weather

Not done with us yet, and updates

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Brrr.

Winter is definitely not done with us yet!

This is actually warmed up a bit. When I checked during the night, it was -28C/-18F, with a wind chill of -38C/-36F As I write this, we are at -26C/-15F with a wind chill of -33C/-27F

I did my short rounds this morning! I did make sure to check the ejector, though. The splash area is open, and the heat tape is warm, so that’s all working. I’ve been talking to my brother about what I’m seeing when the pump runs. It does take longer to empty that tank (almost 7 minutes, instead of about 5), and the speed of inflow, while consistent, with the water level in the filter no longer draining, is slower as well. Since this happens while the pump is running, that suggests the possibility of something in the venturi valve. The only way to know for sure is to pull it up and check, which we won’t do until the spring or summer.

The first thing I did this morning was tend to the outside cats, of course, and check on the isolation shelter. I’d noticed something about it last night, when looking out the kitchen window. There is a “ceiling” of rigid insulation under the roof. One full width piece with a notch cut out for the extension cord, and the other cut narrower to fill in the remaining space. That narrower piece was pushed back, and I could actually see through the clear roof panels into the shelter from the kitchen window! Not enough to tell where the cats where, but I shouldn’t have been able to see anything at all.

When I checked the shelter this morning, Midnight was gone. Only Fluffy was inside.

Some things were knocked about that I had to straighten up. While she eyeballed the open window as I did that, then refilled the food bowls, she would not go near me. When I came back to do the water, she was on the second level, but jumped down while I did the water and hid in a corner by the litter box below.

No sign of Midnight, anywhere. He’s probably going to make strange for a while, but I’m sure he’ll come back for food and warmth soon.

I didn’t like the idea of Fluffy being along in there, though, so when I saw The Grink, I decided to try and catch her (I think she’s a she). The Grink is one of the tinies and is among the crowd that regularly used the isolation shelter to hang out in. She’s not feral, but not socialized, either. When I did manage to touch her, she let me pet her and pick her up, and was more than happy to be put into the isolation shelter!

As I was finishing up and checked again, The Grink was in the cat bed in front of the heat lamp, grooming. It took a while to spot Fluffy, tucked into a shadowed corner.

Hopefully, over the next two weeks, she’ll warm up to us.

Last of all, I made sure to give them a can of cat food, which The Grink eagerly came over for. Fluffy was still hiding, but there are two food bowls in there now, so I hope she creeps over to at least one of them.

We’re expected to be a lot warmer tomorrow, but also to have snow all day, through to the day after. “Light snow showers” the forecast calls it. So I really don’t want to drive in that with the Costco shopping.

I was planning to visit my mother before heading to the city, but I think I will make an extra trip, first. Talking to my brother last night, I mentioned we’ll need to go into her apartment to make sure there’s no food going bad or anything. They had managed to visit her the other night, and remembered that we need to bring in clothes for her! She’s still wearing the same clothes as when she was went in for her appointment and ended up in the ER. They told me, she is even sleeping in her clothes with her shoes one (her feet get cold). I would have expected them to have given her a gown or something!

So I think I will go to her apartment first. She has had a bag – just a reusable grocery bag – set up as a “hospital bag”. She’s been complaining about her health and wanting to go to the hospital for a long time (and would get very upset when she’d go to the ER, they couldn’t find anything wrong and sent her home), so she had this bag for clothes and necessities. Hopefully, she still had that, and I’ll be able to find it, and make sure it does have everything she would need.

Then I’ll go to the hospital to visit with her before going to the city.

In the end, though, I’ll see how the truck runs when I got to warm it up before I leave. It should be fine, but I’m so flipping paranoid about breakdowns these days. I do have an emergency kit in the truck, and we have CAA, but still… this is not the kind of weather to take chances in.

We shall see how things work out!

Time to bundle up again start warming up the truck, and do another OBDII scan while I’m at it!

The Re-Farmer

I think we found the problem

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The heat bulb in the sun room has been turning on and off over the past few days. My guess was the cats knocked it about a bit while jumping on and off the platform it’s hanging from. I’d give it a bit of a wiggle, and the bulb would turn on again.

This morning, I gave the cats their kibble and warm water, as usual. Then, as I was going back into the sun room, I realized the bulb was off again. It was on when I went past, maybe a minute or two earlier.

So I did the usual wiggle, and it didn’t turn on. I turned the switch off, checked the lamp and the shade (which was loose), then turned it back on.

The metal lamp shade has a small round opening near the neck. When I switched the light back on, I thought I saw something through the hole, so I turned it on and off again. Was that a flicker of light at the bottom of the filament, visible through the opening?

So I shut it off and took the bulb completely out. The filament looked perfectly fine. I decided to screw it back in and try again.

I changed my mind.

I’d say, we found the problem!

The socket looked clean and clear, though.

I ended up putting back one of the ceramic bulbs that these warmer heat bulbs replaced. It’s heating up as it should, though it’s only 150w, instead of 250w, so it’s not going to be as cozy for the kitties.

The temperatures have warmed up, though. As I write this, we’ve been at 1C/34F for some time, and it’s expected to stay above freezing for a few more hours. Oh! I just double checked the weather app on my desktop, and it now says our high is supposed to reach 2C/36F today! We’re also supposed to get a mix of rain and snow later today, too.

Looks like the driveway isn’t going to be done today, either. Aside from the winds that picked up again, the warmth will make the snow sticky. From experience, I know how quickly that jams up the auger.

The driveway is passable, though, so not clearing it won’t be an issue. The area in the yard that I cleared instead was more of an issue, as the truck was having difficulty in the turn around areas.

With the warmer temperatures, the less warm ceramic bulb in the sun room should be okay. We’ll have to make sure to get 250w versions for next winter, though. I prefer them to the ones that are actual lights for this. The only down side is, if they stop working, we can’t tell without actually checking them for heat.

We should also pick up a few more smoke detectors. One for the isolation shelter and one for the sun room, at the very least!

Just in case.

The Re-Farmer

Got a work out this morning!

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Well, not so much me, but little Spewie!

Things kept warming up slowly overnight and, as I write this, we’ve been at our high of the day (-4C/25F) for some time, and will stay there for several more hours. After a slight dip in temperature this morning, we’re going to keep warming up again overnight. Tomorrow’s high keeps changing, but the range has been from -1C/30F to 1C/34F

I took advantage of this. Once my rounds were done, I stayed out and got little Spewie out of the garage. This was also going to give me a chance to use the new heavy duty, 100′ outdoor extension cord my husband picked up for me. This one is designed to withstand both extreme cold and extreme hot temperatures – so whether we’re at -30C/-22F or 30C/86F, it will be able to handle it!

I just double checked. On the cold side, it’s rated to stay flexible at -50C/-58F. The heat resistant jacket is rated to 70C/158F

So we’re good! 😄😄

My plan had been to do the driveway and paths in the outer yard. I started with the paths, including a new path to the pump shack. Since I was already on that side of the garage and had enough cord for the job, I did the paths around the cat shelters, to the compost pile, outhouse, back of the garage, and the litter pellet compost pile behind the outhouse.

Then I cleared the driving area.

I’m standing next to the kibble house to take the above picture. I widened the space at the bottom of the photo, to make room for the truck to back up towards the sun room. When I backed into the yard to load up the garbage the other day, I kept hitting a pile of snow along the cat path I was standing in for the photo.

There is now enough room to drive in, turn around, back up – and still have room to open doors and walk around the truck.

By the time I finished here, I was done for the day. I just cleared one last section of path, plus right in front of the garage, before putting everything away. The driveway can be done tomorrow! Plus a path to the barn. We can get through the area, if needed, but by clearing it now, when things warm up, the remaining snow will melt away faster.

Added bonus was coming inside to a hot lunch and a giant mug of freshly brewed tea. 💖🍵🍚

It felt so good to be outside and getting work done! I just love it!

The outside kitties were not impressed, though. At least, not the more feral ones. Spewie is pretty quiet, being a tiny electric snow blower, but between the noise and the snow being hurled into the air (and sometimes blown back into my face when we got a gust!) was just too much for them.

There is a down side to getting all that cleared, though.

I made sure not to push myself but, once inside, it didn’t take long for my entire body to stiffen up and start hurting a lot. I ended up taking a couple of my prescription painkillers. Which I was hoping to avoid, since I’ve been saving those to take before bed. The prescription is to take one or two capsules, once a day. By taking them now, it means I can’t take them before bed. Last night, thought I was doing pretty good and took only one before bed, and it just didn’t cut it. Even taking two, it eases most of the pain, but not my hips, so I’m still rotating like a rotisserie chicken at the best of times. Taking one helped with most of my joints, but my hips were hurting enough that they kept waking me up.

I’ll have to talk to my new doctor about that, the next time I see her.

Meanwhile, I’m prescription pain-killered up for now, and will need to watch myself for the rest of the day, so I can do the driveway tomorrow. I can still take acetaminophen for the night, as they are the same class of painkillers. I just can’t take anything like ibuprofen while I’m using this prescription painkiller.

Getting all that space in the yard cleared is worth it for me, though. It just felt so good to get some manual labour done!

The Re-Farmer

Warming up, and pretty ladies!

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Well, we did reach our high of -17C/1F today – at about 6-7am. By the time I headed outside to do my morning rounds, it was down to -19C/-2F, which isn’t too bad, except the wind chill was -32C/-26F It was coming from the north- northeast today, so the house acted as a wind break for the most part. I made a point of checking the ejector this morning, where I found myself getting hit by the wind, full blast.

Not fun.

Ejector is fine, though. I checked the heat tape and could feel warmth.

As I write this, it’s just past 5pm, and we’ve cooled down to -20C/-4F, but the wind chill is still -32C/-26F

This afternoon, I made sure to check on the truck, get it running for a while, then hooking up the OBDII to do a scan. The same sensor code is coming up; nothing else, so that’s good.

While letting the engine run and warm up, I took advantage of the sunshine and relative shelter from the wind and shoveled out the paths. We didn’t get a lot of snow, but the winds blew drifts into all the paths, with some not even visible anymore. Just flat snow. The kitties will be much happier, now that they can get around the yard more easily!

Speaking of kitties, check out these beauties.

The first one is the fluffy girl that we can sometimes pet while she is eating. She lost her first litter last year. Unfortunately, she is now in heat. Brussel is being left alone, so I have to assume she’s pregnant, but the boys are all over this one.

This is a really bad time of year for a cat to go into heat. They’d both be having kittens at the end of February or so. Chances of survival are pretty much nil.

I’m really hoping we can catch her, or Brussel, for the spay next week. We’re booked for one male and one female, and I don’t expect to have any problems catching the males. They are far less feral than the ladies.

If you click through to the next photo, you can see another of our fluffy beauties; one of last year’s kittens. Totally feral. No idea if it’s male or female. We have at least one, maybe two, more fluffy ones like that that are completely unsocialized, and won’t go near us. I had to zoom in quite a bit to get that picture!

I had a chance to talk to the Cat Lady today. Yesterday, I’d connected with someone in a feral and stray cat group on FB. I normally am not active on there, after being burned by similar groups in the past. Someone was offering donated cat food, though, so I contacted her. I told her outright that we’ve been having difficult getting help, and only one rescue has been willing to help us. We messaged each other privately, and ended up arranging to connect when I’m in the smaller city, waiting for the spay and neuter to be done. I will be meeting the Cat Lady that day, too.

After, I let the Cat Lady now that I’d connected with someone about possible food donations. Today, she phoned me and asked if it was a particular person by name.

It was the same person.

She then warned me to watch out for her. She says, her heart may be in the right place, but she has… issues. Issues that have resulted in her calling the provincial vet on people she had been “helping”, which then resulted in a whole lot of cats being euthanized instead of TS/NR’d. More alarming is that she has been sending cats out of province with “brokers”. The cats get picked up by people in unmarked white vans, and are never heard from again. She apparently is full convinced that these “brokers” are adopting the cats out to good homes in the other province – a province that is just as overwhelmed with cats as rescues are out here (we’ve lived in that province a couple of times, over the years). The Cat Lady suspects the cats are actually going to a lab, based on her own observations before leaving the big rescue she had been connected with when I first met her.

Basically, she said that if we can get help with cat food, getting cats fixed or getting them adopted, that could be fine, but not to give any personal information, not to say where we live, and especially not to send pictures, as those will get shared all over online without our permission. It’s people like this woman, and the rescues she’s connected with, that have resulted in the Cat Lady backing away from her own rescue, and basically working with just a couple of people like us, and that’s it.

As she was telling me this, I remembered some of her past stories she’d told me, about how and why she left the big rescue. No names were mentioned, so I hadn’t known this person was one of the people she’d had issues with.

Well, we just have to be careful, which I try to be, anyhow.

One of the things that came up was how many cats we’re feeding right now. With how cold it’s been, I haven’t done head counts in a long time. The last time I did, I think I counted about 36, or in that range.

Today was nice enough that I tried to do a head count after doing their evening food and water. I counted “only” 23! That’s a huge drop. I had been seeing as many as 15 crowded into the top of the isolation shelter. Today, I counted 5. Looking into the sun room from the bathroom, I’ve counted as many as 20 that I could see, most bunched together under the heat lamp. Today, I counted 8 in the sun room. The rest that I counted were running around outside.

Twenty three cats is still too many, and I know that there is likely cats that just hadn’t come to the house for food yet, but that’s still a big change.

Well, we’ll see how much they change again, as the weather warms up.

Tomorrow, we’re looking at a high of -15C/5F, which is supposed to happen at about the time my daughter and I will be at her doctor’s appointment. We will take advantage of the trip to pick up a few groceries and some more kibble. Our first stock up shopping trip is a week away, so we won’t be getting much.

Man, I really hope the long range forecast into February is somewhat accurate. I’m now seeing forecasts for highs of 8C/46F!

That is going to be so awesome.

The Re-Farmer

Well, technically, we’re warmer…

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Good grief.

Yeah, the thermometer shows it’s gotten warmer, but we’ve got another bit of a storm happening. The winds are quite as severe as a few days ago, but with more snow.

When I headed out this morning, we were at -26C/-15F, but the wind chill was at -39C/-38F I spent as little time outside as possible! Basically, just give the outside cats non-frozen food (their food trays are filled with frozen kibble) and warm water, and that’s it. I did manage to get a few pictures, including a show of this gorgeous girl.

I want to pet her. I want to brush the mats out of her fur.

I want her to not be pregnant.

I assume she is, as the boys are leaving her alone, now, though when I checked out the bathroom window last night, I saw some shenanigans happening with Midnight and a female I couldn’t make out under him; definitely not a big fluff ball like Brussel. I wasn’t going to even try interrupting them, since that would just scare cats outside into the cold.

As I write this, we have warmed up to -19C/2F with a wind chill of -32C/-25F This time, the wind is coming up from the south at 34km/h21m/h, though we certainly have higher gusts that I can see blowing past my window.

We are supposed to reach a high of -17C/1F I don’t know what time of day they use to determine when the high happens, though, as the temperatures are supposed to continue warming slightly, to reach -15C/5F by about 10pm tonight, and stay there until about 2am, when we’re supposed to cool down. The “high” of tomorrow is supposed to be -19C/2F, but that’s supposed to be at about 5am, and things are supposed to keep cooling down for the rest of the day.

Thursday, at least, we’re supposed to have a high of -15C/5F. I got mixed up and was thinking that’s when we’re taking a couple of cats in for a spay and a neuter, but that’s on the 30th. This Thursday is a follow up doctor’s appointment for my daughter. Her appointment isn’t until 3pm, though, and we’re supposed to get snow again, starting Thursday evening and continuing all through Friday. Friday, however, is supposed to have a high of -3C/27F!! Then, on the 28th, we’re supposed to actually go above freezing!

If the long range forecasts are at all accurate, things should stay pretty mild, with only one or two days below -20C/-4F in February.

I certainly home so.

This polar vortex may have some other negative effects that we won’t know about until spring. While our Liberty apple tree is planted in a sheltered spot, and protected someone with an anti-deer wrap, it’s still a zone 4 fruit tree. These temperatures may have killed it.

Our winter sowing experiment may also be affected. While the sown garden beds did get a thick layer of mulch, they would also have benefited from a thicker layer of snow to insulate them. We just don’t have a lot of snow this year (which is NOT a complaint!). Some seeds, like the onion seeds, I’m sure will survive just fine. Others, I’m not so sure!

Well, we’ll see in the spring. Once things warm up and melt away enough, I’ll remove the mulches. Then we’ll see whether I’m making a mistake by not buying more seeds this year.

Oh, who am I kidding. I am sure there are some seeds out there I will end up buying!

With the cold, the snow and the winds, I am cheering myself up by thinking garden thoughts!

The Re-Farmer

Widespread

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This weather system is really wide ranging!

Everything in red on the above weather map is under extreme cold warnings, defined as “extraordinary threat to life or property.” Orange is “severe”, which is defined as “significant threat to life or property”. Yellow is “moderate”, or “possible threat to life or property.” The few patches of blue are “mild” or “minimal to no known threat to life or property.”

The ongoing weather warning, particularly for the region to the south of us says wind chills could reach from -44C/-47F to -50C/-58F.

As I write this, coming up on noon, we have warmed up to -31C/-24F, with a wind chill of -34C/-29F.

I check the critter cam every now and then, and it amazes me how active the cats are in the sun room. Most, however, are in various groups, snuggled together in cat beds, under the heat lamp, or in the shelf beds at the window. I know others would be taking advantage of the warmth in the top level of the isolation shelter. It’s the ones that are too feral for any of those spaces that concern me. I see some running around on the driveway, the various paths dug out in the snow, or dashing along the sidewalk, to or from the house. They older cats have their thick winter fur, and the long haired cats are giant fluffy balls, rolling through the snow. It’s the littles that concern me, but they seem to know to stay close to the house and near the heat lamps. Still, when they do go out, I can see them doing this little dance with their paws, always having at least one paw raised up out of the snow. I wish they would just stay inside their various shelters!

Ah, well. We do the best we can for them, and just hope they take advantage of the warmth and shelter we provide for them.

I am so done with this cold.

The Re-Farmer

One more day of this

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It has definitely been the worst.

I took this screenshot after coming in from giving the outside cats food and warm water. I did NOTHING else out there this morning!

If you can’t see the Instagram image, we were at -34C/-29F with a wind chill of -46C/-51F at 8:32am. It’s now just past 9am as I write this and, while my phone’s weather app hasn’t changed, the weather on my desktop days we’re at -35C/-31F and the wind chill is at -42C/-44F

The heated water bowl in the sun room was almost completely iced over at the top. The one in the water bowl shelter was heavily frosted over. Only the one in the isolation shelter had no frost on it – it’s still pretty warm with that heat lamp in there! – but the sliding window beside it was so frosted, I struggled to get it open. Somehow, the food bowl ended up knocked down to the bottom level. I wasn’t about to move the box shelter over the entrance to get it, so I found another container to put inside. It’s just a light plastic thing, and will probably get knocked down, too, but it will do for now.

On my local highway conditions group there is someone who posts a picture with road and weather conditions at the start of their commute, every morning. They live to the southeast of us. This morning, they posted at 6:45am, and reported the temperature at -37C/-35F They did not report the wind chill.

Today’s high is supposed to be -27C/-17F. Barely, and only for a brief period, before things start dropping for the night away. Tomorrow?

We’re looking at a high of -17C/1F. On the 23rd, when we are booked to bring a couple of cats in for spay and neuter, we’re expected to have a high of -13C/9F. On Friday, the 24th, the warmest day being forecast at the moment, we’re expecting to reach -6C/21F.

If the forecasts are even half correct, this will be the last bitterly cold day of the winter. After this, things will warm up and any cold periods expected will not be anywhere near this several. In fact, the long range forecast into February has us going as high as 6C/43F in the second week of February!

I’ll believe that, when I see it.

I really feel for anyone who has to commute in this, or work outdoors. This is one time where I’m glad we don’t have any livestock animals! Homesteaders I know are having a real struggle keeping their water from freezing. We simply don’t have what we need to care for animals in conditions like this – which is why we still don’t have chickens.

One more day of this.

The Re-Farmer

This could have been bad

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Yesterday’s storm blew over during the night. We never got a lot of snow, but the temperatures continued to drop and winds continue to be an issue.

Shortly before 8am, we were at -27C/-17F with a wind chill of -39C/-38F

As I write this, it’s past 10:30am. We are still at -27C/-17F and the wind chill is -41C/-42F

It was probably about 8:30-9am when I headed outside to feed the yard cats and do a quick check around the house. I was definitely not going to do my regular rounds.

It doesn’t look like we lost any trees this time, though I did find some downed branches. Not anything to pick up now, but to be cleaned up in the spring.

With the cold, I had my hood up over my toque. To keep it from being blown off my head, I had to use the Velcro closure that goes across the mouth. I normally don’t use it, because anything over my mouth causes me to struggle to breathe, so I try to tuck it under my chin. It was cold enough that I had to sort of go back and forth; tuck my chin behind it to warm up, then out so I could breathe.

My glasses, of course, immediately fogged up, so I was also trying to see over the frames.

As I was going around the north side of the house, I have my usual paths to follow, which made it easier, except… well… I couldn’t really see much.

The next thing I knew, I’d tripped and was on the ground.

Thankfully, I was not injured, but this was a real problem. My knees are shot. Getting back up again is very difficult, even the few times I’ve tripped and fallen in the summer. Compounding the problem is the snow. There isn’t a lot of it, and it’s only half-packed. So I’d manage to get myself onto one knee (trying one, then the other, to figure out which one I could actually use) brace my hand onto the ground to push myself up, and the snow would give out. Next thing I know, my hand is lower than my knee, and I’ve pitched myself back into the snow again.

I actually fell three time, twice while trying to get up.

Of course, I cried out as I fell, but no one inside could hear me. After much struggling, I did manage to get up, but for a while, there was a real concern that I wouldn’t be able to, without help. Meanwhile, my phone was in my pants pocket instead of my jacket pocket, where I couldn’t get at it while lying on the ground.

In these temperatures, this was a very dangerous situation.

For the next while, as we continue to have these extreme temperatures, one of the girls will be coming with me when I do my rounds, just to be on the safe side. We’ve got two more days of this before it starts to slowly warm up again.

Meanwhile, I’m fortunate in that I just seemed to have slightly pulled some muscles. My neck and left side of my body is a bit stiff.

The girls have been plying me with tea and sustenance, so I don’t have to move around too much. I’d already taken painkillers before I’d gone outside, but I might need to take some more. I don’t think I need the prescription painkillers, though. Those are “take as needed”, but only once a day, and I save them for before bed, so I can get some pain-free sleep.

This could have gotten really bad. Thank God it didn’t!

The Re-Farmer

addendum: I just got a call from my brother. He’s on the way over right now, to switch the pipes on the septic pump! In this weather! Apparently, next weekend doesn’t work for him, so he’s coming out now. Hopefully, the roads will be clear!

So glad…

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… that I convinced my mother to do her errands yesterday, and not today.

The high for today was forecast to be -4C/25F – with a blizzard warning. During the night, I’d checked the weather and we had actually reached -1C/30F at 4am.

It has been dropping steadily, since then.

Temperature-wise, we’re still at a mild -11C/12F as I write this. The wind chill, however is -32C/-26F

This is what it was like when I did my short rounds this morning. (scroll through the slideshow to see a brief video)

The usual bunch is warm and cozy in the isolation shelter. In the next image, the older and more feral cats were taking shelter in various places. The water bowl shelter is more sheltered from the wind than the kibble shelter, though under the kibble shelter, which has a sheet of rigid foam insulation on the ground, plus another under the shelter floor, was a popular spot. The plastic wrapped catio was also being used, as well as the old dog house. When we get a chance, we need to open the roof and check on the heat bulb in there, as I don’t think it’s working anymore. Usually, there is melted snow on the roof above where the bulb is, and there isn’t any, even when we had the warmer days.

The sun room, however, is a very busy place. Looking out the bathroom window, not long ago, I counted 21 cats that I could see. There may have been more in corners we can’t see through the window. The thermometer on the wall was reading 0C/32F, which is likely reading on the cold side, as it’s on an exterior wall and between windows, one of which is a single pane instead of double pain.

In the video, you get some idea of how windy it was, in general. I wasn’t able to catch some of the more severe gusts, and wasn’t about to hang out outside for it! We were getting warnings of 70km/43m winds, with gusts up to 100km/62m As I write this, however were are down to 42km/26m winds.

When I got inside and started checking my local groups on FB, I found it had just exploded with posts from people describing terrible road conditions, and telling people to please stay home. Some had just arrived at their destinations. At least one described starting out, then turning around and going home, because they simply couldn’t see the road.

Soon after, one of the weather groups started posting about highway closures. Some, just sections were closed, but one highway was closed entirely.

For us, we are pretty sheltered from the winds coming from the north-northwest, and we didn’t get a lot of snow. Our odd climate bubble seems to have protected us again. We still have high winds, of course, and I even saw the sun come out briefly, a few minutes ago.

As always, when we have high winds, we are watching the trees. Especially the spruce grove, with all those dead trees. With the wind direction, though, if any do come down, they will fall away from the house. There’s really just one that is a threat to the house itself.

If my mother had gotten me to come today to help with her shopping, as she had wanted to originally, I would have had to cancel, and she would have been stuck. She is just a couple of blocks from the grocery store, though, and they do deliver, so she would have been okay for food. The pharmacy only delivers medications, though, so she could not have gotten her shopping there.

Speaking of which, I’m glad my husband’s prescription refills were delivered yesterday, too!

So we get to stay home and hibernate for the next few days. The temperatures will continue to drop, but will start warming up again next week – just in time for my daughter’s follow up doctor’s appointment!

In other things…

Yesterday morning, I’d poured more of the calcium chloride into the ejector’s venturi pipe, as my brother requested. It never filled, which means it was draining at the bottom. The level in the stack pipe did rise, but not very much. In talking to him about it, we figured that, if everything was thawed out, the fluid could possibly back up into the main pipe to the house.

Yesterday evening, after I got home from doing my mother’s shopping, I went into the basement.

I found a puddle of water on the floor, near the septic pump.

This was good news!

I checked around the pump itself, of course. The pipes and connectors were all dry. The puddle had already started to dry, so it had been there for some hours, and the only other place I found moisture was under the pump itself.

Directly under the loose and open outflow pipe to the ejector.

I found a container that I could fit under it, even though it is unlikely to happen again, but this was a really positive thing. It means that the ejector is now completely thawed out, and the the main pipe to the house is clear. The pipe itself has a slope to it, so it would always drain away from the house. Pouring in the ice melter was just enough to push the water that would always be in the pipe, back up into the basement a bit.

Which means we could set the pump up to the ejector again!

My brother was talking about coming out this weekend to do that, weather willing.

Today, I told him, don’t even think about it! We can stay with the emergency diverter for another week. Next weekend is supposed to be much better. Thankfully, he is able to work from home today, too, so no commuting in this storm! They got hit harder than we did.

Wow. I was just going over this post, looking for typos, when my phone started screaming at me. Our province just issued an emergency alert for hazardous road conditions, high winds and blizzard like conditions. They are asking people in the south or our province to avoid driving, conditions are worsening, visibility is near zero, and multiple highways are closed.

We are further north than the warning area, though.

Not that we’re about to go anywhere, anyhow!

I am so glad for that!

The Re-Farmer

Temperature whiplash – just in time?

/ Re-Farmer / 7 Comments

As I write this, we are at -23C/-9F with a wind chill of -29C/-20F. That wind chill has actually improved a bit but tonight we’re expected to get wind chills of -34C/-29F.

When I headed out this morning, it felt even colder. I did manage to check on the ejector, just enough to make sure the heat tape is still powered and doing its thing. I didn’t uncover it or check on how the melt is going, as I did not want to risk shattering the plastic taking off the cap and elbow in what was -35C/-31F wind chills at the time.

In a couple of days, though, I’ll probably unwrap it completely, to help it warm up! We are in for some temperature whiplash over the next while.

Yeah. We’re expected to go from -18C/0F to 2C/36F overnight. We’ll have a couple of mild days after that, then drop right back down again.

Looking at the monthly forecast, the next cold snap is supposed to last about a week, then we’ll be warming up at the end of January.

I hope it does warm up at the end of the month, because we now have two cats booked through the Cat Lady, one male one female (whichever ones we can catch). Which means we’ll have to close up the isolation shelter for 2 weeks again, keeping the other cats out.

A lot of them basically live in the cat shelter right now and hardly leave. Between the heat lamp and their body heat, it must be pretty warm in there!

Meanwhile, I’m waiting until Wednesday, when it’s supposed to go above freezing, to do any driving around and some errands.

I am getting really tired of this cold – and this is far from the coldest winter we’ve had since moving here! I’ve spent most of today drinking tea and eating hot soup, because this house just doesn’t really warm up in the winter.

I’m turning into a suck in my old age. 😄

The Re-Farmer