I know some of you in other parts of the country are experiencing really cold weather, too, and you're probably just as ready for a change as we are.
Our overnight lows for this past week have been -17° (that's below zero, of course), -19°, -18°, -17°, -12° and this morning, -9°. We should have a high today of +2°. Wow, a real warming trend.
We know how to dress for this kind of weather, but when temps this low are accompanied by wind chills that say 40°-45° below zero, you'd better be careful when going outdoors.
My dear, thoughtful husband has been doing just about everything required outside while letting me languish inside in the warmth. He has good, warm, protective clothing for these circumstances, and I have been making sure to have lots of good, hot meals (including his quota of cookies) for him during this period so he's remaining upright with no frozen appendages. So far.
We've got lots of seasoned, dry, hardwood under cover for feeding the stoves so everything inside is cozy. However, the amount of wood we're chucking into the stoves is slightly amazing. It seems to immediately vanish up the chimneys. I've got almost too much ash build-up in both house stoves, but can't figure out when I'll be able to let the fires go out so I can remove them.
These temps and wind chills are supposed to abate around noon on Sunday, although the coming week shows temperatures that are still very much winter time.
Our chickens are doing well, mostly I think, because we've had full sun all of these frigid days. They're snug in their night time quarters and it's remarkable how warm the sun makes their attached solarium. The waterer set in the solarium doesn't even freeze until the sun sinks behind the trees in late afternoon. And best of all, the hens are laying (moderately) well which we appreciate.
So this has just been a check-in to let you know that we're fine and are very fortunate to be able to stay comfortable during this cold snap.
Now, pass the Hot Buttered Rum and nobody will get hurt.
It has been brutal hasn't it ... -15 on my inbound this morning -- I keep chanting Monday, it will be better on Monday .... we got this!
ReplyDeleteNo Minnesota cold here but a rather nasty winter storm for NW Oregon at any rate. At least a 1/2" of ice coating everything and more in the forecast. I'm afraid there will be much damage to trees and plants, but nothing I can do about it. Rick has ventured off the hill twice today for calls; chains on his 4WD truck an absolute necessity. In fact he's out right now and I'm praying for his safety.
ReplyDeleteAaaahhh Hot Buttered Rum. We'd forgotten how enjoyable that could be in cold weather. We hope your firewood supply holds out.
ReplyDeleteWe are having very similar temps. here, but that full sun is powerful! I love this weather; we layer up in the woolies and get out. It is so nice to come back in to the warmth when we return. Hope the low temps kill some of those nasty gypsy moth egg masses we've been seeing on the trees. Stay warm, Mama Pea!
ReplyDeleteYou and PapaPea are made of tough stuff indeed. We are weenies here in the South. Keep them cookies coming!
ReplyDeleteI looked it up on a conversion thingy on the internet, and -17 is like our -27 degrees C. Yup, that's ridiculously cold. We are having a cold snap, too, but not quite that cold. I wondered about your chickens. Mine are doing o.k. but I do feel for them. I'm actually going to put an infrared lamp in their coop today. I use a heated water bucket, which has been a life saver. Husband got it on sale one year. It's huge, though, so it takes multiple trips to fill it up. Take care! -Jenn
ReplyDeleteMama, I envy you almost. For you when it gets cold (really cold) it stays that way. You know how to dress and keep warm. Your body adjusts to it, sort of.
ReplyDeleteFor us, the temps vary so much. It can be in the 20s and 30s (highs) one week or even days, and then we'll have a string of 50s and 60s to almost 70 and again the temp plummets down. Out bodies don't have a chance to acclimate. In other words, perfect colds-gonna-catch-you mode. But I don't miss the temps you are talking about either to move north of the Mason-Dixon line again. :o)
We have a couple more days of falling temps before a warming on Tuesday...hopefully. The turkey still sleeps in her tree and is fine. I want to bring in lots of wood today as tomorrow looks to be brutal.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about going through so much wood. we've been going thru a lot of bags of pellets with he Pellet Stove, but the house is warm and toasty. With this cold weather we go thru two bags every 24 hrs. We get the wind, plus the cold so a lot of times we're below zero. You and Papa Pea are quite a team!! Stay safe!
ReplyDeleteThat's fairly brutal weather, temps like that. We have been hovering just a freezing for days, with ice/snow/rain/fog/clouds and nary a sighting of the sun in a long, long time. Such strange weather. I am so thankful for our free natural gas that allowed us to give up the wood heat--although we still use our stone fireplace every evening, just because.
ReplyDeleteCold, cold, cold!! I like cold but not dangerous cold. We had an ice event over night and now my car is wrapped in ice. The main streets seem normal but I am betting my side walks are not passable. I love snow and enjoy being out in it, but ice is just a big broken bone waiting to happen for this 73 year old. Think I will stay home.
ReplyDeleteNice post. We are cold with frost this morning . A moderate frost had our last hard freeze about a week ago as we have enjoyed the rain that is much needed. The next front is to come in a day to three and it will be mostly a snow maker for our mountains.
ReplyDeleteI understand the 24/7 burning. Since I have a 45 year old Vermont Castings parlor stove that is huge. As I could shove a large kid in it and they could stand up 😂
However it doesn’t burn as efficiently as the new stoves do. And since I burn a copious amount of oak the result is a lot of ash and burning a lot of wood. On those days I have to clean it out I will try to time it between morning freezes and late afternoon to get it out and going again before night falls. I try to keep the hot bits separate from the ash but always loose a bunch. I only take out what I absolutely have to. So far this method has served me well. Would it be more efficient for you to clean the stoves on alternating days?
Marie - Yikes, we're supposed to get down into the 20 below range tonight. But a "high" tomorrow of 6! When will this end??
ReplyDeleteMichelle - Hope Rick got to stay home the rest of this weekend. Ice is NEVER nice to deal with. One feel so out-of-control. Ugh.
Tigger - We have enough wood for two heating seasons (or should I say we did at the start of this one) so we should be fine. It sure is burning up fast these days though. This is the coldest sustained period we've had in a few years.
Rosalea - I was thinking the same along the lines of this frigid weather killing some bad pests. We've had fruit flies laying their eggs in soft fruits the last 2-3 years and I'd love for them to get zapped over winter.
Tami - I baked a big, big batch of Almond Cookies this morning! Maybe that will last until this sub-zero weather goes away.
Jenn - It's not only our domestic birds/animals I think of in this weather, but the wild ones, too. I hope they can find enough food to keep their energy up and provide warmth for them.
Cockeyed Jo - I agree with you fully in that radical fluctuations in the temperature isn't good for man nor beast. Can't be good for the trees and all other plants either. But until man learns to control the weather (and I hope that never happens), we just have to adjust to the best of our ability.
ReplyDeletetpals - That's gotta be one tough turkey. Years ago, our daughter tried to raise turkeys and all but one didn't make it. That one would never go into the poultry house even during the cold, cold winter months. He didn't roost in a tree but snuggled down under the poultry house in a squashed little space.
linnellnickerson - Yep, whether it's pellets or wood or gas or oil, this time of year really requires a lot of it to keep us warm. But I'm very thankful we are fortunate to have the where-with-all to afford enough of it. And I'm sure you are, too!
Granny Sue - I didn't even know there were parts of the country that had free natural gas. How fortunate for you. But I sure don't envy your temps hovering right at freezing. That ice is not nice and can be really hard to handle. Be careful!
Retired Knitter - I'm getting more and more hesitant to have to either walk on or drive on ice. It's so unpredictable and we don't bounce as easily when falling on it as we used to, do we? ;o)
Goatldi - I was just talking to Papa Pea this morning about using the same method you've just described for cleaning out the ashes in our two house stoves. Yep, timing it just right to let it go out after we get the house up to speed in the mornings and having the ashes cleaned out and the stove back going again before the cold starts creeping in in the later afternoon. And these days you actually can feel it when the temp starts to drop after the high of the day. Also, good thought to do the two stoves on alternate days. You're a wise lady!
Thank you very much mama Pea you are generous!
DeleteIt’s a funny thing in my life I can analyze situations with practical things such as this and come up with a plan that makes sense and probably works which scares me sometimes. But I can’t balance a checkbook and I’m lousy with figures and I’m lousy with budgets but I’ve learned to be very good since I’ve been on my own but all the awards for that go to my son who is trained his mother. Which goes to show you that you couldn’t even teach an old goat lady new tricks.
Right now I’m sitting in my living room which was 63 this morning when I got up and I know I need to clean out my stove because I know I’ll need it later today because we’ve got a cold windy rainy day upon us and I’m trying to put it off.
I need to go up to town and take the string mower up to be serviced.
because I know darn well within a couple of weeks now that the native grasses are going nuts with the rain I’m gonna be needing it.
Hot buttered rum is right! When I lived up North I made a Black Bart when I got home from work before I went out to do chores. A mug of hot chocolate, some spiced rum, and a Tablespoon of Grand Marnier. If it was after chores it might have some Redi-whip on it too! LOL! That drink will warm you up so well you almost have to go outside to cool off! LOL! Glad to know you are surviving up there in the great north.
ReplyDeleteI am thrilled because we are having a snowstorm! It's cold for the SOuth...-3 F tonight not counting wind chill and so far we have about 6 inches of snow! It's usually in the '50s this time of year. I'm loving it but I may be the only one! LOL! Take care and stay warm!
Sam - I knew from reading your blog today that you were getting snow. And a lot of it! Your area must have come to a standstill as a snow like that is so unusual. It's so strange the way these minus zero temperatures have reached so far south. What's happening? I know you could stay snug and safe at home for several days if you had to but I'll bet there are others around you that won't be so happy or comfortable. Enjoy this snowstorm!
ReplyDeleteGoatldi - I can so identify with you and your (aversion?) difficulties with numbers. It would be very embarrassing to admit how old I was when I finally could remember the difference between debits and credits. I definitely have a short circuit in my brain in the figures department. My husband worked for a time under his father who was a CPA and my mom was a whiz-bang of a bookkeeper so it (was) is hard for them to understand my ineptitude. So, I totally understand you. But just think of all the other things we excel at! (Right? Right!) :o)
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ReplyDeleteStay warm by those stoves. I miss the days my home was heated by wood. Nothing else warms you in quite the same way.
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