A winter wonderland

Well, of sorts.

We got VERY lucky right where I am - sleet followed by snow but none of the expected ice, so power stayed on just fine, heat stayed on.



School was, of course, cancelled (the amount of snow and sleet we got, while small by Minnesota or New England standards, was enough to make many roads impassable. And several of the eastern counties did get ice, so many people, like around Paris, Texas, are without power. I hope they get it restored soon.)

It's supposed to get incredibly cold for here tonight - single digits. I'm leaving my kitchen tap on a slow run (it's on an outside wall and I suspect it's not as well insulated as it might be, and a buck's worth of water or so is cheap insurance). I hung up extra sheets over my north-facing bedroom windows to try to block a little more of the chill. (The east-facing window is a double window, so I can't do much with that, but at least it's at the opposite side of the room from my bed.) And I dug out my ski underwear and a flannel top (with Clifford the Big Red Dog on it! I love being able to sew...) for pajamas.



We got a little ice, I guess, but not enough to do harm. ("Icicles have been known to KILL PEOPLE." Heh)

I spent the majority of today cleaning the house. I hadn't deep-cleaned in - well, a good while. The "public rooms" (living room, dining room (because I can't close it off) and bathroom) were kept presentable because of my piano teacher coming weekly, but the rest of the house got mostly lick-and-a-promise cleaning. So I decided to clean well today.



I did have a few moments of alarm, early this morning - I went to stick my hand out the front door to see if it was still ice pellets coming down, and I found the screen door was stuck shut. At first I thought maybe it was frozen to the frame (it's all metal), so I got my hair dryer and hit it with warm air. Maybe it was frozen a little, because then I was able to jiggle it more, but I realized the ice pellets had drifted up in front of the door and were holding it shut.

Uh-oh. First thought: How will I go prepare communion tomorrow if I'm trapped in the house? Second thought: What if the house catches on fire or something? (Well, in that case, I could have thrown a dining room chair through the glass panel of the door, I suppose, and crawled out through the hole)

So I started pushing and was able to budge it a little. Finally, I was able to reach a broom out the door and sweep some of it away, and finally get a gap big enough to squeeze through. (And then thought: what if something happens and you can't get back in? Because this was at like 6:30 this morning and no one else was about....) But I finally went and got my shovel. (Not a snow shovel; I guess I really need to get one) out of the garage and was able to scrape enough away that I can open the door fully.

The steps are still treacherous - I couldn't get all the stuff off them and some of it froze into ice - but if I hang tightly to the railing and step carefully, I can get down them. (and I did several times, to take out trash - from housecleaning - and to refill the birdfeeder).

Tomorrow, though, other than doing Communion, I think I'm going to knit. And also bake cookies for my department.