Yesterday Was a LOT of Work, But Now Our Gutters Are Ice-Free

Good Monday and Happy December to all of you. I'm cold, I'm tired, and I'm already OVER Christmas, even though it hasn't arrived yet. DH is already awake, about an hour early, I was too cold to run on the treadmill this morning, so I'm without exercise until tomorrow's swim, and I have a day of working with DH without a Chickie buffer. So far, the day truly sucks. 

I'm SO over the holiday season already, and it's 
only December 1st. ARGH! I'll be counting 
down the days until Christmas when we'll actually 
have a day off again. From this point on, we're even 
open on Sundays for limited hours. 

We spent a lot of time yesterday melting and breaking the ice and leaves out of the front gutters of the house. They should have been cleaned out no later than last week, but he didn't have the energy. So he paid for it yesterday when we had our first truly cold day, with a snowfall of more than an inch, and some nasty winds. The gutters, which he had hoped to clear out fairly easily, were frozen solid. That meant I was on stove duty, boiling water in the kettle and one pot, which I then would bring out to him as he was perched on the ladder. It took well over an hour, but he finally did get the gutters he needed cleared, so we're now set for the remainder of the winter. 

If we didn't melt the ice buildup in our rain gutters, we would 
end up with ice dams like this one, which would, eventually 
cause flooding in our home. NOT ACCEPTABLE. So, 
DH was on a ladder doing what he should have done a week 
ago in much warmer temperatures - clearing the fallen leaves 
and other debris from the gutters so that we don't have ice 
problems. 

I finally, after more than a year, had a chance to try out my automatic snow shovel. It's basically a snow blower in miniature. It actually works fairly well, although it's only tossing the snow ahead of it. I'm bringing it over to the shop. I think I'll have more use for it there. I'll have to get everything shoveled from the front of the store when I get in today, so it might be put into use immediately. I have a lot of older customers, and I don't want them breaking their legs by slipping on ice. 

I have a mini snow blower shovel very similar to this one 
that I purchased last year. I didn't use it at all (cancer 
took control of last winter), but I plan on using it this 
winter at the shop. It won't do everything, but it should 
be quite helpful. 

Adding to everything else, it's really cold today - not sub-zero, but single digits. A bit over two weeks ago, we were in the garden and only one week ago or so, we were raking the last of the leaves and putting everything away in the shed. Winter had no intention of waiting around this year. She's come, and she's going to stay a while (rather like an uninvited house guest - LOL). So, I'm going to wrap this up, grab some breakfast, and head over to the shop. I don't like being rushed when I have to clear snow before I open. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini.