Furnace issues again

It was yet another freezing -31 day plus a wind chill to start but the sun was out too. Be darned if the furnace was only at 18 degrees again. As I fed and gave H her 2nd last does of antibiotics S went out to find the outlet covered over again even without the grate on he had removed. He was on furnace watch with his coffee and I marketing and coffee. I did start a fire inside mid morning in hopes of helping the house heat catch up. S read his book in front of the fire. I had a shower which was not the best idea as the system also heats the water so was luke warm at best.

We had borscht for lunch; a tub I found in the stand up freezer when rearranging yesterday. THANKS Ma K for keeping us in borscht. After lunch S went out to fill the wood bucket and clean off front sidewalk and steps. I prepped the horse feed then he loaded hockey equipment and was off to town while I fed horses. It had warmed to -29 as I was feeding after 1.

so many pretty china pieces, if only I hauled them all out for the holidays

Back inside I continued my cupboard rearranging then brought my book out to read for a bit in front of the fire in the sunshine. Read a chapter clean a cupboard repeat till S arrived home. I was watching the horses and saw something had their attention; it was a moose over in the winery. S was just pulling in 4:30. He and Dave had taken beer to offer fellow players after the game.

I whipped up a shrimp pasta for supper which was Sheldon approved. Via an internet search we narrowed down a bison brisket recipe. I mixed up the rub spices and S applied and into the fridge to marinade overnight. We were playing card in front of the fire when B called at 7:30 having got stuck at the gate. S and I bundled up, drove down and between the 3 of us got her out. Back at the house she joined us for a few card games before she and Coop headed home. 

Flames game started, he went and put chlorine in the hot tub and it was nearly froze shut while I gave H her last antibiotic does and her steroids that got for 3 more days. I grabbed my library book and finished it in front of the fire. Time to make our yogurt bowls and crawl into bed starting a new book: Home Again. S hooked up the TV and watched Flamed game in bed too.

Winter solstice

Today started with -31 and a wind chill of over -40!! but the sun was back at least. This cold snap is ruthless. It was the usual start with coffee made, animals fed and medicated and marketing and tutorial writing for me and computer perusing for S. S then spent over an hour on the phone with the butcher getting details for each animals cuts then back to his laptop. I worked on deleting photos off my new phone and computer work. Happy birthday Mom!

Trying to clean out the fridge for the big weekend we had leftovers for lunch. I made a macaroni salad and started bagging up all the gifts and getting my lists all sorted. B was out to feed horses having today off this week. She also hauled them a small square bale in front of the shelter as much of rest is buried under snow. She was then off to the city leaving Cooper for the afternoon.

S gave H a bath then vacuumed the main floor and mopped it after H left tracks from garage to kennel. He then attempted to read his library book on the couch but was soon asleep. I continued tutorial writing while the dogs paced hoping for supper. I did take them out and fed them much to their happiness as S was now awake and reading at 4:30. I continued the tidy up throughout the day of areas restocking TP and partially cleaning out the fridge. Towels and dog bedding laundry were done to keep the clean theme going. Pets were happily fed supper.

For our supper I mixed up a sesame wonton salad bag, added more dressing to my macaroni salad, fried up gyoza and salmon. YUM YUM! After supper S was back to reading his book on the couch this time staying awake with one eye on the hockey game. I washed up pots then back to my computer work.

I was working on my tutorials when B arrived at 8 to pick up Cooper. H got her evening meds, her cheek is looking much better. I finished up 2 tutorials by 9; time for a yogurt bowl and book reading in bed for me. S watched hockey till bedtime. I shut off the light at midnight falling asleep to the sound of the bitter winds on this winter solstice night.

Even COLDER

Even colder with it -33 at 6 am, S remembered to go close fireplace damper and found the glass iced over so he lit a fire and slept on the couch.

I mixed up food and took to horses along with more oats/sunflower seeds for all with S heading to garage scratching post for cats and wood into the house.

the weather change in ad day is dramatic

S and I ran thru the list of things to do before the w/e, created a meal list and planned activities while sitting by the fire. Snow started to softly fall making the dreary day at least more ski lodge like.

I created a delicious taco spinach salad for lunch Dave text at 1:15 if S was playing shinny. A quick phone call had them both going with S grabbing his gear, water and heading out the garage door in 15 minutes to get to the 1:45 ice time. I worked on the blog adding videos and photos and posted. I gave H her first frozen bison tail to have in the garage while car out and before her bath. I got bedding from Kaylin’s room throwing pillows in dryer to refresh and found she had it gone in less then 15 minutes!

I kept the fire going. S was sure we would never get thru those 4 pallets of wood but I bet we would, so far we are almost done 2 :) He was back around 4:30 with a turkey and milk, library books and brought me a chai tea, thanks!

I fried up the potatoes and veggies to go with chicken for our supper. We followed this up with games in front of the fire. B did not come put tonight as Cooper did his business on a walk in the nearby school yard!! It seems the dishwasher issues got worse with S finally taking it apart to find filter clogged and a pistachio in the drain tube, well done plumber! S put a last log on the fire to watch his Flames play. I made us a yogurt bowl then moved to the bedroom to start my new library book he picked up for me today; The High Notes.

COLD out

 It was -29 with a wind chill of -44 this am!!! Poor horses is our first thought. H got her pills and she and cats fed before coffee. The morning was spent trying to warm the house as the indoor temp was down to 18 and the furnace has been plugging away for awhile. There seems to be an issue every year which starts with the frozen over outlet valve and moves on to a cold hot blowing of air once working. I started a fire then did marketing and computer work while S did the heat troubleshooting.

that bird is back

We watched news and ate lasagna for lunch then I went out to feed the horses seeing they had been in all morning standing at the shelter in the sun. I put H’s coat on too to come with me. Borrowing Sheldon's balaclava and mitts made a huge difference for me. Standing out of the wind dressed appropriately was not too bad. I hope the horse blankets add this feeling for them. I had to bring H back as her feet were froze. I fetched oats and sunflower seeds along with veggie peels for the other 3 but be damned if the veggies were not rocks in about 5 minutes. Once they all finally finished eating I returned to the warm house.

watch my video below to see the snow

Finally after over 5 hours the furnace caught up to 22 inside and shut off. It was time for a shower now the water tank got its turn to run. The bright sunshine was lovely to see shining in the windows. We played the new card games while sitting in it.

S hopped into big brown for a nap so I caught up the blog for today as the fire blazed and sun shone thru the winter as it started to set now 3:30. After the nap S was organizing his bison orders. Pet feeding, kitty litter cleaning and chatting with bell for awhile getting phone info was up next for me before we had leftovers for supper. 

We were playing a game of crib in front of the fire with my new phone updating when B and Coop arrived for a very short bathroom break. They were then headed back home to finish her bathroom updates she is working on. S of course has hockey playing on TV. I finished setting up my new phone, meds to H, made us yogurt bowls then headed to bed at 9 to read with S joining me but asleep after a few pages of his book.