Frigid week,

This time of year I don't do much during the week, mostly just some cleanup and other stuff.  I did go and pick up the fixed tractor tire on Monday.  Ouch.  

Tuesday I went and checked on the tote of dirt I got from Uncle Jim, since it could still be generating its own heat and it is in a plastic container.  It was literally frozen into a single solid brick.  

 

It might have been because it was rather chilly outside though.  A nice frosty -7 Tuesday morning.

 

We had our Christmas potluck last week too.  I made ziti.  I made it in the crock pot and then just used the keep warm setting on the crock pot to keep it warm.  It worked, and the crock pot didn't crack in the oven, so it is something I might do going forward.

 

Late in the week, the first shipment from the new meal plan came in.   It was packaged quite well, and still very frozen despite being left outside most of the day.  

 

I got two weeks worth roughly.  It filled my little fridge.

 

I also rearranged the second room and folded up the futon.  I intend to use it to make a mockup of the box truck.

 

The weekend was kind of annoying.  It wasn't supposed to snow at all, but each day from Wednesday on I woke up to this.  This is why I quickly go from "snow is pretty" to "snow sucks, winter is getting old" now.  I literally lost the entire weekend because of snow that wasn't supposed to exist, since I am not pulling out my table saw and jackery when it is snowing.  Surprisingly I haven't had any troubles with the driveway, though the CR-V has greatly exceeded expectations with regard to its snow performance.  It is far superior to the truck to be honest, and doesn't even spin going up and down.  The truck I have to put it in 4WD and lock the diff, and it still spins going up and down.  And the truck has more aggressive tires on it, and several hundred pounds of weight in the back.  Too bad the CR-V doesn't start under 20 degrees.  I will be getting a new battery soon though.

 

I did get the tire put on the tractor and clear the edge of the road.  It is scraped down (other than the unplanned weekend snow) so there isn't a pile there anymore.  I tried to drive it up the hill for the carport work.  It made it, but it was on the edge of sliding down.  

 

I also finally got around to replacing the fill valve in the toilet.

  

 

It turned out most of the brown was silt and sediment, none of which should be passing through the filter, but at least most of it washed right out of the bowl. 

 

I replaced the seat too with a not-as-cold one.  If anyone wants the old one, it is in perfectly fine condition.

  

Afterwards I went and helped Anx with some shelving in his garage on Saturday.

 

Sunday snowed again (shocker).  I went and got all my Christmas presents and stuff ready, and started emptying out the car.

 

I also started to lay out the other room.  Just as a reminder, this is the floorplan.

 

It looks tight.  It also looks like I might have to find a new futon, one that folds better.  

 

This will probably be the last update before Christmas.