Winter, a lot of work

I'm tired, exhausted in fact. I really need to whine tonight so since this is my blog, that's just what I'm going to do! Since we moved to western Pa. 4 years ago, it's been nothing but a night mare when winter shows any sign of being just around the corner.

Western Pa. seems to have been cut off from the world. The average home is 100 years old. There is almost no new anything here. The people have missed the reason for the engery crisis and have no idea they are suppose to be conserving it and have no idea that they shouldn't be polluting the water ways. Car batteries along with old tubs, tires and toilets end up over the bank & in the creeks. They drive huge gas hog cars/trucks and most homes have no storm windows, insulation or even studded walls to blow insulation into.

We spent 3 years rebuilding the house we bought and have just moved a county away into a rental. I can tell you I've seen more studs and insulation, copper pipe, heating tape & foundation mortar then anyone should see in a life time.

The present house has no studs so once again, because we live here and pay for the heat and know it's the responsibility of each person to save on energy, we started building a house inside a house today. With temperatures promising to be in the 20's from here on in, today we ran for studs, insulation, a blower rental to blow insulation into the attic, heating tape and dry wall. Today I was in charge of cutting insulation while my son put up studs. Once again I'm looking at walls that say R13. Tomorrow we'll do the attic. We had to put heating tape on the pipes to the laundry because it will need a lot more work then we can do in one weekend to keep the pipes from freezing.

Now I guess you are wondering how the last people lived in this house and heated it. I'm wondering the same thing! The laundry room is a back porch walled in with pine boards on the outside and plaster board on the inside..yep, plaster board from the 30's, nailed right onto the pine boards. The walls are about 1 1/2 inches thick. There is an antique gas heater hanging on the wall. The electric bulb hangs from the ceiling on a cotton covered electric wire...surely this is not up to code! The walls were a dirty slime green until we painted them white, also a color from the 30's. The back door is just wood and locks with a skeleton key!

I miss Lancaster, Pa. I want to go home! This has been nothing but hard work. I miss modern life. I use to love antiques but living here has me longing for a brick house with central heat and running water in the up stairs, Oh, did I forget to mention, we have no bath up stairs..none.

Now that I got that out of my system maybe I can fall asleep and start in tomorrow again.

I've been taking a photo of the same spot out my back door for 4 weeks. Not much of a change this week, a few more bare trees and the white winter sky. Tonight we are going into the 20's so I think next weeks photo will surely look like winter, full blown.