Novocastrian

I remember that time we visited you in Northern Ontario (a short drive from Southern Ontario) when Charlie got on well with Geordie (and both with that horse you had).

Please don't tell me that Ruby is another whippet. Albeit a pasty looking one.

dbd33

Greyhound. Sort of whippety but calmer.

izzi81

I have two winters experience in NS now. Both were bad winters by local standards, indeed the last winter was described by everyone here as the worst in the last 20 years, if not the worst in recent memory. The snow total for an airport close to us was 13ft. We had 8-10ft snowbanks along the side of the roads. But we were never snowed in for even 24hrs. We live in a rural area, in a village which is on a main road (but one that ends about 5km up the road!) In the outlying areas locally I would guess some people may have been snowed in for a day, but no more than that. I can't imagine the area you'd have to live in to be snowed in for a week! The longest we lost power was 36hrs, and that wasn't in the winter (in the winter we didn't lose power at all as i recall!) it was in the spring after a post-tropical storm. It is true that you do have to plan for power loss though, depending on where you live. We're on municipal sewer and water, and have a propane stove, but electric heating. Should we move to somewhere where we are on well and septic a generator will likely be a purchase!

I agree. There is a lot more of it than in the UK... shovelling 3ft of snow every 4 days can get a bit old!

dbd33

Decisive Moment seems to have come to her senses and is likely now on the Spain/Arizona/AnywhereWarm forum. Anyway, another thought is that one should have two of those lock de-icer sprays; one in the house to get into the car and one in the car to get into the house. Failure to follow this tip may result in meeting a neighbour for the first time when you ask to borrow her hair dryer in order to unfreeze the car door.

HilaryK

I've enjoyed reading this thread. It's nice to know I'm not the only insane person who opted for country living :-).

We've had so many problems with the well and pump since we moved here - currently having to replace the well line. I would gladly exchange the well and septic for city services. That said, I love the space and the fact that I can sit on my deck and look at trees instead of the next door neighbour's house.

If you're hiring someone to do your snow plowing, start looking early. And yes, clear your own snow if you can. We hired someone last winter and he could only get here after his day job was done. If you have to park your car outside, or in a portable shelter/garage, make sure you have a block heater fitted and that you have a power cord in place ready to go if there's a sudden dip in temperatures. Throw some stabil in any vehicles you're not using over the winter, or drain the tanks. Take out batteries, or put on trickle charge.

Also, make sure you get an electric blanket with dual controls. I can't tell you how much this improved my winter! And a supply of Bailey's to add to your coffee :-)

dbd33

I suggest that the latter look better in the shop than on the land.

BristolUK

I would really love for winter to not happen. Or be like the one about three years ago where the snowfall was around half the norm as opposed to last winter's near record high.

But cars are up and down our street within hours of even heavy snow. My wife was a wheelchair user for her last 6 winters. It was challenging helping her down steps and into the wheelchair and then out to the road for the taxi and then the same in reverse, but it was rare we were prevented from going somewhere we needed to be.

For the rest of us we'd at least manage to dig enough to get to the street (pending arrival of the contractor with his mini plow) which then gave access to the main road, local shops and bus routes.

Our longest power loss (touch wood) was from whatever time it went in the night until midday. That was from a downed line normally attached to the house. Aside from that a couple of hours has been the most in 10 years.

Decisive moment

haha - nope still here, just shaking too much in fear to type

Decisive moment

Thanks again for all the new responses!

I have taken note of all your advice and have now taken delivery of two cords of wood. Luckily we negotiated delivery down the excessively long driveway but it still took the best part of a day to stack it all in the shed (yes we have opted for the shed for storage, with a healthy pile on the deck under tarp)

We have also spoken to neighbours who have never used a generator, so hoping this might be the case for us, and currently negotiating with the farmer next door re: ploughing the driveway, it seems he provides this service to a few of the immediate neighbours. Sounds like a good deal to me, especially as we won't have far to go to find him! (although I guess if he leaves us snowed in we won't be finding him or anyone else for that matter)

Have a huge shopping list for the rest of the suggestions.

Wonder if the kids will be happy with lock de-icer for Christmas this year.....

dbd33

Get them buckets and spades. Tell them they're for the beach.