Frozen water pipes and everything...

The magnitude and full impact of the flood created a domino affect that went on for weeks.

The sidewalks stayed frozen for days

Not only did we have to remove our skirting and relocate, but our water pipes froze one last time.  It was all our poor water filter housing could handle and it cracked in two pieces.

I ordered a replacement and that lasted all of a month before cracking again.  This time, I went to Home Depot determined to either rip the whole thing out or replace the housing with something cheaper.  I found it!  A household water filter that cost $20 with all the trimmings instead of $45 for just the bottom portion.

We also decided that when the weather went below 10 degrees, we would shut off the fresh water and empty the pipes so it wouldn't and bust something again.

Well, my mom came to visit and in my rush to get out the door, I couldn't figure which way to turn the bathroom sink off.   I hoped for the best and left.  When Bill and I got back that evening, water was gushing out from under our front door.  Literally pouring out by the gallons.  Evidently, I guessed wrong.


After shutting the water off (I couldn't figure out why someone hadn't spotted it and shut it off for us.  They had done so in the past over something very stupid...), we mopped up everything we could.  But the sub flooring was wet and mushy for days.  We were scared that there had been permanent damage.  Luckily, they dried out and became as solid as ever (though not as flat...).  Thankfully, we came out fine and survived that mishap.

Then, the water filter broke again, this time it cracked at the top where it's screwed into the lines.  I used the replacement I had and fixed it up good. 

Creek flooded right to our doorstep.

How I longed for growing green things and mild weather to replace the cold...

One last bit of impact we had from the extremely cold temperatures in February.  It got so cold that our fridge stopped working.  The coolant in the back couldn't function correctly. It took about a week of good weather before it started up again.

In the end though, spring came and brought new life and fresh hope!