Frozen House

I've had an interesting turn of events today.  Though very cold, the day started out pretty normally.  Alarm, espresso, Frisbee, (too cold for dog walk), breakfast, Internet, coaching work.  Somewhere in there, I baked cookies and made granola.  After a trip to drop off the recycle, it was time to get my Nordic on.  I skied for an hour and a half, and was on my way back home when I got the call.  It was neighbor and friend TC, he needed me ASAP at "The Big House".  The Big House is known to not withstand the cold very well, so I was not surprised to get a call for assistance.  I was surprised, however, at the urgency in TC's voice. 

I arrived at The Big House, walked in and it was FREEZING!  Colder inside then the 25 degrees outside.  Turns out, The Big House was completely frozen.  Inside and out.  Frozen.  There was ice on the toilet.

The boiler had suffered a "heart attack" due to ice in the intake pipe and stopped working.  No boiler means no radiant floor heat.  No heat and far below 0 temperatures means frozen pipes, frozen everything.  TC needed help getting the place warm and keeping it warm.  So here I am, in The Big House, chillen.  Literally.

The second fire place is kicking my ass as I have yet to get a good fire going in there.  Actually, right now there are just logs sitting in there slightly charred and no flames in sight.

The plus side to all this....The Big House is a VERY nice house.  Though the house is a little bit chilly right now, the couch is awesome, the TV is amazing and the tea options could keep me entertained the entire night.  Though that's bad as there is no water so the toilet is off limits. 

So for now, my job is to keep the fires going and to make sure the house survives the "thaw".