Winter is here and probably to stay.

There is no getting around it……

We had a taste of it on our drive to see family in Pennsylvania over Thanksgiving. We left Minnesota when it was about 0 degrees thinking we would be heading into some warmer temps. Not so. The warmest it got was only in the teens until we got east of the Pennsylvania mountains. I’m pretty sure when we were getting our things into the hotel that Saturday night in Ohio, the wind-chill was probably 10-20 degrees below zero. I thought we left Minnesota!...

All in all it was a good trip. This was the first time I ever left the job without shutting it down for the time we were gone. It was a good opportunity for our lead carpenter– Adam– to take charge of things. I think it went just fine.

Coming back  to work hit me hard first thing Monday morning. We were watching a snowstorm starting to take shape and had outside work to be done before the snow started. We had to get the shingles on the Alder project roof before the snow flew, or else that would have left us in a real mess. Nothing worse then having to clear frozen slushy snow off of a tar papered roof too steep to comfortably walk on in good weather, let alone icy conditions. Fortunately we got it done.

After the snow, the cold has set in with wind. It isn’t too bad to work when the temps are around zero unless the wind picks up. 15-20 below chill factor is about my limit, especially if we have inside work to get to. We have been known to work in colder conditions, but that is when something has to get done. Trust me, no money is made on those days and add frost bite on top of not making money, the two just don’t work for me.

I’m seeing minus 10 for lows this week with some day’s highs in the low single digits.  I guess we will be keeping our eyes on that wind again!

Stay warm!

~ The Carpenter