When I left Maine there was about three feet of snow... Got back to Iowa in time to spend two weeks in the hospital (day and night) as my Grandmother faded... I swear she waited for me to get there.
Wife came back to help me and support me... The day before she got back to Maine, they got 40 inches of snow...
She arrived to find her road had not been plowed.. MANY roads had not been plowed, so wearing a light coat and a pair of jeans and sneakers, she decided she could WALK the mile and a half to her house.... Plowing through 40 inches of powder all the way... i am fairly certain i would not have made it.. she has frost bite on legs and feet.....
She gets home, and finds the heater has gone out. pipes are frozen etc.... So no heat in the house.. she puts on dry clothes and brings the gas grill in and starts it, then starts a fire in the wood stove... Shovels 40 inches of snow, PLUS all the snow that fell off the roof to get to the 100 LB gas bottles so she can change them so she can light the furnace....
It is still about three to four hours before the house warms up... I am getting calls about every fifteen minutes as she asks how to do this, or that.... She tries to shut off the water valve in case the pipes or toilet is busted... of course the valve froze with water in it so it will not turn off.. I suggest shutting off the breaker to the well pump.. OOOH Good idea! The next morning the toilet is thawed and still holds water? She turns the water on, and it works? Even the on demand hot water heater works?
If it had been me, i would have died half way to the house, NOT, that i would have even tried to get in there walking. I would have slept in the truck.... but, when I did arrive I would have been fixing pipes, and drains, and toilets, etc, etc.... But not her.. I think someone watches over her.... I am glad someone does, because that would have been the end of me if I had been there.
Here, there is no snow.. we are tapping trees and it is 70 degrees and I am sweating... My bees may be struggling, but after that story and seeing your pics I am enjoying sitting on the dock in the sunshine! Wish I had some MEAD! But rum will do!
