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Iced Over Mess

Posted on March 7, 2011 8:31 am by TheAngelForever

I interrupt regularly scheduled blog posts to announce that Winter has NOT left the building yet. The groundhog clearly did not specify where Spring would be coming early.

*sigh*

Over the weekend Mother Nature had some fun with those of us living in the north. First, she gave us warmer temperatures. 50 degrees in early March is not too shabby. Snow mountains that were here a week ago looked more like oversized ant hills on lawns. Sunday we watched as the rain came down very steady at times. Then, as the day moved on, the temperatures started to bottom out. Before we knew it, we were well below freezing and the rain turned to ice.

It is hard to concentrate on anything, including sleep, when ice is pelting your house. This morning schools in the entire area went from 2 hour delays to closed. Even our front door was glazed with ice. At first it was stuck shut. Imagine using that as your excuse not to get into work.

The trees are a mess thanks to the rain freezing on them. This is a little one on the side out front:

Ice is heavy and the tree in our yard is hanging down. If it large limbs fall I fear we will not have power, and may need repairs to the house itself.

Every little noise outside is going to keep me on edge. Excuse me while I go run for a blanket to hide under.

Categories:
house messy photos vent weather winter

Sure Signs of Spring

Posted on March 4, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

The temperature keeps going up and down, snow is still flying, yet there are some signs that spring is coming to our area. When you drive around you need to be very alert. There are now monster craters throughout the area that will claim the life of a tire in an instant. Yes, potholes are a fact of life in the northeast. Mud from melting snow mountains is also a sign that eventually we will see grass underneath.

Here are just a few that of the signs that I caught while walking to get NHL at school the other day:

They are not pretty pictures, but they do bring some hope. One day soon the snow will go away, the mud will decrease, the potholes will be filled, birds will be outside singing, and the sun shine to help the trees and flowers bloom.

So my question to you this week:

What are some signs of spring that you have seen near you in recent days?

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #141

Categories:
Aloha Friday photos weather winter

Fun on a Snow Mountain

Posted on February 26, 2011 9:47 pm by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL and JSL,

This morning, Nana called to invite us over to play outside. Thanks to all of the snow that fell yesterday, they had a plow come to clear their driveway. The result was a monster snow mountain in their backyard. After lunch, we packed up our things and went over to Nana and Papa’s backyard. This picture shows just how tall it was compared to NHL.

The two of you had SO much fun romping, sledding, digging, and climbing in the snow.

Here are some shots of NHL:

And some of JSL:

The two of you, and Daddy, had an amazing time playing together and making wonderful memories. I know I will sleep well remembering your laughter tonight. Of course, I may be dreaming of laughter at Disney World in the warmth and not the snow.

Love,

Mommy

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Categories:
Dear Kid Saturday fun jl jsl laughs my boys nhl photos play time weather weekend winter

Knee High Up on the Roof

Posted on February 7, 2011 8:22 am by TheAngelForever

About a year after we bought this house, we learned a new winter term. What is this winter vocabulary item that will now haunt our winter lives? The word is ice dam.

We learned about ice dams the hard way. One late winter morning, I woke up and heard dripping. I slowly turned on the light and saw water coming in our bedroom. Yes, we had a leak there and on the other side of the wall, in our bathroom. We had no clue what was going on. We called a handyman that we knew and he came over. When he went on the roof he immediately saw we had a few giant ice dams that were allowing the rain to flow back into the house via the roof shingles.

Ice dams are something to be feared as a home owner in the northeast. If you drive around and see pretty icicles hanging off of homes, it typically means there is more going on up over the roof. Our fear of water coming into the house from ice dams means that TechyDad is constantly outside raking our roof and working on the ice.

The windows in our upstairs room allow us to get a first hand look at the lower section of our roof on the one side. Checking the ice dams has been very depressing this year. Saturday morning, we were scared of the weather report. It said a lot of rain and ice was coming our way. We went out and bought supplies to target the ice dams after others had suggested this technique. We wanted to make channels for the water to flow off of the roof and not back into the house.

When we came home from Home Depot with the 50 pound bag of calcium chloride, I went and found an old box of knee highs. TechyDad and I filled four of them to begin the experiment. After about an hour, we could see that they were doing something, so we went and filled six more knee highs to tackle the ice dams before the rain. We noticed an area of water pooling in one section and worked there. Sure enough, these nifty knee highs did the trick. The opened up an area for the water to flow off the roof.

So far so good. Of course, next year we plan on installing some heating coils on the lower roof section and other problem areas to try to prevent ice dams from forming. And if you are wondering, I will never be able to look at knee highs the same again!

Categories:
house looking back messy TechyDad weather winter

Saturday Surprise at Home Depot Thanks to the Ice

Posted on February 5, 2011 2:58 pm by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL and JSL,

This morning we decided that we had to head to Home Depot to get some calcium chloride to put on the ice dams. Daddy and I heard that if we put that into some panty hose, that it would help to make channels for the melting mess. Our hope is that this project will help us avoid water coming into our bedrooms.

As we pulled into Home Depot parking lot, we realized it was the first Saturday of the month. That is when they do the Kids Workshop projects set up. After we grabbed 50 pounds of calcium chloride, I took NHL to check out what the project was.

We started the project together, then Daddy helped JSL to get started. You both enjoyed doing this and decorating it when you were finished.

Luckily the project did not take a long time, so we were back home to set up what we hope will prevent the roof from leaking in. Here are your finished projects at home.

Now we are keeping busy by cleaning the room upstairs. Both of you are so excited to have this space for a playroom. Hopefully we can work together as a team to get this going and finished soon.

Love,

Mommy

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If you want to participate in Dear Kid Saturday, head on over to Cutest Kid Ever by clicking on the button below.