Homeless Cat -- Now Spotacus' Legacy
On 18 Dec, a very large cat showed up at our house. It was late and cold, and he looked in the door and made it clear he wanted inside. Well, since we have two cats already and he was a stranger, we...
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We're not at all accustomed to days and days of freezing temps. Why, I had to wear SOCKS yesterday! Even put on a long-sleeve sweater and wore my down jacket to the library evening shift (my lined windbreaker would have been fine, but I've been sick and wasn't taking any chances).
So far:
The deer water trough froze nearly 3" thick. No problem; stood the ice sheet on its side so the deer still have water access, and the ice will melt back into the trough as we warm back up.
The lawn hydrant to which our resident friends' Fifth Wheel is connected cracked on the head. No problem; bypassed it via the water softener in the garage a few feet away until it's warm enough (tomorrow) to replace the head, then add electric warming tape to avoid a second round.
As a result, they didn't have water until the bypass. Meanwhile, they double-checked that the hose run from spigot to FW had its electric heat tape properly installed and working. No problem.
The old chlorine dispenser in the swimming pool piping shattered into three big pieces. Minor problem. The ensuing leak is small enough to not be a concern until we can pull the remains away and put in new pipe this weekend. The new chlorine dispenser is working just fine. WLToo just hadn't bothered to remove the old one - can't avoid it now.
The pool pump switch isn't working. Can't turn it off (that in itself isn't bad, keeps the water moving and not freezing in the pipes). Minor to major problem. When the temps at night stay above freezing (this weekend), we'll check to see if it simply froze in the working position. If so, it should work fine after warming up. If not, potential major problem, as it could burn out the pump, which we replaced just a couple years ago. Why would it burn out the pump? Because there's a leak in the hot tub (connected to the pool), and we can't get it fixed until the temps are much warmer than now. Already got the estimate for leak repair and new plaster :E . Just need some warmer temps so they can do it. Meanwhile, since there's a chance of rain several days this month, WLToo is rigging up a roof gutter to swimming pool run, so we can keep the pool water level where the pump can function properly and we don't have a giant water bill.
The fireplace is sure proving its worth. This local design puts out so much heat that the heat pump hardly has to kick on at all, thereby saving electricity.
The joys of homeownership... :R
A doe walked by the house this morning, limping a little. Most likely slipped on the ice and strained something.
It's above freezing and partly sunny, so Spotacus is sitting on the south porch. Was startled to realize that he's nearly ten years old already. Guess it's time for the old cat exam tomorrow.
I feel right sorry for you folks who live where it's truly cold. I do NOT miss shoveling 4' of snow every few weeks. Don't miss owning a snow shovel at all.
Y'all stay safe and warm.
So far:
The deer water trough froze nearly 3" thick. No problem; stood the ice sheet on its side so the deer still have water access, and the ice will melt back into the trough as we warm back up.
The lawn hydrant to which our resident friends' Fifth Wheel is connected cracked on the head. No problem; bypassed it via the water softener in the garage a few feet away until it's warm enough (tomorrow) to replace the head, then add electric warming tape to avoid a second round.
As a result, they didn't have water until the bypass. Meanwhile, they double-checked that the hose run from spigot to FW had its electric heat tape properly installed and working. No problem.
The old chlorine dispenser in the swimming pool piping shattered into three big pieces. Minor problem. The ensuing leak is small enough to not be a concern until we can pull the remains away and put in new pipe this weekend. The new chlorine dispenser is working just fine. WLToo just hadn't bothered to remove the old one - can't avoid it now.
The pool pump switch isn't working. Can't turn it off (that in itself isn't bad, keeps the water moving and not freezing in the pipes). Minor to major problem. When the temps at night stay above freezing (this weekend), we'll check to see if it simply froze in the working position. If so, it should work fine after warming up. If not, potential major problem, as it could burn out the pump, which we replaced just a couple years ago. Why would it burn out the pump? Because there's a leak in the hot tub (connected to the pool), and we can't get it fixed until the temps are much warmer than now. Already got the estimate for leak repair and new plaster :E . Just need some warmer temps so they can do it. Meanwhile, since there's a chance of rain several days this month, WLToo is rigging up a roof gutter to swimming pool run, so we can keep the pool water level where the pump can function properly and we don't have a giant water bill.
The fireplace is sure proving its worth. This local design puts out so much heat that the heat pump hardly has to kick on at all, thereby saving electricity.
The joys of homeownership... :R
A doe walked by the house this morning, limping a little. Most likely slipped on the ice and strained something.
It's above freezing and partly sunny, so Spotacus is sitting on the south porch. Was startled to realize that he's nearly ten years old already. Guess it's time for the old cat exam tomorrow.
I feel right sorry for you folks who live where it's truly cold. I do NOT miss shoveling 4' of snow every few weeks. Don't miss owning a snow shovel at all.
Y'all stay safe and warm.
