Feeling the urge for comfort food ahead of last weekend's storm, I was GOING to make split pea soup, only to find I didn't have dried split peas. So I improvised and made a really good "Morroccan" vegetable soup with carrots, parsnips, onions, mushrooms and quinoa and it came out really good. I partially pureed it with immersion blender but it still has chunks of veggies. Meant to add potatoes  or chickpeas but forgot. I guess I could have added tofu, too, as I have it on hand.  I'll get 5 more servings out of it. 

It's a chilly 14 degrees here in southern New England. The birds are going crazy at the feeder and I am spending a good portion of my days just keeping it stocked with black oil sunflower seed and black soldier fly larvae, which the bluebirds love.

I have a problem with water leaking through a greenhouse window I've had for years. The issue is that icicles that have formed under the gutters above are dripping on top of the window (it was always like this and never had a problem) but the water is freezing on top of the greenhouse window and I guess blocking drainage. 

I came home from a workout at the gym yesterday looking forward to relaxing, but instead spent the next few hours dealing with the window. Most alarming, there was quite a large spread of water collected on the bottom of the window. The surface is some kind of laminate, so it APPEARS impervious to water, but I know water has seeped down between where the laminate meets the windows so I sure hope it doesn't warp or anything. I would not have noticed this at all had I not needed to water my cacti, which only happens every 3 weeks in winter. The water looked like it had been collecting for a while. Well, let's see, it was snowing Sunday into Monday and yesterday was Tuesday, so I guess 2 days. So first I mopped all that up with rags. Then I saw where the water was still leaking in through one corner of top of window. I tried to exit kitchen door to investigate from the outside, but couldn't open the storm door due to the 14" of snow we got. 

So going out the front door, I then waded through all that snow around to unshoveled back patio to clear snow away from the back door so I could open it. Then I brought a step ladder up from garage (don't want to open garage door as I have a bunch of annual plants overwintering there, and they won't like the frigid air.), through the kitchen and out the back kitchen door that way, and once I set it up I could see a pretty solid slab of ice all along the edge where I think water was infiltrating. 

I got a skinny screw driver and small hammer and was able to chip away the worst of the ice. I figured I dealt with the problem, but it was still dripping inside the window, and there was a thin film of ice on top of window and icicles were still dripping from above. Spent some time using the heat from my hand to melt the film of ice and wipe away but much of it still there. Each time I came in or went out, the snowy boots had to come off, plus many layers of clothing, and then I'd have to go out again.

So I headed to upstairs bathroom, opened the window and used a yardstick to knock down as many icicles as I could. Still drip, drip. It was getting dark.  I found 2 large trash bags and put them on top of the window with 2 small pieces of lumber to hold them in place. Can't put a whole lot of weight on top becus it's glass; the lightest breeze will probably blow the bags off. Broke down and called my handyman, who can't come til Thursday, but he suggested using a space heater to warm the air inside the window which will in turn melt the thin film of ice on the outside, and then be ready to hop on the ladder again to sop up the melting ice. I'm also headed to hardware store for some sealant for inside (I'll let him do it Thursday although that's the easy part) and we can do outside sealant come spring. So I have a lot to do today.

I spent the last several days shoveling the driveway, a little at a time. I have not shoveled the upper half, just the lower half, so when I have to go somewhere I'll back down, that's all. The only reason I'd need to have the top part shoveled is to clear a path the next time I need an oil delivery. There is another snow storm forecast for this weekend, but I believe I still have at least a half tank of oil left, which should get me through mid-February.

The bags on top of the window are still in place this morning but I see continued water infiltration. I had put some towels up against the window last night to soak up any water and it was partially soaked. Sigh.  I may try using my roof rake to remove accumulated snow just above this greenhouse window.

Before all this happened, I'd been entertaining myself with bird posts and photos on my town's local Facebook page and enjoying all the commentary. I need to get going, go the dump and then the hardware store for sealant; I have a $5 coupon I can use which expires at end of the month, so perfect timing. 

All of this does not mean I haven't been following the horrible stuff going on in the world.  Meaning, ICE attacks, murder, lies and obfuscation. ..