It’s been cold here … physically and emotionally … the day before yesterday began with -17deg (celsius) and yesterday with -23. Peak temperatures, with a clear and sunny sky, have been -10 – though in the sun it can be quite pleasant.

Just to give you an idea of how cold … this is what the handle on the door to the house (leads into our unheated hallway / kitchen) looks like in the morning … an excellent lesson in thermal conductivity – metal conducting heat out and coolth in

and in that hallway/kitchen there were  two buckets of water (see below for explanation of why they are there) … the one on the tiles has already developed a thin layer of ice … the one on the carpet took a while longer:

Yesterday the car wouldn’t start when I wanted to go and pick up guests from the village. They had a pleasant walk instead. Then when they left the car changed mood (or got warmed up!?) and decided to start and ran quite fine. Today it wouldn’t start again and stayed that way … I had a long walk with Andreea as she had began her journey to Bucharest (where she will be teaching her second and sold-out doula course) … it wasn’t very pleasant because we were carrying bags, slippery ice is everywhere  and we set out as the sun was going down and temperatures come crashing down. For me it was a two way trip … on the way back I managed to almost strike up a conversation with a neighbor.

A few days ago we lost water pressure in the morning. After some fishing around it seemed that the pump was running but not getting up to pressure. First diagnosis is a failing return valve … we decided to call an excellent and friendly plumber … he came the next day and by then the pipes going in and out of the pump were frozen solid. So it probably isn’t the valve. He pulled the pump and parts of the piping that can be taken out and we placed them in the house to next to the rocket stove to thaw. He then instructed me us on how to get it back in working order (more on that soon) then told us that he wasn’t in the plumbing business anymore … so it was really kind of him to come out and help anyway (he is a really pleasant and positive individual). He has moved into the milk business … running a family business of 9 cows which takes all of his time. So we are now buying milk from him.

Actually he was supposed to deliver our milk tomorrow at the village bar. But we called him and said the car was not starting and asked to delay our order for next week. He said no problem, he will be coming over to deliver the milk tomorrow and will bring cables to help me start the car (it’s probably a run down battery issue in this cold weather). How super-uber-cool-and-friendly is that?

Today I spent the day getting the pipes next to the wall to thaw. I made some progress … managed to clear out the parts of the pipes close to the pump … but not complete. There is still ice in the pipe from the well to the pipe … I don’t know what’s happening further down the pipe going from the pump towards the house. I was busy all day wrapping the pipes with warm rags and pouring into them hot water. I insulated all the pipes, placed the pump back in place and covered it with insulation … then covered the  whole concrete box with hay. I tried to prime the pump with warm water but it wouldn’t go into the pipe going down into the well. I called it a day … we’ll see what tomorrow brings.

And finally our chainsaw has been in repair for over a week and the guy still hasn’t even looked at it. We really enjoyed purchasing from him but his service has been quite a bummer of an experience. It’s cold and we need to cut wood for heating and that’s hard to do without a chainsaw. Instead I’ve been working through our scrap wood pile … slow and unpleasant work …  lot’s of nails, odd shaped pieces … messy … but thankfully we have it available to us (we’ll be much better organized with wood for next winter).

I’m pretty pleased we didn’t get snow chains … that would have been an expensive insurance policy. It seems though that it would have been a good idea to get a car-battery and charger for these cold cold days.

I’m also trying to empty/arrange the garage so I can move the car inside … and I was looking forward to a restful winter 🙂

So no car, no running water and no chainsaw … and I am alone at home for almost a week … and … I am proud and happy to say that though there is some discomfort … all is good and well and for the most part there is a smile on my face 🙂