Ice, snow, and rakes...

The weather here in Cleveland has been a little nuts lately. About 2-3 weeks ago it snowed for several days leaving us a bunch of snow... but something about the temperatures and the amount of snow led to major icicles... even on houses that typically don't have them. We got new gutters this summer and thought that would clear up the minor icicles that we would get over the front door (poor mailperson). We got rid of the ice around the front door, but we got some major ice buildup anyway, probably the weather as much as anything. We are fortunate that the roof is well-insulated (the eaves don't seem to be quite accessible from the attic, so who knows how the insulation was put in there)... but then the snow doesn't melt quickly and can really buildup.

Well... we finally went and got a snow rake and I have been slowly trying to rid the roof of some of its snow. It works reasonably well, but it is a serious workout on the arms. This rake is easily 10-15ft long and you have to lift it over your head onto the roof and try to pull off heavy wet snow ~8 inches deep... definitely a workout.

Hopefully it will all be worth it, though. Now it is raining of all things, and we are supposed to have rain and wintry mix for the next few days through x-mas. Hopefully the ice in the gutters will melt down and the snow I have pulled off will help slow any new buildup of ice.

Tonight we are headed to to Love, Janis with the in-laws. My mother in-law is a big Joplin fan. I am not always a fan of the tiny seats in the theater, but I am sure the music will be good.