Finally winter - stuck in snow

10 degrees outside - 82 inside and no fire since yesterday morning (no furnace either of course) :)
But there is finally some snow - Last week we got around 2 feet (last night another inch or so). It then decided to blow like it was tornado season and drifted everything everywhere with temperatures remaining in the single digits. I can recall such nice soft snows when I was a kid with the sledding hills and cross country trails just perfect. This is impossible to even walk through.
Yesterday, it warmed up to the 20s and I got all dressed up with Dave's snowshoes (since they are longer than mine). Got the dogs and headed back to one of the trails. There hadn't been any snowmobiles down it yet (we were wondering why). I found out.

The texture of the snow and the blowing had made it over 2 feet deep with no crust. The snow shoes sunk down about 10 inches and were nearly impossible to pull out. Then because they were too big, they would turn sideways further inhibiting my progress. The dogs bellies were dragging and Sophie just can't haul her carcass through that much drag anymore.

I decided that the snow shoes weren't doing any good - sat down and got them up out of the snow and off my feet. Milos thought this was interesting and proceeded to kiss me and try to roll around too. Finally got him to sit and thought I would get up - mistake. Did you ever try to get up when your hands sunk up to the shoulder? Put a foot down and it sunk above the knee - now what. Such a funny situation that I started to chuckle - this brought on more cavorting by Milos and Sophie and eventually more cold kisses. Idea - put the snow shoes on the snow - put my hands on them to get enough oomph to push to standing. Then trudge back to the tracks I had left - get the snow shoes back on (in a standing position) and return to the driveway.

All said, this walk took about 10 - 15 minutes and lasted about 100 feet. Back to the house - all three completely exhausted (ha). Now, I know why there were no snow mobiles -- they also would have sunk and gotten stuck. That must be why the groom the trails......

berm
sharon_betts
passive_solar

Something New - Click HERE

I am going to try something new. I will be podcasting my postings from now on and also spending some time recording the older ones. Enjoy by clicking on the title.

Cedar for the smell

It has been a long time since my last post - I am participating in an online "group" with over 200 other educators around the world. Becoming a "Webhead". I know you all think I earned that title about 5 blogs ago, but I am always trying to learn ways to improve and use my skills in my job. The house is looking more and more like a home. David has been busy in the walk-in closet. He is siding a wall with aromatic red cedar. I have always thought that cedar was the best way to keep your clothes nice - and it makes the house smells fresh too. This closet also has a natural slate floor. We used mottled purple and it is my favorite color so far.

The weather has been very very cold the last 2 weeks - temperatures never getting above freezing and near 0 degrees Fahrenheit at night - that's about negative 16 degrees Centigrade! But, the furnace still doesn't run with only one firing of the masonry stove. We still hit the low 80's and have to run around in t-shirts and shorts when the sun shines. The only improvement would be to add solar hot water which we may do in the future. We would both like to say good-bye to propane.

sharon_betts passive_solar webheads Tulikivi

Drips and Drops

A question often posed to bermed home owners is if your house is damp. We have had some moisture battles - but not what we expected.
--We installed plastic tubes extending from the stone layer under the slab up through the roof in case of excess radon. Radon can be a problem in Maine and when in a bermed house, very difficult to retrofit. The floor always stayed wet around this tube. It seems the damp air from the ground (this is a bumper year for precipitation) drew up the tube - then condensed when it cooled and ran down the pipe. There is a connection just above the floor in the wall between the garage and study which allowed this condensation to ooze out leaving this permanent damp area in the concrete. We tried covering the top of the pipe to no avail. Finally, a few weeks ago, we gave up and opened up the garage wall - taped the pipe and now it stays dry. The physics of this phenomenon are mind boggling.

--The other challenge seems to be the south wall of windows. The humidity in the house is still fairly high due to curing concrete and plaster walls (my new weather station, a Christmas present from David, reads around 50%). We have been running a dehumidifier and dumping gallons of water, but the windows still steam every night and every time we even think about cooking something. A simple spaghetti dinner can cause streams down the panes. It dawned on us that in conventionally heated houses, the heat is always placed under the windows. Does that mean that the temperature differences will always cause this to occur? No solution yet - but we have decided that the sills will not be wood - probably cultured stone. And when we have the south wall finished, we will install quilted drapes to help isolate the heat from the cold. Until then, its towels and more hours of the dehumidifier. At least when the sun is shining, they dry out.
And watching the thermometer rise to near 80 without any auxiliary heat on a sunny day when it is 4 degrees outside makes it all worth while.

sharon_betts
passive_solar
berm