It's a nice lil' cold snap we're all having here in the west...and probably beyond...
Getting dressed for feeding and chores in the mornin' takes a lil' bit of time...cuddle duds, jeans, shirt, fleece vest, wild rag, insulated bibs, a half-mask face protector, wool railroad cap, thinsulate boots and two pairs of gloves. I feel like the Michelin Man.
It was down to -3 and now at 10:40 AM it's still at 9 degrees. It doesn't seem like it's going to get very warm today.
The good news is that we're supposed to be up to a balmy 32 degrees by Thursday!
We're definitely not complaining here...I truly feel for the folks living in the north...I don't know how you do it!
Whiskey and the boys seem to be doing well...
they just want hay and they're happy lil' souls!
Last Thursday, My Man had surgery for a hernia that's been coming on for over a year. This is the best time of year to have it taken care of. I get to be the "man" of the house for a few weeks until he's able to do more lifting. So far the only thing that I wasn't able to do was clean out the chimney...I'm too short! We had to have our Hay Man Rudy come over and stick the brush down the pipe a few times.
Thank goodness for frost free spigots and tank heaters!
I filled this water tank this AM and the water is
sending up steam into the air.
We're very thankful that so far we haven't had
any frozen pipe issues...keepin' our fingers crossed XXX
Tomorrow I'm driving to Bend again to have my root canal checked on. Hopefully it's healed properly and the permanent filling can be put in. It's very frustrating to have to drive 6 hours round trip for a 10 minute appointment...I'm hoping for good weather and roads. I'll do a lil' bit of shopping while I'm there...but it's going to be a short, fast trip.
I hope everyone's making it through the freezing temps and all is well with your critters.
PS~~you bloggers from the warm climates can send a lil' gust of warm air this way!
I am not looking towards frozen pipes either. I hate when the automatic waterer freezes because it means I have to haul four HUGE jugs of water three times a day to keep the waterer filled.
ReplyDeleteI know Your Man appreciates you, but I'm sure he's REALLY appreciating you during this weather.
ReplyDeleteI could handle the cold if I didn't have to wear so darned many layers. That Michelin Man look is oh-so-attractive and confining.
We've been in the teens here in SW Colorado. Coldest so far has been about 7 below. Yesterday it warmed up to about 30 and we got hit with our first good snow storm. Windy last night, and snow drifts of up to about 3 feet! I'm on my way out to check on my old critters right now. It's time for their afternoon snack. Getting ready to put on the layers/waders/boots / hats/scarves etc. Stay warm!!!! and good luck with the dentist.
ReplyDeleteI hear you on the tank heaters and frost-free spigots - they're life savers for sure! I'm back east hearing about this storm system you're sending us - glad you all made it through and we're battening down now!
ReplyDeleteYou've got different ideas of short and fast trip if you call a 6hour drive short and fast. lol!
ReplyDeleteI'd definetely make the best of it, too, by getting some shopping done and errands all taken care of while in town. That's the price we pay when we live out in the boonies, eh? But we know how to use our time, energy and gas better that most townies do. :)
And I'm another one feeling thankful for frost free spigots and heated buckets. It's great not to have to crack through ice every visit to the barn. And that steam rising is a great feeling. :)
I hope your man's surgery goes well. I can vouch for winter time being the best time for surgery, too.
Best of all, you don't have to go outside in the cold while you're healing :)
Stay warm!
~Lisa
It's a balmy 11*F here at noon thirty. I don't mind the cold, just the length of the cold and the shortness of the days.
ReplyDeleteIf you will get some blueboard foam and put it on the water in the tank it will make your heater more efficient. That steam is just dollars to me. I cut a piece of foam that is just narrower than the water level at the middle of the tank and short enough so there is a gap at the ends. That way the horses can push the foam around and get a drink.
Stay warm!
Hey AK, thats a great idea with the blueboard; I might try it- we'll see if the horses drag it out of the tub to play with, the little hooligans just might...I bought a floating de-icer for Beamer's tub today, had to find one for plastic tubs.
ReplyDeleteSending you some warmer gusts your way. Not that it's that much warmer here! We got hit by that storm and brrr... I'm wearing long johns..
ReplyDeleteI sure feel for you. We have been lucky this year so far. The cold has held off for quite a while. Not down below zero yet here. We are looking at teens and 20's for a high this weekend. First storm on its way tomorrow. Snow, ice, and rain. Unfortunately, I have stock tank heaters but lucky enough or Not, that the tanks are close to the house and we have to drag water hoses out of the basement once about every couple of days. We haven't had another well dug yet for the barn.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone is getting that cold air!! We are having the same weather!!
ReplyDeleteAren't those water heaters the best? We have 3 going, and if it wasn't for them, we'd be doing some serious water bucket hauling, which isn't any fun!
Stay warm!
It's 53 here right now, but heading down to 19 tonight and 15 tomorrow night. I too am thankful for tank heaters for my sheep, bucket heaters for the cats and dogs and heated automatic waterers for the horses. After years of living without, I'm happy to be spoiled here :-D.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to your fella. Chuck had hernia surgery this past Fall and couldn't do any lifting for 6-8 weeks! You may be the "man" around the house for awhile.
ReplyDeleteCountry life means lots of driving. We have to go 20 miles to a decent grocery store (Wally World), and 35 miles to the one I really like. We make a day of it.
I hope you didn't get buried in snow. That storm really looked terrible.
Good luck to hubby and wishing him a speedy recovery. Sending warmer thoughts your way. We're getting hit with wet snow and RAIN, lots and lots of rain (as in flash floods). But the temps are above freezing until nighttime. Tomorrow's supposed to be in the 40s. And I feel fortunate that I am able to board my horses where we have plentiful hay, a dry shed, and a cistern for water that never freezes.
ReplyDeleteKaren your funny. I don't put on all those clothes until it's really cold it's too hard to move. I haven't even brought out the insulated coveralls yet. It is -15 here during the day. When I got up this morning it was -25 I guess that's about 10 below F.Cold enough. Keep warm hope your dentist app. goes ok.
ReplyDeleteI'd send ya some warm air but it may turn to snow....:-))
ReplyDeleteHope both of you heal up well..:-)
Warmer here...but not sure you want it. Still in the teens at night. We're to hit 33 today. Woo Hoo! Of course, here in the valley where the sun doesn't show it's head until...well, let's see, it's 9:45 and I still am not seeing it above the tree tops...there will be little melting of frost or ice.
ReplyDeleteStay warm down there, my friend!
LOR~ Ha Lisa! It wasn't as short as I wanted...I spent way too much time in the thrift shop! Ten hours...well, My Man is up to feeding (slowly) so the ponies were happy!
ReplyDeleteAKPonyGirl~The "blue board" you're talking about is the 3" insulation right? John says they've got some where he works. It sounds like we're going to give it a try. I just hope the silly mustangs leave it in the trough! They love to play with things.
Janice~It looks like -25 C is about -10 F...yep...plenty cold. It was -8 F here yesterday AM. I'm just glad we're not getting the usual 20-30 mph winds...we're really lucky this time around!
Yep, it's good for lots of stuff other than insulation. My horses played with it some (mostly just shoving it back and forth across the water) but tired of that. Now it has about 4 inches of snow on it.
ReplyDeleteTo work best the blue board needs to be in direct contact with the water. I don't let my tanks get below half so that's the size I cut them.