Iowa

Iowa

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Spring?

What a lovely day we had here yesterday. It has been very cold here, at least for Pittsburgh. Below zero a couple of nights. But yesterday it went up to 50...yes, 50. I even got my car washed. Can't tell it, but it was. It's funny to see how cheerful people are when we get a sample of things to come with the weather. Cold weather brings problems that seem somewhat insurmountable at the time. Mippy's pipes froze, and one always has visions of water spewing forth all over the house. My friend went to FL to visit her parents, and when she got home, water (frozen, which would be ice), covered her garage and basement. The gutter on the back of the house has pulled from that thing to which it is attached. Hence, there were several inches of ice covering the back walk, which made it impossible to use the back door to get into the home. The front walk is brick and gets no sun at all, and it also was covered in a thin layer of ice, unable to be see until you walked on it (or should I say attempted to walk on it) and went flying, madly grasping in air for a dignified way to get your balance before the whole neighborhood standing at their windows burst into gales of laughter. So, that elimated the front walk, even though magneisum chorlride was spread. It melted it for a hot minute so you could get out immediately, but somehow managed to freeze up again. That left the living room window from which to jump or the garage. I elected to go in and out the garage, allowing all of that bitter cold to come out of the house every time I opened the large garage door. And then there is the car, cold and angry from sitting out all day. I believe I mentioned that we don't have the good parking spots anymore, so we have to walk.....I am sure it is five miles.....to get to the car. Starting it, sweeping it, shivering until it warms up. Ahhhh, winter. My friend lives in Florida and has invited me down for a vacation. Hmmmm, Florida, Superbowl.....wait, where is my luggage? Nevermind, with my luck we would be detoured to Chicago and I would get stuck for twenty hours. Sound familiar? Alas, yesterday was lovely and gave me hope that spring will arrive! And all of the ice has melted and John, the roofer, fixed the gutter, pipes thawed our successfully at Mippy's, care is clean...can one ask for anything more. All is well. Have a wonderful weekend.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those are some pretty serious icicles. Those warm days are a tease,l aren't they? I keep thinking that the worst is over, but I know it isn't. Have a good weekend.

Anonymous said...

Skipper washed the car yesterday too, just to get all the crap off.

We have icicles but so far, the driveway and steps are clear waiting for the next onslaught. So, you can come in our front door, Mia.

Birds were eating out of our feeder today so Spring is in its way.

Anonymous said...

Mia, glad you got that fixed, it can create some pretty bad situations. Did he say why the gutter had pulled away? Did you go to the rally last night? It was packed, and great to see the Steelers. And the weather held out. OK, back to work for me.

Anonymous said...

Can you imagine coming home from vacation to that mess? Yuk. Our pipes froze once and we put all this insulation around them. Seems to have worked. Don't you love those warm days when it feels like the beginning of spring? We have one here today. It is even too nice to go to the mall.

Anonymous said...

I am back from DC and it was great. Colder than expected. Arrived in Union Station and stayed with my friend, so we could walk everywhere. There was the neatest feeling that we were all one, there to celebrate an event that would never be the same. We were on the mall and could see the jumbotron and hear everything. By the time the parade ended, we were exhausted and crashed for the night. Have a great Sunday!

Anonymous said...

The rally on Friday was great! Took the kids and it was a thrill for them to see the players. The pictures from last week, Mia, don't reflect the ice and slippery conditions, but the icicles certainly do. We need to wait and see what Phil, the groundhog, says.

Another Original by Tamara said...

Thought about getting my car washed. But didn't. Wouldn't be able to draw any pics in the grime then. Must keep priorities straight.

Perhaps those huge funny looking gutter nails worked their way out of the fascia and caused the problem, Mia. Have really no idea about what I am talking but Ben, are you impressed?