Success is getting what you want; happiness is liking what you get

Tuesday 16 August 2011

De-Icing the Caravan Roof

First job of the morning was quite unusual for us, when Robin had to shovel a path through the snow from the steps to the garage.  We have never had to do that before.  And another first for us, Robin had to de-ice the caravan roof, removing 4-5 inches of snow that had settled there after a couple of days.  Luckily he could reach most of the snow from the front deck, and used a telescopic mop with soft bristles to sweep the snow away.
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As he reached further onto the roof he kept extending the handle, again and again.  The extra length made the mop fairly unwieldy to use and wobbled around like crazy.
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Eventually, he could not reach any more of the roof with the mop, and had to bring a step ladder onto the driveway to climb up on to ply the mop.  The rain was coming down by then and I had ventured inside to the warmth, leaving Robin to wobble dangerously  on the ladder without my supervision.  He came inside soaked through, and freezing cold, but the job was completed.  The weight of all that snow certainly wouldn’t be doing our caravan roof any good.
Robin was relaxing in front of the TV after all his exertions watching a game of rugby when the TV started crackling.  More snow had settled in the satellite dish again, no doubt, interrupting the picture..
DSCF7129 Half filled with snow
Out came the mop again and the snow was dealt with, and the picture returned.  No doubt he will have to remove it a time or two during our evening viewing.
DSCF7130   Clearing the dish – again!
The weather reports a “Severe Weather Warning” with more snow falling in Wellington, Hutt Valley, Wairarapa, Kapiti Coast and Horowhenua.  As expected, the Rimutaka Hill Road and the Desert Road are closed.  But local roads are closed too or classed as icy and dangerous, such as the Akatarawa Road, Wainuiomata Road and Stokes Valley.   Some of this snow will end up on our caravan roof again, so he will probably have to repeat his trick with the extension mop again tomorrow.  Guess we will be having a couple of days home in front of the gas fire, so it’s just as well we are well stocked up.  I think it’s all getting a bit much now, how about some sunshine for tomorrow?
DSCF7131  Trees covered in snow in the back yard
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2 comments:

Derek and Dot said...

Hi you two
Unbelievably pretty though you must admit.

Our Life In A Caravan said...

Ah, scrapping snow off the roof, I remember doing that last winter, only it was during a blizzard at 4am! The snow had come down that much that it was starting to make the awning bow, so out with the step ladder and away I went. Not fun, but character building!