Started snowing Saturday (1/4/14) night and didn't stop until late in the afternoon on Sunday. It was also very windy so some of the drifts got pretty deep. On Sunday, I went out three times to sweep off the deck and ramp for the kitties (they are so spoiled). We actually had temps of -21 with the wind chill on Sunday. I've lived in Missouri since the summer of 1995 and I've never known us to have temps so cold. We've had winters with way more snow and ice but not these temps.
I keep the central heat (propane furnace) set on 66 to 68 degrees all winter but I don't have enough insulation in the house and a lot of the duct work is, apparently, uninsulated as well. The area under the house (a 1974 single wide with a 12x30 completely uninsulated living room attached) is pretty much as warm as the inside of the house. Guess where the outside cats are spending their time?? To make it even warmer under there, I've been doing a load or two laundry every day. The dryer isn't vented through the skirting, just under the house. Warm warm warm!!! I'm running an EdenPure heater in the living room because it doesn't get nearly warm enough. Not only is it not insulated, it has a tile floor and many windows. The main thing the heater does is run up the electric bill. $60 in summer with central air running jumps to $110 in the winter with this damn heater.
I have a 500 gallon propane tank for my furnace. We had it filled up this past fall and it was down to about 30% already. They came to fill it today - $785.40 for 350 gallons. I wonder what my electric bill would be if I had just electric heat. I wish my house was better set up in terms of the floor plan so I could use wood heat.
A couple of the outside cats are inside but will likely leave in the morning. One cat has found a burrow in an amazing place. There's a concrete culvert under my road along the highway. There's a part of it in the middle that has crumbled or something and there's a hole/burrow there. I delivered food and water to the culvert for her. I have a food dish in the garage and in the pump house along with the ones on the front porch (where the cats are usually fed). I go out several times a day to make sure their water dish isn't frozen over.
The county doesn't plow my road and no one on the road has a plow so we're all stuck until a big truck or someone with 4 wheel/4x4 drive uses the road. I normally clean my friends' house on Monday but didn't know if I could get out. Then the MFA Propane truck came and I was able to get out. She is an older widow with two dogs and I also pet sit for her. We can't find her snow shovel so I took my outside broom and snow shovel with me. I shoveled off her front porch and made a trail to her garage and her cabin (where she scrapbooks) by shuffling my boots through the snow. She's a tiny little thing with tiny little feet so she's able to just walk in my prints and be fine. When I finished with that, and was completely frozen, I thawed out while cleaning her house. She's usually gone when I do it but she was there today. When I finished she paid me for last week's cleaning and this weeks plus paid me back for something I picked up for her at WalMart and extra for the snow removal. A nice $60 which is exactly what I needed - money. I went to town - the smaller one but bigger than here. They have a Dollar General, a Subway and a little grocery store. Dog food, dog snacks, people snacks, footlong chicken bacon ranch sub with extra bacon and a container of chocolate almond milk. Perfect. On my way home I stopped by the library here to see if the entry area needed snow removal. I had my broom and snow shovel so I cleared it off. Decided to go ahead and do it instead of waiting until tomorrow.
I've been home since 5 PM and I'm still cold from my time outside today. I looked at the temp a bit ago and it's back to -10 on the back porch. Brrrrr.
The treasure found at Dollar General this trip - season 1 of Poltergist The Legacy on DVD for $5.95. Whoop whoop. I love this show. Something new to watch.
No comments:
Post a Comment