Dec 18 - shoveling snow

The snowblower is dead, at least for now.  The clutch is gone; the auger/fan clutch, not the drive wheel clutch.  I'm sure that it can be fixed with parts and labour; most things can, but this little 24" snowblower isn't adequate for up here anyway.  I'd purchased it for Philadelphia.   I'm thinking of buying a new machine, fixing this one at some point and someone, David or Stef, can sell it.

So I cleared the snow by hand, down to the barn, so that I could get to Mass in Britt.  The snowplow had been by and 18" of snow on the road made for a huge bank at the top of the driveway; lots of shoveling.  It took time.

When I got back from Mass, Sandy had cleared part of the drive to the garage and together we finished it off and over to the satellite dishes. Al Nichols had come by and marveled that anyone would shovel this by hand.  He pushed the banks back in a couple of places. 

I made a couple of RUSA phone calls, putting some things to bed.  We walked down the lake, three of us, to the house at the point and walked up the new driveway (Al Nichols had cleared that one), and back home.  Al is also clearing Troup's and Carter's but not down the hill at Carter's, just the top. 

The temperature had dropped back down by dinnertime; down to -10F.  That made for cold grilling!  This morning it's back up to 4F.  There's a lot of slush on the lake, no surprise, with the weight and insulation of the snow. 

Today ... Sandy may go into Sudbury. 

Onward !