The Morning After

After my adventure with my snow chains and trying to get home with 5 trees blocking my path, I got to bed around 2:30 A.M.  I believe that I awoke around 9:00 A.M.   I fed my pets, had my devotions, fed myself, and then assessed my situation.  The motorhome roof was sagging from the weight of 1 foot of snow.  It was raining, but I had to get up there with a shovel and get the roof cleared.  It was a good workout and I ended up with my nice down snow coat and three to four layers of shirts soaked clear through.  I had to dry them over my kerosene heater.

Where are my Gloves?

If you will remember from my last video and blog post, I left my truck at the beginning of my driveway.  For some reason, I had walked home without my gloves.  Since I didn’t have them, I figured that they were in the truck.  I just didn’t feel like walking to get them before I shoveled the snow off the roof and I got cold hands without them.  Today’s video starts with me walking to the truck to find my gloves.  Sure enough, that is where they were.  But they were wet!  That was no problem.  I just took them back to the motorhome and dried them by the heater.

Time to Clear the Driveway

Fortunately, I wasn’t going to have to be at work at 4 P.M.  I needed the day to deal with all this snow.  Most years I get around 7 inches of snow and sometimes I only get a dusting.  This time, it was at least a foot.  2 years earlier, I had to deal with the same amount and it was my first time to use my tractor to clear away the snow.  So, now I had practice on how to take a beautiful white snow scene and turn it into an ugly dirty mess.

I was happy that the rain had stopped and I went to my trusty tractor to get started with the job.  I knew it would start right up this time because I had added anti-freeze to the tank of diesel.  It started right up.  Yay!  Not so fast!  It died as soon as I put it in gear.  I had to drain the fuel line through the fuel filter a couple of times and then it finally worked.  Maybe the fuel in the line was from the old fuel that didn’t have the antifreeze in it.  I’m sorry I didn’t set up my tripod to video any of this.  I was in survival mode.  Also, rain could start at any moment and get my camera wet.  I shot all footage with my phone.

I tried to show in the video a little of what it is like to move the snow with a tractor.  It is very difficult to do with one hand.  The left hand needs to steer the wheel and the right hand needs to operate the bucket height.  The ground is so uneven so the bucket has to be adjusted frequently.  In the last video scene, I was trying to show how there was a beautiful ribbon effect as the snow was being pushed forward.  But, alas, it stopped happening when I started to video.  I needed the use of both hands.

Ready to go to Work

I finished plowing the driveway up to my truck.  It was starting to rain, so I had to hurry.  I was able to back my truck up and move closer to the house.  I kept my chains on to make sure that I could get onto the road.  All went well.  I got onto the road and drove to the side,  got out, and tried to take off the chains.  That was supposed to be an easy job.  Well, I couldn’t find the place where it hooked up in the back of the wheel.  Never assume that something will be easy.  I finally did get my chains off and was able to go to work.  Below is a picture of my truck parked closer to the house when I returned.

Do You Want to Live in the Snow?

Snow is so beautiful, but it can be a pain.  I feel sorry for the people that live in higher elevations and deal with snow all winter.  So far, this is all I have had this winter.  I could still get snow in April, but I hope not.  When you are considering your homestead or country home, consider how much snow you want to shovel or plow.  It can get pretty cold in some areas too.  I was a southern California girl, so living in the snow is a new experience for me.  I have learned that I like a little, but not too much.