Things warmed up a bit today, and we got a bit of snow. It won’t last long; tomorrow, the temperatures are supposed to dip again.
After some consideration of what materials I had available, today I finally built an insulated shelter for the outside cats, as an extra layer of protection in the sun room, for when things start to get really cold.
Continue readingTemperatures continue to be on the cold side. Last night, we were supposed to reach a low of -27C (-16F), with a windchill of -34C (-29F) – at least that’s what The Weather Network predicted. My phone’s app was predicting low of -24C (-11F). Either way, bitterly cold.
Our high for today is supposed to warm up to -17C (1F) with a windchill of -23C (-9F), so warmer than yesterday, but still a day I would have stayed home, if I didn’t have to go into town to pick up prescription refills. I made sure to start the van near the end of my rounds, to let it warm up a bit before I headed out. Yes, it was plugged in, but I still didn’t want to take it out before the engine had a chance to warm up at least a little bit. I still have bad memories of a cracked engine block (on a rental with no block heater)!
One of the things I started doing years ago, back when we were living in the city, where it wasn’t unusual for me to be heading out sometimes 3 times a day for various things, was keep water bottles in the van. I used to keep them in an insulated grocery bag until we finally found a really nice cooler that fit between the seats. Though we don’t go out anywhere near as often as we used to, it’s still been handy to keep the cooler in the van, with a few water bottles. In the summer, when we go into the city to do our monthly shop, we can put ice packs in it for our insulated grocery bags with frozen items, or those that need refrigeration. Sometimes, when I’m getting gas, there are really good deals on energy drinks, like 4 for $7, so I’ll get a bunch and put the bag in the cooler with the water bottles, just to have them handy for days when we’re heading out and feel the need for one.
This morning was one of those days.
Back in the van after locking the gate behind me, I remembered the drinks in the cooler and reached back to grab one.
The first thing that came to mind when I opened the lid was “hmm… the lid wasn’t closed.” It was down, but not pushed all the way.
The next thing that came to mind as I dug into the bag for a drink was, “what the heck is that? That’s not a can.”
So I got out of the van so I could check the cooler from the side door.
I was wrong. It was, indeed, a can.
An exploded can!
Yup. It got cold enough last night for the cans to burst!
Now, we’ve had things survive just fine in colder temperatures – yes, they froze, but they didn’t burst. How full the cooler is makes a difference, too. When it’s almost completely full, the water bottles at the top and bottom would freeze completely, while the ones in the middle would still have liquid water in them. But with the lid not pushed all the way down, it was enough for things to get messy!
After I got home, I made sure to bring the cooler inside.
The damage was not as extensive as I thought. Only 2 cans exploded.
Two more cans, plus the remaining water bottles, were frozen solid, but intact.
I guess the take away from this is 1) make sure there’s more bottles and cans in the cooler, and 2) make sure that lid is pushed all the way down!
Otherwise, things can get messy!
:-D
The Re-Farmer
addendum:
After publishing the above post, I went to check the files on the memory card from the trail cam. Yesterday, knowing the cold had already brought the battery level down to one bar, even though fresh batteries had been put in just a couple of days earlier, I brought the camera inside and switched out a new set of batteries. The previous set, now warmed up, will be switched back again later.
When I checked the trail cam this morning, I saw the battery level was down to 1 bar already, so I was curious to see how many files were made before the camera shut itself off due to low power.
There were no files.
Nothing.
That means that the fresh, room temperature batteries I’d put in became too cold to power the camera before anything triggered the motion sensor. And I know it should have been triggered at least twice. As I was heading out, I saw tracks in the snow showing that someone had backed into our driveway to turn around, as well as tracks from (most likely) my brother’s dog going through, including the smudge in the snow where he squeezed under the gate.
Even with two months of bitter cold last year, this is the first time I’ve had this happen to the batteries in the trail cam!
With the timing of things for my daughter’s Sunday shifts, I haven’t been able to continue our search for a new church to attend, but I do try to take advantage of her short shift to make Sunday a day of rest.
Oh, to be a cat, some days!
This was actually taken on Saturday. From left to right, we’ve got Creamsicle, Potato Beetle, Doom Guy, Two-Face, and even Pump Shack and Junk Pile kittens! All packed in like sardines, keeping warm and cozy.
Things were not so warm and cozy at the beach in town, yesterday!
I didn’t stay out for long; I hadn’t brought gloves, and it was really quite chilly!
This guys seemed to handle it well.
No rest for them! The geese need to eat as much as possible in between their migratory flights.
I’m finding I really enjoy these few hours in town, once a week. It’s a good time to recharge.
The Re-Farmer
I swung by the beach this morning, after dropping my daughter off at work. The last time I was there, the water was free of ice.
It isn’t, anymore. It’s harder to tell in the photo above, but there is ice covering the water in the distance.
The lake narrows a bit in this area; enough that we can just see the far side (visible in the top and bottom photos). It extends a considerable distance to the north, and the ice is being blown south.
It was moving so fast, I could see the ice coming closer to the beach, even in the short time I was there. You can even see how much closer it came between this photo, and the one at the top, which were taken less than a minute apart.
For a lake as large as this one, it will take a long time for the ice to clear on all of it.
The Re-Farmer
This was taken during the snow storm we had on April 15.
The juncos weren’t even feeding, really. Mostly, they just sat there, all puffed up, making the odd, desultory peck at some seeds.
It must have been quite a shock for the juncos to be back for the summer, only to have winter hit them, instead!
Finally starting on February critter pictures!
For the next few days, it’ll be birds, birds, birds. :-)
First up, a chilly little redpoll with her chickadee buddy.
She looks like she’s even squinting from the cold!
My older daughter took care of feeding the critters this morning, so it was an hour or so before I headed out myself.
By then, the outside water bowl was already mostly frozen.
When I first got there, Beep Beep was sitting with her front paws in the bowl, on the ice.
My phone distracted her. :-D
Then I used the ice scraper to break up the surface of the ice in the water bowl. Next thing I knew, there were three cats drinking out of it!
One of my usual morning rounds had been to pick up all the twigs and branches in the yard that had fallen overnight. Once the snow got deep, I left the smaller stuff for spring. After yesterday’s winds, however, I went around and picked up some of the larger branches that had come down.
Trudging through unbroken snow is much more difficult than it looks. :-D
The Re-Farmer
I took this screen shot at about noon. That was two hours ago.
It is currently -17C, with a “RealFeel” of -31C.
I’m glad I thought to check the temperatures before I headed out this morning, as the beautiful sunny day made it seem deceptively pleasant out there. And it was – on the south side of the house. As soon as I came around the corner to put out deer and bird feed, I got blasted with the wind from the north. It was blowing the deer feed away, as I poured it out of my bucket! At that time, it was -16C with a wind chill of -30C.
Which kind of changes my plans for the day.
Continue readingToday, this 4th day of Christmas, came in bright, clear and bitterly cold!
Part of my morning routine, after feeding the animals, is to switch out the memory card on the trail cam, which I’ve found I can’t do with gloves or mitts on. It was -25C this morning, with a “feels like” of -32C.
Continue reading
The Re-Farmer 