We had a snowstorm Tueday night that brought winds from the north-east instead of our prevailing winds from the south-west. Boy, did that cause me grief out here at the farm. Michigan farmhouses tended to be built in stages. The one I live in is no exception. There is an upright section and a flatter section that were built in 1908. The kitchen and laundry were added on to the east side in the 30's. In the 60's, what had been the woodshed was turned into a "breakfast" room.These back rooms don't get as much weather exposure, so when the winds came, chinks and cracks were exposed. I put a blanket over the far back door in the breakfast room, and put a rolled towel at the floor. In the laundry room, I duct-taped the north door. Though that door isn't used now, the wind was seeping right through it. There is also a cute little window in the laundry room: icy! I duct-taped newspaper over that.
Mom put in new windows in the kitchen. There is still a little seepage on the north-one, so a rolled towel also went there. There was also a lot of seepage from the kitchen door, even though it faces south. I think I had a wind tunnel going, or something. Also, the door has about a 1/2" gap at the top. So I stuffed newspaper into all the gaping holes.
It still was mighty cold, but we made it through the night. And the furnace kept on chugging. Oh yeah, I forgot I was going to tell you about that, too! I had trouble with the furnace a couple of weeks ago, and a wonderful technician from the HVAC company I work for came out and cleared the intake duct of ice and debris. Well, the darned thing did it two more times! Fortunately, I knew what to check for, and sure enough, SNOW had packed the intake enough to keep the furnace from igniting. (The intake is on the left.) One time it failed at 4:00 a.m. in the morning. It was 0 degrees out (that's Fahrenheit). Being the farm woman I am, I pulled on my boots, threw on my coat, grabbed my spotlight, and headed out to fix the situation. The world I headed out into was a wonderland. The hoarfrost was just beginning to form: each tree had a hundred or so little diamond points on it. The sky was clear, and the night stars were shining like bigger diamonds. It was incredibly beautiful. So wonderful to have such a blessing as I was on my furnace-fixin' mission.Sheesh. Another long post. This is getting to be a habit!
Happy Saturday!