Yikes!
According to the hourly forecast, we’re supposed to stay at -34C/-29F for a while, yet. Even as we slowly warm up, those -38C/-36F wind chills are supposed to hang in there all day.
The plan was to head into the city today, and finally do our monthly shop, before it got colder tomorrow, and started snowing again, the day after.
*sigh*
I guess I’d better see if the van will start.
The Re-Farmer
So the blizzard has passed, and has been replaced with extreme cold warnings. As I write this, we have warmed up to -26C/-15F with a wind chill of -34C/-29F
In our own little front yard microclimate, however, it felt a lot warmer, and the outside cats were out in full force!
A few were holding out for the warm water before coming out, though! :-D
The sun spot at that window must be very pleasant in there. :-)
As for Butterscotch and Nosencrantz, they would not let me take photos! Nosencrantz wouldn’t stop wiggling around, and Butterscotch just moves away. They are eating and drinking just fine, though unfortunately, from the smell I walked into, they are finding somewhere other than the litter box to do their business. *sigh* I’m sure we’ll find all sorts of “surprises” when the sun room gets its spring clean up. The litter box is being used … by one of them, at least.
Once the critters were fed, I headed out to dig us out. It wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I thought it might be, though. We didn’t have a lot of new snow, which helped. The high winds were mostly moving around existing snow which, with our garage, meant blowing the snow off the roof and dumping it into a drift in front. The van might have been able to go through the drift, if we really had to, but we could not open the doors to the addition my mother’s car is parked in. It has swing doors that need to be replaced. One of them drags on the ground, so that area needs to be cleared a lot more thoroughly, just to open it wide enough for the car to drive through.
The other side of the garage, where the snow blower, lawn mowers and wood chipper is stored, also has swing doors.
We can’t get into there right now.
When our neighbour cleared our driveway, he pushed aside a snow ridge that was creeping in front of the middle section of the garage, where the van needs to get through. Unfortunately, he pushed it too close to the double doors to that side of the garage. There is enough space that we could clear one of the doors, which would allow us to at least get in, but not with our usual snow shovels. They are a strong plastic, but not that strong. We’ll have to tackle the pile with the ice chipper and a steel shovel before the snow can be moved and really, we don’t need to get into there that badly!
Once the front of the garage was clear, I checked out the driveway and was pleasantly surprised. The road itself remained clear enough that it won’t even need to be plowed. The main road would have drifted over, but I’m sure that’s been cleared by now.
The drifting over the end of the driveway wasn’t all that bad. In fact, I could see the tracks of a vehicle using our driveway to turn around. With the walls of snow left by the plows, our driveway is the only one nearby that’s open enough to do that. All the other driveways for about a mile in either direction are into fields, or empty properties, so no one’s keeping them clear.
I did have to dig out the gate. I’d opened it before the blizzard hit, just in case. They weren’t drifted in place too deeply, but the snow was packed so hard, I had to use the ice chipper to break it up, first.
I was mostly concerned with this side. While swinging it open and closed, we noticed it started to shudder and vibrate. When our vandal busted up the hinge pins, my brother replaced them with pairs of J pins, so that no one could simply use a jack to take the gate off anymore. My concern was that a pin had snapped in the cold. I was able to check the top ones before, but couldn’t see the bottom ones. So this morning, I used the ice chipper and shovel to clear it away to check, and they were fine.
The shudder was also gone when I swung the gate back and forth, so it looks like it was the build up of ice and snow that was causing it.
On this side, I had to dig things out a bit more, just so we could swing it open further – and dig out the little path to the mini solar panel powering some decorative lights we have on the fence. We used to have several strings of white LED Christmas lights all along that fence, but they got very weathered and I finally just took them off. At some point, we want to have lights along the fence line again, but until then, the mini string of solar powered LED lights will go. The solar panel just needs to be kept clear of snow, and it’s resting on the hub of that wagon wheel in the fence.
Interestingly, the hardest area to dig out was the path to the trail cam. Talk about hard packed! I had to use the ice chipper on almost the entire path. But I got to it, and was able to switch out the memory card – and got to see the vehicle that used our driveway to turn around it! :-D I don’t know who it is, but it’s a truck I see regularly, and I am jealous of the plow attachment. ;-)
On my “when we win the lottery” shopping list is either a RAM 1500 or an F150 (the top two highest rated trucks for winter driving, last I looked) with a plow attachment.
I should probably buy a ticket… ;-)
So we are now cleared out enough to get the van out of the garage and drive. We’re expecting a delivery from the pharmacy today, so the gates are being left open. I haven’t seen hide nor hair of our vandal in the trail cam files, so it looks like he’s actually avoiding using the roads past us entirely. Which is not something I intended as a condition, as that’s just not realistic in our area, but who knows what the judge or his lawyer managed to drum into him! Anyhow, between the court order, and the weather conditions, I think we’re okay to leave the gate open for a while, though I’d rather never have to close it at all.
The paths around the yard are pretty filled in. I’m leaving that job for my daughters to do, later!
For now, I’m going to call our mechanic back and book that oil change again!
The Re-Farmer
I delayed heading outside to do my morning rounds, to warm up a bit before having the outside cats come out of their shelters for kibble.
I finally gave up and just headed out, because I knew they would be hungry. I was inside for a while before I took the above screencap. Yup. Almost noon, and we were still at -28C/-18F with a wind chill of -38C/-36F The wind was from the south west, though, not the south east, so the yard was protected.
I didn’t see as many of them this morning, and there was even kibble still in the tray under the shrine, from being topped up yesterday evening, so they were not too hungry. :-)
The Distinguished Guest is looking rather disheveled! She could use a good brushing. Not that we’d be able to. She lets me pet her while at the kibble house, but that’s as far as it goes. Mind you, that’s still more than we get with most of the outside cats that were born here!
Chadicous was quite happy to get some loving!
Such a handsome boy!
Once inside and putting a kettle on, I saw a flash of movement through the dining room window.
These two had come bounding through the yard to the feeding station! They looked so very excited. :-D It’s funny that they come running, and these same two deer come back several times a day, for that little bit of feed I put out. Especially since we’ve got chickadees, Blue Jays, Pine Grossbeaks and probably squirrels, going at it, too.
The good news is, we will keep warming up through to tomorrow.
They’re again telling us we’ll hit -4C/25F – the forecast changes frequently, of course – and we’re supposed to stay warmer than -20C/-4F for about a week. Even after that, we’re supposed to be just a degree or two colder, for the rest of the month.
I’m sure the critters will be enjoying that!
The Re-Farmer
Helping my mother with her errands turned out to be timed just right. Chilly as it was, there was almost no wind, making it pretty easy to handle.
Not today!
I took this screen cap shortly after noon, and we were still at -31C/-24F. I somehow doubt we’ll reach the high that is in the forecast! The wind chill, at least, had improved from -41C/-42F to -38C/-36F. The problem is, the wind is coming from the southeast, where we have almost no protection from the wind at all.
Today was our day to do the meter reading. The meter is mounted fairly high on the pole, and I’m short, so what I do is take several photos and hopefully have something I can read once I’m at my computer and can submit the reading. Since I was taking pictures, I wore my fingerless gloves. I couldn’t believe how fast my fingertips started hurting from the cold wind! It’s always a surprise, no matter how many times I’ve had it happen. I’ve done this on colder days, but with no wind, it doesn’t happen anywhere near as fast as on a day like today.
Right now, we have two weather alerts; the snowfall warning, and an extreme cold warning.
And yet…
… in less than a week, we are expected to reach -4C/25F!! At that temperature, some things can actually start melting.
Gotta love Chadicous rolling in the snow, there. He is constantly doing that!
Usually right in front of my feet. :-D
If the forecast is accurate, tomorrow we should reach a much more pleasant -15C/4F. It’s Saturday, so the dump is open and we’ll finally be able to do that. We’ve had garbage and recycling bags already in the van for a few days. At least they’re frozen, so there won’t be a smell.
As for today, we finally have a day where we can just stay home!
The Re-Farmer
You know, I can handle the -27C/-17F temperatures. Bundle up enough, and the only real problem is my glasses frosting over.
But that -44C/-47F wind chill, I could do without!
My husband was a sweetheart and was able to feed the cats outside this morning, so when I headed out, I only had to feed the birds/deer. Smart kitties were nowhere to be seen when I came out.
We had been fully prepared to hunker down and stay close to home for the next while. It has turned out to be the complete opposite! On Monday, I took advantage of a warmer day to stock up on more cat kibble, picking up a few other things while I was at it. Tuesday, I had to go to the post office to pick up the packaging for the satellite pieces we needed to return to our old IP. Today, it was back to the post office to send them off, so we don’t have to worry about getting dinged almost $400 for them. I’d shovelled the end of the driveway yesterday, to clear out the old plow ridge before the plow came by and added to it. The plows didn’t come by, but the end of the driveway was drifted over. Driving right now is a game of “can you find the road?” Hopefully, the plows will be out today, because tomorrow, I have to go out again, this time to help my mother with her grocery shopping, using her little car which means we probably won’t be able to do the dump run we’d planned. At least her car is a four wheel drive. It also had butt warmers in the seats.
I’ve become spoiled by butt warmers. And heat vents that work. ;-)
Friday looks like it’ll be a day I can finally stay home, but Saturday will be the first day it’ll be warm enough and the winds are expected to die down enough, that it’ll be safe to do more shoveling. Maybe even break out little Spewie and do some snow blowing. Saturday is likely when we’ll finally be able to do a dump run.
I just want to stay home! :-D And to think, by the middle of the month, we’re supposed to warm up to -10C/14F I’m quite looking forward to it!
I can’t complain, though. Around this time last year, we were getting slammed by a Polar Vortex, both our van and my mother’s car froze, we were snowed in, and we ended up having to ask my brother to do some shopping for us in the city and bring it over, because we couldn’t get out to do it ourselves. His vehicle could handle the cold and snow, even though they don’t have a garage and their cars are out in the elements. So right now, I’m thankful that we actually can go out and about, even if I’d rather we didn’t.
Another item for the list when we win the lottery: new vehicles that can handle the cold! The last time I looked it up, the Ram 1500 and the F150 were the two top vehicles for that, and both can come with plow attachments.
Wouldn’t that be awesome!
The Re-Farmer
Well, I’m certainly glad I did my extra shopping trip yesterday! A storm that was not in the forecast showed up overnight.
While it is still “warm” at -16C/3F, once we move out of the shelter of the house or trees, we got hit by the -36C/-33F wind chill!
My morning rounds today required doing some shoveling, which included shoveling out the driveway cam, so I could change out the frozen batteries, reset the time and date, and switch out the memory card. With the temperatures being what they have been, the chances our vandal would do something stupid are somewhat lower, so I didn’t switch out the memory cards during the deep freeze.
When uploading the files from this camera, however, it got very strange! The card supposedly had only 8 files on it, but when I tried to look at them, I saw this.
This has happened before, but just a few files, not anything to this extent!
Check out the “date modified” list. Apparently, our driveway camera is a time traveler! The dates range from 1980 to 2103!!
I have no idea what those files are, because I couldn’t even transfer them from the card, never mind look into any of those folders. There should be nothing but AVI video files on here.
Curious, indeed!
The corner cam by the new sign at least had some files I could check, before it froze and stopped recording.
While on the subject of our cameras, I got some news about the court date at the end of this month, about the suit our vandal filed against me in retaliation for my applying for a restraining order against him. The court office called and left a message; civil suits fall under the federal courts, so we get letters and phone calls. They don’t do that for provincial matters, which is what restraining orders fall under. I had to call them to find out anything. Anyhow. The court date is still on, but because our province has once again stepped up the police state we’re still under, the time has moved to the morning and it will be by teleconference. The dates will be rescheduled until our provincial dictators lift their boots off our necks a little bit. So who knows when this will get resolved.
Well, at least I don’t need to make the drive out at the end of the month. :-/ It’s supposed to get milder by then. We’ve got extreme cold warnings again, for the next couple of days. After that, we’re even supposed to get a day or two above -10C/14F!
It’s going to feel like spring. :-D
The Re-Farmer
As I write this we are at an almost balmy -26C/-15F with a wind chill of -34C/-29F, and we’re supposed to continue to get warmer over the next couple of days.
Remarkable how our ideas of “warm” and “cold” change, when living somewhere that has such temperature extremes throughout the year!
Yesterday evening, I’d treated the outside cats with a warm, meaty broth over their kibble top up, but this morning I found quite a bit of the kibble in frozen broth! It froze before the cats could eat it all, and the crowd of them was eating fast when I went back inside.
While the outside cats clearly don’t like the cold, they are doing quite all right, and spend a lot of time outdoors, instead of in one of the many shelters they have available for them. Seeing Chadicous exuberantly rolling on the snow sort of hits home how different the outside and inside cats are. It’s also a reminder of how important it is to let the outside cats develop their natural defenses against the cold. These are from generations of outdoor cats. They have the genetics to develop that insulating fur and body fat they need. Yes, they can still freeze, and having the heated cat shelter is a good thing, but it is equally important that it not be too warm in there, as that would seriously mess them up and potentially harm or kill them.
If our inside cats ever got outside in the temperatures we have now, most of them wouldn’t last more than an hour, even though most of them either started out as outdoor cats, or are from the same gene pool. Then there’s Fenrir. She has her long fur, but no undercoat, and that’s why we brought her indoors during her first winter. I don’t know where she came from or what breed she is, but it certainly wasn’t from any local cold-hardy genetics! A cat like David, with his long fur and deep, thick undercoat, would last longer, but having been in a warm house all the time, not even he would last long if he suddenly ended up outdoors. This is where going out through the sun room has its benefits, as it gives us two buffer zones, should the cats try to dash outside. Oddly, only Fenrir seems to actually be trying to do that. While other cats make a run for it, they’re more interested in exploring the old kitchen. Fenrir has managed to get as far as the sun room before we’ve caught her. In fact, going for the sun room door is the one sure way to get her out from under the couch in the old kitchen, or from behind the old wood cookstove, where we can’t reach her. I try to watch out for her before opening the door into the old kitchen, but it’s like she’s waiting for me. Many times, the moment that door opens, she appears out of nowhere and is in the old kitchen before I have a chance to react in any way. Knowing we’ll try to get her out, she immediately hides in places we can’t reach her. Sometimes, the only way I can catch her is to go into the sun room and leave the door open behind me. She always goes for it, and I can usually manage to catch her rather quickly after that.
When we win the lottery ;-) and can finally renovate this place, one thing I would want to keep and repair is all the doors between sections of the house, and add even more in places. None of this “open concept” stuff. :-D We once lived in a house that had doors between every room, including at the bottom of the stairs to the second level. I ended up really appreciating being able to so easily close off portions of the house, partly because it was even worse to heat than this one, and closing up rooms helped keep things warmer. We stopped using the second level completely in the winter, closed off the door at the stairs and added a draft blocker at the bottom to stop the waves of cold coming down. It was an awesome house, but yikes!
Ah, memories… :-D
Before I headed outside this morning, I saw deer at the feeding station. The usual doe and her little one, looking for any seeds the birds hadn’t finished off yet. I wasn’t at all quiet while setting food and water out for the cats, so it was a surprise when I came around the corner with feed and scared off two deer! I think they’ve gotten used to the routine, though. After putting feed out, I went back inside, and already could see the doe through the living room window. I quickly hung my coat, then went to watch when I saw the little one come bounding joyfully along the edge of the spruce grove to join Mom.
These two come back several times a day, now. Every once in a while we’ll see a buck but, so far, that’s about it. Later in the season, I expect we’ll start to see more deer coming by and will probably start to leave out more feed again.
I’ve left the remains of a sunflower there, because the birds like to perch on it. :-)
The 14 day forecast is interesting. Of course, it changes pretty much every time I check it, but the middle of the month is looking like it’s going to be quite mild! For all the cold we’ve been having in the last little while, this winter is shaping up to me so much nicer than the last couple of years, and a lot more like our 30 year average than the unusual cold we had during those polar vortexes.
We have been working towards being set up and ready, should we be stuck at home for weeks again, but this winter is looking like we’ll actually be able to get out and about like normal. No frozen vehicles! Hopefully, this will run through February, too. The way things are going, I’m hoping to pick up some (not-frozen) soil and maybe even a warming mat, to get some seeds started in our aquarium greenhouse. People in my cold climate gardening groups have already started things like peppers and tomatoes, but I’m mostly looking to start onions and shallots, first.
Plus, we still have to decide what seedlings or root stock we’ll be ordering this month for planting in the spring. :-)
The Refarmer
After setting out food and warm water for the outside cats, I noticed a little face peeking at me from under the kibble house.
It wasn’t until I uploaded the photo that I saw there were three cats under there!
It’s a bit tight, but squeezing under there is a favourite spot for the smaller cats. Putting the sheet of insulation under there may have made it a bit tighter, but I don’t think they mind! There is also insulation under the floor boards of the kibble house, so they are insulated from above and below in there.
Which was sure needed, today! We were supposed to warm up a few degrees today, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. When I headed out, it was still -35C/-31F with a wind chill of -42C/-44F At least according to my app. We didn’t have any wind in the yard, so we at least didn’t have to deal with that. As I write this, it’s -31C/-24F with a wind chill of -40C/-40F. Our high of the day is supposed to reach -27C/-17F with a wind chill of -37C/-35F
A good time to celebrate New Year’s indoors!!! My FIL used to bring in the new year with a BBQ every year, even if it meant shoveling out the BBQ. We did keep that up for a while, but … no. :-D BBQ’s don’t cook very well in these temperatures, no matter how high you turn up the heat!
The critters seem to be handling the temperatures just fine. With the long, mild fall we had, the deer will have built up a good layer of fat for the winter. The deer in the photo above is walking in the path dug along the garden bed at the fence. It’s one of a pair that come here every day, several times a day, to the feeding station. They don’t leave much behind for the birds! :-D
Well, it’s time for me to get started on our New Year’s dinner. We’re doing a prime rib today; something I’ve never done before. Until we got our quarter beef, we’ve never been able to afford one before! I’m really looking forward to it. :-)
Happy New Year! And I hope you’re warm and toasty, wherever you are celebrating. :-)
The Re-Farmer
I waited until things got warmer than -30C/-22F before starting my morning rounds. I guess the deer got tired of waiting for me, because I found them exploring!
I managed to get a picture through the windows of the front doors. They seem very interested in the kibble tray under the shrine! :-D
When I did get outside, my weather app said it was -27C/-17F, with a wind chill of -32C/-26F, and we’re still getting extreme cold warnings, but we were sheltered from wherever the wind was coming from, and it felt much warmer. Warm enough that I got the burn barrel going, then did some shoveling to widen paths enough for my husband’s walker.
The outside cats seemed to be enjoying the sunshine while I worked.
Nosencrantz is such a cutie!!! They were running around so much, I didn’t even try to count how many were at the kibble trays. I cleared their path from the kibble house to under the storage house again, too, and they really seemed to appreciate that! :-D The snow is deep enough to form sheltering walls for them.
It’s much more pleasant today than yesterday. My husband’s prescriptions were delivered yesterday. With all the bundling up needed to get outside after the driver called to let us know he was nearby, he actually reaches our gate before I can! My husband was exchanging his sharps containers this time, and I was going to give the driver the full ones, but he didn’t know anything about them. He normally isn’t allowed to take medications back, but he tried phoning the pharmacy to find out if that applied to sharps containers. He popped into his car to make the call, while I waited at the gate. Which, in retrospect, was not a good idea! Once at the gate, I was right in the wind. He didn’t take long, though, because he couldn’t get a signal.
And that’s why we get him to call us before he reaches our locked gate! :-D
We’ll just have to give the old sharps containers back to the pharmacy another time. The driver did try again once he had a signal and called me back. It turns out my husband hadn’t mentioned the returns when he called for his refills, so they weren’t expecting it. Normally, that means we’d be charged for the new containers, but it looks like they skipped that this time. Interesting. We still have to bring them over for proper disposal, but at least he has fancy new containers to use. They completely changed the design for them since we last had to get new ones.
Today, I only had to make a quick run to the post office to pick up some packages and some distilled water for my husband’s CPAP humidifier. Happily, the van handled the cold fairly well, and all the roads are well plowed.
I’m glad to be inside again, though, that’s for sure!
The Re-Farmer
I delayed heading outside for my (short version!) morning rounds. I figured the critters didn’t want to be outside any more than I did!
This was about half an hour before I got outside; -33C/-27F with a wind chill of -37C/-35F!
I’d topped up their food last night, so I knew there would still be some left by morning. However, when I saw the cats out there, anyhow, I figured there was no point in waiting.
I had to use the ice chipper to get the metal water bowls out. They were frozen to the ground and buried in snow. My daughters shovelled yesterday evening, which the cats – and deer – really appreciated, too. :-D
This is what we were at about an hour later. -31C/-24F, with a wind chill at -38C/-36F
Honestly, I can’t complain. This is warmer than what people have been getting out west! Plus, we’ll be warming up again and and staying just a bit lower than average temperatures for this time of year. For all the “extreme cold warning” we’ve got, we’re not breaking any records in our region.
It does mean my morning rounds are kept close to the house, though! As long as the critters are fed and watered, that’s the main thing, and not even our vandal is going to be out in this weather. :-D
I think this is a good time to catch up on my crochet.
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 