We are still here

So we survived the thaw. It sucked.

We had two feet of snow, frozen hard. And when it warmed up, all hell broke loose. The snow on the roof melted, but the storm drains were frozen. The water overflowed the foot-high waterproofing around the edges of the roof, and came pouring down the interior brick walls near the frozen drains. Usually our living area is protected by the shower basin (from the old girls locker room) near the storm drain, but this time the shower drain was frozen, too.

So it's been exciting, with bailing and jury-rigging water-catchment systems and pouring hot water down drains and pumping. We got very little sleep the first night, and hauled many buckets of water. The next day I ran a 10-foot length of pipe from a bucket, positioned under the worst of the leaks, out the dog door and away from the building. I tied up a sheet of plastic to gather other drips and channel them into the bucket. We also set a sump pump in the shower basin for any overflows. It worked pretty well for a half-assed setup, and we had to get up only once to check the buckets and run the pump that night.

 The storm drain seems to be thawed now, and the ominous dripping has stopped. I still have heaters on the shower drain, but there's no urgency. Things should continue to get better during the next few warm days.

We had a thaw-flood the first year we were here, then were OK the next two winters. So it's a frequent-enough happening that we'd better get some defenses ready.

I'm tired. We also got some water in the rabbit room, so all three bunnies are in the condo, up off the floor. I'm off to clean up the floor and add some ramps to the condos, so they have more space.

It's always something. I ache for spring.

Bought two gallons of milk and four dozen eggs from Rose.