The snow continued through the night, so there was shoveling to do, when I did my morning rounds.
I wish I could figure out a practical way to keep the snow out of the kibble house!
With a north wind, you’d think the house itself would do the job, but it just whips around the old kitchen and sunroom, and right into the cat shelter area.
Thankfully, the sunroom and cat house are sheltered and warm. The thermometer in the sunroom was reading about -5C when I was done shoveling, with the doors left wide open. When I checked through the bathroom window during the night, it was just below freezing.
Right now, it’s -19C, with a wind chill of -27C or -30C, depending on which app I look at. Thankfully, we don’t get the brunt of North winds in most of the yard. Which is good, because my daughter is using little Spewie to clear the driveway right now. Best to get it done, while the snow is still light and fluffy. I can see her on the garage cam, but I can’t tell if the road has been plowed. It seems we have another package to pick up at the post office.
As I expected, we got the edges of the system, not the full brunt of it. Things were worse, further south. I don’t know how common this is elsewhere, but, like many prairie cities, there is a ring road around the city, so travelers can pass around, rather than through, the city itself. Last night, the entire ring road was shut down due to the weather.
From the local reports I’m hearing so far, though, the highways in our area are pretty good. The winds blew the highways clear, rather than the snow building up.
After this, we are expecting a mix of more average cold and above average mildness, if the long range forecasts ate anything to trust.
Oh! My daughter just came in. Time to let her know there is hot soup and hot tea waiting for her!
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 
I think some sort of cover is needed on that front “wall” of the kibble house. IF time, money and tools were no option, what I’d do is use sheets of plexiglass or similar “plastic” cut openings and re-attach the cut out squares via hinges and latch so you have doors to replace the food dishes, and leave an opening n the center for the cats to come and go. It’s not perfect but it’s as close to ideal as you can get. You’d also have to unbolt the plastic from the kibble house in the summer to keep the kibble house from becoming a hot house, and to make a deep cleaning easier.
Again, all that assumes that that time, money and tools are available. :\
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Yeah, I was thinking something along those lines, but in such a way that we can still reach in to fill the kibble bowls.
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Hence the making hinged and latched doors for food access. :D
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I was also considering getting scrap carpet. Attached at the top, with the part hanging down cut into strips. That’s what’s protecting the entry into the cat house, do they are already used to pushing through. Keep the wind out, and also creating shade in the summer.
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I thought about that, but going by past posts, you get some pretty good wind there. I’m not sure a fabric barrier, even a heavy one would help in that scenario. You know your situation better than me though. :)
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Oh, you’re right about the wind being an issue to take into account!
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True, but it has worked on the cat house door. The question is would it work on a larger surface area for the wind to push on. You could always try a test section to see. :D
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Exactly.
One thing about the cat house door is that it’s actually 2 layers of carpet, with the strips cut so they overlap. That might do the trick. I don’t know that I have to cover all the way. Even half or three quarters might be enough to keep out the snow.
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