Brr!

 Mike is in trial mode - his "stupid dog case" starts Monday in Federal Court in Denver - so he was up at five this morning.  It was -2 in Ouray, appx -6 up here on MFL.  But, oh, my, the view when the storm clears is gaspworthy, unbelievable blue skies in sharp contrast to the snow covered cliffs.  It's hard to stay away from the windows.  I feel so sorry for those of you who can't see this every day of winter.

From our deck

Note the frosted trees at the top of the cliff

Wednesday night, it snowed 7.5 inches, a surprise for us when we got up.  According to my unofficial counter, we are just under 100 inches for the year.  We had to get out early as Mike had an appointment in Montrose to get his skin cancer stitches removed.  Robby and Amber (18) had come in the day before, and I texted Amber an apology that we had to get the snowblower out early.   Among the neighbors, we were able to get the road cleared and accessible.  We have the best neighbors.

Spring tasks once the snow melts and the ground thaws:  We still have to figure out the frozen pipe bringing hot water into the house.  Our contractor has an idea that we'll need to check out.  The second is mold mitigation.  Once the bathroom was demo'd, they found that the pipe from the shower to the septic had a one-inch gap, meaning the shower water had for who knows how long been draining into the crawl space, thus the mold.  Fortunately, it's sealed off from the house so we haven't been breathing in mold spores, but it does have to be taken care of.

Warmer temperatures are forecast for the next week or so with fewer chances of snow.  Mud season #4, here we come!