complain about a little).  I had plenty to eat stored in the freezer and pantry.  In fact it felt like all I really did was eat and sleep.  Those extra days where nothing could be done outside allowed me to catch up on inside stuff.  I ordered all of my garden seeds for the upcoming year, worked on my taxes, relaxed and read some books and have plenty of leftover food for lunches the rest of the week.  Life was pretty good. 

And then Wednesday came.  I noticed the water for my shower wasn't very warm.  My domestic hot water is heated by the outdoor wood stove.  The hot water (with glycol) from the stove runs through a bypass arm attached to the water heater and thus heats the water for showers and sinks.  I know the stove is working and the water coming in is hot.  The issue seemed to be that the bypass arm was blocked with mineral deposits and so the domestic water wasn't able to flow through and therefore heat.  The bottom valve which allows the heated water back into the water heater had been blocked last year, so the intake valve or tubing itself must be the problem this time.  And it was.  So a full evening was spent on unhooking the bypass, draining the tank, using vinegar to flush out the bypass and a few screwdrivers and wire brushes to clean the stubborn deposits, a few more flushes and drainings and the water was flowing!  All seems good.  Except now the water softener isn't working.  I finally had this hooked up this fall, which is supposed to prevent the mineral deposits, but I guess it was too late.  The plumber never left a manual for the softener so I guess its time to call in the expert.

On Thursday, the plan was to lower the wind turbine to the ground to check on the tail.  Ever since we had an ice storm, the tail, even in low wind has not been in line with the body.  It's been at a 45 degree angle, which usually means it is braking.  And since the charge controller has never really worked (the new one) we were calling the company to trouble shoot that.  The wind turbine was lowered and the problem was a bolt was too tight, which was the manufacturers doing.  Easy fix, right?  With that done, the turbine was then pulled upright using the cables and gin pole.  Unfortunately, with the friction on the cable (which had raised and lowered this turbine roughly 5 or6 times, the cable broke and the turbine came crashing to the ground.  Well, nearly to the ground, the ladder was still underneath to support the blades, so only one blade was broken.    This is almost exactly where I found myself 8 months ago, the wind turbine on the ground with a broken blade, but then I also had an extremely bent pole that had to be replaced.  And one blade can't be purchased, you had to buy all three.  And the new controller needs to be sent in to see what the issue is with that.

  

The Polar Vortex

I have spent the last three days cooped up in the house with a psychopath kitten who can transform from a vicious, man-eating predator into a cuddly, sleeping baby in a nanosecond and a dog who seems to have cabin fever worse than me.  I've tried to figure out a schedule to her madness, so I can be prepared, but there is no rhyme or reason.  


In between psychotic episodes, I have watched some TV programs of homesteaders in Alaska.  (Oh yes, with wind chills at -50 degrees and a sunny day yesterday, I have had plenty of power!)  In comparison with them, my life is pretty cake.  Off grid is not equivalent in all parts of the world.  I feel like I live in luxury being off grid in Iowa.  However I do incorporate some homestead/sustainable principles.  Cutting wood and using only wood as a heating source puts me at least in the same ballpark.  I grow a lot of my own fruits and vegetables and store these for winter use.  But unless I become vegetarian, I couldn't survive off of the land.  I don't own a gun and have a hard time killing the mice in my garage tunneling through my styrofoam insulation.  (Hence the need for a cat, though so far she hasn't earned her keep.)  At least when I head out to the wood stove at night, I'm not worrying about a bear attack, maybe a mountain lion or coyote someday, but not really.  For this, I am grateful.

That's not saying my life is easy and uncomplicated!  Until a huge snow melt, my driveway will be impassable to two wheel drive vehicles.  The blade has done all it can, but with winds blowing from the south one day and switching to the northwest the next, some of the actual gravel driveway is  ruined beneath piles of snow.  Instead, the "driveway" veers off into the field.  I expected this and deposited both of my front wheel drive vehicles in an accessible place and was granted the use of the "beast".  The old full size, but 4 wheel drive vehicle.  And it's only the beginning of January!  It's going to be a long winter!  With that said, I did order my garden seeds yesterday.  Nothing like a seed catalog to diminish the winter blues with all of its promises of green and vibrant colors and sunshine!

I did spend longer than five minutes outside today.  I walked to the mailbox to gather the last few days' mail.  It was a balmy +6 degrees.  Stay warm!

Winter Break is Over

I spent the last few days cutting and hauling dead wood from around the property to add to the wood pile for this year.  Many people who have outdoor wood boilers say that they burn anything and everything, but with Murphy on my side, I try to follow the manufacturers instructions.  I figure I still have a couple of months of wood left, but since I have some time over break with daylight hours, I thought I should get ahead of the game.  

There are quite a number of dead trees on the south side of the pond.  Bringing them to the woodpile would require hauling them across the pond and uphill.  I don't trust a spring fed pond and leaving the wood hauling to a sled seems like a lot of work.  With about 6 inches of snow on the ground, I know (from last year) that the full size four wheel drive truck should have no problem hauling this wood.  Of course there is always a catch - it has a topper on it.  Definitely not ideal for hauling wood, but considering the alternative, its my best bet.

One pile dragged across the pond via sled.

I learned last year that two wedges are definitely better than one.  I would like to add to that, two chainsaws are better than one.  One of these days I will learn.

My niece and nephew were here to help haul some loads.  The novelty wore off pretty quickly.  However, we were able to achieve a nice stack of wood.