Aerie Report, December 9, 2009

I spent the better part of the morning removing 6 to 8 inches of heavy, wet snow off the deck and driveway of the Aerie. It was strictly shovel work on the deck and I have to report that the use of Pam spray on the plastic snow shovel blade made all the difference. Without it, the snow stuck to the blade like crazy but as soon as I applied a coat of Pam to the blade the snow slid off easily. I even sprayed Pam on the plastic shoot of the snow thrower to help keep the wet stuff from sticking there and it worked equally as well.

I wish I could say the same about the thrower. The poor 5.5 hp Tecumseh engine did it's best but just couldn't toss the wet snow far enough to clear the center of the driveway/parking area without depositing it on another section that then had to be cleared. And that section became pretty darn dense when it got dumped on. I finally had to resort to using the shovel to get that stuff off to the side.

I wanted to get the as much of the snow off as soon as possible because we were supposed to be getting up to near 40 degrees this afternoon (we got to 38) and some sunshine was promised (we got about an hour total split over the entire afternoon). The warm temps and sunshine would, I felt, go a long way toward getting us back to bare gravel and clay. And, combined with one very heavy rain shower about 3 PM, they did just that.

Another thing about a gravel driveway; heavy, wet snow; and a snow thrower: when the ground isn't really frozen, the wheels on the thrower tend to churn things up. Add the fact that this was the first time the thrower was used this year, there were a lot of loose stones on the surface that got picked up and tossed by the thrower. Most were small and moved through without a hitch, but at the very end of the job, two pretty large stones got picked up and wedged in the thrower's blades snapping the shear pins. As I said, however, it was at the very end of the job so I just put the thrower away and got Terry and the shovels to complete the cleanup.

Once done, I went to remove the stuck stones and replace the shear pins only to find I had broken two and had only one replacement. Time for a ride. Off to Sears to pick up a couple 4-packs of shear pins. (The only got 4-5 inches of the white stuff down below before it switched to rain/sleet. And it was 44 degrees along Route 6 as I headed toward Wellsboro as opposed to 36-37 at the Aerie.) Back home, I had to hammer one of the wedged rocks free before I could replace the shear pins but I got the job done. The valiant machine now awaits the next storm.

Meanwhile, the weather station has issued a wind advisory for our area until tomorrow morning. We could get gusts of 40 mph, they say. These will be from the north-northwest and will bring seriously cold air our way. The low tonight will be in the 20s but Thursday, Friday and Saturday night it could get to the low teens with continued strong winds.

The winds have already shifted. This morning they were coming out of the south-southwest. As I type, they are coming out of the west. When they switch to the northwest, we're gonna get chilly.

I've not looked at today's news much. Might have more to say later, but that's all for now.