This winter has just begun and it arrived with a vengeance. The temperatures, snow, and wind have really started to take their toll on many people and structures. We really shouldn’t complain because we have been able to enjoy the past two seasons with mild temperatures and very little snow. Now, we are beginning to notice some home repairs that should have been done during that time. We have never had the ice problem that we are experiencing this year before, and I have begun to notice that the gutters are pulling away from the house. You can visibly see the patches on the roof where we are losing heat and the icicles are so large that they reach the ground. I think, at this point, the only thing holding the gutters along the North side of the house in place, is the fact that there is such an ice build up, they are frozen in place, I told my husband that we need to look into re-insulating the roof in those areas but that means opening up the walls. I hate home renovations but I also hate paying extra each month just to have it go out the roof. I guess that if we are going to the expense of renovations, we should look into upgrading the HVAC system too. I know that we spend a lot of extra money each year on our utilities and the savings would help to pay for any upgrades. We just have to make it through the rest of the season and hope that the place doesn’t continue to fall apart in the process.