We've Moved to Minnesota

We've moved to Minnesota. That's the only possible explanation for the cold, snowy weather we've been having recently. (Ironically, despite the cool weather we had locally in 2009 and the cold weather we're having now, globally last year was the 5th hottest year on record. So many people overlook the "global" in "global climate change".)

Remember the problem we were having with our furnace? The temperature at the air vents was only 74 degrees. After the furnace guy replaced the part that wasn't working right, the temperature at the air vents is now about 115 degrees. As you might expect, that makes a BIG difference! For one thing, the furnace now shuts off occasionally!

On another house-related topic, our basement sump pump discharges onto our front yard. And you may be asking yourself, "How well does that work during the winter?" I'm glad you asked!

Here's where the basement sump pump discharges onto our front yard. Do you like that nice little flare of ice forming around the end of the pipe? It's a be-iced pipe!

The frequent discharges from our basement sump pump kept a wide swath of our front yard mostly snow-free earlier this month. But what's that odd patch at the bottom of the slope? Hmm...

At the bottom of our front yard, you'll find solid ice! The basement sump pump discharges at the top of the yard, but by the time it gets down here, it's frozen!

Well, isn't this festive! Christmas decorations! Snow! Treacherous sheet of ice!

The ice doesn't just coat our front yard. It also flows over the sidewalk and onto the bottom of our driveway.

Here's what our front yard looked like a couple of days ago, after we got 6 inches of snow a few days earlier. The ice is still underneath there, fiendishly hidden underneath a beautiful blanket of snow.

This is what the backyard looks like after the installation of our new septic tank. What? You mean you can't see anything? Me neither. We've had snow on the ground continuously since Christmas. With any luck we'll get some melting soon so that I can FINALLY see what my backyard looks like!