I love it when something works out like that! It's nice to lighten the load and be safe!

Now could you come up with a way for my son to get safely in and out of the bathtub because we can't screw holes in the wall as it's a rental?

Schoolhouse.....you need your own segment on The Martha Stewart show. "How to" by schoolhouse". ☺ That's VERY clever!

Please, please be careful. I thought you were going to slide down on it yourself. At least you wouldn't have too far to fall.

Does the ice melt work to make the embankment less slippery?

That's what my husband did in one area of our yard and it seemed to work. We just kept de-icing it pretty much every time we went out.

We would de-ice it and then a little while later we would go and remove the ice from that area.

Sounds like a summer project is needed to build broad enough steps to place things on with sturdy handrails. Some of the area may need to be dug to provide secure footings for the steps.

When it isn't freezing cold and snowing I leave my vehicle in the driveway with any heavy purchases ( such as a case of water) and have my son carry them in when he comes home. But since it's been so cold and snowy I have been using a small plastic sled (left from the children) to haul them from my truck to the house.

Oh I was tempted to sit on it alright. lol But if I did, I'd probably go sailing down the embankment, over the yard, and yonder down through the field! It's that slick out there. But then I'd have to walk all the way back.

mailfleur, my summer project will be to gain an inside access to the cellar. Right now there is a big long trap door in the bedroom that opens to a flight of old stairs. This worked when the bedroom was my uncle's workshop and his way to the cellar, but it was always scary to me. The door is super heavy and was held open with a big hook on the wall. When I remodeled the room into my bedroom I sat an armoire over it thinking I'd never use the door again. I probably will talk to a contractor about building a walled enclosure around it and add a door at the end. Hate to lose space in my large bedroom but makes more sense to have the stairs, esp. since I'm getting older. We shall see.

Very clever!!

Schoolhouse what a smart solution! And ice is really dangerous.

And the summer project sounds good too although it would be good to have storage that does not involve stairs, while they are an absolute improvement over what you have now, at a certain point as we age even stairs can be a challenge. But I'm sure you will figure it out, you seem to have a flair for finding good answers.

More expensive unless there is already a door there and it would also depend on where you feed your birds having an outside entrance/exit directly in front of the bird feeders is a suggestion. Other suggestion would be if you had the stairway framed to have a lock installed at the top as a second safety measure. It does not have to be a key lock just a heavy duty deadbolt. Saved me one time when one of the teen boys that were breaking into houses and trashing them when owners were not at home got in the basement. Next door neighbor caught him but it was the deadbolt at the top of the stairs that helped.

Laundry baskets can serve as make-do sleds, too.

Well, there is a door already there, but it's a big trap door in the floor. Unless you meant the door I was talking about adding at the top of the stairs after the wall is built up and around the trap door (inside the bedroom). I agree about the deadbolt, I had already thought about that.

Actually the outside entrance to the cellar is opposite the tree with the bird feeders, about 20'. Old fashioned double doors, cellar also used to be a garage.

A laundry basket - and I have one out in the garage somewhere that I haven't used for years. Good idea.