Colder here. What's your temp? What ya burnin?

Still haven’t been out to see how much snow we have. No rush. Schools closed. I’m off today. Wife said maybe 4-5” when she went to barn around 6. The Wood Gun is not running so it’s still warm enough from that full load of Beech and Maple I put in last night.

 

13 with a fresh dusting of snow.

Just checked the boiler and it is still working on some hickory, maple, and ash from yesterday.

 

I'm going to use more hoarded beer rather than go on my Friday beer run in this crap. I'm going to replenish the hoard in the near future.

 

Woke up multiple times throughout the night. Winds are blazing! Was 35/77 when I finally got up. Didn't fill up but added a bunch of mulberry to simmer during the day.

 

Yup. Rotate that stock!

 

At 5:00 this morning it was -2* out, 7 hours later it's 36 and sunny. We got about a foot of snow yesterday, the sun should help melt my shoveled areas.

Cycling through the oak, it's 80 inside at this moment.

 

The struggle is real! Our garage sits at the bottom of a downhill driveway, facing north, so yeah, I get it! Sometimes I worry my wife will hit the ice in her car, and slide into the door. And it finally cleared up the same day this winter storm hit. I've been out shoveling that area, hoping to keep the glacier under control.

 

Yup.
+18°F.
Winds have calmed down to 5-10 mph here at the homestead.
Fire killed black Spruce in the stove
I finally got my 82 Chevy K20 plow truck running again yesterday afternoon.
Haven't put the plastic tank in the bed yet so I'm dealing with a water in the fuel issue again. But I got a flat spot plowed out so I have room to roll around under the truck to work on it.
When I parked it on hard plowed ice snow . The entire plow blade and cutting edge was visible. On Dec 26 21.
We've had A Lot of snow for here.

 

You need a plow on your side by side

 

That's a good idea, I'll have to look into that. This is a lot of snow for us, and the -2* temp hits about twice a year. You're on a level all your own, much respect for your winters, and beautiful country.

 

The way winters are going for you guys down south. You will have really warm weather. But then the bottom drops out of the thermometer and you get Big dumps of snow !
What I've learned from our Icemeggedon 2021 storm system is I Need a piece of heavy equipment. And 1 storm can completely change Months of living.
An oil pan pad heater on your SxS can help alot with cold starts ! I put a 600 watt lower radiator hose heater in my Snowmobile to help with Cold starting . At 30 below F all it takes is 1 hour and it fires up easily with the pull starter. It's a 550 cc so it really gets hard to pull over in the cold.
Anyway, just some ideas.

 

Next loop on the weather- coaster here: it was in the high 50's today and is going into the high teens tonight. Going to stay low overnight with days just above freezing for the next couple of days, than 48F on Monday. Not burning wood at the moment but I will be tonight and for the next two days. At least I emptied the ashes out of the stove..... probably six weeks worth. The stove was so full that the air normally introduced under the grate fails as the ashes were too thick to let that air pass. I clean ashes at least twice a winter, whether it needs it or not. Normally I really do empty the stove of ashes fairly often to maintain the firebox's volume but this winter has been so mild, so often that I have just not been keeping up with it. Also burning more fuel oil but still have 1/2 tank left since fall so not too bad at all.

All this happening in New England while my son is edging $400 / month in heating costs in VA. He is using a heat pump which basically fails at low temps. and then he is heating with 95K BTU of 'radiant strips' which is simply electricity used in a resistance fashion...... ouch!

 

Back to reality. The 57 degrees we had this morning is now 31, which will continue to fall to the upper teens by the morning. Beech and apple shorties are keeping the house comfy.

 

BDF I have a hard time believing your son couldn’t figure out a woodstove!!

 

I checked the oil tank a week ago and it is still 3/4 full. Started the winter full so I believe I am on track to use the normal amount of oil for the winter.

 

Down to 9 at 9 tonight. I’m going to be loading the Wood Gun with Maple and Beech again tonight. It is going down to about 2 overnight. Suppose to get an inch or two of snow early morning.

 

Snowing still and the wind has been absolutely screaming since before dark!

Gonna have some nice drifts tomorrow.

 

28F out and extremely windy. Fired the indoor wood furnace back up after a few warm days. Also started a
fire in the fireplace for ambiance. Burning sassafras and ash in both burners. House is nice and warm.

 

He is a 'modern' male and does not want one nor know how to use one I suspect. He picked up nothing from me as far as I can tell..... But he is doing fine in America and did enough, at least for me, by finding a fantastic girl to marry and mix chromosomes with. And as icing on the cake, both of my grandkids (so far) look like their mother, which is a great thing. So I forgive him on the whole wood burning thing.

Fortunately for us here at my house, I lit a fire on a full load of wood in the Ideal Steel and it got going quickly and quite well. So by 9:00 tonight it was 80F in my living room. Maybe I should have ridden one more night on oil.

 

27F here with a howling wind. Went to the store and the end of the drive is already a foot deep drift. Supposed to get 1-3" of fresh snow overnight with the wind holding up all weekend. Oak and Locust mix keeping it warm. Hoping the power stays on so I don't have to fire a generator in the middle of the night, we'll see.