Dec 2009 and a nice quiet cold Monday morning. 

You know how I have been bragging about the nice,  bright, sunny, and warm weather down here.  Check out these pictures.  Bright and shiny huh!
 
I walked outside early this morning just checking out the yard due to the temp's overnight that were going to be in the low 30's.  From my experience living in the cold NW where we have water line issues when it freezes I felt the need to do a walking visual of the property.   I almost slipped on my backside bumper on the deck due to slush.  I looked over to where I am getting ready to plant my garden and as you can see, believe it or not snow on my dirt pile and planter. 

With this being Monday morning I am glad I am retired so I don't have to get out on the road with the "no comment" drivers.

You also get a sneak peak at a couple of my ongoing projects right now.  I got a super good deal on 4X6X12ft long red wood beams so I decided to lay them down for my deck in front of the hot tub slab where it was all mud from a previous deck that was removed due to rot.  I dug down below the level of the cement slab, laid down cement runners about 1-1/2 inches above ground level, and just set these beams on top of the runners level with the slab.  Maybe a bit over kill with material but price was way less than buying 2x6's.  I than put down my free lava rock along the boarder as a curtain drain.  I call this my, forever deck.  Now I will start working on a side walk from the screen room to the deck.

Here it is 6AM and 28 degrees outside.  This is so unusual for this area but the whole world is changing isn't it!  My water pipes running from the hot water heater in the garage are crying due to this weather.   I know, bad humor.  There is some condensation forming on them and they are having an occasional drip.  When it warms up during the day they are happy again.  I was fortunate to have gotten all my pipes outside wrapped before this cold front came in. 

You can gain experience from your own mistakes or from other peoples mistakes.  I prefer the latter of the two.
A good example to the right.

DON'T FORGET TO:  

  Disconnect all your hoses from hose bibs as this is one of the most frequent breaking points when water lines freeze.  Now, Install an insulated hose bib cover.  To simple, even a man can do it.

An old plumber friend of mine told me repairing these after a freeze was his biggest money maker.
 

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