Frey Passes

This is Frey; he fell ill on Saturday afternoon, and was very weak the next morning, sleeping much of the day. On Monday morning we took him to the clinic; he had lapsed into a coma. The vet put him down. He was almost 15, a fine age for a Golden. He still accompanied us on snowshoe trips to the last week of his life, and his suffering was short. Farewell to another noble dog.

Cold with a Capital "K"

All week it has been cold, -23 at night and rarely better than -15 during the day. It is a fairly bright day, but the wind is very harsh. Supposedly, we will get the mother of all snowstorms between now and Monday (with a chance of many businesses being shut down). People were out in force yesterday, stocking up for the catastrophe. This morning, I myself went down to the village to buy a dozen eggs. Be prepared!

Alt-Death

Few parts of the engine are more accessible than the alternator; typically, it is mounted near the top and the attachment is a matter of just two bolts. Unfortunately, the lower of the two is difficult to access, and the tightly packed engine compartment of a 2011 Toyota Corolla permits a ratchet wrench swing of about 20 degrees. It took 200 of those to remove the bottom bolt, which meant that a 30-minute job took an hour and a half. Also, it was cold (though not as cold as today: -23, the frostiest day so far this winter). Anyway, the little beast is out, the new one is in, and here is the wee corpse on its way back to AutoMachinery for a core refund. And with that--and a boost from my new DeWalt charger--my mother-in-law's car is back on the road. There's nothing like a bit of automechanical work in an unheated garage in January to make you appreciate . . . anything else!

Prisoners of Winter

I wanted to catch the sunrise, but the bedroom window was frozen. I hurried downstairs, forced open the front door, but at this lower elevation, I lost the original effect. Also, there were these icicles. . . .

Winter Chimney Cleaning

I thought I noticed a fall of ash in the chimney, so I climbed up and cleaned it, the weather being relatively mild today (about 0). I mounted the short ladder (10') on the oil tank box, setting a brace into the frame to ensure it did not back off the edge, and then dug the ice out of every rung of the roof ladder. The chimney itself was not bad--a modest amount of creosote, and when  I looked up the smoke pipe from below, it all seemed quite clean. That should hold it until Spring!

Snow (Continued)

Thick flakes are falling again. We made quite a good snowshow trail out to the Five Thousand on the weekend, but this will probably bury it. It is very cold again, about -18 last night and, surprisingly, still -16 during the snowstorm. The dogs are not very interested in going outside, but I had pellets and salt to unload, so I made them. They spent most of the time shuffling about on the deck, waiting to go back inside!