Well, I’m certainly glad my daughter and I have telephone medical appointments this afternoon, and don’t have to actually go anywhere.
As I write this, we are at -34C/-29.2F, with a wind chill of -39C/-38.2F
It has actually warmed up a bit.

The heated water bowl is almost completely frosted over! Only a couple of cats came out into the cold. Their food bowls are still pretty full – even the one inside the cat house – but I added some fresh kibble, anyhow. The sun room is at -12C/10.4F, so it’s still frozen. They like the fresh kibble better; I think it’s easier on their teeth.
At these temperatures, I didn’t even try to switch out the trail cam memory cards. I doubt our vandal would be engaging in nefarious things in this weather. Plus, we still have the hard wired security camera to keep an eye on things.
Meanwhile, I’ve made the call to the number on our leaking hot water tank. I now have an authorization number and need only to go to the store it was purchased at, with the sticker from the tank, to get a replacement. He even saw on the file that this was already a warranty replacement tank, but he asked no questions.
At these temperatures, however, I am not going anywhere. Even if we lost hot water completely, we’d just go back to heating water on the stove as needed. I suspect it’s actually a good thing the tank is leaking the way it is, instead of water pooling on the bottom as it did, last time. That is probably the only reason why it’s not doing the weird things the other one started to do, since the water isn’t reaching anything sensitive; just making the insulation damp. Just a guess on my part.
Thankfully, this polar vortex that’s hitting us should last only a few days. By Wednesday, we should be back up to a more typical -21C/-5.8F. By Friday – which is when the van is going in to be checked – it is forecast to reach a balmy -10C/14F.
It’s going to feel like spring! π
The Re-Farmer
Holy smokes, hope you got a nice fire going!
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Alas, no fire at all. My brother had the hardest time finding anyone who would insure this place, and when he did, to keep the costs down, he had to actually tie off, dismantle or otherwise disable any wood burning stoves and furnaces on the property, then provide photographic proof. The chimney for the old wood burning furnace is toast, too. Any savings we could manage by burning wood would be wiped out by the increased cost of insurance.
It’s insane.
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Insane indeed, and sad, sorry to hear it. π¦
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That’s “nasty cold”.
I laugh when the automated local weather broadcast gives the wind chill temperature and it’s in low 40C range. π
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π
Perspective is everything! π
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To me, the wind chill, at 40C, is one of those “why bother?” things. Maybe the weather observation folks’ sense of humor is showing. π
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I’ve noticed our weather apps have been showing “severe weather” warnings for things that are pretty normal for the season. It makes me wonder what people were doing to warrant the changes! π
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I guess people were getting into trouble because they couldn’t, on their own, figure out that it was cold (or hot) outside. This worries me.
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Ah HELL NO!!!
I’d be sitting *IN* fire to warm up!!
I’m bitching about a “feels like” of 50F/10C with constant wind. And me knee is bitching even louder than my brain!!
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LOL!!
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