No.... not on a narrowboat.... at our shed!
I crept out early this morning in the dark to use the bathroom. Oh, my goodness, it was cold. We each have a pair of "crocs" that we have always used for the garden and walking around the chicken shed. They are now on our little platform outside the caravan door. So far I've managed fine wearing them with bare feet to hurry across to the bathroom. This morning was so cold I could hardly stand it with bare feet in those things!
When I turned on the tap in the bathroom to wash my hands no water came out of the tap. I thought we'd used all the water in the water tank. I came back complaining to Mick about the lack of water and eventually we came to the conclusion that the water pipes must be frozen.
When we got up an hour later, it felt even colder. It was -4 degrees. Outside it looked like a Winter wonderland. Everything was covered in frost and ice. The property is surrounded by an industrial chain wire fence and the entire thing was white frosted. Mick's bucket of water holding his paintbrush had a layer of ice on top. Even my car, under the carport roof, had icicles on the roof.
The sun came out and began to melt the ice on the roof of the shed and the condensation on the steel beams inside rained down all over the place. This time when I went outside I put my feet (with socks - I wasn't making the same mistake) in the crocs which were full of water. It was so cold!! I got dressed and retreated to my Mum's in Bendigo for a shower to warm up. It took until I got there for my feet to defrost, despite having the heater blowing on them all the way.
I don't know what will happen if the pipes freeze on a work morning. I think I'll have to take more notice of the weather forecast - and if it's likely to be that cold I'll get up earlier to allow time for a trip to Mum's for a shower.
I went to the Rivers factory outlet and bought two pairs of short "ugg boot" type things. Tonight we've got warm feet at least and we've put the crocs away. Now we'll walk from the caravan to the bathroom without cold feet.
I guess it's all good practice for Winter on a narrowboat.
We are two Australians who lived the dream and spent 20 months as liveaboards on narrowboat Parisien Star. Life before.... during.... and after.
2 comments:
Aww, that was awful! Have you tried insulating the pipes? I guess it’s better to insulate it than to just thaw it whenever it freezes. Remember that water expands when it freezes, and it can put too much pressure on the pipes causing it to burst.
I totally agree with you, Althea. Insulating the pipes might be a good idea to prevent the pipes from freezing. It's a good preventive measure actually. But if you've decided to leave it be and thaw it, I suggest that you use your hair blower to slowly thaw the freezing pipes.
Post a Comment